The Adventures of Christmas Esimerkki

December 6th

Fill in the blanks:

_________ to the world, the Lord is come.

We wish you a _________ Christmas, we wish you a __________ Christmas.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas, make the Yuletide __________.

Notice a theme with the missing words? Christmas is supposed to be a time of GREAT JOY. This is the promise of the angels.

I don’t know about you, but this Christmas I want to experience Great Joy. I want to experience what those shepherds experienced as they ran into town. I want to experience what Mary experienced as she looked into the precious face of Jesus for the first time. I want to experience what the Angels experienced as they spontaneously broke into song: “Glory to God in the highest!”

How do we do that? We have to believe what the angels said...

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:11)

Great joy comes from believing a savior has been born.

When my oldest was two, we were in my mom’s backyard and he was being pushed in a homemade swing that was attached to a tree branch. After several pushes back and forth, my mom decided to move from the back to the front. At that exact moment, my step-dad pushed the swing; the tree branch snapped and my son flew forward. I need to clarify that my mom has never been athletic. If you threw a ball at her she would probably drop it 9 times out of 10. But instinctively, she grabbed my son’s feet and caught him. He dangled less than an inch from the ground. If she had not been in front of him, he would have landed on his head. After several moments of sheer terror, I experienced Great Joy knowing my little boy was unharmed.

Great Joy comes when we truly believe that when the angels shouted the words, “Peace to those on whom his favor rests!” they were speaking to you and me.

Take some time to thank God for His salvation and the Great Joy we have because of it.