The Fourth Sunday In Advent: Ready or Not!
"Are you ready for Christmas?" How many times have you been asked that in the last week? It seems like that question replaces "How are you?" this time of year and becomes part of the standard greeting. With so much to do before Christmas - gifts, cards, baking, travelling, etc. - it is a valid question. And as the days until Christmas rapidly declines, we have to face this reality: ready or not, Christmas will be here on Wednesday.
Last week I was visiting with a friend and we started talking about what it means to be ready for Christmas. Here is what we came up with. Being ready for Christmas doesn't mean having all your gifts bought and wrapped or your Christmas menu planned. It doesn't mean having written every card on your list or having a new outfit to wear. It isn't dependent on having lots of money or lots of time. Being ready for Christmas means being ready to receive God's wonderful gift of His Son, Jesus!
Because Jesus is what Christmas is all about!
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth." John 1:1-14
Isn't it amazing?! In the Incarnation, God came to us as a baby and when we receive Him by believing in Him, we become children of God! So, Christmas is all about the children! It's just that at Christmas, we are all children - God and humans.
Speaking of children, today in Sunday School, I encouraged the class that when they are rushing to the tree on Christmas morning to remember Jesus, to connect Jesus to Christmas Day. He, not Santa, is the reason for people around the world stopping to celebrate on December 25th. He is the gift given to us and the reason we give gifts to each other.
Yes, it sounds so simple and is easy enough for a child to understand but it really takes restraint and humility to keep the focus of the Christmas Season on Jesus and not on us and all we have done or given. We can get so caught up in the expectations we (or others) place on us that we forget to make sure that we are continuing to believe in Jesus and receive all that He has for us.
I wish each of you a joyful Christmas Season and pray that you will encounter Jesus - full of grace and truth - throughout your gatherings and activities.
in Christ,
Tracy
Last week I was visiting with a friend and we started talking about what it means to be ready for Christmas. Here is what we came up with. Being ready for Christmas doesn't mean having all your gifts bought and wrapped or your Christmas menu planned. It doesn't mean having written every card on your list or having a new outfit to wear. It isn't dependent on having lots of money or lots of time. Being ready for Christmas means being ready to receive God's wonderful gift of His Son, Jesus!
Because Jesus is what Christmas is all about!
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth." John 1:1-14
Isn't it amazing?! In the Incarnation, God came to us as a baby and when we receive Him by believing in Him, we become children of God! So, Christmas is all about the children! It's just that at Christmas, we are all children - God and humans.
Speaking of children, today in Sunday School, I encouraged the class that when they are rushing to the tree on Christmas morning to remember Jesus, to connect Jesus to Christmas Day. He, not Santa, is the reason for people around the world stopping to celebrate on December 25th. He is the gift given to us and the reason we give gifts to each other.
Yes, it sounds so simple and is easy enough for a child to understand but it really takes restraint and humility to keep the focus of the Christmas Season on Jesus and not on us and all we have done or given. We can get so caught up in the expectations we (or others) place on us that we forget to make sure that we are continuing to believe in Jesus and receive all that He has for us.
I wish each of you a joyful Christmas Season and pray that you will encounter Jesus - full of grace and truth - throughout your gatherings and activities.
in Christ,
Tracy
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