Monthly Archives: December 2016

As I see the Facebook and Twitter posts of friends with full and overflowing churches on this Christmas morning I realize that – at least in my corner of the world – the opposite is more often true: overflowing empty seats, lots of space for guests that were invited but likely won’t attend. And yet…

The lostness of our community is not surprising nor is it unusual. According to our International Mission Board there are still over 3,000 people groups who have never heard the gospel, the Christmas message. And yet…

The emptiness of our buildings is not a reflection on God’s absence, for as we gather for worship on this Christmas morning we acknowledge that indeed, Emmanuel, God-With-Us, has been born! With shepherds and with angels we rejoice, knowing that God is not distant and far-off but that “The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, HCSB),.

May your Christmas worship and celebration be filled with the joy that only God provides through our relationship with Him as we come to know Jesus Christ!

“Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David.” (Luke 2:11, HCSB)

Maybe it’s just because I’ve spent more time than normal in the urgent care facility while my wife is being treated for pneumonia and the flu – all together! Maybe it’s because I am more acutely aware of aging and the challenges just since I turned 60 this year. Maybe it’s because more of the families I share life with as their pastor are sharing the painful side of their Christmas stories of step-children, step-parents, grandchildren, and the ways which family members have of hurting one another.

Whatever the reason, I have been more attuned to the painful side of Christmas. Mary and Joseph were simple, normal young adults living in Nazareth. And then…. Mary is pregnant – though she and Joseph are only betrothed and not yet married. A hastily arranged marriage because an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. A long trip to Bethlehem because some foreign ruler wanted to impose a new tax. A birth in an animal stall because the guest houses were filled with other travelers. Shepherds arriving to see the new born child because of some otherworldly angelic appearance.

A trip to Egypt to escape the wrath of a brutal and murderous tyrant. A return trip home to Nazareth with all the gossip and shame of Joseph and Mary’s predicament.

While we sing of joy the truth is Joseph and Mary may have not felt very ‘joyous’ very often. Probably they felt stress, anxiety, fear, and loneliness.

We gleefully and joyfully attend holiday parties, we exchange festively wrapped gifts, we ooh and aah over magnificent decorations. We eat special food associated with childhood memories and we diligently try to create lasting memories of a special holiday season – one that we can declare as the ‘Most Wonderful Time of the Year!’

Maybe it’s just the pastoral concerns – families enduring surgeries, families facing mental illnesses, families struggling with losses – but this season the ‘JOY’ we are told to experience is different. Instead of finding joy in the material and commercialized vision of Christmas – where true love is always realized, where the perfect gift is always under the tree, and where the challenges are resolved so that all live happily ever after – let us seek for joy in the promise of God’s presence, in His intervention in our lives through the year, and in the building blocks of hope: Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection and return.

JOY TO THE WORLD! THE KING IS COME!

Merry Christmas!

Pastor Steve