2008 December Promise

THEPROMISE

P

AGE

1

I

NSIDE THIS

I

SSUE

:

A

M

essage

f

rom

o

ur

P

astor.....................2Holiday

S

ervices.......................................3News

&

Notes...........................................5Our

I

OCC

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roject....................................6A

C

hristmas

S

ermon................................7Fighting

F

or

C

hrist

a

t

C

hristmas..............8Carnival

S

cenes.......................................10New

M

exico

T

ravelers...........................12JOYScenes.............................................17Kids

P

age................................................18A

C

hristmas

C

arol.................................19December

C

alendar...............................20

D

ECEMBER

2008

“God

did

not

tell

us

to

follow

Himbecause

He

needed

our

help,but

because

He

knew

that

lovingHim

would

make

us

whole.”

St. Irenaeus

D

ATES TO

R

EMEMBER

:

D

ECEMBER

7

P

ARISH

A

SSEMBLY

D

ECEMBER

21

P

ARISH

C

HRISTMAS

L

UNCHEON

&P

ROGRAM

GOYA

C

HRISTMAS

P

ARTY

D

ECEMBER

24

C

HRISTMAS

E

VE

C

ANDLELIGHT

S

ERVICE

6:30

PM

D

ECEMBER

25

F

EASTOFTHE

N

ATIVITY

L

ITURGY

9:30

AM

D

ECEMBER

31

D

IVINE

L

ITURGYOF

S

T

.

B

ASILFORTHE

N

EW

Y

EAR

6:30

PM

J

ANUARY

4

P

HILOPTOCHOS

V

ASILOPITA

GOYABBT

OURNAMENT

F

EE

D

UE

!

These are tumultuous days. A host of fears and anxietiescontinue to seep deeper into the American psyche:rollercoaster stock markets, bailouts, terrorism, job lossesand home foreclosures. Despite the joyful season of Christmas that we are in, these issues are creating anundercurrent of palatable despair. Indeed there is noquestion that these issues are cause for genuine concern,the problems that confront us are very real, but as faithfulChristian men and women we can no more turn a blindeye to these serious matters than turn a deaf ear to thecalm, still voice of our Lord and our God. For the fact of the matter is that in spite of the trepidation that swirls allaround us, and despite thethunderous roar of uncertainty,before His Holy Altar, we hearthe soothing voice of Godechoing from the Scripturesand telling us:

“Do not be afraid. For I, the Lord God am with you.”

These are

not

the words of a politician or an accountant.But this is the promise of a loving God who knows every hair on our head, and is not indifferent towards us or ourplight. The Word of the Lordtelling His children “do not beafraid” has girded Christiansfor for over 2000 years, and it is this very pledge that hascomforted men and women of God since the beginning of the Old Testament. The Lord assuring mankind not to be afraid is a hallmark of His Divine Revelation andhas never been taken lightly. At all times and in all places,it has been received by people of faith as a clarion call tonot only trust Him, but whole heartedly embrace Hiseverlasting love and His strengthNow, no less than ever, the words of the Lord (do not beafraid) must be kept close to our heart and echo in ourthoughts if we are to aptly face the challenges that lay ahead; let alone honestly respond to God's invitation tolife in Him! It is therefore perhaps not by coincidencethat the phrase

“do not be afraid”

occurs 365 times in theHoly Bible (once for every day of the year). This makes

THE PROMISE

P

AGE

2

P

ASTORAL

M

ESSAGE

it even more obvious that our good and gracious Lord iskeenly aware of the power of fear to limit our goodness inthe course of our life. After all, it is fear that kills hopes anddreams, just as it is fear itself that withers the flower of faith.It is fear - both real and imagined - that more often than not prevents people from truly trusting God. In fact, our fearsare the single greatest obstacle to growing in Christ andaccomplishing the things He intends for us and His planfor the salvation of the world. Being afraid of what might be expected of us, not wanting to take risks, and being shackled by the uncertainty generated by sin and evil, hasled people throughout the ages to instead invent convenient gods and create false religions.The fact of the matter is that forus to allow fear to paralyze usand become our constant companion, is to hand over controlof our life to it. Allowing ourfears to direct our ways and soleinform our perspective, givesthem the power to drive us away from Christ. Fear will shadow usfor as long as we draw breath,this is the sad reality of living in a world full sin and evil; but wecannot allow it to destroy us

or

our faith. As someone once said,“Fear is a darkroom, where negativesare developed!” To which theChurch responds in no uncertain terms that the light of Christ alone, has the power to destroy all of the negatives.Do we fear what our future holds? Do we fear that thingsare beyond our control? Do we fear the machinations of the financial markets? Or do we fear the scheming of AlQaeda? Are we afraid of disappointing others? Are we afraid of being rejected? Are we afraid of being alone? Or are weafraid of death?These are all natural emotions in a fallen world! But wecannot allow them to become the masters of our life, andin the process have such trepidations deny us eternal life.

(Continued

o

n

P

age

4

)

W

HAT

D

O

W

E

R

EALLY

W

ANT TO

D

O

THE PROMISE

P

AGE

3

T

HE

F

EAST OF THE

N

ATIVITY

S

ERVICES

The sacred andblessed essence of Christmas is fargreater than any other conceivablefamily traditionor obligation.The Lord Godtaking on fleshin order to know Him better, draw closer to Himand be saved by Him is aweinspiring in every sense. Hence,the Nativity of our Lord &Savior naturally calls ustogetheras an Orthodox Christian Church family inHis Holy House in order to sing His praises andpartake of His life-giving Body and Blood at Holy Communion.There simply is no Christmas without Christ.There is no Christmas joy without assembling inprayer within His Holy Church. We at the Annunciation will have the great and high privilege to herald thebirth of our Saviour together as follows:

W

EDNESDAY

, D

ECEMBER

24

TH

-

Christmas EveCandlelight Service

Vesp

er

a

l L

it

urg

y - 6:30 pm



D

ECEMBER

2

5

TH

-

The Feast of the Nativity

Di

vi

ne L

it

urgy - 9:30 a

m

N

EW

Y

EAR

’

S

ERVICE

The Annunciation family will welcome the dawn of a New Year and celebratethefeast day of St. Basil the Great with the

D

IVINE

L

ITURGYOF

S

T

. B

ASILFORTHE

N

EW

Y

EAR

on

WEDNESDAYD

ECEMBER

31

STAT

6:30

PM

.

L

ETUSPRAISEOUR

L

ORDTOGETHERANDWELCOME

2009

WITHPRAISESTOOUR

L

ORD

!!!

H

OW TO

P

LEASE THE

L

ORD

Of the many ways wecan show the Lord just how important He is to us and ourlife, perhaps nothing is as meaningful as when we come to worship Him at HisHouse at the appoint-ed time. To do this asan expressionof loveand not just becauseit is our obligation asOrthodox Christians,speaks volumes about the content of our heart and theimportance of Christ in our life. Just as when our ownchildren do something we ask of them, not becausethey “have to” but because it will please us, so too willthe Lord be moved by an ongoing commitment toattend the services on time.

M

ATINS

,

9

:00

AM

/

D

IVINE

L

ITURGY

,