I love Christmas. I come by it very naturally. My dad loved Christmas. I can remember him waking us up at 3:00 AM to unwrap presents on Christmas morning. He always took us to see Christmas lights, and he loved giving all 3 of his kids’ prolific gifts. Our tree was never empty. Dad made sure of it, and mom loved every minute of it.
Last year, I was driving to pick up my youngest son at his middle school boys’ community group during the Christmas season, and as I passed by the Christmas lights, I thought about the impact my dad made on my life regarding my love for Christmas season. Naturally, I found myself in tears driving down the road in gratitude for him and for the heritage that he gave me. On December 1, 2018, my dad went to hope to be with Jesus. This week marks the 3rd year without him during Christmas and has brought a fresh perspective for me about Christmas. In all the celebrations (and there should be celebrations), we should be mindful of the fact that Christmas is also a season that’s tough on some folks. They may not have family nearby. They might’ve lost someone they dearly loved. Christmas might bring the ache of family conflicts. This year, be mindful of this as you go about your Christmas celebrations. It might be a time in your family to bring someone into your world that doesn’t have what you have.
Advent
I must admit that I’ve always been a bit of a non-traditionalist regarding the church history calendar. I cannot explain it except for my youthful zeal. Honestly, I’ve watched churches and people observe traditions without any connection to the gospel, heart transformation, or life adjustments, and I just haven’t had any flavor for it. So, I’ve rejected some really good things, like Advent, because I “threw the baby out with the bathwater.”
So, when we decided to do an Advent series, I wanted to make sure that this series was about Christ and His gospel. As we’ve planned this series, my heart has been really excited. I’ve been eager to light each candle. I’ve been excited to go through an Advent devotional with my family. And I’ve been excited to preach the sermons on each theme to our church.
As I said Sunday, my prayer is that this series will cause us to slow down and meditate on Christ’s first coming and long for His second coming.
Sunday’s sermon
Several years ago, we did a series called “The Great Story.” That series was Sunday’s sermon but in about 12 sermons. So, the task on Sunday was enormous. As you can imagine, there was a lot to cut out. But, my hope is this…this sermon showed you how the Old Testament was pointing to Christ way before the New Testament came around. This sermon was really about the story of redemption and restoration that we find all over the Bible. And it sure does provide us hope. Christ has come, and God is faithful. The only reasons we need for hope.
From the Cheap Seats:
- Well, not a very good Thanksgiving weekend for my football teams. Cowboys go down on Thanksgiving. The Beavers got crushed (the score was closer than the game felt). And the Aggies got beat on a last-second touchdown. I hate football…
- Then the news came down today that the Cowboys coaching staff is being hammered with COVID positives tests.
- Corey Seager and Marcus Semien to the Rangers for over 500 million dollars. Rangers just bought the best middle infield in baseball. But my goodness, that’s a lot of money.
Grateful for you.
To watch or listen to the sermon described in this post, please click here.
In Christ,
Dave York
