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December 2009 - Pastor's Message |
One television shopping channel began selling its Christmas items in July this year. The supermarket where we do our weekly shop put its first festive items on the shelves before the end of August. As you read this, maybe you’re already feeling overwhelmed by the thought of the Christmas festivities. So, as we reach December, how can we approach Christmas this year in a way that will be of benefit to those around us and that is fitting and honouring to God? We are helped when we look at what we are told about the shepherds in Luke chapter 2. |
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Having heard the message of the angels, ‘the shepherds said to one another, “Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger’ (verses 15 & 16). As a result of what the shepherds were told, and what they saw, they spoke to people and to God. ‘When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child’ (verse 17). They simply could not keep this good news of the Christmas message to themselves. A right way to celebrate Christmas is to tell others about the wonderful message of the birth of the Saviour. There is nothing in the Christmas account to suggest that they were told to do this. They had not been specially appointed as heralds. They didn’t need a specific command, a training course or a commissioning service. They simply wanted the world to hear about the birth of the Christ. Maybe we think, "I haven’t been a follower of Christ for very long" – but had the shepherds? Or we might say to ourselves, "I don’t know what to say if someone asks me a question about Jesus’ birth”. I doubt if the shepherds had all the answers. The shepherds just ‘spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child’. Verse 20 tells us, ‘The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told’. Not only did the shepherds speak to the people they met, but they also spoke to God. Their hearts and their lips were filled with praise to God. When we feel overwhelmed by Christmas cards and Christmas shopping, then we should stop and glorify God for His work at Christmas. If our minds and hearts are filled with this message that so gripped the shepherds, then we cannot help but praise God. Also, if the Good News of Christmas has a hold on our hearts, then we will find we will want to tell others as did the shepherds. Happy Christmas to you. David Williams - (Assistant Pastor - EEFC) - December 2009 |