Dear Metropolitan Church Family:

On behalf of our pastoral team, I want to wish you a very happy celebration of our Lord's birth! As you know, Christmas Day falls on Sunday, the Lord's Day, this year. Months ago, our pastors decided to combine our two services into one special Christmas service on Christmas Sunday this year, and to forego our traditional Christmas Eve service. We hope you will be present at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Christmas is (or should be) a "holy-day." This is a test of our motivations. Is Christmas really all about Jesus? Or is it mainly about toys, Santa, feasting and NBA basketball? We here at Metropolitan Baptist Church want to emphasize the Christ-centered nature of the day. That is why we have decided to offer a special one hour service with great music and the ministry of the Word of God.

You will remember, of course, our worship of Jesus has not been limited to one or two days, but has continued throughout this season of Advent. Pastor Purifoy prepared three consecutive Sunday nights of glorious music. The Christmas Sampler brought the church family together in inter-generational fellowship. My messages for the past month have drawn attention to the narratives of the birth of Jesus in Matthew's gospel.

As reported recently in the newspaper, quite a few churches in our area have decided to cancel Sunday services altogether. We didn't want to do that, but we also realized that asking people to come on Saturday night and then again on Sunday morning might not be realistic, especially for families with small children. With neighborhood celebrations, multiple Christmas parties to attend, shopping, school programs, in addition to the normal stuff of life, many young families are extremely busy. So it is our prayer that this Sunday's worship service will refresh and renew you in your love of Jesus Christ and your love for one another.

May God bless you and your family with a joyful Christmas. Connie and I wish you the very best now and in the coming new year.

Cordially,
Pastor Randy

P.S. I was interviewed for an article that is to appear in the "Life" section of the Oklahoman on Christmas Day. There should also be a video of my grandsons and me on the Oklahoman's website or Facebook page, along with Pastor Rick Thompson of Council Road Baptist Church.