Pastor's Reflections

,

Ho, Ho, Ho Merry Christmas

,

By Pastor Tim White

I came home from church last Sunday and as I drove up to the house where we have lived for the past 33 years, I got really excited.  There was Sarai Jacobs’ car parked in front of our house. I knew that meant my grandkids had arrived from Texas.  As I rushed from my car, I saw the Christmas lights on and my grandson Elijah Diaz and his little sister Isabela looking out the window.  I opened the door and at the top of the stairs was my eldest daughter Elise with my son-in-law Rey standing right next to her smiling.  When I opened our door, the bells jingled from the Christmas Wreath complete with bells hanging on our front door.  I couldn’t help myself, I had to yell out “Ho - Ho - Ho Merry Christmas.”

Then my phone rang and it was Eva our other granddaughter with her brother Oscar saying they were coming right over with their mommy Becca and daddy Ben.  I let out another “Ho - Ho - Ho.”  And Isabella cried out--” My GP is Santa Claus.” Sarai, Pastor Rey’s sister, was there carrying baby Cruz, whose birth will give us the best Christmas present of all.  The conversations were so fun -- Everyone was talking about going to the new Star Wars movie, and cherubs dancing at the Christmas services.  We laughed, we played, we danced, and we prayed.  Then we ate and still played.  It is the Christmas Season.

Please join our Washington Cathedral family for “Christmas Lights the Night” this Christmas.  We invite you to bring your family and friends. (Even if they go to another church, that’s okay, we love them because we are all still a family.) Dare to invite your neighbors and get free tickets on line at http://www.christmaslightsthenight.com/  or www.wacathedral.org .  Even better, isn’t it time to download the Washington Cathedral App.  Just go to the App Store on your iPhone or Android phone.

Christmas Lights the Night Services are Friday at 7:00 pm, Saturday at 5:00 pm, Sunday at 5:00 pm, and a special candlelight communion service led by Pastor Linda at 11:00 pm.

You will want to see the live manger scene this year.  It’s better than ever--the Bethlehem star is new and improved and the live animals are so cute.  Of course, you will see the shepherds, angels, Mary and Joseph. The music is beautiful from a band with strings, the choir, the ballet dancer--with the group of sweet baby cherubs.  It will be 60 minutes of incredible Christmas inspiration.

I look at my life from the mountain-tops, those moments when God was so close that he changed me.  This is going to be one of those moments and I don’t want you to miss it.

This Sunday morning, December 24th, worship at 9:30 and 11:00 am is also going to be a wonderful family service.  One of our favorite pastors, Dr. Rey Diaz, will be sharing on the reckless love of God demonstrated at Christmas.  And one of our all-time favorite musicians, Dave Irish, will leading us in wonderful songs of Christmas. Pastor David is cooking his down-home, Whidbey Island special breakfast in the Cafe from 10:00-11:30 so, regardless of the services you attend, we can eat together as one big happy church family. 

As a reminder, someone donated two passes for a family of four to enjoy a night in a family suite at Great Wolf Lodge, and a fun time in the waterpark. One pass will go to the person who brings the biggest number of new people who fill out a Connect Card and put name of the person who invited them in the comments section of that form. The second pass is for the winner of a drawing on New Year’s Eve Sunday, December 31, at 11:00 am. The people who will be eligible for that drawing will be those who have filled out a Connect Card for the very first time at any of our services from now through December 31st.

So “Ho - Ho – Ho Merry Christmas.”  We hope to see you.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

,

Christmas at Washington Cathedral

,

 

By Pastor Tim White

Happy Holidays.  What a great time of year! It looks like the holidays outside.  Rain and wind make for a perfect time to sit by the fire, read a book or have a soul-filled conversation over a cup of coffee.  It just feels like the holidays with this kind of weather.  And the joke is that we have this weather almost all year long.  But we don’t care.  It is a great time of the year.  

This Sunday Pastor Becca will be kicking off a life-changing message series called: Christmas Lights the Night.  She is sharing the Christmas story in an expository message from the Gospel of John.  At the same time, Pastor Michael and his elves will begin to decorate the campus with lights getting ready for our dazzling Christmas Eve services with real live animals and a petting area.  (Pastor Michael loves Christmas - he has It’s a Wonderful Life memorized.)  

And of course, we will be participating in all of our special projects to help those who are hurting in our community and around the world.  Every year it seems like Christmas ministries just grow at Washington Cathedral. One of our post-Christmas evaluations told us we needed to do less -- but do it better.  When we met as a staff we asked the question – “What should focus on?”  Every staff member was so passionate about the different areas of ministry that no one wanted to cut anything.  So, as the leader in this movement, I was led to lead the way. Therefore, after 33 years of Santa Conspiracy we are going to take a year off. This was a ministry that was so dear to my heart and you have heard the story of how the Lord started it.  We still have some bears, so we will be sending out a few Santa’s to carry on the good work.  

This year we need to impact our community with the life-rescuing message of Jesus Christ focusing on the impact of Christmas.  We have our ministry to the homeless; to the convalescent homes; the building of a new school in the Patmos slum of Kenya; hospitals, and neighbors who are looking for a faith -- these will continue.  It will be, I think, the most dramatic Christmas we have ever experienced as a church family.   Christmas Lights the Night dramas will be Friday, December 22, at 7:00 pm; Saturday, December 23, at 5:00pm, and Sunday, December 24, at 5:00pm. Our special guest for Sunday morning, December24 9:30am and 11:00am, worship services will be Dave Irish.  And of course, we will have our beautiful Candlelight Communion Worship at 11:00pm Christmas Eve.

