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Advent/Christmas 2005

 


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 Featured Advent Meditations
Christmas Angels<br> Christmas Angels

Excerpted from
Advent Calendar of Devotions 2005 by Nell W. Mohney

Read Luke 2:10-15

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared
with the angel, praising God and saying…(Luke 2:13)


The Bible describes angels as “messengers of God.” In my own life, these messengers have come in human form. Years ago, I read a quatrain that was listed as anonymous. Though I have tried on several occasions to find its source, I have never been successful. Still it is a perfect description of my angels:

When God comes to me
On quiet, cat-like feet,
Why am I surprised
That it’s my neighbor down the street?
 Featured Story
Doll ministry puts toys <br>under the tree<br> Doll ministry puts toys
under the tree

It was a moment Betty Stout treasures.

As the child and her mother stepped onto the public bus, Stout recognized the doll lovingly clutched in the arms of the little girl.

Stout noticed the doll clothes that she had fashioned herself after the worn and pre-loved toy had come into her possession. The doll also received a good scrubbing and a new hairdo before being sent off to be loved again.

The 84-year-old Stout has refurbished thousands of dolls over the past 35 years. "I just hate to think of any little child not having a toy under the Christmas tree. I can't think of anything worse," she explains.

Stout leads a team of "elves" who gather on Thursday mornings at Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila, Washington. The dolls are distributed to children who will have few, if any, presents for Christmas. This year, more than 200 dolls will be presented to children in the community near Seattle.
 Additional Features
Churches help make Christmas merry for evacuees
Blue Christmas/Longest Night Worship With Those Who Mourn
How Christians in China Celebrate Christmas
Commentary: Are you 'merry' or 'happy'?
Worship on Christmas
Hurricane survivors celebrate Advent with joy
Mississippi youth take Christmas spirit to evacuees
Christmas Plant Grows People
The Journey
Children in New York, Bethlehem, exchange Christmas cards
Churches extend hospitality to community during Advent
Pastors create Advent calendar to share hope with world
Holidays time to include survivors
Being the Hope during the holidays
When Christmas comes on Sunday
Choosing toys is gift for parents
Simple living offers antidote to ‘affluenza’
Advent 'Blue Christmas'
At Family Holiday Celebrations, Some Mourn Those Absent
Advent Time to Remember, Time to Prepare
Christmas around the World

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