Deck the halls 2016 was one of the funnest events we have had! There was food, laughter, games, decorating and yes there was a snowball fight (fake snowballs of course). Below you will find a few of our favorite pictures from the event. 

If you don't find your picture within this photo stream or would like to download your picture for your family Christmas card, click here and you can find all the photos from the night. 

We would ask that if you do share your picture on social media that you would use the #RedeemerDeckTheHalls so we can see the compilation of photos and messages throughout the social media world. 

We hope you enjoy all the fun photos. See you all next year. 

What a great turnout for our Turkey Bowl Classic we do every year. We saw more then 170 people come out, enjoy food, games, football and of course community. On this page you will find photos and video footage from yesterday's event. 

If you missed out on this years event, don't you worry, there is always next year. Hope you enjoy the content captured from the Turkey Bowl Classic. 

This post is by Ashley Bowie, Jesus lover, coffee mistress, wordsmith, in Christ.

I have always known that I wanted to be a writer. I remember constructing stories for my barbies from earliest memory. I remember doing my chores and having to redo them because I had been day dreaming when I was supposed to be dusting. I wrote my oscar acceptance speech for best original screenplay when I was about 12. I was supposed to win that around age 25. I was supposed to be a well established writer with a vacation home by now. While I'm at it I was supposed to have a husband and children by now also. I was supposed to win a thousand souls to the Lord, and I was supposed to fall asleep at night feeling satisfied that I was living the life I was supposed to.

It's an interesting thought isn't it? "Supposed to." It means, this was my expectation and it's not what I'm seeing. It means this is what was expected of me and I have not measured up. I think we have all been there. You feel like you're not doing enough or enough of the right things. You have an image in your head or heart of what you wanted to be, or you want to define yourself a certain way and you get frustrated because it’s not looking like you thought it would or coming as easily as you expected.

We all battle this in different ways. I was supposed to get that promotion, I was supposed to forgive that person, I was supposed to have succeeded, I was supposed to provide for all my family's needs, I was supposed to stop worrying, I was supposed to grow faster in this area. It means, in so many words, I've failed. And to be fair, we do fail, regularly and spectacularly. But the problem with "supposed to" is that it revolves primarily around our own expectations.

Last weekend I attended the Bible and breakfast event for the women of Redeemer. Our speaker Danielle Dow spoke directly out of Ephesians 1 and something she said hit home so much more clearly than it ever has before. She said, "your identity is in Christ." Earth shattering revelation there right? Maybe I'm a little slow because I think most of us only hear that about 10 times a week. Danielle agreed that it was not new information but went on pressing that our entire identity is in Christ.

It does not mean that your identity is hidden somewhere in Christ and that if you dig around long enough you can find the title you were meant for. As though you're putting on a name tag that says "disciple maker," or "mother," or "christian business executive." If you get a title it's this "In Christ." It's stamped on your soul, written on your heart and grafted into the fibers of your brain. If God is "I am" then I am "in Christ." This is my name, my dwelling place, my purpose and my life's ambition all rolled into one.

It's not like your home, where you sleep and eat and then go out into the world to do the things God has given us to do. It's more than clothes that we put on to show the world who we are and who we want to be known as. It's more than a job title with responsibilities, more than a relationship that we delight in. Being "in Christ" is your very skin. It's your heart and your heart's rhythm. It's neurons and fingerprints. In Christ is every piece of your identity.

I have shortened the passage that we walked through, but if you have time you should read the whole thing.

Ephesians 1:3-14
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us IN CHRIST with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us IN HIM before the foundation of the world, … according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. IN HIM we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, … making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth IN CHRIST as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things IN HIM, things in heaven and things on earth. IN HIM we have obtained an inheritance… so that we who were the first to hope IN CHRIST might be to the praise of his glory. IN HIM you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed IN HIM were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance…”

Look at the rich depth of description of all the things you are. If your name and all that you are made of is "in Christ" you are blessed, you are chosen, you are adopted, you are redeemed, you are a worshiper, you have an inheritance, You are sealed with the Holy Spirit. How much grander is this than a job title or a list of accomplishments? How much more satisfying is this knowledge than chasing down dreams of earthly glory?

