Jesus was walking along the shore of the Galilean Sea when he saw two brothers, Peter and Andrew, fishing with nets. Jesus called to them: “Come, follow me! I will teach you how to fish for people.”

They dropped everything and followed Jesus. Further along the shore, Jesus saw two brothers, James and John, fishing with their father. He called out to them the same invitation and they left their father to follow Jesus.

The phase “to fish for people” is Jesus’ invitation for us to truly follow him. This is a calling for everyone. When we accept this calling, we are invited to be disciples and to share this message with the world. Everyone is called. We can all be a follower of Jesus; we are all included.

Thanks for being in church with us to learn more about this invitation.

Blessings

This Sunday we were ready to follow Jesus as he met his first disciples. Unfortunately, the cold weather kept our kids at home. When I went to church at 9:00 to make coffee, I realized that wind was really cold and couldn’t get in the church fast enough. That is when I knew our lesson would continue to take place next week.

I hope we see you in church this Sunday! We will travel with Jesus on the shores of the Galilean Sea.

It seems only last week that we were talking about the birth of baby Jesus. This week we were at the Jordan River with John the Baptist, who was baptizing people in the river. People from all walks of life were lined up to be baptized by John.

Jesus came from Galilee and asked John to baptize him. John at first said that Jesus was the one who should baptize him, because he didn’t feel worthy to baptize someone as special as Jesus. However, Jesus said he must be baptized by John.

When Jesus chose to be baptized, he demonstrated his humanity and connectedness to God’s people by joining them at the river to be baptized. Jesus did not single himself out to be baptized alone but chose to be baptized by John with a community of believers. Jesus was part of the community, so anyone could be included in the community of God.

God spoke to Jesus during his baptism and showed a deep sense of joy and happiness in Jesus. God finds happiness in each of us too. The voice from heaven was a voice for all.

We spent some time talking about Jesus when he was a young boy and how Mary was so upset when she lost Jesus as they were traveling with family, going home and Jesus was nowhere to be found. They had to go back to the city, where she found Jesus at the temple listening to the priest. As a mom, we all know how upset Mary was to have lost her son.

Be with us Sunday as we explore more of Jesus’ young life. See you Sunday! Blessings

We have been exploring many aspects of the birth of baby Jesus. This week, we met the Magi. The Magi were wise men who studied the stars. They saw an unusual star in the sky one night and knew from their studies that a king was born. We don’t know the number of Magi for sure; but because we hear of them bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, we usually refer to them as the three Magi.

Like the shepherds, the Magi were unexpected people who visited the Holy Family. The Magi brought gifts to share with Jesus and we also have gifts to share. We need to remember that gifts can be something that we do for other people or things we can share with the world. Jesus was born so all people would know that God loved them.

The Magi are considered the first people to worship Jesus, and they were not Jewish. This is one of the first signs that God’s love is open and free for everyone, no matter who they are.

We had a visitor in class, Mr. Brian McCosky. Mr. McCosky told the kids about his visit to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. He visited the birthplace of the baby Jesus and described the hill where the cross was placed. The kids had many questions for him because they wanted to know where he had visited and what it looked like. Hopefully we see you in church this Sunday so we can continue our journey with Jesus.

Blessings

Everyone is so busy this time of year with shopping, baking lots of cookies and preparing wonderful meals for the family to gather. But let’s not forget the shepherds in the fields quietly going about their night keeping watch over their sheep, when suddenly an angel appeared to them.

The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! I bring good news to you, wonderful, joyful news for all people!” The shepherds were terrified. Instead of running away in terror, they listened to the message and decided to go to Bethlehem to confirm that the message that the angel brought was true. When they got there, they confirmed that it was true. After seeing this, they left and told others, praising God, and expressing joy about the birth of the Savior.

Shepherds were the first to hear of Jesus’ birth. Some think that the shepherds were first to hear of Jesus’ birth because they were low on the social rung, and God wanted it known that Jesus was for everyone. We do know that the shepherds went to Bethlehem and found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. Then the shepherds returned home and shared the news of Jesus’ birth.

From the angels to the shepherds to the world, the good news of Jesus is for all people. Joy is meant to be shared, as joy is for all. See you in church Sunday so you can tell us of your joy!

Blessings, Miss Sue and Miss Vickie.