Going into Christmas: 

  • Washington Cathedral Choir Christmas concert at Redmond Town Center Saturday, November 25, from 1-2pm.
  • The Mix Worship with Pastor Helio preaching and international praise including a potluck dinner on Saturday, November 25, at 5:30pm
  • Pastor Becca McCary preaching on the Sunday, November 26, at 9:30am and 11:00am, kicking off the series: Christmas Lights the Night.
  • Pastor Linda Skinner will preach the following week, December 2 & 3, on Christmas Lights the Night from the Gospel of Mark. Saturday, December 2, is our Volunteer Christmas party at the Café put on by Bill & Millie Porter.
  • I will be preaching the weekend of December 9 & 10 on Christmas Lights the Night from the Gospel of Luke.  For the kids (and anyone else who wants to join in) a special Christmas Cookie Decorating time led by Pastor Becca in the Café.
  • Pastor Becca McCary will be preaching the weekend of December 16 & 17 on Christmas Lights the Night from the Gospel of Matthew.  Plus - an all-church Christmas Carol sing-a-long with hot apple cider for 20 minutes of the service.  In addition, the youth will be having their Christmas party that afternoon.
  • Pastor Rey Diaz will be joining our preaching team at the weekend service on December 30 & 31, New Year’s Eve.

There are going to be a lot of great events and special ministry opportunities as we enjoy a focused - refreshing - incredibly inspiring Christmas at Washington Cathedral this year.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

,

Love is an Action

,
Love is an Action

It is easy to say I love you as an affirmation of goodwill, but the ones we really love know it through our actions. We can say we love the world, but what do we do to show it?

God so loved the world that He gave His Son. What was this all about? It was about bringing humanity home to be restored to the Family God has created. When we discover the love of Jesus, we know that our response is not just to say that He exists, but rather that we get to share a life of love with Him and those who He calls us to love right around us.

,

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

,
Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Every creation of God is unique in its beauty.  When I was ten years old I decided I wanted to join 4H. (4H at that times was for farm kids to grow and learn life skills needed for living in the rural area).  As my project, I chose raising sheep.  My family had raised chickens, cows and pigs, but no one had every tackled sheep.  I wanted to learn more about being a sheep farmer so I went to group meetings and we learned about raising sheep.

,

Wild Love Wins

,
Wild Love Wins

Wild Love Wins  (Love me, don’t leave me - overcoming the fear of abandonment) - that is the title of my sermon on one of the most beautiful and most powerful chapters in the Bible - Romans Chapter 8.  This will be our focus as we study this passage. Every person needs love. Our biggest failures, addictions and twisted self-defeating behaviors come from deeply imbedded insecurities in a desperate need for love.

,

Hope of the World

,
Hope of the World

"The local church is the hope of the world." These were the passionate words of Ryan Romeo as he spoke in our area at a fabulous concert last summer called Outcry. Pastor Linda attended the Christian concert for her birthday featuring some of the top Christian bands and artists. She was so touched by the fervor of the young worship pastor named Ryan Romeo, who through Cody Williams (Director of Development for the band Jesus Culture) had put Ryan in touch with David Crowder, Jenn Johnson from Bethel Music, and many of the leaders of millennial Christians in the United States.  Linda was so impressed by their passion for the local church that she picked up a copy of the book "OUTCRY" by Ryan Romeo.  Giving it to me she said “this sounds a lot like our new theme Love First.”

,

How Does God Lift Us Up

,
How Does God Lift Us Up

I love the old joke where the mountain climber falls off the mountain and is holding on to a cliff with a thousand-feet drop beneath him and he yells out… "God help me!" Suddenly he hears the audible voice of God saying, "just let go and my angels will catch you and fly you back to the top."  The man looks down and then yells back.  "Is there anybody else up there?"  I think most of us can relate to experiencing stress.   In this season when the kids are getting pictures of their first day of school, they are often somewhat nervous about meeting new friends, learning new material and getting back to school.  Teachers are often stressed getting ready for classes that have a high student teacher ratio.  Business men and women are often stressed wondering how they are going to pay all their bills.  And everyone is stressed because Equifax, without asking us, has all our personal information and half of all Americans lost their identity security as this company was compromised.  In fact, I think I just stressed us all out in promoting this sermon on moving from Stressed to Blessed.

,

From Stress to Blessed

,
From Stress to Blessed

It was like a moment from heaven.  We rented a cabin right across the river from where my grandparent's old trappers cabin once stood.  The sound of the roaring Wallowa River has always been therapeutic to my soul. When I was six months old I lived there with my parents as they prepared to start a church in the Tri-Cities called the Cathedral of Joy.  All my life is marked with those mountains.  The first fish I ever caught was right there in the Wallowa River…

,

Human Sunsets

,
Human Sunsets

Sometimes we get a glimpse of glory and the only thing we can do is praise God!  The other day on our evening walk, I saw the most beautiful sunset.  The colors shone through the trees with such brilliance, that I thought – “If I saw a picture painted with those colors I would think the artist was making it up.” No sunset could have those depths of color.  But there it was and I could only say praise God!