By Pastor Mark Hiehle
It is hard to believe that there are only 21 days left until Christmas.
Where has this year gone? Christmas, however, is the time of year that we look forward to, and count down the days. All over town we are enjoying the decorations and Festival of Lights. Chickasha is beautiful and becoming more so all the time. As you are preparing to celebrate Christmas, may I encourage you to not miss the true meaning of the season?
Christmas is more than a tree with presents underneath or the gathering of family and friends. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, who is the Savior of the world. As the angel told Joseph, ?You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.? To see the baby in the manger, and not see the shadow of the cross over it is to miss the meaning of Christmas altogether.
During these days preceding Christmas, may I also encourage you to read the story of Christmas anew from the Bible? As you open your Bible, you wil l find the account in the New Testament books of Matthew and Luke. It is important to know that each of these men were impressed by God to write their books to different audiences. Matthew was written to a Jewish audience, and Luke was written to Greeks ? or Gentiles. The first two chapters of Matthew are from the perspective of Joseph, and the first two chapters of Luke look through Mary?s experience. Each of the two accounts clearly reveal that the conception and birth of Jesus was not from human origin, but God.
The angel Gabriel told Mary that God was going to do something humanly impossible. A virgin would become the mother of the son of God. In our thinking, this is impossible! But as Gabriel also told Mary, ?Nothing is impossible with God.? Mary asked how this would be and the angel said,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, so that the holy one born to you will be called the Son of God.?"
Christmas is literally God invading human history and becoming one of us.
Think of it, the Son of God limited himself to become a man so that we could relate to Him. Jesus was born into an impoverished family, not in to the halls of wealth or honor. He came as a helpless and tender baby approachable to all. God did the impossible with us in mind in order to tell us that there is nothing that He cannot do. The good news is that He still performs miracles today.
The Lord chose Mary because she was willing to believe God. After she heard the Word of the Lord she said, ?I am the Lord?s servant, may it be to me as you have said.? Mary not only said that she believed, but she adjusted her life because she believed. She was willing to allow God to redirect her life and live by faith. Please know that this was not an easy decision for her. She faced the real possibility that Joseph, who was pledged to marry her, would divorce her and she would be publically rejected. But, she put her life into God?s hands, and He took care of all the details. No matter what the problems, God performed miracles.
Do you believe that nothing is impossible for God today? He is still looking for people who will believe Him, and take Him at his Word. History truly is His Story, but He is still writing tomorrow?s history today.
This Christmas, celebrate Jesus? birth, but also allow it to challenge you to live by faith, believing that God can do anything.
Pastor Mark Hiehle is the Senior Pastor of the First Church of the Nazarene at 1300 S. 29th St. in Chickasha, OK. For more info, go on line to www.chickashanaz.com
