All are welcome at Astoria Christian Church!

Regular Activities

Sunday Morning

  • 9:00 am - Worship Service
  • 10:15 am - Community Time
  • 10:30 am - Sunday School

Wednesday Night

  • 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm - Family Night (for all ages)

Everyone is invited to all of these events.

Error message

  • Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementBase::execute($args = [], $options = []) should either be compatible with PDOStatement::execute(?array $params = null): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2244 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/database/database.inc).
  • Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementEmpty::current() should either be compatible with Iterator::current(): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2346 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/database/database.inc).
  • Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementEmpty::next() should either be compatible with Iterator::next(): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2346 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/database/database.inc).
  • Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementEmpty::key() should either be compatible with Iterator::key(): mixed, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2346 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/database/database.inc).
  • Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementEmpty::valid() should either be compatible with Iterator::valid(): bool, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2346 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/database/database.inc).
  • Deprecated function: Return type of DatabaseStatementEmpty::rewind() should either be compatible with Iterator::rewind(): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in require_once() (line 2346 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/database/database.inc).
  • Deprecated function: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in drupal_random_bytes() (line 2268 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/bootstrap.inc).
  • Deprecated function: Return type of DateObject::__wakeup() should either be compatible with DateTime::__wakeup(): void, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in include_once() (line 143 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/sites/all/modules/date/date_api/date_api.module).
  • Deprecated function: Return type of DateObject::format($format, $force = false) should either be compatible with DateTime::format(string $format): string, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in include_once() (line 143 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/sites/all/modules/date/date_api/date_api.module).
  • Deprecated function: Return type of DateObject::setTimezone($tz, $force = false) should either be compatible with DateTime::setTimezone(DateTimeZone $timezone): DateTime, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in include_once() (line 143 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/sites/all/modules/date/date_api/date_api.module).
  • Deprecated function: rtrim(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in url() (line 2349 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/common.inc).
  • Deprecated function: strpos(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($haystack) of type string is deprecated in url_is_external() (line 2393 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/common.inc).
  • Deprecated function: str_replace(): Passing null to parameter #3 ($subject) of type array|string is deprecated in url_is_external() (line 2395 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/common.inc).
  • Deprecated function: ltrim(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in url() (line 2311 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/common.inc).
  • Deprecated function: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in _filter_url_trim() (line 1664 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/modules/filter/filter.module).
  • Deprecated function: strpos(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($haystack) of type string is deprecated in url_is_external() (line 2393 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/common.inc).
  • Deprecated function: str_replace(): Passing null to parameter #3 ($subject) of type array|string is deprecated in url_is_external() (line 2395 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/common.inc).
  • Deprecated function: ltrim(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in url() (line 2311 of /home3/hookedup/public_html/astoriachristian.com/includes/common.inc).

Celebration

Are you in the holiday spirit? Feeling festive? Are you merry and jolly? I was talking with someone this week who said they just couldn’t quite feel the joy of the holidays. They were behind on their holiday shopping and were hoping a Christmas concert would get them in the mood.
And I can relate. It’s not that I’m experiencing negative emotions but I don’t know that I’m excited and joyful either. I’m also behind on my Christmas shopping and when I finally did order some presents online this week, it said one of them might not be here before Christmas! One of my kids may get to celebrate Christmas a little later than the rest of us…oops.
And despite how we feel about Christmas this year, Christmas really is about celebration. And for some of us we celebrate for different reasons. Maybe you’re celebrating the end of the year, either because it was good or because you’re ready to move past it, quickly. Maybe you’re celebrating family and friends and time together. Maybe you’re celebrating a Christmas bonus or getting some good presents.
Henri Nouwen writes, “Celebration is first of all the full affirmation of our present condition.” And I love that quote because often what we celebrate is something from the past (like a tradition) or something that we’re anticipating (like opening presents). We too often fail throughout our life to live in the present anyway, but it seems like celebrations highlight that truth.
But a true celebration must be about the present. And not just celebrating what is happening here and now, but accepting it and agreeing that it is happening. True celebration is receiving the whole truth about where our lives are right now.
But I’ve seen that celebrations too often are a way to distract us from the current situation. We fail to celebrate fully because we drown our current situation in some way. We distract ourselves from accepting what’s happening through various means and measures. We don’t fully celebrate because we’re not fully present.
But the amazing thing about Christmas is that it’s all about presence (not just presents). And it’s about knowing and accepting and receiving that right now, no matter our particular situation and circumstances that God is fully present in this world. The name Immanuel, attributed to Jesus means, ‘God with us.’
And that’s the whole point of Christmas. God is with us. And he came to be with us in the most unexpected and profound way possible, as a helpless baby. But the reason he came to us is cause for the greatest celebration: he loves us deeply and unconditionally.
And so, I pray, we celebrate this Christmas season fully embracing the truth of God’s amazing love for us. And maybe we’ll find some joy along the way. God bless.

Document: 
File Celebration - December 18th, 2019.docx