this Christmas season we are extremely thankful for all of you. We are thankful for God’s provision and strength this month. There have been many opportunities to share Christ the past few weeks as we counted down the days to Christmas in the weeks of Advent.
Adventskaffee. The second week of Advent, we had an evangelistic outreach with coffee, cookies and the gospel. We invited a fellow pastor Frank Krause from Landshut to speak to our guests. We had 5 unsaved guests and 2 regular visitors in attendance. Both K&M came and heard the gospel once again. Please pray for their salvation. It was a terrific afternoon connecting with people. Thank you for praying.
Caroling. This past Friday we went caroling in a nursing home. This was something new for us as a church. Most of the nursing homes said no, and we were excited when the Lutheran one agreed to have us come. The kids did fantastic and the 30-40 tenants were genuinely thankful and joyful. The last lady I spoke to was in tears and said that in the 20 years she has lived there she has never heard anyone proclaim the truth of the gospel in the way we just did. It was a tremendous blessing to encourage this senior saint. But as we were leaving the two ladies in charge mentioned they were displeased by the gospel message of Christ. It was a teaching moment for the teens and the adult church members what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” We do not know if we will be allowed to return next year. But they heard the gospel.
Neighbors. This week we plan to hand out baggies of baked cookies and evangelistic calendars to our neighbors in town. We will also be caroling to build relationships. Please pray for open doors and receptive hearts. We are all looking forward to doing this as a whole family.
Kids Play. This coming Sunday is the fourth week of our Advent season and Christmas Eve. The kids and teens have been preparing a play, there will be special music, poems and a candle light service to direct our thoughts to the incarnation of Jesus at Christmas. There will be unsaved there. Please pray for the final preparations this week. Pray for hearts to be prepared to hear the gospel once again.
We are looking forward to spending time as a family after this Sunday for Christmas. We wish you God’s blessings for this Christmas season and a happy new year. We are so thankful for you and your prayers on our behalf.
Merry Christmas! Frohe Weihnachten!
For His Glory,
Mark and Leslie Boyd
Our Adventskaffee: coffee, cookies and the gospel. A great combination!
Table decorations for the Advents Coffee. Our coworkers Russ and Bianca made the table centerpieces and the church folks made plenty of cookies for everyone to enjoy.
Singing at a nursing home was a new ministry opportunity for us. The 12 kids and teens did a fantastic job singing and playing melody bells.
