• Jayme
• Max
• Ken
• Jeannie
• Noel
• Dawn
• Meadow
• Alice
• Boding
• Ping
• Veronica
• All our military and their families
• Our community and our leaders
• All our church members
• All those who are struggling to find employment
• United Methodist Church in Kulm, North Dakota – as their reduced membership led to their final service on February 5^th and the closing of the church.
• Jim
• Angelo
• Mark, Matthew and Shannon
• Audrey
• Kathy
• Wiles Family
• Daniel
• Jolie
• Melba
• Beulah
• Katie
• Tracy
• DeWayne
• Myles
• Nancy
• Toby
• Paul
• Miss Emma
• Paula
• Mike
• Janet

• Jim
• Ron
• Micah
• Larry
• For the “Bursting Hearts” of Trinity
• Alice
• Ping
• Boding
• All of us – Children of God
• For all who serve and protect our nation
• Max
• Carmen and Robert
• Joe
• Meadow
• Minna, Mari, Isaac and Nathan –
• Dawn
• Ken
• Elmer
• Frank
• DeWayne
• Myles
• Our military and leaders
• Stewart Family
• Judy
• Fernando
• Family and Friends of Bob Cook
• Gale
• Bob
• Mary Louise
• Katherine
• Mark, Matthew and Shannon
• Sharon
• A young lady who was injured in the Sand Dunes on Saturday and was airlifted to Palm Springs
• Jeff

Experience the love of God in Christ

Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord (Luke 2: 10-11).

In a time of ongoing economic recession and global insecurity there is good news! The good news is that what we need and what the world needs is available to all. In illness, in broken relationships, in poverty, in loneliness, even in violence and conflict, love fills the human heart in ways that nothing else can. Love sustains us in times of illness, heals our brokenness when our relationships crumble, strengthens us when we face the harshest struggles of life, and can fill the empty places in our lives. This is the season of love—perfect love that never fails us!

The birth of the Christ Child is God’s word to the world—to all of us— that we are beloved of God. God’s love for us comes to the world incarnated in the Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. Only divine and perfect love can love us this way. It is difficult to even imagine what it fully means that God loves us so much that we are never alone for God is always with us with the fullness of God’s own love! It is true! God loves each one of us without exception and tells us so through the birth of Christ.

Through the many years of Christmases that I have been blessed to experience there is one other thing I have come to know with definite certainty. When we share the gift of God’s love in Christ Jesus, this precious love grows and blesses all of us that much more! It is what we feel when we share Christmas gifts, when we engage in acts of charity and justice motivated by the spirit of Christmas, when we gather round a table for a favorite meal in this season of joy and love, when we hear and sing the Christmas carols in our congregations, when with the faithful we lift a bright candle in the darkness on Christmas Eve. What we feel is the love of God for us— all of us; a love that grows without hesitation or limitation as we share it with others.

My prayer for you the faithful of the Desert Southwest Conference is that you will again receive and experience the love of God in Christ Jesus this Christmas, and share it with all whom you may encounter. It is the love that is transforming our lives and even the world! God’s love will be enough as we welcome this Christmas and as we prepare for the New Year to come. In the words of the angel: “Do not be afraid; for see— I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2: 10-11

Merry Christmas! God’s love be with you.

—Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño