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The Upload

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I pray you had a blessed and Merry Christmas Day!

I know for most of us, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day mark the end of a busy time of year; a time of much preparation and planning; once we open our presents, we consider Christmas over, and we move on, looking forward to the New Year.

But this is not the case in my house this year. You see, our daughter and son-in-law who live in Austin, Texas could not come home for Christmas because our daughter, who is an ER nurse, had to work on Christmas Day, so they are heading home on Friday. On Christmas Day, our son and daughter-in-law and their two children and our youngest daughter and her boyfriend all came home. Although we celebrated with a nice meal and fun, we did not open our gifts because we decided to wait until we could all be together over the weekend. So as I write this letter, our gifts are still under the tree. According to the news, many others are heading to the stores this morning to take back and exchange their gifts, but for my family, we still have Christmas to look forward to. Although most in the world are ready to take down their trees and decorations and move on, I still want to hear those Christmas carols on the radio and I still want my decorations to shine brightly.

You know, truth be told, whether or not you have already opened your presents, Christmas is not over yet for you, either! In fact, December 25 marks the first day of the season of Christmas, not the end of the Christmas season. As I noted in my sermon on Christmas Eve, Christmas is really not about the presents we have under the tree on Christmas morning. No, Christmas is about a gift that God gave to the world over 2000 years ago on that first Christmas. Christmas is about Immanuel, “God with us.” Christmas is that season of the year when we remind ourselves that God loves us so much that he decided he wanted to walk among us and allow us to truly get to know him face to face. Christmas is a time when we are reminded that God came into this world so that we might know of his love for us in a very personal way. Christmas is that time of year when we are reminded that, no matter who we are, how lonely we are, how sick we might be, that Jesus is here, and he walks with us, and he offers us his healing presence. Christmas is a reminder that we are loved and we are God’s holy people.

The Christmas holiday has just begun and, according to the church, it will continue until January 5, the 12th day of Christmas. As I look at those presents that are still under our tree, I am reminded in a very real way this year that although December 25 has come and gone, Christmas is not over.

So my prayer this week, as we now begin to look to the New Year, is that you remember that Christmas is not over. May we all continue to celebrate Christmas and may we all continue to remind ourselves that our God loves us so much that he became human. He walked among us and he still walks with us. May you experience this Christmas season the joy of Christmas and know that God is with you, both now and forever.

Merry Christmas and Shalom,

Pastor Dave

Tags: Weekly Word