Jesus told His disciples in John 15 that they had not chosen Him but that He had chosen them (John 15:16)! Some Bible verses keep coming back to my mind. I John 4:19 is one of those verses. John reminds us that, “We love Him because He first loved us!” Just think! In every aspect of our salvation God took the initiative. Even in the simplest of ways we see this taught in Scripture. For example, in I John 4:14 we see that “… the Father SENT the Son to be the Savior of the world.” This may sound incredibly simple, but it’s not! Christmas is the story of how God choose to send His Son Jesus to redeem us from our sins. Jesus was virgin born and lived a sinless life making Him the perfect, all sufficient sacrifice for our sins. Praise the Lord… ALL of this, from start to finish, was the work of our loving God. As you think about Christmas 2016, remember that CHRISTMAS is all about CHRIST! Christmas is all about EMMANUEL, God with us! Celebrate Jesus!
Years ago a friend of mine sent me a note and after signing his name he wrote, FINISH FAITHFUL! I will never forget those words from my friend Johnny Hunt! I want you to join me and FINISH FAITHFUL in 2016. As we celebrate CHRISTMAS let’s not run past the whole reason for the season. Be faithful in your walk with Christ. Faithfully worship the Lord… HE IS WORTHY! In all your activity… remember JESUS! In all of your coming and going, remember JESUS! What a great time of the year to invite your friends and family members to join you for a time of worship! Seize the opportunity… ask the Lord to use you… HE WILL!
Keep in mind our ministry theme for 2017 is COMMITMENT… Christ Above ALL! Over the next few weeks we will be sharing more about what this means for all of us at Grace Church. One thing is for sure. We live in a day when COMMITMENT is greatly needed. Having experienced the love of God through Christ nothing less than a whole hearted COMMITMENT will do! As we finish 2016 let’s start praying about our ministry for 2017. Opportunities abound… let’s do this together!
Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
God is for us!
Mike and Cheryl <><