Article in Local Paper this week

Each year about this time Children from around our country start their Christmas list with “Daddy I want this for Christmas, and this, and this, and this.” It’s no secret that the retail industries will do a bulk of this year’s business from now till the end of the year. But what is Christmas? For some it’s a marketing campaign. For some it’s a pagan holiday, for most of us it’s at least a day off, a day of gifts, good eating, and family time.

Christmas isn’t just a calendar day we celebrate the birth of Christ. Christmas’ greatest present is recounted all through the pages of scripture, its stories that teach principles to live by, how to have a relationship with almighty God, His grace through Jesus to forgive our sins. But that isn’t the whole present. Now before I loose you, let me say this, all of those things are very important, but it was not only the Gospels, not even only the forgiveness of sin, but it was God’s love for you that makes up the whole Present. He gave us instructions in the Bible, He gave us Jesus to serve out our sentence for the sins we’ve committed, He gave us a direct phone line to heaven through our prayers, but His love encompasses it all.

He has made a way for us to live this life in relationship with Him, and to prepare for what comes after. We celebrate that with the image of a baby in the manger. God’s gift to the world, His love and forgiveness, his provisions and care, all wrapped up in swaddling clothing in Bethlehem (Luke Chapter 2).

Dear God,
May we never forget what Christmas is all about and teach our children it’s not about what we get, but what you gave. May your peace and love find its way into our homes and into our hearts this Christmas. In Jesus name…Amen


Look up, Live Life, and be thankful.

Kevin