"I Still Have a Dream"

Christmas Eve, 2012

Dear St. Paul’s Family,
 

From a Sermon on Christmas Eve
by Martin Luther King, Jr.
(Preached on December 24, 1967, at Ebenezer Baptist Church)
 

This Christmas season finds us a rather bewildered human race. We have neither peace within nor peace without. Everywhere paralyzing fears harrow people by day and haunt them by night. Our world is sick with war; everywhere we turn we see its ominous possibilities. And yet, my friends, the Christmas hope for peace and good will toward all men can no longer be dismissed as a kind of pious dream of some utopian. If we don’t have good will toward men in this world, we will destroy ourselves by the misuse of our own instruments and our own power….

I have a dream that one day men will rise up and come to see that they are made to live together as brothers.

I still have a dream this morning that one day every Negro in this country, every colored person in the world, will be judged on the basis of the content of his character rather than the color of his skin, and every man will respect the dignity and worth of human personality.

I still have a dream that one day the idle industries of Appalachia will be revitalized, and the empty stomachs of Mississippi will be filled, and brotherhood will be more than a few words at the end of a prayer, but rather the first order of business on every legislative agenda.

I still have a dream today that one day justice will roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I still have a dream today that in all of our state houses and city halls men will be elected to go there who will do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with their God.

I still have a dream today that one day war will come to an end, that men will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, that nations will no longer rise up against nations, neither will they study war any more.

I still have a dream today that one day the lamb and the lion will lie down together and every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid.

I still have a dream today that one day every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill will be made low, the rough places will be made smooth and the crooked places straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

I still have a dream that with this faith we will be able to adjourn the councils of despair and bring new light into the dark chambers of pessimism. With this faith we will be able to speed up the day when there will be peace on earth and good will toward men. It will be a glorious day, the morning stars will sing together, and the sons of God will shout for joy.


On behalf of the staff and lay leadership of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Let us move into 2013 with a renewed commitment to bear witness to the light of Christ, which no darkness can overcome.

Grace and Peace, Indeed,

Magrey  

The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA  51012
Ph:  712-225-3955
Email:  mdevega@sp-umc.org



CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE
Join us tonight at 5:30 for a very special celebration of the birth of Christ, featuring carols, candle lighting, and a sermon in rhyme titled “A St. Paul’s Christmas Carol.” To help extend hospitality to the many guests we are anticipating tonight, please consider parking as far away from the church campus as you are comfortable in walking.

IN OBSERVANCE OF CHRISTMAS AND THE NEW YEAR
The church office will be closed tomorrow and Wednesday in celebration of Christmas, as well as next Tuesday, January 1.  The Mid-Week Message will continue the week of January 7.

END OF THE YEAR GIVING
Help St. Paul’s meet all of its financial obligations in 2012 by making your contributions to the general fund and postmarking your gifts by December 31.  Thank you for all of your generosity over the past year.