The Atwood Community Christmas Gathering will be held almost as soon as the dishes are washed up from our Thanksgiving feast. Santa Claus has once again included Atwood in his around the world tour of cities, towns, and villages this year. So bring a dish, bowl, or platter of finger foods over to the Community Building around 6:00 P. M. on Sunday evening, December 2^nd . Bring the children and grandchildren with you and be ready to join with neighbors and friends in one of the best celebrations of the Christmas season during this wonderful time of the year.

We enjoyed hearing James Hammonds and Ted Deaton sing “Until Then” as the special music selection during the song and worship portion of our services. It is about living the Christian life in our temporary home here on earth while looking forward to our eternal home in heaven.

Rev. Brown spoke on some of the finer points of boasting in his message “Eternal Thanks” which was based in Psalm 44 and Psalm 100.

Worldly things that we boast on may have lost their appeal when we look back on them in later years. Their appeal changes in our eyes, but God never changes. He stays the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow.

Although it is possible to boast on others, our grandchildren, and our church without crossing the line into being prideful, we can always boast on God.

We can boast on God who is the all-powerful creator of the universe, this earth, and all that is on it. We can boast on this all-powerful God who reached down to create mankind out of the dust of the earth and then breathed life into each of us. Even after we fell into sin, He provided a way of salvation for us, and He breathes the breath of spiritual life into us.

We can boast that He is a God of action. We can go to Him when we need His help. He moves in both the spiritual and physical world to bring about everyday miracles as well as the miracles that can never be explained away.

We can boast on a God who doesn’t always work in the way we think He will. We can trust such a God that His plan is better than the one we thought of.

We can boast on a God who gives us unmerited favor and has provided all that we have in every area of our lives.

We can even boast on the very name of God—of Jesus. If His name be lifted up, He will draw all people. Our God is truly an amazing God.

Next Sunday we are looking forward to hearing a young missionary named Kolby Johnson speak about some of the ways he has seen God work on the missionary field. We hope very much that you will be able to join us.