December 12th, 2021
To all our dear friends,
We are thinking of you as Christmas approaches this year! May this letter find you and your families in good health. We recently put together a book of the Christmas photo cards many have sent through the years. It is on our tea table in our living room and allows Dan and I to remember you all in prayer. We enjoy receiving your cards, letters, and photos - it’s like having you with us through the year!
This month our family is not only preparing for Christmas celebrations, but also for our son, Daniel and Amy’s wedding on January 21st, 2022. We are excited about this new chapter in their lives and welcoming Amy into our family! We have had a very full autumn of celebration. Dan’s father turned 90 in September and the family enjoyed planning a birthday party to celebrate his beautiful and full life. He is very well and enjoying his family. November brought Dan’s 60th birthday, which called for a great celebration as well. We are so thankful for God’s blessing on Dan’s life and the joy Dan is to our family everyday. One week later, Daniel Jr.’s 30th birthday arrived and so we remembered this milestone in his life with an apple themed party. Daniel Jr. has always loved apples. We brought in the new decade of his life with apple cobbler and caramel apples!
This is a year of celebration in the Thomson household! In God’s household, it is always a time of celebration! Christ Jesus is the center of that celebration and so are you! Each one of us who has believed in the Lord Jesus is God’s son and daughter. Christ rejoices and celebrates your salvation in heaven and your ever-growing relationship with Him. And we celebrate Him. At this time of year we remember His Incarnation. Christ’s birth is an event we ought to celebrate; His coming to earth has blessed the entire world with peace and joy!
In the work of Ceaseless Love Ministries, Dan and I are deeply moved as we look over the past year. Through weekly times of prayer together with those with whom we work, we have received powerful answers to great needs and difficult situations. We have been reminded of Christ’s promise in The Gospel of Matthew 18:19-20 –“Again I say unto you, that if two believers on earth agree [that is, are of one mind, in harmony] about anything that they ask [within the will of God], it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in My name, [meeting together as My followers], I am there among them.” Amplified Bible
Pause for a moment and think what Christ’s promise to you offers.
There is a communion between Christians where the discernment through the study of God’s Word and prayer yields divine answers, blessing, and deliverance. The meeting of believers for this purpose is such an important act, such a holy place, that Christ Himself joins them. Would you like to be a part of such a gathering? Are you seeking something from the Lord? Find a brother or sister in Christ who, like you, has a need or a desire and begin praying together regularly. Learn from the Bible what God’s will is on these matters and then pray together; see what God does. Enjoy the sweetness of Christ’s Presence with you.
“Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love.]”
Galatians 6:2 Amplified Bible
Burden bearing is heavy work; a burden carried by two or three lightens the load. Christ invites us to come to Him together, helping each other, loving each other, but He does not expect us to solve all the problems and have all the answers. We are simply to bring the weighty things of our lives to God, seeking His will and then asking Him to do what we cannot. The law of Christ is the law of love. Is there a law that can match such a one? Think of the outcome of lives governed by genuine love and communion with God. How would our family life change? Our church life? Our nation?
Christ came into this world as the Burden Bearer. He, Our Immanuel, “God with us,” came to take upon Himself our burden of sin and despair. His life lived with us brought hope and healing, friendship and fellowship. He restored us to God the Father. This is LOVE! Let us follow Christ’s example and humble ourselves in the work of loving each other. (Philippians 2:5-11)
Dan and I pray for you and thank you for your fellowship in our lives and in the work of Ceaseless Love Ministries. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year! May this year bring many wonderful experiences of seeing burdens lifted and answers to prayer received in communion with each other and Christ in our midst.
In the love of Christ,
Dan & Marie Thomson
Ceaseless Love Ministries
“Therefore if there is any encouragement and comfort in Christ [as there certainly is in abundance], if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship that we share in the Spirit, if there is any great depth of affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, having the same love toward one another, knit together in spirit, intent on one purpose.” Philippians 2:1-2 Amplified Bible