wednesday recap

Last night I started things out with a sweet, calming, delicate video about the birth of Christ, and then began to read from Luke 2. I got about three sentences into the text when my voice was joined together with a repeated cash register KACHING, as well as a looping track of a very loud crowd. I just kept on reading through the text until I finished chapter two, pretty much ignoring the chaos of sound that I was competing with. The illustration, as you’ve probably guessed, was about the difficulty in experiencing the story of Christ in the midst of so many distractions. The crowd and the cash register made me think of the mall.

And the story of the man trampled at Wal-Mart.

And the story of the two men who shot each other at a toy store the same day.

And it all made me think that we may have completely missed the point about Christmas.

So this video helped us remember:

And we gave the students a handful of ways to do Christmas differently this year. We encouraged them to go home and figure out ways to spend less and give more. I told them about the five “World Changers” organizations listed on the right side of my blog, and a few of them have already gone and checked them out. And we told them about three or four different things they can do right here at Calvary in the coming months to give back.

We started the application process for the Mexico Mission Trip in February. Applications are available now!

We also let students sign up to come and serve on December 13th. We’re meeting at Calvary at 8am, making meals for the homeless in Santa Ana, and then heading out to hand them out. Transportation will be provided (let us know if you would like to drive).