Why Christmas Eve is So Important!

Dear Crosswalkers,

According to recent reports, Toys “R” Us wants to take over Christmas!  Well, maybe not replace Jesus or anything crazy like that, but according to USA Today they do plan to “invade the mall this holiday season, opening 600 ‘Express’ stores in malls and other shopping centers around the country, more than six times last year’s count, and hiring 10,000 seasonal workers.” CEO Gerald Storch said, “We’ve been very aggressive during the economic downturn, and this is another aggressive action.”

Consumerism is by nature aggressive.  How aggressive should the church of Jesus be in sharing good news at Christmas?

Here’s something to think about:  There are really two big Christian holidays:  Easter and Christmas.  Easter always falls on a Sunday.  Christmas has never been Sunday-specific.  Following a tradition that goes back to the Puritans, Christmas is only celebrated on Sunday when the calendar dictates it.  But Evangelical churches have by tradition and practice chosen Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of Christ.

One writer put it like this: “Christmas Eve services are a last bastion against the rampant materialism and secularism that threatens to overwhelm the true meaning of the season, keeping the birth of Christ in the center of our hearts and celebrations.”

Given these cultural realities, it is imperative for us to prioritize keeping Christ in Christmas and worshiping the Lord on Christmas Eve.  It is a way for us to leverage the positive pull of the season to glorify the Lord.  That’s why we make invitation cards for our Christmas Eve service.  Would you please invite friends and family to join you in church on Christmas Eve?  You can trust it will be a lovely and elegant service, and the gospel will be presented in a compelling manner.  The service will be on Friday evening, December 24, at 5:00 p.m.   We will conclude within an hour.  See you there!

Here is a lovely Christmas prayer I found, written by an anonymous believer from the 10th century:

Lord Jesus Christ,

You are our eternal salvation,

The unfailing light of the world.

Light everlasting,

You are truly our redemption.

Grieving that the human race was perishing through the tempter’s power,
without leaving the heights You came to the depths in your loving kindness.

Readily taking our humanity by Your gracious will,
You saved all earthly creatures, long since lost,

Restoring joy to the world.

Redeem our souls and bodies, O Christ,
and so possess us as Your shining dwellings.

By Your first coming, make us righteous;
At your second coming, set us free:
So that, when the world is filled with light
and you judge all things,
We may be clad in Your spotless robes
and follow in Your steps, O King,
into the heavenly hall.

May God possess us as his shining dwellings!!!

Merry Christmas!

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John Christie

Good for Goodness Sake?

Dear Crosswalkers,
Are we to be “good for goodness sake,” as the Christmas carol implores, or is there something deeper behind the goodness we see in the world, especially around Christmas time?

Chuck Colson wrote an article entitled “The Problem of Goodness,” in which he explores this theme.   He writes, “The same person who cut you off in traffic last month may be ladling soup at the local homeless shelter …  Our favorite Christmas movies and stories are rife with examples of generosity.” He goes on to struggle with the reason behind the goodness of the season.  Why do we do good?  Here’s an example he gives from his own life:

“I was struck by this when attending a special-needs basketball game for my autistic grandson, Max. He played alongside about 30 children who suffered from autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and other conditions. The gym was filled not just with parents, but with volunteers and coaches who donated their time for these kids on a regular basis. But why are they doing this?”

He then draws from Darwin’s theory of natural selection to question our goodness by noting that natural selection can’t explain why we’re kind to others with special needs.  ”According to this theory,” He writes, “so-called weaker ones like these children would have been eliminated.” Instead, Colson notes:

“Christians understand that while all of us are born with the capacity to selfishness and cruelty, we are also capable of caring for others. Because we are created in the image of God, we not only don’t have to struggle against our neighbors for survival, we can love them and even willingly die for them.”

Along the same lines, what explains our generosity, especially at Christmas time?  Research conducted by Harris Interactive in the last quarter of 2010 shows that while Americans are continuing to tighten their financial belts, they are still finding ways to give where it counts. For example:

Nearly 7 in 10 adults (69%) say they will spend less money on holiday presents this year. In 2009, only 57%said they would be spending less.
Yet 48% of Americans are still willing to donate their time and money to causes they believe in.
31% say they will give smaller amounts to charities this year.
About half of Americans (51%) say they are now more likely to give a charitable gift as a holiday present.
71% say they plan to increase their giving once the economy improves.
This report is clearly a mixed bag.  However, the point is that we are inclined to give financially as well as do good at Christmastime.  Why?

