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Did you know that earliest followers of Jesus didn’t celebrate what we call Christmas? That’s right. In fact, it took them 300 years to set the date! Why? The focus of the early believers was on the life and work of Jesus as the promised Messiah, the Christ, and the birth narratives were not thought to be central to the Jesus-stories. The focus was on the atoning work of the cross, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and Jesus’ promised return. A few centuries later, however, it became important to introduce a more complete story of the Savior to show his full humanity and full divinity. The scholar and pastor, Jerome (347-420 AD), helped early believers learn the four gospels using familiar creatures, each representing a diffferent animal. Mark (the Lion), John (the Eagle), Matthew (humans) and Luke (the Ox).
This year’s Advent Message Series is titled The All-Inclusive Story featuring the animals of Christmas. Animals, you ask? Yes!
On the second Sunday of Advent, this week we will consider the ox and the donkey as images to help tell the Christmas story. The Gospel of Luke features the important role John the Baptist as a messenger to level the playing fields of life. The Good News is for everyone! God is in the business of smoothing out the rough edges, the ups and downs, the obstacles that impede our learning and growth as followers of Jesus. Listen to the an all-inclusive adventure toward Christmas hope this message.
Sharing the Message and Gift of Christmas. Everyone is invited into the Christmas Story. We don’t just want to hear the story of Jesus birth, we want to become a part of it! The wonderful git of Christmas is that God gave his son Jesus to us to empower our lives, to set us free from all those things that hold us back and help us to live our very best selves. Here’s what the Bible says about God’s gifts to us:
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (1 Corinthians 9:15)
This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son… by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life (John 3:16-18).
We love because he first loved us (1John 4:19).
That gift is ours to open, but there’s more to it. God want us to be in the Christmas Story and we can do that when we also give gifts. What kid of gifts can you give? Here are some ideas adapted from Elf On the Shelf:
Hold the door for someone
Make a card for someone you love
Compliment a friend
Help a friend at school today
Write a thank you note
Give away some clothes that don’t fit anymore
Give books to the library
Give a kid a toy
Write a thank you note for your teacher
Give 5 people a high five
Bake cookies and deliver them to the firemen
Tell a friend what Jesus means to you
Smile at everyone you see today
Deliver cookies to your neighbors
Call your grandparents and tell them you love them
Make cards for kids at the Children’s Hospital
God wants us to become a part of the Christmas Story by sharing God’ s love this week. Will you do that? Thank you!