When I recognize that my identity is "in Christ" pouring coffee for eight hours a day becomes worship and blessing, my life and work becomes disciple making work simply because I "In Christ" am doing it. Struggling through scriptures in search of understanding, or working through forgiving others becomes the holiness he is working out in me. There is no greater level to be reached by getting a promotion, no better version of myself to be found by adding a relationship. Sure these things are tools of God used for sanctification, but they don't redeem me any more, they don't increase my inheritance, they have no impact on my adoption, and they are not worthy of my worship.

This means that the only thing that I am "supposed to be" is IN CHRIST. There are commands in scripture to remain in Him to abide in Him, to listen to his voice and carry out his will. This does require action on our part and certainly we get it wrong from time to time. But it is your name to worship Him, it is your blood to be blessed in Him. So when you start feeling weighed down by all the things you thought your life would be or look like by now just remember that who you are is IN CHRIST, and as you remain and abide, he is guiding you to exactly what you are supposed to be.

Hello, I am in Christ and my name is Ashley

-This weeks post is by Ashley Bowie, a member at Redeemer. She pours an excellent cup of coffee, and loves words the way some people love their pets, or children.

Every March my family celebrates a special holiday. On March 19, 1988, my parents adopted three children from the bad side of life. I was only four; I had a sister who was five and had taught me how to tie my shoes, and how to talk to people and a happy rowdy brother who had just turned two. We were a mess for sure. We had been through a lot in our collective short years and had all the fears and bad habits that came with it. But on that special day, we walked into a new home. We had new beds that were just for us, a big back yard with a wooden swing set, clothes, toys, and family, oh boy was there family. On our first night, there was a huge party. It sort of happened by accident. Everyone knew we were coming home, and they all wanted to stop by and say hello to the kids my parents had chosen. We met neighbors and grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. Everyone who had prayed and cried with my parents as they went through the soul trying process of adoption was there to celebrate. I still remember meeting our next door neighbors who had a girl my age, and proudly showing her my bed, a top bunk if you can believe it, and the first stuffed animal that was ever mine. 

After all the cake had been eaten, and the presents had been put away, I was staring up into the passionate blue eyes of my new Mom and the gentle hazel of my new Dad. They kissed me and said, "Welcome home, I love you." I don't have many memories before that day; maybe I was too young, or maybe God was protecting me, but I remember every moment of that day. To this day, we all remember and cherish March 19th. It's the day the orphans came home, the day the emptiness was made full, the day we became a family. We call it Gotcha Day because as my Mom and Dad always said, "that's the day we got-cha."

God adopted you. You were born into hardship and subjected to the neglect and abuse of this world; you carry the fears and bad habits that come with it. And then one day, God brought you home. He gave you a safe place, He cares for your needs and gives you family, so much family. Do you remember the day that God "Got-cha?" 

Easter is just around the corner. This is the time of year we remember with sober minds that God sent His only son, to die on our behalf, to bridge the gap between creator and created. This is also the day that God "got-cha." On that day, He paid the price and decided that you belonged to Him, that you would come home, and you would be His child. 

Romans 8:14-17 "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ..."

Maybe you think the day that God gotcha was a day that you finally gave up or a day your eyes finally opened. Maybe you were at the end of your rope or at the bottom of the pit. Maybe that's when you saw it, when you finally realized that God has adopted you. But He has wanted you from the beginning and has been calling you home to Himself since the day you were born.

Romans 8:29 "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers."

When I was adopted, I was rescued. I was rescued from neglect, and abuse and fear. But I was also brought home. I was given care instead of neglect, compassion instead of abuse, and love instead of fear. It took a while for my little heart to understand that. I didn't realize that I would be fed, so I hid food. I didn't know that mistakes would be met with kindness, so I lied. I think sometimes we focus so much on what God has saved us from, that we forget to recognize what he has saved us to. You were pulled out of the filth of the world so that He could embrace you as His child. You have no need to hide, or cover up. You are home. You are safe. 

No one was going to send me back, this wasn't an accident, there were no regrets and no "plan B" incase this didn't pan out the way they had hoped. If you know anything about post infant adoption, you know that children who have been through a lot, take a lot of love and a lot of work. Attachment disorders, identity disorders, stunted emotional growth, and pathologically deceitful tendencies, these words were in the file of myself, my brother and sister. Imagine what would be in your file right now. Imagine the labels the world would put on you and try to convince you that you don't deserve the love of a Good Father, or that it would be too much work to make you whole again. 

Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Now imagine the impromptu party that happened on your gotcha day. The angels that stopped by to see the child that God had chosen, the family and friends that had prayed for you and were so proud and thrilled that you are now a member of the family. And when the lights go out, and everyone goes home, there He is, your good and great heavenly father looking at you with bright and unending love saying "Welcome home, I love you.”