Could it be that, as the Bible says, we are created to be like God?  Could it be that our culture is still influenced by the one whose birthday Christmas celebrates?  Could it be that our call is to give and do good deeds, not for goodness’ sake but for Jesus’ sake?    About Jesus, the Bible says,

“Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,  to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace (Luke 1:78-79).”

Please consider two things:

1)   Invite someone to church with you, especially on Christmas Eve.  We have Christmas songs, a devotional, and a wonderful candle lighting ceremony.  No offering will be taken.  Invite your friends and family to come, and come early because this tends to be a full house.

2)  Give a special Christmas gift to honor the Lord.  At Crosswalk, we have been able to barely stay in the black through November this year.   The emphasis is on BARELY!  December brings a lot of end of year expenses.  If you could give a Christmas gift to the Lord through his church, it would help us immensely as we continue to reach out to a needy world in the name of Jesus!

This Sunday we will see that Christmas is a time to rebuild family relationships, and then Christmas Eve will show us that Christmas is a time to renew our faith.

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John Christie

MENS MINISTRY EXCELS!
Last Tuesday, the Crosswalk men served at Sunnyvale Community Center by stocking pantries, distributing food, and greeting needy families.  We had 20 men participate in this service, and the director of SCC had nothing but glowing admiration and appreciation to the enthusiasm our men brought to the task.  Thank you, men!!!  Our men will be meeting for breakfast this Saturday, Dec 18 at 8:30 a.m. for the best darn breakfast in town, plus an inspiring program! I hope to see you there!!

How to Defeat the Darkness!

Dear Crosswalkers, C.S. Lewis began the third book in his Narnia series, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" with these words: "There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it."  Immediately the reader is drawn into a wonder filled story of fantasy that very much speaks of reality.  Leanna and I went to a special screening of the new Dawn Treader movie a couple weeks ago.  Admittedly, I have a bias toward these stories as I read them when I was in college and then again to my children when they were young.  Frankly, while I enjoyed the first two films of the series, I also thought they were flawed in their presentation.  This third film of the series is by far the best.  The special effects are great, the story moves along nicely, and the Christian message, while somewhat understated, is nevertheless there for the discerning moviegoer to absorb.  The story goes like this:  Lucy and Edmund Pevensie return to Narnia in the splashy beginning of the film with their cousin Eustace.  There they meet up with King Caspian for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship “The Dawn Treader.”  Caspian is sailing to the Lone Islands in search of the missing seven Lords of Telmar.  They journey on an island hopping adventure, meeting dragons and dwarves as they get closer to the foreboding Dark Island.  Along the way, the kids face various temptations:  Edmund by greed and power, Lucy by beauty.  They must overcome the temptations, and the evil powers of the Dark Island, in order to journey on.  Eventually, their voyage leads them to the end of the world:  Aslan’s country!  (For those who are unschooled in the ways of Narnia, Aslan is a regal lion who is a Christ figure).  I highly recommend this movie, even though parents should be aware that some of the battle scenes on Dark Island may be too intense and scary for very young children. Meanwhile, in the real world, there are competitors for your entertainment dollar.  Some of these competitors remind us of the darkness in our world.  For example, the nominees to receive the most prestigious awards in the music industry, the Grammy Awards, were recently announced. Among the five nominees for Record of the Year is a song titled "F--- You," with the F-word, of course, spelled out and pronounced.  It is a song that also contains the S-word and the N-word.  Honestly, how does a song like this get nominated for the highest of awards in the music business?  Social commentator Dennis Prager says it’s because many of those in the entertainment industry are “dedicated to lowering that which is elevated, destroying that which uplifts, and to profaning that which is held sacred.” Adding to the decay is this news item:  A week ago, CNS News' Penny Starr wrote about an exhibit in Washington DC: "The federally funded National Portrait Gallery, one of the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, is currently showing an exhibition that features images of an ant-covered Jesus, male genitalia, naked brothers kissing, men in chains, Ellen DeGeneres grabbing her breasts and a painting the Smithsonian itself describes in the show's catalog as 'homoerotic.'" Other commentators reported on the vulgar and shocking nature of this exhibit, funded by your tax payer dollars!  Reacting to this news were Congressmen John Boehner and Eric Cantor, who strongly suggested the exhibit could imperil Smithsonian funding.  Apparently, Money talks!  The Smithsonian promptly removed the exhibit and I believe it is now featured in a private art museum nearby.  There is a lot of darkness in the world today.  But this darkness has always been with us.  It was there in the garden when the Tempter whispered, “Did God really say…?”  It was there on the first Christmas, where a hate filled King Herod slaughtered the baby boys in Bethlehem in a mad desire to extinguish the light of the world.  How do we overcome the darkness in our world?  This brings us back to the “Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” where one of the characters gives this wise advice:  “To defeat the darkness out there you must first defeat the darkness within yourself.” This is possible only with divine help.  What are you feeding your soul?  This Christmas, let’s agree to focus on letting the light shine into our darkness.  This Sunday we will have a great day of worship.  Our series continues with “Christmas is a time to let go of our fears.”  Pastor Mike Jones is preaching in our 9:00 a.m. service on that theme, and in our 10:35 a.m. service the children are presenting a musical “MK Christmas.”  There is something for everyone this Sunday!! Love in Jesus, Pastor John Christie

