"T'was the Night Before Christmas" (December 22, 2014)

It was the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse.  The tamales were cooking; the tortillas were done but my mother reminded all of us that the most important event was the story of Christ.  So it is important that all of us and the world over, remember that Jesus is still the reason for the season.

The Christian community has allowed the secular world to run away with the Christmas story.  My question is, what does Santa Claus and snowmen and reindeer have to do with the birth of the Savior?  Christmas has become so commercialized  that Jesus Christ has been overshadowed by tinsel and lights, carols and bells but it is all about Him!

The modern church has made the gospel so celebratory that it is no more than a nice story of Emmanuel.  Away in the manger has pushed Christ so far behind the scene that no longer is He easily recognized.

The gospel is now only good news!  No longer is Christ seen or heard as one who, like John the Baptist, came calling the world to repentance.  Christmas has been reduced to “jolly, jolly” and “ho, ho, ho!”  The story of the saving Savior who came to “save that which was lost” is powerless to convict man of his need for a savior.

It is a shame that we here in America spent more time and more of our resources celebrating pagan traditions rather than honoring the Lord Jesus who came to give His life for us!

The most important truth about Jesus is that He is our Savior - the only hope for a lost world.  Jesus is the only one that can forgive our sins and save us from the wrath to come.  Only He died on the cross to buy our redemption… “there is only one mediator between God and man - the man JESUS CHRIST.”

“For  there is only one name given among men, under heaven, by which we must be saved, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

This Christmas season, let us celebrate, but most of all, let us remember why Jesus came.  Let us remember and celebrate what He came to do.  Isn’t that what Christmas is about?  

~ Pastor John