Hello Folks,
     This past Sunday night approximately 50 of our children presented a musical that was exceptional in many ways.  The children were well prepared, knew their prats, and presented them with great enthusiasm.  You could tell that they, and those who helped them had worked very hard in making this a high quality presentation.  Shannon and Ken Brewer, as well as Todd and Sarah Aiken, along with other adults helped make it of great value for the kingdom. 
     Every year in our congregation, as in most, we do certain things that pretain to Christmas.  Most of our adult Sunday School classes have a Christmas party.  We have a Christmas with the Church dinner with good attendance along with a children's program like the one I talked about in the previous paragraph.  I also work in conjunction with Dale Gruver, our Worship Pastor, to coordinate the sermons with the worship music so Advent Season can have a very concentrated impact.  We have done all of this in an effort to help people remember that Christmas is about the Savior.  I do not know if we always get it right but I do know that we are attempting to accomplish it as much as we can.  I pray that this year those who have attended Greeneville First Church of God will have had to think about Jesus.  That they have had to think about who He is, what He has done, and what it means to them.  If this is not the end results then we have missed the real meaning of Christmas.  I pray that this Christmas season will have real impact upon you and your family and that you will know that Jesus is the real reason for our celebration. 
     Ruth and I will be visiting our children over the holidays so you will not hear from me for a couple of weeks on the blog but when I get back from our family celebration I will get back on line and communicate some of my thoughts to you once again.  God bless you all.

Have a Great One,

HGRudd

Hello Folks,
     Two weeks from today is Christmas Day.  Most of us will be blessed by God to be with our families and to celebrate the wonders of the joys of what this day means.  While the shepherds could not have understood all that they were part of almost 2000 years ago they did know that they were witnessing something that was amazing.  While you and I do not know what will come in the days and weeks in fronts of us know this the One who was born on that Christmas morning is the One who will bring the amazing and wonderful to our lives if we would simply come to Him.
     There is a pastor I know in Pennsylvania who is putting out an excellent "magazine" that  would do all of us good to receive.  His name is Bruce Wilson and the "magazine" is called Truth In HD.  You can contact Pastor Wilson at pastorbruce53@yahoo.com and I would encourage you to do so and get on his mailing list.
     Many of you are probably not familiar with the magazine Truth Matters published by Pastor's Fellowship but it is certainly worth your time and effort to read.  The cost is very minimal and you can contact the co-editors David DeVoll at davedevoll@yahoo.com orRichard Bradley skypilotwo@msn.com if you would like to receive a copy.  In this particular issue there are articles that every family should read that pretain to raising children up for the King and not for the culture.  If you cannot afford the cost of the magazine tell our editors to send me the bill for it and I will pay for one issue for you.  I know that in the future when Pastor's Fellowship gets its website up there will be an effort to make this magazine available on-line. 
     God's truth is amazing and in a world that is filled with all types of counterfeits it is vitally important that His truth be lifted for all to hear.  The material I have told you about are two such venues where truth is given for all to hear. 

Have a Great Day,

HGRudd

Hello Folks,
     All around us are people getting ready for Christmas.  Ruth and I will be going to viist our children and grandchildren as well as some friends who are very special to us.  I am sure that most of you have particular plans for Christmas.  The eating of dinner, the opening of gifts, the celebration of family, and, I pray, the wonders of the birth of Christ will be part of your Christmas.  May we never forget in the midst of being with our families and friends that there is a wonderful Savior whose birth we are celebrating.  Make sure you plan some way to bring Christ into the midst of your time with those you love and remind them of the Savior as well.
     Every year it seems that our culture attempts to remove Christ from Christmas.  This year the governor of one of the Northeast States decided that he would not allow a Christmas tree to be placed at the govenor's mansion but he called it a "holiday" tree.  Different atheist organizations and the ACLU appear to have an agenda to make sure that Christ be excluded.  I guess we could remind them of the story of a king who attempt to exclude Jesus from life itself and failed dramatically.  We could tell them of people who have opposed Jesus and even crucified Him and then we could tell them the rest of the story about the resurrection. I realize that many will not believe it at all but know this the truth of the Savior will never be lost as long as Christians tell the story.  Be a person who tells the story to those around you this year.  Tell it to your children, your grandchildren, your friends, your neighbors and anyone else that you can.  This is the most amazing story that has ever been given to mankind to tell and may God's glorious church be the "voice crying in the wilderness".
     I pray that the joy of Christ be in your home this year.

H. G. Rudd