The Following Blog Post Is By Brandon Adent

I am a sucker for Christmas movies, and one of my favorites is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I’ve probably watched it too many times. Well, most of it. There’s two parts that I’ve actually never seen, that we were trained to fast-forward, so I still do. My sincere thanks to Mom and Dad for that one.

I love Christmas Vacation because, like most Christmas movies, the protagonist is in pursuit of the perfect Christmas and does everything he can to make it happen. When things don’t go as planned, he forges ahead.

Of course, everything breaks. And it’s hilarious.

But in the end, the whole thing comes out more memorable, and “the best Christmas ever”. Why wouldn’t it? Isn’t that how Christmas works?

Ignoring Pain in Pursuit of Perfection

Last week, I referenced a chapter in J.I. Packer’s classic Knowing God. In doing so, I was reminded of how much I love it and began to re-read it in preparation for Christmas.

Which, by the way, is next Friday. You’re welcome.

Anyway, I got to thinking about Christmas as our culture celebrates it. Bells, reindeer, elves, snow-people, sleighs and Santa all came to mind, joyful and happy, and that’s great. Christmas is a really joyous time of year for a lot of people, and it should be, because it is!

But, it’s also a really hard time for others, their emotions sort of get sidelined in the whole thing. We’d rather not think about pain. We'd rather pursue perfection.

As someone who has always enjoyed Christmas, who gets along with family, who has always had more than he needed, and for the most part been able to give without worry or shame, it can be hard identifying with people who aren’t amped out of their minds about the Christmas season.

Actually, I often ignore them. Or call them Scrooge or something.

As I re-read Packer’s chapter on the incarnation, I was reminded that we are adopted by, love, and serve the God who not only cares for and about the broken, but identifies with them.

No Place

Jesus came to this world as God made Man in the body of a baby boy, born in a stable outside a hotel in Bethlehem, about six miles (as the crow flies) from Jerusalem, after Mary and Joseph’s multi-day journey from Nazareth.

The Bible says, in Luke 2.7, “And she gave birth to her firstborn son” - that’s Jesus - “and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn”.

In movies like Christmas Vacation, Christmas always seems to end up happy. Similarly, but I think even more so, this event has been really, really romanticized. If you think about it, there’s a lot of pain and sadness in this passage, alongside all the joy.

There’s not a whole lot in the text about Joseph and Mary’s interactions with the innkeeper. But every time I’ve heard or read this story, I’ve sort of thought of the innkeeper as gracious, doing as best as he or she could, and at least gave the young family shelter when there wasn’t any room for them otherwise.

Maybe there’s probably some truth to that.

But it never occurred to me that perhaps there was “no place for them in the inn” because no one made a place for them. No one looked at a very pregnant woman, likely in labor, who had just traveled several days, and offered her a bed.

I must recognize that this is a very “western” way of looking at the whole situation. I don’t know how this plays out seven thousand miles away and two thousand years later, or how this could have gone in a culture so different from ours. It’s tempting to turn this entire passage into a description of a mother mistreated, rather than the King coming.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think that’s the main point of the text. Packer argues that the text is not primarily concerned with morals, but what actually happened: the Son of God became human in Bethlehem, just as was prophesied.

Happiness and Sorrow

But I can’t read of such callousness toward the broken and needy and not be moved.

And it blows my mind that while I was needy, and calloused against God in His pursuit of me, the Son of God took the form of a human and ran towards the hurt, rather than away from it. That's what we celebrate at Christmas time.

Christmas is a reminder that God identifies with the broken, because He Himself has experienced brokenness, yet without sin.

That means that though we are broken, we have been healed in Christ. We can, and should enjoy and celebrate the coming of the Christ either way, while remembering the sad things we experience and looking forward to a day that there will be no tears.

So, just like sadness and joy coexist at the manger - and at the Cross - it’s okay to be happy and sad at the same time.

Honestly, I don’t really know how that looks practically.

But I think it starts with acknowledging pain and celebrating goodness where they’re found, rather than blindly forging ahead, intent on having a “perfect” Christmas. Jesus acknowledged the broken, identified with them in His coming, died and rose that His perfection might be ours.

Ah, the holidays are here! Not that you needed the reminder. But Christmas is coming!

Good food, good laughs, gifts given and received. And hobbits.

