Some of us know what is coming.

We have before us a time of incompetence and

corruption like nothing we have seen before.

Imagine a nation where those in power are not

constrained by morals or a sense of decency.

But I do have hope.

They are expressed in the lines of an old carol, I

Heard the Bells on Christmas Day:

“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep. The wrong

shall fail, the right prevail.”

We need to know this.

We need to be reminded of this. That’s why I am

singing those words in the concert Saturday night.

Listen, over these next years, we are going to need

the church.

No, not that right-wing bunch with a theology that

makes them ignorant and vulnerable to would-be

dictators.

They brought us here.

We need a church built on the solid rock

that is Jesus the Christ.

Built on His love.

Powered by His grace.

A church that triumphs over corruption, racism,

and hatred of gays and immigrants.

In this space in the coming year, I will be offering

you opportunities for worship and study.

I am expecting a response.

The “mainline” church—for want of a better

name—along with honest journalism will be the most

powerful lines of defense against the darkness to come.

Help us—help us at St. Matthew make a witness in

dark times.

We have a concert Saturday night, Dec. 21, at 6:00 p.m.

We have a beautiful Christmas Eve service, also

at 6:00 p.m.

Help us make a witness.

Yes, of course.

We will sing White Christmas at our concert on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 6:00 p.m.

We must.

It is expected.

In fact, I sing it. But I won’t mean it.

What kind of fool do you think I am? (Don’t answer that.)

I’m a preacher. I don’t want a white Christmas. I want people in church.

No bad weather!

I’d like to see you (and all your kin) at our concert and at our Christmas Eve service. (We call it “the most beautiful service of the year”—‘cause it is!)

But back to the concert.

I sing a couple of things, but our great singers do the hard lifting.

Our Christmas Concert is a 25-year tradition with us. The music starts secular and moves into the sacred.

Then we eat, and Santa comes by with gifts for the kids.

(No, we’re not anti-Santa at St. Matthew.)

There’s a kids’ time during the concert.

We do have fun.

The heart of Christmas at St. Matthew is Christmas Eve. (Also at 6:00.)

I had an aunt who used to say to people she loved, “I’m just so hungry to see you.” And I would say I’m hungry for Christmas Eve.

Especially this year.

We need those “glad tidings of great joy.”

We need lifting. We need to be reminded that this is still God’s world.

As the old carol says:

“God is not dead nor doth he sleep.

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail.”

Oh!—I’m singing that, also, at the concert.

The Casting Crowns version of I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.

Come, if you can.

Sat., Dec. 21, at 6:00.