As we celebrate Christmas with our families and friends this year, let us not forget the true meaning of Christmas! With the day fast approaching, the discussions of what presents we want or what presents we are going to give seem to become the center of conversations.
“Did you put up your Christmas tree yet?”
“Have you bought all the gifts for the kids?”
“What did you ask for Christmas this year?”
These seem to be the normal conversations that are discussed this time of year, we are as guilty of this as anyone. In our ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) class at church everyone has been sharing family traditions that keep Christ the center at Christmas and ideas on how we can give to others. This really is what Christmas should be about, right? God sent His Son, Jesus, knowing full well that he would be crucified for the sins of the world, OUR SINS. He gave us life, the chance to have eternity with Him one day, for His own. Now that we have Nadia and have taken on the role as parents, God’s gift is that much more real to us than ever before. He gave us His one and only Son…John 3:16.
Luke 2:11 – “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
Isaiah 53:5 – “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
What more can someone give then their own life?
We urge you, as your friends or family, if you have not yet come to know Christ personally or believed in Him as the Messiah, believe in Him this year. We are sinful human beings, who cannot get to heaven without believing in Jesus and our need for salvation. Christ has the power, through the shedding of His blood on that rugged cross, to wipe away our sins. He gives us hope for what is ahead in the next life, in eternity.
What is life without hope? And what hope do we have without Christ?
1 Peter 1:3-4 – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you.
God sent us a gift, a far more precious gift than any of us could ever give someone.
So, this Christmas season, our prayer is that if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior that you would come to know Him and believe in Him. With Christ’s help, your life will be changed, no, it will be transformed! This life is a struggle, but with His help you can conquer anything.
Romans 8:37 – “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
We would love to talk to you if you have any questions regarding eternity and where you stand with God. We are all a work in progress and none of us will ever be completed until the Lord calls us home. Our prayer is that our loved ones would know the joy and hope of spending eternity with Him one day.
In light of God’s gift to us, Jesus, we’ve discussed how we as a family can give sacrificially this Christmas and throughout the year. We really should always be giving, shouldn’t we? That’s what Christ’s whole life was about, giving sacrificially of Himself.
So, as a family we sat down and thought of some ways we could give globally and locally this year. The past five years, we have enjoyed participating in Operation Christmas Child, http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/occ, and we can’t wait until Nadia is old enough to understand and help pack a shoebox for a needy child in another Country. But, somehow, this didn’t seem as though we were really sacrificing. So, we decided to rummage through our closets and find things to give away, because we really don’t need an entire closet full of clothes or shoes. The Daily Bread, http://www.lynchburgdailybread.com/ , has been a ministry we’ve volunteered with in the past and we felt the people there needed those clothes.
But, the question of how can we make an impact for Lynchburg kept gnawing in the back of our hearts and minds. Then a local ministry came to our attention, an outdoor outreach for at-risk youth, Urban Mountain Adventures, http://urbanmountainadventures.org/. We have prayerfully considered volunteering our time, in hopes of making an eternal impact on the youth of Lynchburg. We do not have any details at this time of what the next year holds for us concerning this ministry, but we are open to what the Lord may have for us. Whether it be the giving of our time or giving financially, we feel this ministry is something we want to be a part of and see grow. We often clench “time” from the Lord, holding tightly to it as we would anything else, saying, “No Lord, not that, you’re asking too much from me.” Giving of our time is hard, there is so much that needs to get done in a day, week, or months time. But, we’ve realized it’s often the things that will last into eternity that take time. Thus, we would appreciate your prayers concerning decisions for the future and what would honor the Lord.
In closing, a friend sent us a family’s story/blog to read, which made us think even more about how we will do Christmas in the future. A question posed from this family’s son should strike an inner cord in us: “But, what does Jesus get for His birthday?” We encourage you to take the time and read their story, http://www.aholyexperience.com/2011/12/when-christmas-gets-radical-whose-birthday-is-it-really/. It may just change the way you view Christmas. We pray that you have a wonderful Christmas celebrating Christ’s birth and a New Year that is filled with love, laughter, and giving sacrificially.
Blessings,
Justin, Joy, and Nadia
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