Christmas Joy

I love Christmas.  For me, Christmas brings back the joy of being a child.  A time when I was with my family and playing with my cousins.  My grandfather loved Christmas and made sure it was a great celebration.  I remember the last Christmas we were all together.  It was 20 years ago.  Jordan was a baby.  My mom and my two aunts had made plans to not be together that year.  I wasn’t going to be with everyone for the first time in my memory.  We ended up having one more Christmas together because my grandfather had a stroke and died a couple of days before that Christmas.  We always thought it was his way of getting us together for Christmas one last time.  As hard as that Christmas was, I look back on it with joy of one last Christmas together.

I realize that for some Christmas is not a time of joy.  The memories are not all sweet.  For some the season is a reminder of some of the darkest days of their life.  For others, the stress and high expectations of the holiday make it far from fun.  Let me encourage you.  The story of Christmas is a story of a Savior who was born to bring peace to the earth.  This peace can begin in your heart.  It’s a story of a new beginning for man.  A new beginning that can begin in your heart as well.

In A Charlie Brown Christmas, Linus narrates the birth of Jesus from Scripture.  When he gets to the part about where the angel says, “fear not” he drops his blanket and finishes the rest of the narration without it.  This was a big deal for Linus.  He was in front of a crowd and let go of that which gave him security.  Schultz obviously did this on purpose.  Our security is in Christ.  Let us allow the birth of Jesus be the hope that replaces the insecurities in our life.

Join me and my family Sunday night at our home for a time of fellowship.  Our theme is A Charlie Brown Christmas. Let us come together with the joy of Christ.  A Savior has been born.  He is Christ the Lord!  Let us celebrate together the true meaning of Christmas.