December 15, 2024
Greetings and blessings to all of you. We are celebrating the Birth of Christ. I know people argue about the date and Christmas trees and Jesus skin color….but all that is smoke screens or diversions to keep us from focusing on why did Jesus come to earth. People love complicated matters because of their need to appear intellectual…but it is very simple. God has provided a remedy so that men do not need to suffer everlasting punishment for their sins. He sent His Son Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, into the world to provide a way to escape for you and I. Luke 19:10 says, “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” In Eze. 18:23 “Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? Of course not. I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live.” And in Isaiah 7:14 it says, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Immanuel literally means GOD WITH US. Mary and Joseph knew that Jesus would be the Messiah and as faithful Jews they knew about the OT prophecies. Do we know that Christ is returning again? Not as a baby but as Kings of Kings and Lords of Lords. (Rev. 19:16) Are we looking/expecting the Day of His arrival? The Bible indicates that when Christ returns the world will not be looking for him. The nations of the world will still be looking to their own devices and searching for new master plans to save the human race. Or are we like the apathetic folks in Matt. 24:37-39 “As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be also in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” In 2 Peter 3:3 “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming?” These scoffers are not intellectuals; they are people who know better but who love the world more than Christ by rationalizing their unbelief to do what they want to do and not follow the teachings of Christ. Don’t be like that ..check your heart to see if you are sold out for Christ. With the coming of Jesus, the first time God kept His promise of a future ideal King. Today we can look forward to His Second Coming when all of the promises will be fulfilled.
With the Love of Christ
First Lady Vivian C. Currie
Pastor ALC