Local religious leaders have been kind enough to send us their thoughts about this celebratory time of year for Christians. Below are some of their musings.
When God came to dwell among mankind, he came born into a family. He was not born into a perfect family. He was born into a family that was murmured about because his mother was pregnant before she was officially married. His siblings and his mother, at one point, went out to bring him home believing he was out of his mind (Mark 3:2a1). That sounds like a normal family.
Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for her. However, God invented the family before He invented the church. When Jesus was born as Immanuel, God with us, He was born into a family. When Jesus laid down His life on the cross, He did so for His family as well as for you and me. With all the things that there are to get involved in at Christmas time, be sure you do not forget the family God put you in.And, remember to pray for those hurting families in Newtown, Connecticut.
Brother Bob Hendrick,
Pastor of Lake Chapala
Baptist Church
“Fear not!” was the angelic message to Zechariah, and to Mary, and to Joseph, and to the shepherds. Fear seems to be the universal human experience when standing in the presence of God. Today we may be more afraid of the secular than the sacred, but are afraid nonetheless: afraid of failure, rejection, loneliness, economic hardship, illness or death, the future, but the angels’ words are still the Christmas message: “Fear not!” Christ has been born so “that we, being delivered from the hands of our enemies, might serve Him without fear.” The message of Christmas is that God is so totally on our side as to become one of us.
God doesn’t promise to take away tragedies such as we just witnessed in Connecticut, much less the struggles of normal life. But in the birth of Jesus God has promised to be present with us in every situation, to supply us with such power, peace and provision that we need never be afraid.
Father Winston Welty
of St. Andrew’s
Anglican Church
One of the wonderful things about this time of year is singing the great songs of Christmas: “Joy to the World, the Lord is come; let earth receive her King …”
All around the world, people are singing that Christmas was when the Lord of the universe was born as a human baby in a poor town in a far-away country just over 2,000 years ago. And as we sing these words, we need to think about what it means if these words are really true …
If what we sing about is true – if Jesus was the Son of God who came into the world as a baby, for our sakes, then our lives must be infinitely valuable. If God loved us that much, there is not and never should be reason for hopelessness.
So this Christmas I want you to think about that. As we talk and sing about Jesus—the Son of God, begin born as a baby.
Because if this story is true, the world will never be the same, and out lives must be different.
Just think about it.
Pastor Ross Arnold
of Lakeside
Presbyterian Church
It was 1975, our first Christmas in Mexico. On Christmas Eve, after a small worship with friends, we decided to go to the city center to see the celebration there. It was chaotic: the streets were lined with makeshift bars, people drunk and dressed up as if it were Halloween. There was one man in a gorilla suit going around scaring people. We thought, “Could this be Christmas?” Then there was a bell, a single tone, piercing the night sky. Silence fell upon the chaos as everyone looked to the heavens. Then another bell began to peal, then others, and more, until the city was filled with a chorus of bells. And we thought, this is how Christ entered a world of chaos many centuries ago, and gave us hope, joy, and peace.
Rector Jim Priddy
of St.Mark’s Anglican Church, Guadalajara
In Matthew 1:23 we read, “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call him Emmanuel.” This is a quote from Isaiah 7:14 in the contest of the prophet’s trying to get King Ahaz of Judah to trust in God in the face of a military coalition lined up against Judah. We Christians see this as a prophecy of the coming of God-in-the-flesh, our Emmanuel, “God With Us.” This time in which we celebrate the Birth of our Emmanuel, Jesus, is an occasion of great joy, filled with hope, expectation and gratitude. This year, however, we were presented with the terrible event at Newtown, Connecticut in which 20 children, ages six and seven, were massacred, along with six of their teachers.
Where is the joy – in what do we hope? I heard one pastor speak ruefully of how the joy had been stolen from the families of the victims of this tragedy. Then I saw a statement from Robbie Parker, the father of a little girl named Emilie, one of the victims. He spoke of God’s wonderful gifts to Emlie, of her compassion for everyone, of how she kept colored pencils and paper always handy to create cards for those she believed needed a cheerful message. Robbie spoke of compassion that we are called to have for all the families of the victims as well as the family of the shooter. He told of how he was learning a lesson of forgiveness and humility in the face of his terrible loss. What a testimony of faith, relating us to the one who left his heavenly throne to share in our suffering! God is truly with us in our suffering to bring us to be with him. This is the message of this season – the Good News of Jesus, our Emmanuel. Merry Christmas.
Father Danny Borkowski
of Christ Church
Anglican Fellowship