Dear Friends and Members of Shepherd of the Hills,

Blessed Advent season to you.  Advent is distinct from the Christmas season.  Advent is that time of year we set aside to focus on the return of our Lord.  It is not something we often talk about but is rather a reality that shapes our lives as Christians in this world.  We believe and confess that no matter what is happening in our lives and in the world, these things are not the end of the story.  So, in Advent we spend some time looking ahead to the end of the story.  

How to honor this Advent season.  First, make receiving God’s Word an even bigger priority over this next month.  The Divine Service for this next month will focus on the Old Testament prophets as they speak to who the Christ is and what his return brings.  Sunday morning Bible study is called “The Return of Jesus: the yet untold, yet foretold true story of Jesus’ return” were we will study the Gospel text appointed for each Sunday in Advent.  Wednesdays’ mid-week Advent service is called “The Word Made Flesh” were we will dive into how Jesus is described as the “Bread of Life,” “Salt of the Earth,” and “Light of the World.”  

You may also consider being more intentional with your daily devotions.  For this I encourage the use of “Around the Word” weekly household devotions.  You can find each week here at https://www.whatdoesthismean.org/devotions.html.  Just follow the directions.  Everything you need is on one page printed front and back.  This included daily prayers, a hymn of the week and devotional thought on each day’s readings.  

Finally, we celebrate Advent with our deeds.  We celebrate the ordinary deeds of love and service shown to one another.  We celebrate the extraordinary love and service in special acts of service and offerings made this season.  Especially this weekend we celebrate and are honored to serve 25 families in our Ruidoso/Ruidoso Downs/Alto community.  On Saturday we will be handing out boxes of food, gift certificates, and devotional material to these families.  This is only done because of your generosity and the partnerships we have with our friends and neighbors.  Thank you to the group of people who made this all happen.  They have done some great work.  

Blessed Advent season to you all and I am honored to fulfill our mission as a congregation together sharing the love of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, in word and deed. 

In His Love and Service,

Pastor Rust