First Explorers had a fun week before Christmas break. They participated in Chapel and Missions, and as always they greatly enjoyed their free time playing outside and creating with craft materials. First Explorers staff and children would like to give a big special thank you to the Ladies Mission Circle for preparing individualized treat bags for each child. The children were sent off to Christmas break with sweet goodies and smiles on their faces.
Mission Moment 12.31.25
Caroline LeGrand
CBF Missions Communications Specialist
"I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."
– Philippians 1:6
I’ve been thinking a lot about the unspoken grief that comes with life’s in-betweens. The precipice between one thing and another is a difficult place in which to exist. There are all kinds of transitions—those you knew were coming, those you didn’t expect, those you planned and those you wish never happened.
For many people I know, the past several years have been a tumultuous time—constant political and economic upheaval, a global pandemic that reshaped the course of their lives, the death of loved ones, babies born and families that grew or shrunk, relationships that began and ended, identities reconsidered, homes left by choice or by force and careers and livelihoods left by choice or by force. Personally, I’ve experienced more beginnings and endings in the past several years than I can count. And with this comes a peculiar, liminal grief that is hard to describe.
This blessing is dedicated to all those at a crossroads, whether mourning what they lost, looking hopefully to whatever is next or stuck somewhere in-between. But it is especially dedicated to my family, who have and continue to experience many transitions over the past several years.
A Blessing for the In-betweens
Blessed are you who mourn life’s transitions.
Blessed are you who yearn for the things that used to be.
Blessed are you who feel torn between relief and sorrow at a moment of leaving.
Blessed are you when the person you thought you’d become, the things you thought you’d do, are no longer possible.
Blessed are you who are waiting for closure.
Blessed are you when you feel neither here nor there, when you’re not sure if you fit in anywhere at all.
Blessed are you when you are too tired to embrace change and process what you’ve lost.
Blessed are you when you feel unequipped to start something new.
Blessed are you when the path is no longer clear, and you feel you’ve lost your way.
Blessed are you when you feel like the world is moving against you.
Blessed are you when life keeps rolling along, with people leaving or moving on or dying, but you’re still here, wondering why. Why am I still here when so many others don’t get to be? What is my purpose?
To all those experiencing life’s in-betweens, know that the One who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Within the grief of these liminal spaces, God is there.
In the stillness of the in-between, neither here nor there, the One who has brought light in the darkness and joy in the morning whispers to you, saying:
The One who created you has not abandoned you.
You are not finished.
There is still work to be done.
There is still more beauty to behold,
more joy and grief to experience,
more love to give and receive.
You are still unfolding, ever-creating,
ever-becoming the person
God made you to be.
You are not alone.
You are still here.
Giving the Jesus Way
United Christian Ministries is in need of cereal.
To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive. Thank you!
Christmas Eve Service
Wednesday, December 24 at 5:00 p.m.
Begin your family’s Christmas celebration with the story of Christ’s birth! Join us on December 24 for our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. Come early at 5:00 p.m. to light a candle in the windows in memory of a loved one and to hear Christmas music before the service. Then, beginning at 5:30 p.m., our family-friendly service will capture the wonder of Christmas with familiar carols, the retelling of the Christmas story, and the glow of candlelight. Afterward, gather your family in front of our beautifully decorated Christmas tree for a classic holiday photo. Don’t miss this opportunity to create lifelong memories with your entire family!
Our Service Will Be Livestreamed!
Our Christmas Eve service will be live-streamed! If you or someone you know is unable to attend in person, join us online by clicking here as we celebrate the coming of Christ together.
1st Explorers After-School Program Recap
This has been a very busy week in after school. The students have been preparing all week for the Christmas program. They have been putting on costumes and going over lines and singing the Christmas songs so they will be ready for the program. The students have also been able to create some beautiful snowflakes this week. Also, the kids have enjoyed in their downtime, playing outside and working on activities inside. The students also got an opportunity to hear the Christmas story this week and got to do some angels.
Giving the Jesus Way
United Christian Ministries is in need of cereal.
To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive. Thank you!
Mission Moment 12.17.25
Cynthia Insko
Spiritual Director, LifePaths
"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." –Matthew 19:14
We may not like to think of ourselves as children. After all, if someone were to call me child-ish, I might assume they were saying I was selfish, immature, demanding. But being child-like, as Jesus suggests, is different. If I am child-like, I am open to awe, wonder, mystery and I am teachable. I am growing in my relationship with God, myself and my neighbors. I am humbly aware of my dependence on God to nurture, guide and provide. And I am growing in my identity and groundedness in love.
