It was our first Christmas together, but it didn’t run smoothly. Not only were we in a friend’s house with an ancient (and very ineffective) heating system but we lost our most expensive present.
We’d opened our gifts, and thought we’d put them all to one side, but somehow the tickets to the theatre in London went out with the rubbish! Small gifts, even valuable ones, are easily lost, especially amongst all the wrapping paper. We assumed they were safe, but we were wrong.
I dare say there is no one in our families who doesn’t know the reason we celebrate Christmas. They’d be able to answer quiz questions on the Christmas story, sing along with the carols and might even come to church with us. But that’s a long way from truly celebrating the coming of Jesus as THEIR saviour. We may think that they are safe as good Christians; but we may be wrong.
There’s a saying that when we assume things, we can make an ass out of u and me. That’s especially true on matters of faith in Jesus. Perhaps we feel it’s easier to say nothing. It’s more polite to leave them as they are. It’s Christmas after all. We don’t want an argument. But what better time is there to talk about Jesus than at Christmas, when we are celebrating his birthday!
So how about asking your friends and family what they make of the Christmas story. Ask them if they think it’s true? And why they think as they do? Challenge them with this thought: that 2000 years after the event, people in every country on the planet will be celebrating the birth of a man who only lived until he was 33, who never wrote a book, who died a criminal’s death, yet who claimed to be God- and proved it by rising to life again. Then invite them to look deeper at Jesus. Give them a copy of THE GIFT; invite them to the IDENTITY COURSE in the new Year. Jesus is the reason for the season; the reason for life. Don’t let them lose him.