Advent #1 2024 - When, What, and Why Christmas

 


The snow has come to 8400 feet and I feel like I am back in Gaylord, MI when moving snow was just a part of life for at least 5 months or until the Great Lakes froze over.  I am thankful for the snowblower provided and the ability to work a shovel all these years.  I love the outdoors so I get the benefit also of being refreshed by being in it.

I wanted to share this article called "The Unknown Pastor" by Darryl Dash.  I could relate to many parts of it.  The emphasis is so much on the big and being known but the reality is that much of what happens is in the small and the unknown.  A 2 minute read that is really good.  https://www.dashhouse.com/the-unknown-pastor/

Advent and Christmas bring us back to very familiar material in the Bible.  I am going back 3 years to my time at Weymouth Community Church when I first looked at the Apostle Paul looking back at the event of Jesus 1st coming and then the next Sunday looking forward to the event through the eyes of what they knew about the coming Messiah.  I will later touch on the event itself in the Gospel of Luke.  It has been great over the years to approach this time from many different angles.  

Simply put, the Apostle Paul in Galatians 4:4-6 gives the when of Christmas as God's time (the fullness of time had come), the what of Christmas as God's Son (eternal, human and Jewish) and the why of Christmas as God's Plan (to redeem so we could receive).  It is easy to take side trails during this time of year and really miss the true meaning of Christmas.  The time becomes this most wonderful time of year rather than God's time.  The person becomes ourselves and others rather than God's Son, Jesus Christ.  The reason becomes temporal gifts rather than God's eternal plan of redemption for those who believe.  

I am thankful for the extra events that happen around the church but I want them to reflect the gospel message as strongly and clearly as possible.  Those who might be walking through our doors culturally, I want them to hear the message of the Christ.  Christmas time could be conversion time.  

Adam



A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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