THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS

Dear Readers around the world! This week our article is written by one of our Pastors here in the USA, Pastor Phil Wilson. Please enjoy, and may the Lord Bless you and yours during this season and always!

The Joy of Christmas

It is difficult to look at the Babe, Jesus, lying in the manger, who possessed all
that is so endearing in a precious little one, while remembering the whole
message of the angel: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)

What message did the angel bring? The message of the angel bore our need for a
Savior, the promise fulfilled of a Savior, and what this Babe of humble Bethlehem must endure in being our Savior. What was given unto us that first Christmas day? A
reason to get together as a family, an excuse to lavish gifts on each other, a guide for our temporal lives, another helper in our life of goodness?

No, for unto us was born a Savior. It was not the poet’s intent, nor is it mine, to turn Christmas into Good Friday, but let us marvel in this: The plan of salvation, which was from the beginning, was set into motion with the first human breath of Immanuel.

After 400 years of no prophecy, the tender plant appeared out of a dry ground. The longawaited Messiah had come!

Oh, heavenly tidings of great joy could now be applied to the hearts of men!
But for this great joy to be realized, must this precious little Babe first be despised and rejected of men, must He appear before the chief priests, elders, and scribes,must He suffer in bearing our grief and sorrow, and must He die on the cross?

How much easier it would be if we could continue to think of that precious little
Babe of Bethlehem than to look at the suffering servant, but, by God’s grace, we can
look and still find joy. We have joy in this, that our sin debt has been paid, and death has been vanquished by the heavenly gift, enshrouded in mortal flesh but for a season.

It is not a grievous thing which God has revealed to us, for we know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. (I John 3:5)

Enjoy the Christmas season as you gather with family and friends, sharing in
the natural gifts that we have been given. My prayer for your time spent, as well as
mine, is that we would use that time wisely; that we would read and reread the
old, old story of Jesus and His love, sing the carols of old, and teach our children what it cost for God to give us of Himself, and what it means to us as recipients of that gift.

The Christmas season gives us an opportune time to share the story of Jesus with
many: the clerk at the store, the bell ringer, the mailman, and our neighbor. As we may be caught in the hustle and bustle of busy malls and shopping, placed under the
burden and stress that the world has to offer at this time, and bombarded with “Happy
Holidays,” let us reply with infinite joy in our hearts.

We have already received the greatest gift offered to mankind. We have a Savior, who now reigns in the heavens and in the hearts of the believers.

He can be your Savior,too. What greater gift could be received or given?

In God’s peace,

Pastor Phil Wilson
Ridgefield, Washington