Because the World is Broken

One of the battles in American culture over the last decade has centered around the Christmas season. Interestingly, you're not hearing as much about it this year as we have in recent years. This battle revolves around the saying of "Merry Christmas."

There has been a concern among some leaders, particularly business leaders, that by saying "Merry Christmas," we might offend people who don't celebrate Christmas or who don't believe in Christ. As a result, many have opted to say "Happy Holidays" instead, to avoid stepping on anyone's toes. This has led to a backlash, with some individuals wanting to boycott businesses that remove Christmas from their advertising.

The issue has sparked a significant debate over the use of "Merry Christmas" versus "Happy Holidays" in a society that is increasingly secular. It is no longer referred to as Christmas break; instead, it is called holiday or winter break. We see advertisements for holiday trees or holiday lights instead of Christmas trees or Christmas lights.

Frankly, I think some of this is a bit overblown. However, I can empathize with the concerns that people have as we see these elements removed from our culture. The press has certainly contributed to blowing this issue out of proportion. Even so, the reaction from people who are worried about the removal of the word "Christmas" and certain aspects of the holiday is understandable.

We generally do not like change, and I think we can all agree that we have a hard time with it. In the last 20 to 25 years, our culture has experienced very rapid changes. When change occurs at such a fast pace, it can leave some people feeling as though they are experiencing cultural vertigo. Has anyone ever had vertigo before?

I've had it. Recently, it has not been fun at all. You kind of feel totally out of balance. People sometimes feel like they have cultural vertigo when they look around at the things that are going on. In fact, this is not new. There was a book written back in 1970 by a futurist named Alvin Toffler called "Future Shock." He talked about all the transformations taking place in modern society, the technological advancements, and the ability for us to travel the world so quickly. Cultures are influencing our culture and vice versa. As a result, there is this destabilization that takes place in culture, and people have this experience of what he called future shock. Maybe you have experienced that a little bit.

We've definitely seen this around the whole discussion about "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas." Here’s the thing, though: as I have seen, and maybe you've seen this as well, this shift from "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays" is a change in our culture. While it might bother some, especially within the Christian community and the church, it might be a shock to that group of people. For the average American who is not very religious, does not go to church, and does not read the Bible, these things aren't really shocking. In fact, they might be more shocked by the shock itself. They might step back a little, going, "I'm not understanding why this is a problem." For most of those people, it is a happy holiday time.

For a lot of people who don't go to church, they quite honestly don't know what the reason for this season is. They don't really understand. I know that’s the case because just a couple of weeks ago, on Black Friday, Pastor Nick and I went out. Pastor Nick brought the camera, and I brought a microphone. We went out to a fine retail establishment and got kicked out of Walmart, which says something. So, we went to Target and stood out in front of it. I had a pocket full of $5 gift cards to Starbucks, and I would say, "Hey, can I have five minutes of your time? I'll give you a $5 gift card to Starbucks." Most of the people would go, "Sure," and come over.

I asked them, "Are you doing some Christmas shopping today? It's Black Friday." Pretty much all the people, except for one guy shopping for some extra equipment for a hockey match, said, "Yeah, we're doing some Christmas shopping." I then asked, "Okay, so you celebrate Christmas?" They would say, "Yeah," and then I would ask, "Why?" They would just kind of give me a blank stare. When I asked people if they could summarize the Christmas story, just like we did three years ago, I found it to be the same case this time: most people could not summarize the Christmas story.

Favorite one. I don't know if this happened this time or the last time, but as I said, could you summarize the Christmas story? A guy goes, "You mean like the 'You'll shoot your eye out, kid' one?" I was like, "No," though that is called "A Christmas Story," so I can understand where he might come from on that one.

The amazing thing was that in 45 minutes, I was able to talk with 15 different people and ask them this question. Of the 15 people I talked to, I think two actually had a good answer for the question, and one of them was a pastor, so that does not count. If you do the numbers, that's about 87 percent of the people who did not know why we celebrate Christmas. I would say that a lot of the people you work with, people in your neighborhood, maybe family members, and friends of yours, don't know why we celebrate this holiday called Christmas.

This is why we do this series here at Cross Connection—to talk about why we celebrate Christmas. It's an important holiday, I believe, and there are people in our culture who, even though they don't go to church and are not really interested in the things of the Bible, may know the saying, "Jesus is the reason for the season." They might know that saying, but they don't really have a good, adequate answer for why we celebrate these things.

