An Open Christmas Letter to Highview Community Church

December 10, 2009

Dear Friends who are Family,

A winter sunrise is a spectacular gift.

Over a cold, sepia horizon, comes a silent explosion of colour, screaming a defiant warmth across the brittle sky. A new dawn. A new day. A new promise into which God's new-every-morning mercies can pour away the darkness of our complicated and messy ways of being human.

That first new morning after that unbelievable night in the stable, I imagine the sunrise over Bethlehem was like that; defiant and merciful. The eternal plans of a God of covenantal connection were in full swing. The sky screamed it. The earth received it. The universe vibrated with it.

From now on, no matter how complicated and messy it got, the darkness couldn't win. God wins. Jesus is here. Everything is new. A new dawn. A new day. A new promise into which God's unspeakable mercy and grace can pour into the hearts of humanity; all who would seize it.

It is truly humbling to be part of the vibrating gathering of humanity that calls itself Highview; to journey with you, to get tired with you, to serve in the intensity of the battle with you, to laugh and rest with you, to love you. To watch you, collectively and as individuals, allow God to press and direct and change and transform. To be given the great gift of your companionship and support through personal losses, challenges, opportunities and celebrations. You are like a winter sunrise to me -- a truly spectacular gift of grace and hope and promise.

As we head into a future of hopeful change and untapped potential -- particularly as it pertains to the expansion of this physical property God has entrusted to us, and all the ways that connects with our vision going forward -- I hope you know first that I love you, and second that I totally believe in you. Honestly, my heart can hardly hold how much I am grateful for you all. And I am fully convinced that God has given us everything we need to succeed in the Five Year Plan as He directs...all the way!!! We have astonishing things ahead for us.

On behalf of Ken and myself, I want to wish you a hushed and holy Christmas season, and a year full of the defiant mercy of a God who can take you all the way.

Ever Grateful,

Ruth Anne