December 2016

Dear Friends,

December means Advent and Advent means we are looking forward to the celebration of the birth of Christ and the Coming of our King!

We’ve had a stressful year: the election, economic change, and more. But this season means we are looking forward to good things: to what God has already done and hope in what God has promised he will do. And that is reason for JOY!
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Everyone is thinking of Christmas, buying gifts, baking, and then there are the parties, concerts and programs our children or grandchildren are in. All these things grow out of the center of the season. All, in their own way add to its joy.

And the center of it all is a baby in a manger. Luke 2:6,7 tells us the fact of Jesus’ birth. “While they were there (in Bethlehem) the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Jesus was born. He was born in Bethlehem. He was cradled in a manger and sheltered in a stable or barn. Even at his birth the world didn’t have room for him.

But Luke goes further. Luke 2:11 tells us WHY Jesus was born. “Today, in the city of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” From the very beginning of Jesus’ life he is our Savior; he is Christ, he is Lord.

At Christmas we understandably focus on the baby in the manger. Jesus’ birth is what we celebrate. And the birth of a child is something we always celebrate. Add to this Jesus’ humble beginnings and the image of his loving mother and earthly father caring for him, angels announcing his birth and you have a pretty amazing thing to celebrate.

We need to look through the manger to the reason the Son of God took the step of entering our world as a baby. He came to be our Savior. Hebrews 2:14 says, “Since the children (that’s us) have flesh and blood, he too (that’s Jesus) shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy the one who holds the power of death - that is the devil.” Like every human, Jesus the Son of God, entered life through birth. We celebrate his birth but not in isolation. It’s the beginning of his work. Like every human, Jesus the Son of God, died, but his death was for us. He took the penalty of our sin, and so destroyed the power of sin and death.

So as we celebrate the birth of Jesus we are looking ahead to the entire work of Jesus - culminating at the cross and the empty tomb. He’s not just a baby. He’s the Savior, Christ the Lord. That is something to celebrate!

 Pastor Byron

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