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Pastors' Christmas Message |
2004-01-16 |
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I sat down at the desk at home yesterday afternoon and laying on top of the pile were two “Christmas lists” compiled by one of our daughters. Each was a list of presents that she would like to receive from her grandparents in Mitchell. Grant just had his sixth birthday on November 4th, and he is already talking about his next birthday and the presents he would like to get. Is there anything more exciting for children than receiving gifts? I was never able to sleep on Christmas Eve until I was almost in high school. I would lay awake for hours, too excited about what was in my stocking and under the tree to go to sleep. My four younger brothers were just as bad. We would start calling into my parents’ bedroom while it was still dark, asking if we could go downstairs and open our presents yet. They would finally surrender and let us go charging down the stairs, after they had first gone down and turned on the Christmas tree lights and gotten everything ready. I always loved all the presents I got. I don’t remember any of my brothers being disappointed either, unless we got clothes. (Clothes weren’t “presents” but were things you had to get at the beginning of the school year, and you couldn’t play with a new matching shirt and pants).
I still love Christmas, and now I enjoy the excitement of my own children when they open their presents. But it is not the same as it was when I was little. Now I have to be careful about how much all of those gifts cost, and that we don’t spend too much more than we can afford. There was no responsibility involved when I was little, like there is now. On those pre-dawn Christmas mornings many years ago I received Christmas gifts because that is what happens on Christmas morning. I didn’t worry about whether I had “been naughty or nice”, or whether I was deserving, or how difficult it was for my parents to put all those gifts under the tree. Even today I don’t do most of the work of buying presents, but let Janine take most of the responsibility and effort.
I have a greater insight into what gifts are, now that I am older. Gifts aren’t given to us because we deserve them, but because someone loves us enough to give them to us. Gifts cost the giver something, and we who receive the gift need to learn what it means to be grateful and thankful for what we have been given. We don’t give gifts at Christmas by accident. Giving and receiving gifts reminds us of the gift that God has given us in the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. The baby Jesus received gifts fit for a king from the three wise men, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Jesus shows us how much God loves us, and how he wants to give us gifts more wonderful than even a little boy too excited to fall asleep on Christmas eve could ever imagine. “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
God has sent His Son as a gift to us, at great cost to himself. Jesus came into the world, God become human and born in a stable, to die for us. We try to keep that unpleasantness confined to Lent and Good Friday. But the baby born in Bethlehem is God’s gift to take away our sins and give us the gifts of faith, forgiveness, and eternal life. When the craziness of Christmas gift giving and the stress of shopping and spending become overwhelming, remember that this is part of the cost of giving good gifts to those you love. When you receive gifts this Christmas, be grateful for the love that overlooks cost to give you something good. Thank God for Jesus, the costly gift he has given you. That is something worth getting excited about! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
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Summer: starting Memorial Day Weekend
9:00 am Worship Service KMSD Broadcast
10:00 am Coffee and Fellowship
WOW (Worship on Wednesday) 6:30 pm
Winter: starting after Labor Day
8:30 am Worship Service KMSD Broadcast
9:35 am Educational Hour
9:35 am Coffee and Fellowship
10:45 am Worship Service
WOW (Worship on Wednesday) 6:30 pm |
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401 South Flynn Drive
Milbank SD 57252
605.432.5566 |
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