Each of us enters this world as a child—a child in whom God has placed God’s very own image, no exceptions! I wonder how remembering this might help us deepen our love for God and neighbor. To claim the name, “Child of God,” is to connect to other people as our siblings and to connect to God as our Source of Being. Consider, too, that God regards children as so sacred that Jesus himself entered this world as a child! Our Emmanuel, “God With Us,” was born as a crying, vulnerable, impressionable, dependent babe. And he grew to be a man who welcomed children with open arms and taught us to do the same.
As adults we may be cautious about embracing our name, “Child of God;” but Jesus was not. When he taught us how to pray by offering the Lord’s Prayer, he began by addressing God as “Abba” which in Aramaic is translated, “Daddy.” This child-like stance, Jesus taught, opens us to full participation in the Kingdom of God “on earth” as it is “in heaven”.
The next time you pray the Lord’s Prayer, I wonder if you might think of being child-like as a blessing. Perhaps this is the perfect stance from which to approach God with whole-hearted openness and to see one another as true siblings.
The Lord’s Prayer
from The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones
Hello Daddy!
We want to know you and be close to you. Please show us how. Make everything in the world right again. And in our hearts, too.
Do what is best—just like you do in heaven, and please do it down here, too.
Please give us everything we need today
Forgive us for doing wrong, for hurting you. Forgive us just as we forgive other people when they hurt us.
Rescue us! We need you. We don’t want to keep running away and hiding from you.
Keep us safe from our enemies. You’re strong, God.
You can do whatever you want. You are in charge. Now and forever and for always!
We think you’re great! Amen! Yes we do!
Pray...Give...Go.
1st Explorers After-School Program Recap
First Explorers had a busy week full of winter and Christmas activities! They learned about snowflakes and made their own with 4H, made and ate waffles with Sandi while learning about Maine, and completed handmade potholders as Christmas gifts with Mrs. Cheryl. They also made multiple ornaments, helped decorate the First Explorers space for Christmas, and practiced their pageant. It was a fun week!
Giving the Jesus Way
United Christian Ministries is in need of cereal.
To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive. Thank you!
Mission Moment 12.10.25
Lita Sample
Field Personnel in San Francisco Bay Area, California
"In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child."
– Luke 2:1-6
I wrote this blessing based on my conversations with Afghan refugees. I can’t mention their names because of risk, but one of these refugees has become a believer and has hopes for others to come to know Jesus, too. I wrote this from his perspective.
A Blessing from a Refugee to Those Coming to America
My heart was heavy when I left my home country of Afghanistan to move to America.
I was hopeful that fleeing persecution into a free country would make me feel safe.
My family and I made this our home, and we learned the culture, the language and became part of community.
I found faith in Jesus, whom I realized I never knew. The church nurtured me as I grew in that faith.
We worked hard to become citizens and after we passed our test, we said the oath with pride.
Recently, we’ve seen others from our country who join us here out of necessity. They journey to our land because it offers protection and a new start.
They too left a familiar home and arrive with shock, overwhelmed.
But here, they begin their journey of trying to feel safe. However, today, their experience is different from mine.
These new refugees are filled with uncertainty as they are in a country that does not want them.
Where will they go if they must leave? What will they do? How will they survive yet another unfamiliar place?
My heart is heavy once again.
To them, I gently hand this blessing to be poured over them:
Where you are standing, in the dark place, filled with fear, you are not alone. I walk with you.
The uncertainty is always there no matter the circumstance, so with this, I pray for peace in the midst of this storm.
The longing to care for your family is one that I pray is strengthened in terrible times and that God will grant you wisdom.
When you feel frozen so that you don’t want to leave your house, I pray for a caring person who will bring you food and friendship.
I pray that the persecution that seems to be waiting in the shadows will be vanquished in the light of justice.
The believers in Jesus who stand with you are many. I pray that they, along with myself, will move to help the growing community who feel lost will feel safe once again.
And in the midst of all of this, I pray that you will come to know Jesus, whom I know. Because He is the one who will provide peace in the middle of war, hope in the middle of desperation, warmth in the midst of the coldness of your situation and love when all seems lost.
Jesus is my continued hope. I feel Him more now that circumstances seem hopeless, and He shows His goodness even though the world seems to take all goodness away. My hope is in Him knowing that one day, I along with others will finally find the joy and pure freedom of heaven.
I hope this for you too. This crisis is not the end but a means to hope in God who will carry all of us through to the end.
Pray...Give...Go.