God’s love was so clearly displayed when He sent His Son, Jesus, to be the Savior of the world. God loved us enough, even in our sinful state, to make the greatest sacrifice of all. We are reminded of this love by a story of a little girl who accidentally held her letter upside down in a Christmas production that with her mistake spelled out “CHRIST WAS LOVE.” God does not want anyone to be condemned to hell, but when they choose to not receive the greatest gift that He offers to them, which is salvation through Christ alone, they do not get to experience the life changing, healing love that He provides.
December 25, 2012
The problem when someone takes the “Christ” out of “Christmas” is that they are basically ripping out the whole New Testament. If that is the case, we are still waiting for a Messiah, our sins are not forgiven, and we would have to convert to Judaism. There are so many different elements of the Gospel story that would have to be ignored because of how much proves that Christ truly was the anointed Son of God who died to take away the sins of the world. It is not bad to question things, but at some point you have to believe what the Bible says or else claim that the whole thing is a hoax.
December 24, 2012
Many people have heard the story of the three wise men who came to worship Jesus and bring gold, frankincense and myrrh. However, they were not the only wise guys in the story. The shepherds were the first to hear of Christ’s birth and they responded by immediately coming to see Him and then telling everyone about Him. Joseph was also wise in many ways, one in particular when he obeyed the angel who told him in a dream to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt. This story shows us that it does not matter if you are a seemingly wise person in the flesh because wisdom comes when you respond to God and His leading in your life. Only by following Him do we gain true wisdom, and therefore we can only boast in God and the wisdom He gives us.
December 23, 2012
The Old Testament prophesied about a Messiah that would come to save the world. The worse circumstances got, the more the Israelites clung to the hope of the Messiah. But for years He did not come. Until finally, after 400 years of silence from the prophets, a baby was born in Bethlehem that would grow up to save the people from their sins. This baby was the promised light in a world of darkness. For many, Christmas can be a dark time due to difficult circumstances. Clinging to the hope we have in Christ can get us through the difficulties because we know that at our darkest time there is a light to come soon after.
December 21, 2012
According to the Old Testament Law, after a woman has given birth she is supposed to bring an offering to sacrifice at the temple and it was to be either a young lamb or fowls. After Mary gave birth to Jesus, she followed this Law by bringing fowls to the temple to be sacrificed. Little did she know that she had also brought a lamb, the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world. It was not until 33 years later that she stood at the foot of His cross as He beheld His mother and instructed His disciple to look after her. Mary was not a perfect woman, hence the necessity for sacrifice after Christ’s birth, but it was through her that the greatest sacrifice of all was made for mankind.
December 20, 2012
All parts of creation pointed to Jesus coming as the Savior of the world. When Mary was pregnant, she went with her fiancé, Joseph, to his hometown Bethlehem, fulfilling a prophecy that the Messiah would be born there. Jesus came to earth in the poorest of conditions, being born in a stable, so that no one could claim that they are worse of than He was. And even the people that God chose to proclaim the news to first that the Messiah had come were the smelly, poor shepherds. The Savior was born, and even the creation of the stars told of this event, leading the wise men to the stable in Bethlehem where He lay. This baby boy would be the Lamb that was slain to save the whole world.
December 19, 2012