From the Pulpit

By: 
Pastor Tony Toth, Faith United Church

Christmas is a celebration of a baby being born in a manger. However, the story of Christmas starts a few thousand years earlier with a promise. In Genesis chapter 17, Abraham receives God’s promise concerning his wife, Sarah. “I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her” (Genesis 17:16).

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise. A promised blessing to Abraham and Sarah that ultimately becomes a journey through time to become a blessing for the world. When the time was right, another promise was given to a young woman from Nazareth. A promise that would take another miracle. An angel visits Mary and shares with her that she will be a part of fulfilling God’s promise to the world. “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:31-32).

So let us embrace the blessing that comes through Jesus this season and remember that we have a God who loves us. God sent his son, born of a woman, so we could be reconciled into God’s spiritual family (Galatians 4:4-5). God’s proof of his love is demonstrated in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). 

The world needs Christmas because the world needs the blessing of God’s love as found in the person named the Christ. “Mary will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

May you be blessed this Christmas and experience the embrace of God’s love.

 

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The Brandon Valley Journal

 

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