What do Do When You've Dropped the Ball!

Dear Crosswalkers,

Steve Johnson is the star wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills football team.  He is having a great year.  In fact, I happen to have him on my fantasy league team.  Last Sunday, he had a perfect pass in his hands that would have given his team an overtime victory over the heavily favored Steelers.  He would be either the hero or the goat.  BAAAAA!  He dropped the ball!  Devastated, the 24-year-old watched in horror as the Steelers marched down the field for the game-winning field goal.  "I had the game in my hands and I dropped it," Johnson told reporters after Sunday's game. "Humbled. Humbled… I'll never get over it. Ever."

    What made even greater news is that after          the game, he sent a twitter message venting    his frustration and seemingly blaming God for    the dropped pass!  This is what he wrote:

    I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO     ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS?     HOW?!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! 

    THX THO…

Interesting that he says at the end, “THX THO…”  Thanks for other blessings?  Or Thanks for nothing!  Only Steve knows for sure!

One skeptic commented that players often thank God after a victory, so it’s refreshing to see God get blamed after a loss.  But is it healthy to blame everything on God?  If we’re honest, privately we do wonder why God doesn’t bless us with victory after victory.  Or at least a respite from some defeats!  We do blame God.  We do have a natural tendency to deflect blame and responsibility from ourselves and shift it to someone else.  God is an easy target.

The NT says, If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong (1 John 1:8-9).

These verses say we need to be honest with God.  Then we can experience forgiveness and freedom.  The passage goes on to say that then we are also free to be honest with ourselves and with each other. 

It’s hard for some of us to do this.  There are two great obstacles to honesty:  One is growing up in a family where honesty wasn’t valued, but appearances were.  And the other is a fear of rejection, or a fear of being hurt again. 

The Bible says it’s best to be honest and admit where we are weak, where you have sins, where we’ve blown it.  Those of you who are in a recovery program know that you’re only as sick as your secrets.  This is what I love about NA and AA – you admit your weakness and get help from the group.  You say, “This is where I’m at,” and you admit it.  Well we’re all in recovery.  We are all SIN positive people and we all need the healing that honesty opens the door for. 

One Wednesday of this week, Steve Johnson talked candidly about his controversial tweet.  “God is everything,” he said. “I feel like he’s the Creator, and he’s 100 per cent good. I simply just asked ‘Why?’ I was not blaming him or any of that. Why would I? But it happened, and the way people took it, is the way they took it. They can say what they want, it’s fine with me. I’m still going to keep doing what I have to do to keep being a good receiver.”  Johnson went on to say he’s been getting a tremendous amount of support from his teammates, friends, family, and even Buffalo’s all-time leading receiver, Andre Reed, who called him on Tuesday.  What did the great receiver tell Johnson?  “He just said it happens to the best of us,” Johnson said.

This Sunday we’re beginning a new series of messages entitled “The Time of the Season.”  The New Testament says that “When the right time came, God sent his Son....” (Galatians 4:4).  Christmas is that magical place where time and eternity met, and the world has never been the same.  In this series we will see that Christmas is the right time to receive forgiveness, release fears, rebuild relationships, renew faith, and refresh hope!  We will kick it off this week by looking at Christmas being the right time to receive forgiveness,  and as part of our service we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper! 

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John Christie