Christmas Countdown - It's Here

It's early on Christmas morning and although Carolyn and I were up until almost 2 am I woke up a few hours later and began to reflect on the season and God's faithfulness.

We had a beautiful Christmas Eve Candlelight service at Church last night. Songs of joy filled the sanctuary and our hearts as well. At the end of the service we lit about a hundred candles and held them as we sang about the light coming into the world and then we sang Silent Night. To me and many others there was a tangible  presence of the Lord, it was simply peaceful. Afterwards Carolyn and I got together with some friends and family, we shared a meal and just sat and stood around talking, the little ones played some games and although most of us were tired we lingered in the warmth of friendship with one another. Naturally the kids were super excited about what was to come, they wanted to stay up and at the same time they wanted to go to bed in order to hasten Christmas morning coming. All in all we had a very nice time together.

Our gathering last night at Church was a group of people of various ages, ethnicities and backgrounds, with some shared and some different life experiences. The beautiful thing I saw was that although we were different in so many ways we had this in common, God loves each of us and Jesus was the focus of the night.

In the scripture referenced above the announcement of Jesus' birth was for everyone. The angel said "Unto You" the Messiah has been born. One southern preacher put it this way "unto all y'all" the Messiah has been born. You see, the first announcement of the birth of Jesus came to the outcasts, the shepherds. Jesus had a way of always reaching out to the outcasts. Because of that the more prominent of society could say "if He was announced to the outcasts surely He's for us too" If he was announced first to the more favored of society the outcast would have remained outcasts, at least in their mind. God sent His Son to everyone and that includes you. He came to us in that way so we could come to Him just as we are and not be afraid. No matter where you are in life, no matter what you may have done or not done, God sent His Son for all y'all. He sent him to rescue you from the sin that separates you from God. We all sin but the gift of God is forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus.

My day will be very busy today but I certainly want to take moments throughout the day to reflect on and thank God for His faithfulness to me. God keeps His promises to us and one thing He has promised us all is that Jesus came to give us life to the full along with eternal life. It's all found in the gift called Christmas.

So I pray that you'll Unwrap Christmas today and enjoy the gift of Jesus.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year - I hope to be able to see you in Church tomorrow.

With much love,