Without Christ, Christmas is nothing!

If there is no Christ - there is no Christmas! Which is why are Christians are so convinced that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Why you might ask, it's an excellent question.

Our belief is laid on a very solid foundation. First of all we believe in divine revelation not just human discovery. In fact to learn about something outside of our sphere of experience we all accept we need information from a trustworthy source. If you are serious about discovering the truth - check the Bible out. It is a trustworthy source. Read it, check it's sources, speak to those who believe it, look at it 's accuracy in every sphere it touches. There can only be one answer to the question of the origin of a book that was written over one thousand five hundred years by forty different authors, many of whom did not even know each other. The Bible is God's message to mankind.

Learning Lessons from the Four Seasons

 

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The church where I am a member hosts an event for people with memory problems once a month. The aim is to support the carers and individuals increasingly struggling with cognitive-related issues. It’s a great morning and seems to benefit all who come.

At the start, someone does a brief session to ensure everyone is orientated - time, day, month, year, place, season, etc. Most of us need help identifying the season at certain times of the year (usually at the beginning and the end of each season). 

In the United Kingdom, we have four clearly defined seasons, as do ‘most countries at a similar latitude (the same distance away from the equator) to the UK. Other parts of the world may only have two seasons - a winter and a summer, or a wet and a dry season 1. I find it fascinating that despite all the climate change that is suggested, discussed and debated, in the main, seasons are still the same as defined in one of the oldest records of human history, the Bible. Genesis chapter 8 verse 22 records the promise of God to Noah (after the worldwide flood - another event that reoccurs in the history of many ancient civilisations) - ‘While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease’.

Who reminds you of Jesus?

The following anecdotal stories came to my attention many years ago. They remind me of the immense need in the world for people to know they are loved. The New Testament scriptures state, 'But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,' Romans 5:8. 

Off Season Reflections

 

In March 2013, a company called What3Words was incorporated. In April of the same year, it lodged a patent application for technology for e-commerce, deliveries, navigation, emergency services, etc. The company stated that every three-metre square of the world had been given a unique combination of three words. Their purpose was to aid people in discovering where they are and where they are trying to get to. 

The Bible often combines three words to identify a location or a situation in our minds. For instance, if I said ‘Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh’, you would possibly be transported in your mind to a location in the ancient city of David, Bethlehem. It may remind you of the baby Jesus, or as the angel told Mary, ‘the Son of the Highest’ who was born to ‘save his people from their sins’. The three gifts the travellers from ‘the east’ brought were significant and of great value. I think these gifts would have been used by Mary & Joseph to pay for their exile to Egypt with the baby Jesus, but the three gifts are also a unique reminder of who Jesus was and the purpose of his birth. 

Gold has always spoken of wealth, of the best that earth can offer, but the gold in this story also reminds me that the Lord Jesus had a different kind of wealth. It was not the fragile wealth of humanity that could disappear in a moment but the wealth of the creator of the universe. God’s riches are not measured in human currency but are the timeless values of love, truth, justice, peace, kindness and holiness (incidentally, the whole Universe belongs to God as the creator [humans have been entrusted with its management]. So he is also incredibly rich in terms of physical assets). So Jesus, as the Son of God, was immeasurably rich but became poor (through becoming a man, suffering for sin and dying on a cross) so that we, through his poverty, might be rich, 2 Cor. 8:9.

Summer has gone, Autumn is passing . . .

 

By the time you read this column, the summer will nearly be over, and many people will be heading back to work, children to school and young adults off to university.

 

Many years ago, in farming communities, the end of the summer, the harvest's completion, and the crops' gathering was a great social event. It was often seen as a time of new beginnings, a fresh start, and when the cycle of life began again. 

 

The Bible develops this idea by calling people to enjoy a fresh start in their relationship with God. Jeremiah, one of the ancient prophets of Israel, wrote the following words - ‘The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved,’ Jer. 8. 20. Jeremiah is often described as the ‘weeping prophet’. A prophet in Bible times was a man who brought God’s message to the citizens of his country (and sometimes other nations). He was commissioned by ‘the Almighty’ to communicate a straightforward and specific message. Jeremiah had been doing this for a long time. He had become discouraged and downhearted with the lack of response from the nation he spoke to. It is recorded in Jeremiah chapter nine verse one that the Prophet was brokenhearted and wept over the state of his nation - ‘If only my head were a pool of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for all my people’^[1]. 

Any thinking person should be very upset at the state of our nation. We live in days when there is no absolute right and wrong, truth is traded for lies, people are free to do what is right in their own eyes, and we are often very self-centred. I believe God is very upset that we have moved so far away from the morals and values He designed us to live by. 

It could be said of us - ‘The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved,’ Jeremiah 8:20. As a society, we have lost our way.

 

However, as individuals, we still have an opportunity to make things right. God is calling our nation to repent of our evil and the pain we have brought upon each other by breaking God’s moral law. This change of mind and heart starts with individuals!

 

We can be saved and rescued from God's judgment against our sins. This is the very reason Jesus came. The Bible unequivocally states, ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,’ 1 Tim 1.15. This is a message of hope and encouragement that should fill us with optimism. 

 

If we follow the advice of scripture and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, realising that he died and rose from the dead to take the punishment for our sins, and if we accept him as our Saviour and Lord, we will be saved.

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^[1] https://www.bible.com/bible/116/jer.9.1-2.NLT

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

What is the real reason for the season?

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

Well, here we are. Christmas is just around the corner! How have your preparations gone? I hope you achieved what you set out to do. I'm nearly there.

It's always a rush at this time of the year. Whether it's getting as up to date as possible with your job, buying presents, or getting the food ready for Christmas (not that I do much to get the food prepared for Christmas - my skills are more in the washing up department), it gets hectic. In addition, there are a host of events to attend - the school nativity, Carol Services, and lots of other Christmas-related events.

Do you ever ask yourself why we go to all the bother?

Christmas & the reason for the season!

Well here we are. Nearly at Christmas weekend. How has your week gone? I hope you achieved what you set out to do. I'm nearly there.

It's always a rush at this time of the year. Whether it's getting as up to date as possible with your job, buying presents or getting the food ready for Christmas it gets hectic. I have the added task of running a series of Carol Services and Christmas related events. Why go to all the bother?

For one very good reason. Christmas is special. It's special because you get time to sit down (maybe not if you are the cook in your house), you spend time with your friends and family (the latter can be a problem depending how well you get on with your family), you give and receive presents and the food is good (hopefully!). BUT (there usually is a BUT in my blogs) BUT what is the real reason that makes the season special? Excuse the corny rhyme but 'what is the reason for the season'?

The answer : JESUS

The clue is in the word CHRISTmas - it's the CHRIST part that is important. This is Jesus' official title. The title Christ means the anointed one. The Jews talked about the promised one as the Messiah. He is the one of whom all the prophets spoke, see Hebrews chapter one, as they related God's promise that one day He would send His Son into the world, Isaiah 9:6 says (700 years before Jesus was born) 'For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

When Jesus' disciples realised who Jesus was they were thrilled. John records Philip as saying, in John 1:45, 'We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph'.

Yes, Jesus is the promised one. His birth was predicted as was His death. Unlike us he came to die. We are born to live but Jesus came to die. The bible explicitly states that 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners'. He knew this was His primary reason for coming so He said one day 'for this cause I came into the world'.

So let me end this post with a question - do you really get it? Do understand the reason for the season. Have you ever benefitted from the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus? You can: if you turn from your sin, repent and trust Him to save you from your sins.

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