Good morning, friends,

I am sitting here on a glorious sunny morning, wondering if I can move my desk outside for the day. I am struck not only by the beauty the Lord has created, but also by the capacity God put into each of us to appreciate that beauty. How sad it would be if we were not able to be moved by the beauty of a sunrise (that is early morning for those of you who have never seen one...), or awed by a waterfall, or the infinite other ways God expresses his creativity.

We had a pretty cool weekend here at Faith. Saturday was halloween, which by itself doesn't usually do much for me. But we hosted a Trunk & Treat night here that drew over 200 people from our neighborhood. We just invited kids and adults to come have fun with some silly games and a thrill ride on hay. Quite a few of the people stopped on their way out just to say "thank you", which tells me we were successful in spreading a bit of joy among our neighbors. To Dianne, the Begin in Faith group, and all the volunteers who gave of themselves, I want to say "THANK YOU!"

Yesterday we had two great worship services, remembering saints who have died in the past year, and celebrating the God who holds them and us in the palm of his hand. I was talking with a couple who visited our second service, and the wife talked about how much she appreciated the joy that was apparent in our worship, despite the fact that yesterday it seemed like gremlins had taken control of some of the technical details of our service. That is how good God is; that even when things don't go our way, we can glorify God in our bumbling.

We have a busy season coming upon us. Advent starts in less than 4 weeks, with Christmas plays and cantatas and special services and activities galore. We are going to try to honor our great traditions and at the same time do a few new things this season to build bridges into our local community as proclaimers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope you will be able to take part in some old and new ways to celebrate and worship the God who became one of us, Immanuel.

Grace and peace,

Bruce