Merry Christmas!

We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

But we hope your Christmas is merry, not because of the presents, food and parties, but because of the hope we have in the Savior who came to seek and save the lost. We hope you have a happy new year, not because of the fleeting promises of a better economy, future vacations or more time spent together, but because of the sure future we have knowing that God is in control and that He is good despite what the news is saying.

The reality is that most people aren't going to have a merry Christmas and the new year doesn't look too promising. For so many the holidays remind people of what they don't have, the loved ones they have lost and the long winter nights seem so very long. People are going through very hard things...much like the very first Christmas. The first Christmas was nothing like the movies we see and the pretty cards we send out. Jesus came in a very dark time spiritually and politically, he came in a barn full of stinky animals and His first visitors were lowly shepherds straight from the fields. Christ came not to make our lives picture perfect but to give us a perfect Savior and a perfect hope in a future with Him after this life is over. If we repent of our sins, believe in Him, (His birth, death and resurrection) and live our lives as a thankful offering to Him, we have a blessed hope outside of our current circumstances. We can have a merry Christmas and a happy new year even if life isn't merry and happy at the moment.

We hope that this Christmas is wonderful and beautiful for you, but if it isn't we pray that-

" the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."" Luke 2:10-12

Merry Merry Christmas!