Are you ever pleased and delighted to have your grown children encourage you with a gift of spiritual insight? After all those years of being the adult, it is such a delight to have one of them suddenly turn to you and give you deeply spiritual encouragement. Every time it happens to me, I feel such an upwelling of joy. Wow, my children are returning some of their spiritual learning - tempered and filtered through their own lives, coming fresh from their experience with God. It is so humbling. My son has done that on a regular basis, as an outgrowth of his own journey. 

​A delightful presentation of the Nativity Story was enjoyed by all as we entered the Christmas week.  Children and young folks of all ages participated in the production, including the newest member of the congregation, Elijah, as our own baby Jesus in the manger.  The kids did a wonderful job, and as is typical of children’s performances, we had a loose sheep or two running around the set.  It was a joy to watch for all in the pews.  Afterward, everyone joined together for fellowship over pizza and cake recognizing the birth of our Lord.  Many thanks to Barb and Diana for their vision and creativity in putting the pageant together this year.  We can hardly wait for next year’s performance!

December 22
4th Sunday of Advent
1:30 pm Service
St. James Christmas Pageant
The pageant will be presented during the Service.
Following the service we will have Pizza, salad and goodies. Please come and join us!!

Practices for pageant. Dec. 8th and 15th right after the church service for about 15-20 minutes.

December 24th
Christmas Eve Service
8:00 pm Sing along
8:30 pm Service begins
Campus Bible Church
222 E. Fountain Way, Fresno, CA 93704

December 25th
Christmas Day Service
10:00 am Church Office Chapel
1300 E. Shaw Ave. #174, Fresno, CA 93710

In the last article about Bread and Wine we looked at Jesus’ words in John 6.  He declared that He was the Bread come down from heaven, and all who eat of His flesh will never die.  We considered what it must have been like to be a first century Jew hearing a famous Rabbi saying these words.  ​

In the eyes of all the disciples it went downhill from there!  

One of the things that stands out as one reads the writings of the Early Church Fathers from Ignatius of Antioch (@100 A.D.) onward is how universal is the idea of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar; what Ignatius and later fathers all called the Holy Eucharist.  Ignatius, who was a disciple of John the Apostle, and was the Bishop of the Church of Antioch (where both Paul and Peter taught) declares that the Holy Eucharist is the “Medicine of Immortality.”  He says that he no longer desires the “dainties” of this world, but for bread he longs for the flesh of Christ and for drink he longs for the blood of Christ “an immortal love feast indeed!”  The Real Presence means that the bread and the wine truly become the body and blood of Christ by the end of the prayer over the elements and that they are the very life of God, eternal life, as God’s people eat and drink.

The first annual St. James family picnic was held on September 7th at Meadow Lakes.  We all gathered together on a perfect day for some sunshine, fishing, swimming, fellowship and most importantly LOTS of great food!  Wally celebrated his 72nd birthday, which coincidentally happened to land on the very same day as our picnic, and was treated to a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday and his own personal birthday cake.  

Original Article: ​https://world.wng.org/2019/07/true_grit

Rugged pioneers settled a desolate landscape in the plains of north Texas nearly two centuries ago. So, it seems fitting for a group of Christians who fled an arid spiritual landscape more than a decade ago to gather here and survey their progress after pulling up stakes to build something new.