Dear people of God:

I’ll be home for Christmas; You can plan on me. Please have snow and mistletoe And presents on the tree.

Now a Christmas standard, the song was written in 1943 from the point of view of a soldier yearning to be with his family at Christmas. He would not, of course, be home for Christmas; as the last line says: I’ll be home for Christmas If only in my dreams.

Many of you will travel somewhere to be “home” for Christmas, wherever you consider home to be. Decades ago I said that home is wherever my books are, but even so when I lived farther east I would travel to Pennsylvania for a few days after Christmas Day to see my family. I was always “home” for Christmas – at whatever church I was serving, in whatever town – but wanted to see family too. Likewise, some of you travel, and some of you have family who travel here to Omaha for Christmas.

Your Church is your spiritual home; if you’ve been away, please come home for Christmas. Of course, the pandemic is not over and if for the sake of good health you prefer not to be in public among the family of faith, that makes good sense. But if you’re confident, you’re vaccinated, and you wear a mask to indoor public places: please come home.

If you’ve stayed away because you’ve grown comfortable watching a service on the computer rather than participating in it yourself: please come home for Christmas. If you’ve stayed away because Pastor Sara is gone and I’m still here: please come home for Christmas. If you’ve stayed away because you’re out of the habit of public worship: please come home for Christmas.

And not only in your dreams. We’ll be here. Christmas Eve we’ll have services at 7:00 and 11:00 pm and on December 26 a service at 9:30 am. Please come home for Christmas.

Pastor Bob