We have just concluded a series of messages at Cleary that have really challenged me. I hope they have challenged all who have listened as well. It is my hope and prayer that these messages have stirred within all of our hearts a holy discontentment for how we are spending our money, our time, and our lives. May God challenge us to keep up with his commission instead of with the Jones.
Now, we transition into the Christmas season and no doubt it will be busy for us all. On Saturday, Dec 6 the children will be going, with their families and church family, to the Christmas festival in Ridgeland at 3:30 p.m. Sunday night, Dec 7, our Sunday school classes will be coming together in different locations for Christmas parties, fellowship meals, and outreach events. On Wednesday, Dec 10, The Children of the World Choir will be at Cleary at 6:30 p.m. On Dec 13 and 14 our choir will be sharing a Christmas musical that they have been working long and hard on. On Sunday mornings, we are going to slow down and walk through the first 2 chapters of Luke to hopefully get us in the Christmas spirit. Throughout the month, we will be challenging everyone to give sacrificially and generously to our Lottie Moon Christmas offering, which goes entirely to support the ministry of our 5400+ international missionaries all over the world. It will be a busy time this year, as it is every Christmas.
As busy as it is, I love Christmas. We had our tree up 2 weeks before Thanksgiving and it will stay up until January. We have a Christmas carousel, a lighted Christmas village, little nativity sets here and there, and more. I usually give my wife a hard time about decorating, but not at Christmas. I like to sit down in the living room, with a fire roaring, Christmas lights lit, and watch Rudolph, The Polar Express, or the Nativity Story with my kids. It is just my favorite time of year and it has nothing to do with the presents. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy getting Christmas gifts. I enjoy giving them. But the best Christmas memories will be the ones you make, not at the mall, not as your husband stares blankly at the 100th tie, not as your wife smells the pungent odor of the bad perfume you picked out for her at the last minute, not as your children rip into gifts that will find themselves replaced in a week with a refrigerator box, but in the time you spend with each other riding through town to see the Christmas lights or just watching The Christmas Story as you enjoy your own lights and decorations. This Christmas the joy will not be in the hustle and bustle of the season, but in the time you can share as a family without the stress of needless rushing. Be willing to say no to that party. Be willing to resist that sale. Refuse to feel obligated to buy, buy, buy from now until Christmas because your family might not get enough. They already have too much! Be willing to say no in order to say yes to your family. I assure you that what they will remember most and with the fondest memories, will not be what you gave them, but the time you spent with them. So…put Christ first, family second, and let everything else fall a distant third this Christmas. After all, there will only be one Christmas this year. Make it a merry one, not just a busy one.
