She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.  Matthew 1: 21 ESV
 
     Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year! At lest that is what I heard expressed in a song on the radio. I tend to agree with the song, but there are some who would beg to differ. For me, I enjoy the season and the gathering of family and friends. I enjoy hearing and saying, “Merry Christmas” to and from those I meet. It seems to be a time when people are a bit more merciful to one another. A time when it feels a bit more peaceful. Not all would agree with my description or feelings. They miss loved ones who are absent for one reason or another. They do not desire to share nor feel the sentiment of Merry Christmas. Perhaps they would even agree with Mr. Scrooge when he says, “Baugh.. Humbug.” People do not seem more merciful to them and it defiantly isn’t peaceful for them. I suppose it depends in how you want to view things, for I believe life is a choice. It does seem to be easier and sweeter for some, or is it that they just choose for it to be so. I know for me; I could feel some of the second person described, for I have experienced some of the narratives as described, but I choose JOY. Some days are easier than others in making this choice but never the less, I choose JOY. Why? Because there is another song I have heard and it says, “Joy to the world the Lord has come.” I believe He, the Lord, is the reason for the season and this reason reminds us who He is.
 
HE IS THE SON: The Son of God coming and given to the world because of love. For to us a child is born, a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder. Isaiah 9:6a ESV  Not just any son but God made flesh in His Son. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1: 14 ESV …. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son. John 3:16a ESV
 
HE IS JESUS: The sweetest name I know, and I know it is to many. By Jesus, The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. Matthew 11:5 ESV  You might be temped to say “I’ve never seen nor experienced this.” Really? If you are a Christian, you have been given spiritual eyes to see, the ability to walk in the Lord, able to hear spiritual truth, and have been made alive in Christ. I know you have heard the gospel of the good news preached.
 
HE IS THE SAVIOR: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 ESV  If you know you have a home in heaven, it is only because Jesus paid the debt of your sins. It was necessary for Jesus to be born in order for us to receive eternal life by Him. If there was any other way, then His birth, death, and resurrection was all for nothing. By faith we believe and receive the precious gift of eternal life. The greatest gift of Christmas to us was Jesus, God’s only Son….born to die that we might live.
 
     As you reflect on this day, do not let the past rob you of the JOY of the present and future. Make the choice to live in JOY for it may be the only light enabling some to see in a dark world. A light that will be as the star that lead the wise men to him. May the light of Christ burn so brightly in you that others see the truth of the miraculous birth of Jesus.
 
Because of His Grace ~Pastor David

     May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace believing, so that by the power of the
Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13 ESV

 
When I think of the topic of HOPE, the chorus that always comes to mind is… “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus name.” Jesus- the name above all names. (Philippians 2: 9-11) Truly our hope is in the truth of the baby boy born in Bethlehem to be the Savior of the world. Emanuel, God with us in the flesh born to save us from our sins…. The perfect lamb of God. If a person places hope in anything or anyone other than Jesus, it will be a hope that eternally will be disappointing. Hope without Jesus is a temporary hope at best. What does the Christian hope look like?

UNASHAMED… Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:5 ESV God has poured His life into ours. We were dead in sin and now as Christians, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Filled with life because God has made it so by His own choice. He did not have to send His Son. He did not have to let him die. He did not have to adopt us as his children. But He did this, by his own choice, so my hope is built upon Him and not in myself to live good enough rather to love Him much because he first loved me.

BOLD…. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 2 Corinthians 3:12 ESV We are bold because Jesus has set us free from the power of sin and death. We are able to face death with no fear because we live in the power of the living God. This power is living in us by the Holy Spirit! We can be secure in this fact that we are His and no one or anything will separate us from His Love. ( Romans 8:31-39)

FREE … For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life Christ Jesus our Lord Romans 6:23 ESV …. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2 ESV We are unashamed and bold because we have been set free from the consequence of our sins by God through His Son Jesus. We should live as free and not be entangled in what steals our freedom to begin with…. sin. Sin and the memory of sin will always burden you with the chains that hold you, but the hope in which we live in Christ will set us free. Free, because God has made it so. The Bible teaches us that, If we confess or sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 ESV This is the hope that I want to live out loud in my life. A life set free by God.
 
Let me close this day with this passage. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13 ESV
 
Because of His Grace ~ Pastor David

      In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loves us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 ESV

      The love of God is greater than words could ever explain. So how can a person even begin to attempt explaining His love for us? In attempting to do so, one would need to look to the life that was, is, and will always be as lived by Jesus. (Hebrew 13:8) Love is most often shown more than spoken. You may say to someone, “I love you,” but to show someone that you love them by actions will always speak louder than your words. That is exactly what God did when He sent His only Son to save us from our sins. I am not sure who first made this statement, “He became like us so that we could become like Him,” but it speaks volumes for us who recognized our need for a Savior. Why would God, who answers to no one, choose to save us from our sin rather than just erase us from existence and start over when sin happened? The answer…… LOVE. Not by just words but action.

GOD BECAME FLESH: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God. John 1:1 ESV …… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 ESV.  In the town of Bethlehem some two thousand years ago this became a reality. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:7 ESV  Shepherds were the first to hear this great news as told them by the angel. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11 ESV

GOD GAVE HIS SON: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be save through him. John 3:16-17

GOD GAVE US SALVATION: For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 ESV ….. And there is salvatoin in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12 ESV  Salvation was made possible because God became flesh by giving His only Son to receive the punishment for our sins. This is action that speaks louder than words. What more could God do to prove His love for you? Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 ESV  No one loves you more than God! Never has, never will.

 Because of His Grace ~ Pastor David