If you missed yesterday's service. I want to recap my thoughts. We began a new series titled The Conspiracy of Christmas. I know, weird title! When people hear the word conspiracy they think of evil men gathered together in secret to plot an illegal or violent scheme. This is a long email, so bear with me.

The story of Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love. So, what happened? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a Savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists. And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas?

What if Christmas became a world-changing event again? I am going to ask you maybe for the first time in your life to enter the story of Christmas. I want to challenge you to have a different Christmas this year. We desire to not get caught up in all the Christmas rush and consumerism but to reflect on the coming of Jesus and how we can share His Gospel to the world in word and deed this season.

I am asking that you re-consider your spending and giving for Christmas. What if we redirected some of what we spend to help the poor, the lonely, the diseased? What kind of difference can we make? There will 3,900 children die today because of water borne disease. You can help make a difference in stopping this disaster. Americans spend 450 billion dollars each year on Christmas, but it would only take 10 billion dollars to solve the world's water problem by digging fresh water wells. Go to www.adventconspiracy.com for more details.

During December we want you to give to a special year end missions offering through Bridge Church. This offering will be used to help fund the digging of wells around the world, the support of 5,000 missionaries who share Jesus in over 110 countries, and funding for Bridge Church people going on mission trips in 2009. We are partnering with Living Water International to dig wells (http://www.water.cc/) and The International Mission Board to fund missionaries (http://www.imb.org).

Getting back to the conspiracy, what is this? The conspiracy is that we want followers of Jesus around America and the world to change their mind and change their spending when it comes to Christmas. I love Christmas! We have our lights up and our tree lit and are waiting for Christmas morning with anticipation. We want you to look at how you and your family can make Christmas a life changing event once again. Churches and followers of Jesus can make a change for the better. To listen to yesterday's sermon, go to www.thebridge4u.net to get the details.