Tell the Christmas rescue story

If your children were in big trouble, wouldn’t you do anything to rescue them? Of course! Even if it means sacrifice or risk. Whatever it takes, right?

That’s the truth about Christmas we need to remember. God loves us so much that the very Sovereign of the Universe staged a daring rescue, arriving in person to save us from sin, death and the power of Satan. And God did it with boldness and dramatic revelation about the nature of the Divine Heart.

God both came into the world and left the world in ways expected by few – certainly not the religious establishment of Jesus’ day, which remained mostly clueless that God incarnate was walking and talking among them. God’s low-key arrival flew beneath the radar of the rabbis and religious scholars, the very first ones who should have known.

Now 2,000 years later, the arrival of God in the world escapes no one’s attention, but the significance of Jesus’s birth easily gets lost amid the commercial hype and holiday happiness. Even among us pastors and church leaders, the very last ones who should forget.

As stewards of the Good News, we can make sure we ourselves – and our congregations and families – remember and tell the Christmas story and its saving message:

• God came to save us, arriving into the world through the same biological process that brought us here.
• God incarnate was born in a drafty barn to an ordinary woman.
• The baby Jesus whom Mary suckled, rocked and changed, was and is God.
• Jesus is both God’s plan and God’s-self rescuing us from death, sin and the power of Satan.
• God rescues us because we are God’s sons and daughters.
• God rescues us because we are loved infinitely.

Now that's a Christmas present.

Merry Christmas!

--Rob Blezard, editor and webmaster

New this week:

 God heals! -- Rowan Williams's Christmas Message
"Christ does not save the world just by his death on the cross; we respond to that death because we know that here is love in human flesh, here is the creator’s power and life in a shape like ours. As we read the gospels, we should think of God watching us moment by moment, mirroring back to us our human actions - our fears and our joys and our struggles - until he can at last reach out in the great gestures of the healing ministry and the cross." Inspiration from Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, in his Christmas Message to the Anglican Communion."

 The name God chose
"When the shepherds asked what he would be called, they told them God had chosen the name. It was to be Jesus! ‘Jesus – ah, yes, “The Lord saves!”’ they must softly have responded. And as the wise men from the East bowed reverently before the child, the parents explained that God had chosen the name Jesus for him, because he would save his people from their sins." The 2004 Christmas message from John Larsson, General of the Salvation Army.

Generosity is about passing along God's grace
"Generosity is about giving out of abundance and thankfulness to others even when they don't deserve. Jesus talked a lot about giving to the poor.  The term deserving poor is not there.  Giving is not even about who the recipients are – it is enough that they are God's children.  Generosity is about who we are as givers."  From Dana Reardon's weekly reflection.

The angels's good news! - 2004 Christmas message
"Best of all, this news is a very present wonder. The promised child is born to us this day. God comes down—in the Word made flesh—bringing life to all. To hear this news is to risk being changed. The faith to believe it and the courage to retell it means profound conversion." Words of hope from Mark S. Hanson, ELCA Presiding Bishop.

When the Holidays Hurt: 10 ways to cope with loss
"For many people, the holidays are a traditional time of happiness and festivity. However, for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one, the holidays are a time of mixed emotions. There can be pleasure, but there is also much pain, because the season magnifies the sense of loss." Great advice for individuals or congregational leaders whose parishioners suffer the holiday blues. From Today's Christian magazine.