Pastor’s Message for December 2024

“How’s Your Family Doing?”

We often ask, “How’s your family doing?” in our conversations. Sometimes it’s out of genuine concern—maybe we’ve heard about an illness or are worried about someone’s well-being. Other times, it’s simply a question we ask out of habit, a way to fill space in a conversation. Yet, when we ask, it often leads to stories—sometimes funny, sometimes poignant—that reveal the dynamics of our families: the nephew who always finds trouble or the grandmother recovering from surgery. These stories can bring laughter, tears, or sometimes both.

Now, imagine Mary, the mother of Jesus, watching her son go off into the wilderness, returning with new and radical ideas about life and religion. He begins a ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing. Some even claim he is making bold statements about his own identity. It’s not unlike any parent sending their child off to college, only to return home a changed person—someone who seems completely different, maybe even a bit radical. Some people even believed Jesus had been possessed by an evil spirit, and most of his family thought he had lost his mind.

It would have made for an awkward family gathering, to say the least.

As the holiday season approaches, many of us will find ourselves gathering with family—sometimes the only time of the year we come together. This togetherness often requires effort to maintain, or else we risk drifting apart. During this season, we might be faced with relatives whose views we don’t share, whose choices we don’t understand, or who’ve returned home with new and challenging ideas about life and identity. But perhaps this holiday season offers us a unique opportunity to connect more deeply. Maybe we’ll learn something about that difficult relative—or even something about ourselves—in the process.

So, how’s your family doing?

God loves you, and so do I,
Pastor Jim Sands