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2015 Worship Guide
A LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.COM PUBLICATION
“Recognizing The Truth of Christmas”
A Christmas Meditation by Stacy A Popejoy
CONTINUED
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Elkhart Christian Church
Over the years, the facts of Christmas have
become co-mingled with the fictions of Christmas
to the point where many people no longer
recognize what the holiday truly represents.
Christmas is a warm, wonderful holiday, with
many joyous sentiments and traditions. It is, and
should be, a time of great celebration, but we
must recognize what it really is, and why, we
celebrate. We must remember the words of the
angel to the shepherds: “... a Savior has been
born to you, He is Christ the Lord.”
Dark. Helpless. Hopeless. That is the only way to
truly describe the world that day. God, the creator
and sustainer of all mankind had been silent for
too long. He had hidden His shining glory from
His people, leaving them exposed to, and under
the control of an unfeeling, unrelenting Roman
government. By this time, God’s people had not
known true peace for centuries. They experienced
only periodic, short-lived, moments of happiness
in their lives when and if the heavy hand of
Roman rule might loosen it’s grip of bondage
and power, thus teasing Israel with a slight,
blurry glimpse of hope. But these gestures were
consistently empty, as there was never an intent to
bring freedom or peace; only more and increased
pain, as Rome was a kingdom which thrived upon
hatred, jealousy, pride, and political ambition. For
God’s people - enslaved, battered, and helpless
- any hope for peace or freedom had been long
since buried in the past.
But, that night, in a small town in Judea, a child
was born. Quietly and unannounced to all but
a few shepherds, he made his entrance into the
world. Though small in the eyes of the world, and
helpless in the minds of men, He was to be God’s
answer to the centuries old petitions of His people
- the all but forgotten source of hope and peace.
By those words of the angel; “... a Savior has
been born to you, He is Christ the Lord.”
God’s people were reminded of the promise of
the prophet: “Out of [Bethlehem] will come a
ruler over Israel... He will stand and shepherd his
flock in the strength of the Lord... and they will
live securely... and He will be their peace.”
What wonderful news this must have been to ears
that had been deafened for so long. The Savior,
the true ruler of the world had come, and through
Him, hope and peace and freedom was brought to
all who recognized Him. His was to be a power
that would overcome and conquer the mightiest
of earthly rulers, and His was to be a kingdom
that would bring, and know, only peace - forever!
All we who live in this dark world today have this
same hope - Jesus, born to man so many years
ago, was born to us as well. It is still His desire to
bring peace to all men, and to reign as their King.
As we celebrate Christmas, let us not neglect to
recognize the
truth
about Christmas. Yes, it is