Yes, hobbits. Hobbits and Christmas are very similar. 

If you've read or seen The Lord of The Rings, you know what a hobbit is. They were a people that lived in the north of Middle Earth that caused so little ruckus that most of Middle Earth's inhabitants didn't even know they existed. Seldom growing taller than three feet in our measure, they wore bright colors, lived peacefully, and knew how to party. Here's how Tolkien described them:

Their faces were as a rule good-natured rather than beautiful, broad, bright-eyed, red-cheeked, with mouths apt to laughter, and to eating and drinking. And laugh they did, and eat, and drink, often and heartily, being fond of simple jests at all times, and of six meals a day (when they could get them). They were hospitable, and delighted in parties, and in presents, which they gave away freely and eagerly accepted.

Such a people sound amazing. Of course, there are a few exceptions (if you make it through the series, you'll meet a few of them). But based on that description, I'd love to be a hobbit. Or at least have their attitude.

I (Dane) once heard a friend of mine say, "live like a hobbit" referring to the Christmas season. When I heard that statement, it made my head spin with different questions. How can someone live like a hobbit? What does "living like a hobbit" have to do with Christmas? Then I realized, Christmas is all about bright colors, friends, family, great food, good drink, a love of laughter, and celebrations. And as I thought about that, I realized that hobbits love these things as well. That is amazing. But wait, if that is true how can I "live like a hobbit" this Christmas season?

Before we go any further, we just want to acknowledge that Christmas can be very painful and lonely. And we’re sorry. In no way are we trying to make you feel bad for lack of excitement or happiness, nor are we suggesting that you fake it.

Because Jesus didn’t. When Lazarus died, He wept. When it came time to go to the cross, He agonized over what He knew He had to endure. And yet, Philippians 2 says “for the joy set before him,” He endured the cross, and ultimately rose to victory, taking His seat at the Father’s right hand.

Whatever makes this season painful is a blip on the screen of life. Pain is okay. But don’t let it stifle the happiness and joy that can be found in Jesus.

All that said, here’s some ways to live like a hobbit in the midst of the holidays.

Bringing Joy To Others

In order to bring joy to others, you have to know what brings them joy.

Hobbits are all the same. They all like a good party.

Humans are not all the same. But most of them like a good party. With good food. Sure, we all disagree on what “good” is. But the desire is there.

Through the holidays (and life, really), do your best to create a welcoming and hospitable environment in whatever you do.

Bringing Joy To Yourself

Experiencing joy yourself can be so linked to others’ joy. At least it is for me (Brandon). Often the absolute last thing I want to do is go to a party. But if other people are having a good time, I generally am too.

I’ve personally found that when I try to feel happy, I'm never happy. I wonder if I'm doing some thing wrong, or if I've done something wrong, and how my actions and words are interpreted and whether people like me and... 

*sigh*

And I wonder why I never get "there."

On the flip side, I've found that when I focus on others and their happiness, I’m a lot less crabby, and I’m happier myself.

 Ultimately Bringing Joy To Christ

We celebrate Christmas because of Jesus. When we make Him a big deal, we make Him happy.

Ultimately, it’s reflecting on Him and what He’s done that will produce the most lasting joy, because He has filled our greatest need. We can never throw a good enough party or give enough gifts to get the joy that is ultimately offered in Christ.

How To Live Like A Hobbit During Christmas

Two years ago, after Redeemer's Christmas Eve Service, my wife and I invited a few people over to our house for an extravagant feast. We decided to buy great meat, get gifts for these people, bring out our special drink and be marry together.

Deep down in my sinful heart I didn't want to share my good food and drink because I wanted it all to myself. Fortunately, when I saw the joy and peace that was on the faces of these people because of the wonderful gifts, well that was the greatest gift one could give me. 

So how do you live like a Hobbit during Christmas?

Enjoy the season that is upon us. Throw a lavish party with great food and drink. Laugh often, learn to relax and for goodness sakes do not take yourself too seriously. Christmas is a season of great joy. Not because we get presents, not because we have good food and drink in our system. No, the only reason you can live like a Hobbit on Christmas is because the season is about the coming of the great Messiah. King Jesus has come, conquered, and is consummating a redeemed creation to Himself. 

So this season, enjoy the beautiful gifts that this time brings upon us. Have joy, often laugh, throw a party and enjoy this beautiful season.

This week's post co-written by deacons Dane and Brandon.