Pastor's Corner

15 Dec
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Mid-Week Challenge

“Keep Christ in Christmas” has been a theme seen in many Christians homes since the late 1980s. As the secular world sought to commercialize Christmas and separate Jesus from the season, many Christians displayed the “Keep Christ in Christmas” theme on pins, signs and banners as a way to remind people that Christmas was all about a real person, living at a real time in history. But since that time the full message of Jesus has not been as openly accepted as it once was.  A new study from Lifeway Research finds close to 3 in 4 Americans believe Jesus was born in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago. Even more say Jesus is the son of God the Father, but less than half believe Jesus existed prior to being born on that first Christmas.

“Most Americans consider Jesus’ birth a historical fact,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “It can be easy to only evaluate Jesus like you would any other historical figure—thinking about when He lived and what He did. However, the Bible also describes Jesus in a way that one must evaluate who you believe He was. Most Americans believe His origin was from God the Father, but half as many believe He existed before His birth.”  https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/december/christmas-jesus-birth-son-god-existence-lifeway-survey.html 

When I went into ministry, I remember preachers saying, “we are only one generation away from losing the true story of Jesus.” Their meaning was this; if one generation fails to teach proper history to the next generation then history will be made up by those who have no reference and in most cases an agenda.  We see this happening in every area of our life.  Where we shop, what we can talk about openly in public and what is taught in school. Knowledge of Jesus is not dangerous, but His message is life changing.  As McConnell stated, “most Americans consider Jesus’ birth a historical fact.” It’s not His birth that is dangerous to the agenda of the World, it’s His life message.  In Mark 10:45 Jesus tells us why His birth matters. He says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” If this is true then we have to ask why He needed to die. The answer to that question puts the focus on the individual and causes one to make a decision about personal ownership and responsibility for one’s own sin and the individual’s response to Christ.  To a lost and dying world it is much easier to picture Jesus as that 8lb 6oz, new born infant than it is to see Him as suffering savior.  “I like the Christmas version better,” said Ricky Bobby. The problem is that Chip was right, “He was a man, He had a beard,” and He had a life changing message that everyone has to deal with.  In truth, the Christmas version is much easier to talk about so why not take this season to make sure you and your family know the reason Jesus was born.  

It is our responsibility to make sure the story is told, but we can’t tell the story if we don’t know it. Get your copy of the Bible and read what Luke 2 tells us about His birth, but don’t leave out Colossians 1:15-20 which tells us why His existence, before anyone celebrate Christmas, is more important than anything people focus on during this season.      

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[g] your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— Colossians 1:21-22

Serving the Savior,

Bro. Jonathan

 

By: Dr. Jonathan Richerson

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