Spotlight on Jesus

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:5-11

I recently read an article in the paper about a woman who was "sidelining" Christmas this year. She grew up a Catholic/Buddhist due to the mixed religions of her parents, and she believed that the ideas of Santa and gifts (what she considers the "Christian" aspect) aren't as noble as the mission of Buddhists at this time of year--peace on earth/general goodwill for mankind. Therefore, she wasn't celebrating Christmas with the commercial trees, gifts, etc. She was going to celebrate family and friends on Christmas Eve by just being together. My heart was just aching as I read this story, because she was missing the foundation for Christmas. She was comparing two man-made and human-focused ideas and seeing which measured better on her "moral" scale. She didn't even mention Jesus Christ and the hope He brings to mankind.

As true Christians and followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, this season of the year should not be merely the worldly celebration of Santa Claus, parties, lights, cards, cookies, trees, and gifts. There is nothing wrong with having these be a PART of your Christmas, but the world should see that we have a more noble cause to celebrate. A more prominent focus should be our SAVIOR, who came to earth in the form of a human so that He could live a perfect life for us, could be a perfect sacrifice in place of us to pay for the punishment of OUR sins, and could rise to life again to conquer death for us and ensure the hope of our eternal life with God in Heaven.

As Carter is getting older, I want to make sure this message is crystal clear to him. We have received two invitations to birthday parties for Jesus this December. I am impressed at the creative way my friends are pushing Jesus to the forefront of Christmas in their homes. Ryan and I want to also take the focus off US and OUR enjoyment. We are trying to think of ways to serve others and to point to Christ. Instead of toys or chocolates, Ryan put scripture focusing on Jesus in our advent calendar doors. We are scaling back on the gifts we are giving among the three of us, and we are giving Christ-focused Christmas CD's we burned to all of our neighbors. My Bible study co-leader had a great idea of buying Feed the Children donations and letting our small group know we all are paying to feed two children this year in lieu of our Christmas gifts we would normally buy for the group. In our Thrive group, we are sending care packages to soldiers who are family members of Thrive attendees. In addition, Pastor Dale is letting us know some families within our church that we can bless with donations, food, gifts and scripture this Christmas.

With all this, I still worry that the worldly focus of Christmas will overtake our true celebration. I know how creative you all can be. I'd love to hear how you put a spotlight on Jesus at Christmastime when you were growing up, in your family now, or in church activities. Are there any traditions you would like to start that you haven't put into practice quite yet? The true joy of this season belongs to Christians. Give praise and thanks. Our Lord has Come!

“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14