Christmas....what else?

Luke 2:10-11 I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord
 
Okay, so the message is about Christmas.  Would you have expected anything else? In my defense, I LOVE Christmas so this is not a big stretch. I love presents, decorating, eggnog, the tree, cider, our family traditions…
 
Wait a minute….aren’t you missing something Chris?? 
 
No, I was getting to that. I also love the time to reflect on the birth of Jesus and what it meant.  Why didn’t I put that first? Some may say: you’re supposed to be a Christian and a pastor, what gives?  I’d like to say lighten up and enjoy the season but I won’t since I’m, well… a Christian and a pastor. 
 
I bring you good news of great joy
 
I became a follower of Jesus Christ as an adult right at Christmas time (December 17 to be precise-how’s THAT for a guy who loves Christmas!?! –what a GREAT gift) and many things changed for me.  I have to confess I became quite uncomfortable with many of our ‘worldly’ habits and traditions at this time of year and I struggled.  I wasn’t sure how we were supposed to act.  In our first year as Christians we had a big birthday cake for Jesus. We tried REALLY hard to do it ‘right’ and yet something was missing despite all the good Christian stuff we did.
 
I bring you good news of great joy
 
God became flesh to be a reconciliation to the world (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).  The WORD itself, God Himself became flesh (John 1:14) so that we might live in right relationship with Him. That’s why Jesus was born, that through His death we might be set free from sin’s price and by His resurrection we can live a life triumphant until we meet Him again in heaven.  We couldn’t do it ourselves so Christmas becomes a celebration of our helplessness and His antidote.  What an AMAZING present!
 
But I still had to reconcile the two paradigms in my own life and practice. Then Jesus words hit me: I have come that they may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10). BINGO!  That’s it!  This is a time to celebrate, to pull out the stops-joy to the world the LORD has come!  After that, a lot changed for me and I’m happy- another great gift.
 
I bring you good news of great joy
 
You know what? I found they can peacefully, and even joyfully, co-exist.  This is Good News so you can have the trees, presents, traditions and on and on and still keep Christ in Christmas.   The two can live in harmony, it doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition.  It’s about the heart, what’s in it and what fills it….great joy.   So stop feeling guilty about what you do or angry about what I do, Jesus came to build a bridge between fallen man and a Sovereign God. Do you love the Lord? Have you given Him your life?  Do you seek to honor Him in all you do?  Then Christ is in Christmas, the rest is gravy. Speaking of which, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to celebrate that.  Hey, where’s the tinsel?
 
I’d like to wish you, from me and my family, a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. I can’t wait to see what He has in store for 2016!

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