Christmas & New Year Article Archives What Does Christmas Mean To You? At the end of each year, we begin a series of traditions. We celebrate Christmas. We make our New Year's resolutions. But long before Easter arrives, we have forgotten our New Year's resolutions. Why is this? Maybe we need to examine when and how we make our resolutions. It is easy to be filled with joy and think that we are God's children during the Christmas season. It is easy to think of the Christ child, or any child, and get a warm feeling inside. We are naturally attracted to children because they are so innocent and adorable. But looking ahead to Easter, how attracted are we to the image of Christ's broken body on the cross? How easy is it to get a warm feeling inside while witnessing Christ's suffering? Christmas means CHRIST: Made A Sacrifice for us. If we were to make eye contact with Christ on the cross, our reaction would tell the tale of what Christmas has meant to us. For those who see love and forgiveness in Christ's eyes, Christmas has meant CHRIST: Master And Saviour. For those who turn their heads away in shame, Christmas has meant CHRIST: Merely A Symbol. It is not enough for Christ to be a symbol of what we desire from God: His good gifts and salvation. We must also allow Christ to be our Lord (Master) AND our Saviour. Instead of making New Year's resolutions that you probably won't keep, why not make a permanent commitment to God instead? Come to Sunday School to learn more about how Christ should be your Lord and Saviour. Perhaps we should make commitments right now in anticipation of Christmas, Easter, and the second coming of Jesus. Jesus was born, He died, He was resurrected, and He's coming back someday. Don't put off making a commitment to God too long. And don't wait too long to follow through on that commitment. When Jesus returns, it won't matter what you intended to do tomorrow. All that will matter is what commitments you did follow through on today. Jeff Nape Mercy For Christmas Sandy was cooking supper and her sister Betty offered to help. When Betty drained the spaghetti, she dropped it into the sink because the size of the pan made it awkward to hold. Later that week, Sandy and I were at Thanksgiving dinner with some friends. When Sandy told our friends the story, she did not say that Betty dropped the spaghetti. Sandy said "we" dropped the spaghetti. Sandy did not lift herself above making mistakes. And she did not point a finger of blame. When we see someone who we think is unsaved, we must not lift ourselves above making mistakes. We must not point a finger of blame. We should not judge a church visitor and say that he is not really a Christian when he confesses a life of sin. We cannot assume that he is not strong enough to follow the Lord. We can't see the whole picture. Perhaps the visitor has shown more strength and courage in a few minutes simply by walking into our church building than we have shown in our lives in the past few months. The visitor is listening to and responding to God's voice. Are you? There is an old saying about a person not having enough sense to come in out of the rain. We may think we know more about God than a person coming out of the world to check out our church. But a visitor obviously has some sense and must be teachable, because he did have enough sense to come into our church, and out of the rain of this world's turmoil. So, be careful. That supposedly unsaved person may have picked up enough tidbits of wisdom along the way to teach us a thing or two. And he may not be as unsaved as we think. If someone would rather talk about his life in the world than hear us talk about God, we should still listen with love and understanding. We must respect his feelings. But remember. We are not saved by our feelings. We are saved by our knowledge of who Christ is and what He has done for us. We are saved by Christ's blood. Our salvation is evidenced by our commitment to God, not our feelings. Go to God in prayer and petition for mercy. Ask God to lift both yourself and the unsaved people around you out of sin. Place yourself directly beside those to whom you witness, in your prayer life and in your personal life. Do this, and you will be a blessing to all those around you. Jeff Nape God... Who are you? Still Struggling? Spiritual Growth A Higher Calling Fellowship & Witnessing Men, Women, Seasonal

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