The talent show we had on Sunday, October 13, was successful.  We enjoyed many people's talents in music, dance, and many jokes our children and youth group presented made the whole show go smoothly.  So, I would like to start my "Take Note" with some jokes for this month.

A man was complaining to God, "Oh my God. I have kept praying to give myself a chance to win the lottery. Why didn't you give me that luck?"  God's answer, "Son, why don't you buy a ticket yourself first and pray?"  Here's one more.  When we ask God for something, God's answer should be one of these, "Yes", "No", or "Are you kidding?"  Sometimes, we are waiting for God's answer even though we didn't even try anything properly on our own.  Or, we ask God for something we don't deserve or unprofitable for us . 

Now, we are going to be in the Advent season, which symbolizes the long waiting time for God's people for the Messiah.  It was answered to the people who trusted God with patience, and in God's mercy, not just the Israelites, but all the people on the earth who believe in God's son, Jesus Christ, were given him as our Savior. 

We will have many events to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in December.  Among them, the second joint service and concert with the First Congregational Church on Sunday, December 8, will be an event we will enjoy with the neighboring church and all the people in this community.  The Messiah Concert last year gave us a good memory, and we anticipate another meaningful event with them this year. 

The program this year will have a larger variety of composers and styles of music.  It consists of French Baroque composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, British composer John Rutter, Welsh composer William Mathias, and well known American composers Dale Wood and Joel Raney. Handbell choir members of two churches and a guest instrumental group will add more pleasure to this concert.

This concert is not only for our celebration for Jesus Christ, but it's our way to show how we appreciate God's plan of scarifying His beloved Son for our salvation.  God loves us this much and we praise God with our hearts and minds.   The joint service will be at our church at 10 a.m. and the concert will be at the First Congregational Church at 3 p.m. on Sunday, December 8. Let us invite our families and friends to the event!