December 25th

As Christmas approaches, I encourage you reflect on reason the holiday exists. Jesus Christ. The underlying story throughout all of the books of the Bible (old and new testament) points to Jesus Christ.

“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3, NIV).

The following is a letter written from Gilbert Kingsley, a fellow Cru staff. At the end of his letter there are some resources to help you read about and reflect on.

Good Monday Morning,

I am writing this after having just come back from church. Today is the first day of Advent, that wonderful time in the church calendar for preparing for the celebration of Christ’s birth.

Using, Galatians 4:4, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son…”, our pastor talked about the many ways that God prepared the world for Christ’s coming. A common language, Greek, understood throughout the known world. A stable political world, the Pax Romana. An interconnectedness between nations with roads built throughout the Roman Empire. And a Jewish expectation of the Messiah. God orchestrated the events over hundreds of years so that when Christ entered the world, the good news could be carried everywhere.

In the same way that God prepared the world, our pastor exhorted us to prepare our hearts to celebrate. This time of year can be so busy with ending a semester of ministry, preparing for Christmas/Winter conferences and thinking about the spring and summer ministry opportunities. Students are preparing for finals. And we have our own checklist of Christmas preparations, parties, gift buying, decorating, etc.

Taking time everyday for Advent readings and reflections helps to prepare our hearts for celebrating His coming, even in the midst of checking off our to do’s. There are a number of on-line advent devotions that can be helpful in focusing our thoughts and hearts.

• BibleGateway.com has a few Advent newsletters to choose from. One deals with classic hymns. They have a variety of start dates. You must sign up.
• D365 Daily Online Devotions repeats the popular “Following the Star” series. No sign up required. Be sure to click through each section of the devotion in the lower right.
• Many churches offer their own advent guides. Here is one that looked particularly interesting for both individuals and families. And here is another written by former staff, Will Walker.

Beyond what God does in our lives, this is a wonderful time of the year for sharing our faith. Chris and I will host one of the stops for a neighborhood progressive dinner this year. For a brief hour, our home will be a place where we hope to share the role Christ has in our lives with others from very different places.

-Gilbert