Last night 37 of the church family went caroling in 50 degree weather. The youngest was three and the oldest in their 60s. It was a lot of fun to sing the gospel with the old favorite carols of Christmas. It was fun to see the smiles on most people’s faces as we briefly interrupted their evening with the good news of the birth of the King.
May God help us to not lose sight of what is really important this Christmastide. What a privilege to have a personal relationship with the God of the universe through the sacrificial gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, born and wrapped for us in swaddling clothes only to be later in his life to be stripped, beaten, and nailed to a wooden cross for your sins and mine.
Many folks find this time of the year to be a very unhappy time. If this is so, it is only because they have missed the gift of God for them in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The troubled heart full of anger, bitterness, lust, envy, or whatever wrong bent has been beat into it through the reality of living in a fallen world veiled in the night of sin, is bound to be unhappy. But with God’s help, if they could only see the forgiveness, healing, peace, joy, and purpose for living found in Jesus Christ, their life and disposition could change from darkness into light.
So many people are waiting for a change. They want their parents to change, or the children to change, or their job to change, or the government to change, or their spouse or significant other to change. In reality, what is needed is for themselves to change. In my beginner’s Sunday School class one married lady made this comment: “Since I have been coming here my life has changed. My attitudes have changed and as a result my relationship with my husband has changed. My changing is impacting my husband and effecting a change in him and our relationship.” If Jesus Christ was a virus, it would be a sickness which we should all want to catch and to pass on to others. For this infection affects a cure to the human heart and moves us from sickness to health and hope.
So then I cough up this letter to you and pray you are infected with the forgiveness, hope, peace, and joy that only a right relationship with Jesus Christ can bring. May we truly be praising God for His Son Jesus the Christ, the best of all gifts given to us poor sinners.
Merry Christmas
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