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January 1, 2026 From The Pastor’s Desk: “This Will Be A SIGN To You…” If you drive past Mt. Carmel, you will notice that we have had a new LED sign installed in the front yard. The new sign was an anonymous gift given to the glory of God by a family in our church. On behalf of the entire congregation, I want to express our heartfelt gratitude to the donors for this most generous gift. I also want to thank our Trustees for working on this for many months to sort out the city zoning and electrical permits that enabled the sign to be installed this past week. I am personally overjoyed that this new sign is automatic and runs words across the screen day and night. Messages can be changed remotely from a mobile or computer application. (As of right now, it is not 100% complete ~ power directly to the sign is yet to be done.) As I passed by the lighted sign the other night, it made me think about the significance of signs. The term 'sign' comes from Latin ‘signum’ meaning “an identifying mark, token, symbol, proof, signal, omen, sign in the heavens, etc.” ( www.jesus-everyday.com/concordance-sign-signs ). The main purpose of signs is to convey a message or communicate information to direct a person in making decisions. There are at least 185 instances where the word “sign” is mentioned in the Bible. Throughout the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, signs are often depicted as manifestations of God's presence and power. In Genesis 1:14, God gave us our first sign: “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” We see this sign repeated again in John 1:9 – ”The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.” The light was a sign pointing to Jesus. In fact, the eternal light was and IS Jesus. The Nativity story that we just celebrated at Christmas is full of signs pointing to Jesus. Joseph was given a sign in a dream of the coming Messiah by giving him the name “Jesus.” (Matthew 1:21). This sign is confirmed by Mary when an angel of the Lord reveals also to her that she is with child by the Holy Spirit “and he is to be called ‘Jesus.’” (Luke 1:31). The shepherds were given a sign of Emmanuel – God with us - in a “babe wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:12) The magi were led by a sign – “a star rising (in the east) – to “come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2) In Jesus’ adult ministry, John the Baptist recognized Jesus coming down to the Jordan river as the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29). In fact, there are seven signs in the Gospel of John from the wedding at Cana (John 4) to raising Lazarus (John 11) that proves Jesus’ authority and divinity as the Son of Man and the Son of God. In the last days of His ministry, Jesus pointed to himself as the sign of God’s unconditional love. At the Last Supper, Jesus offers up the Passover bread and wine as sacrificial signs: “This is my body given for you…this is my blood poured out for you….” (Luke 22:19-20). All this is to point out that signs are important. Signs are the primary way God communicates to us. During this season of Epiphany, we will be following the signs in the Bible that point to Jesus in hope that ’ birth, life, teaching, and suffering. All this is to prove that signs are important. Signs are the primary way God communicates to us. During this season of Epiphany, we will be following the signs in the Bible that point to Jesus in our worship series on Sundays at 10am. I hope you will join us in person or on Facebook Live each week. So back to our new church sign. I have been thinking about what information will go on the sign. Maybe you have some ideas you want to share with us? More importantly, will our sign match what people will experience when they come inside our church doors? Our church council and leadership teams will be meeting the next two months to pray and plan ministry events that will draw people to follow Jesus Christ. If you aren’t serving in a ministry area in the church, I want to encourage you to offer up your spiritual gifts to further Christ’s kingdom. You don’t have to be a member to come to one of our ministry team meetings. You might be the key to opening a new door to make even more disciples for Jesus. If you are waiting for a sign to follow Jesus in 2026, this is it! Let’s all commit to being walking billboards that share the love of Jesus boldly in our community this year. In Christ Alone, Pastor Mary Miller