It’s already that time of year again! Christmas is just around the corner. I am blown away with how fast this year has flown by.  Of course, since it’s that time of year we will be bombarded with all kinds of things. We will feel the pressures of our time to buy more, bigger, and better things for others, and even for ourselves. We will feel the pressure of pleasing everyone and making sure we do not neglect anyone who may be offended. I understand this. I feel this myself. I love seeing other people receive and I hate causing anyone to feel neglected.

     I want to encourage each of us with this article to make sure we don’t neglect the One who matters most. Why do we have a holiday called Christmas? We do this because of what we learn in John’s Gospel. In John 1:14 we read, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The incarnation of the Son of God is why we celebrate Christmas. Sure we can honor Christ by giving to others. Sure we are free to enjoy the gifts of God in our lives. However, with all the pressure from society, friends, and even family, we have to be intentional to not neglect the focus on Christ.

     How can we do this? I would suggest developing particular traditions that help you keep your focus on Christ. I know we all have family outings and gatherings, which again ought to be enjoyed for the glory of God. We also have a chance to get together with our faith family. On Christmas Eve we will have a service at 6:00 PM. I hope everyone reading this will make it a priority to be here this year. This is a great opportunity to slow down and focus on Christ together. This year we also have the opportunity to get together on Christmas morning. Again, I know the pulls and struggles, but shouldn’t we consider making it a priority in our lives to get together with the people of God to worship Christ on Christmas? I hope you and I will take the necessary time to slow down and make sure the busyness of the season doesn’t distract us from the reality that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

     Since I do want to help and encourage you, I’d thought I’d share a few of our family traditions. We add to these often and will change them when needed. These are not what you are supposed to do, but just some ideas that have helped us over the years.

• On Christmas Eve my wife gets a breakfast casserole together. This helps us not to have to focus on cooking Christmas morning.

• When we awake we go into our living room and see the gifts that we all received from one another. We have two kids, so I know this is a part they love. As a side note, we are actually working to change this a little by have a manger built and placing all the gifts in there to help point to the greatest gift in Jesus.

• After taking a few moments with this we will all sit down and read from the Scriptures together about the birth of Christ.

• Prayer and singing to the Lord usually follows.

• We usually eat breakfast together afterwards and the kids play with some of their new gifts.

• One of our final traditions (at this point) is that my wife and daughter work together to bake a birthday cake for Jesus.

• When it’s ready we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and rejoice that He was indeed born into this world to save people from their sins.

     We want to do more. We want to make sure the focus of this season (and life!) is about Jesus. I hope this helps. I would love to hear of some of your traditions. May we worship Christ as individuals, families, and as a faith family this Christmas!

                                                                        With grace,

                                                                        Pastor Randy

Pastor Randy & Family