12/22/2025
🎄Dear Beloved Peace Church,
As Christmas draws near, I keep coming back to a simple question we’ve been living with this Advent: What child is this? It’s an old question, one that has been sung and prayed for centuries, and yet somehow it still feels new. Every year, this story meets us again — not as something finished or familiar, but as something alive, still unfolding, still inviting us to look closer.
This is my first Christmas with you, and I’ll be honest: this season holds a lot. Christmas is full of beauty and light, but it also carries memory, change, and longing. Some of us arrive excited and hopeful. Some of us arrive tired or unsure. Most of us carry a mix of all of it. And still, the story comes. Jesus was not born into a quiet or easy world. He was born into a real one — a world shaped by pressure, fear, and deep hope for something more. God’s answer to that world was not power or perfection, but a child. A baby. Love made flesh. That’s the wonder of Christmas for me.
This Advent, we’ve been remembering that hope isn’t something we have to wait for — it’s something God offers us now. That peace doesn’t mean everything is calm, but that God is near. That joy doesn’t have to be loud or forced — sometimes it’s gentle, surprising, and quietly strong. And that love looks like God choosing to come close, to live among us, to meet us right where we are.
I don’t have all the answers this season. But I do believe deeply in this story. I believe in a God who shows up small and vulnerable. I believe in a love that is for everyone. And I believe that even in the middle of busy days and heavy hearts, God is still doing something new.
If you find yourself able, I would love for you to join us on Christmas Eve. We’ll gather simply at 7:30 pm with hors d'oeuvres to follow— to hear the old story again, to sing, to light candles, and to remember that love has come into the world. There’s no pressure, no expectations, and no need to arrive a certain way. Just come as you are. Whether you worship with us this season or simply carry this story with you, please know this: you are welcome here. You belong. And you are not alone.
My hope for you this Christmas is not that everything feels perfect, but that — even for a moment — you catch a glimpse of the wonder at the heart of it all: God is with us. May the light of Christ meet you in the ordinary and the holy, steady your heart, and remind you that love has come near.
🙏With hope and gratitude,
Pastor Tamra