Why is Jesus the reason for the season? Why is His birth important? Why should we celebrate His birth? Why should we celebrate His birth with giving and exchanging gifts? Why is it that this is called the most wonderful time of the year? Why are people decking the halls? Why is the little drummer boy drumming? Why any of these things?

I think it's a good thing for us to consider these questions because, though people may know some of the details—the "whats" of Christmas—they don't always know the "whys." This brings us to point number one on your outline sermon guide, which is in your bulletin: the why of Christmas is more important than the what.

Over the next four Sundays, today included, we're going to be seeking to answer that question: Why Christmas? As an aside, you have this little card in your bulletin again this week, and I want you to take this and maybe pray about inviting someone to come out to our series as we talk about why Christmas. The fact is, a lot...

Many people you know may not understand why we celebrate Christmas. This presents a great opportunity for you to ask them, "Do you know why we celebrate Christmas?" If they respond that they are unsure, you can invite them to join you at church next week, where we will discuss the significance of Christmas.

However, the "why" of Christmas is more important than the "what." What does that mean? Even in this room, there are probably many different traditions for Christmas represented. Each family likely has its own unique take on the various aspects of the holiday.

For instance, most people in our culture celebrate Christmas on December 25th, while some focus their celebrations on December 24th, Christmas Eve. In other parts of the world, Christmas is celebrated on January 6th, and there are those who observe all twelve days of Christmas, from December 25th to January 6th. Did you know that this is where the concept of the twelve days of Christmas originated? Not many people do.

Some families exchange gifts, while others do not. Some decorate a tree, and some choose not to. Preferences vary widely; for example, some people enjoy eggnog, while others, like me, find it disgusting. There are countless different traditions surrounding Christmas, and the "whats" of Christmas can differ significantly from family to family.

This diversity means that when you encounter someone else's Christmas tradition, you might think, "That's not how it's supposed to be done." However, the most important question we need to address is the "why." Why do we celebrate Christmas? Why is Christmas important?

To answer that question, we need to start at the very beginning—specifically, at the beginning of your Bible. If you would take out your Bible and turn to the very first book, Genesis, chapter 1, page 1, you can follow along as if you are an authority on Scripture. If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one.

Now, let's read the opening verses together. Genesis chapter 1, verse 1 states, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep."

The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw the light, that it was good.

Father, as we consider this question, "Why Christmas?" and as we think about these things together this weekend and the following three Sundays, I pray, God, that You would speak to our hearts. I ask that You would either inform us for the first time through Your Word or remind us once again what this is all about and why it's important. Help us to have a grasp and understanding of why this is important so that we can share that with the people we come in contact with throughout the week—our friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family members.

Wherever we are, God, there are so many people in our culture who will be celebrating this holiday season, and they don't fully know why they celebrate it. Maybe they think it's about family, gifts, or love, and all of those things are good. But, God, I pray that You would help us to grasp and be fully aware of what the true reason for this holiday is and why it's so important. So speak to us, we pray this in Jesus' name.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Thus opens the greatest book that has ever been—the book that has been copied more than any other book in all history. Such a wonderful story begins with those words: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

As chapter one unfolds, it shows the Creator God giving life to everything that is. He created everything out of nothing, what we call ex nihilo. God speaks it into existence, and everything that we see, and even those things that we cannot see with the naked eye, are all spoken into existence by God.

In this passage, we have what is referred to as the six days of creation. At the end of each one of those days, God looks at that which He has created and says the exact same thing every single time: "It is good." Seven times in the opening of the Bible, we read that God looks at all that He created and finishes by saying, "It is good." If you look at the very last verse, Genesis chapter 1, verse 31...

It says there, "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good." So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Everything that God had created was very good, very abundantly, perfectly, bountifully excellent and good. That was God's statement; that was His observation of everything that He had made—that it was good.

Point number two on your outline: in the beginning, everything was really good. That's what the Bible tells us. At the very beginning, everything was really good.

Now, here's the problem. Sitting here, however long from that point we are, there is discussion and debate on how that is. But where we are sitting here today, looking at the world that we live in, although there are many good things in this world, I think we would all recognize that this world is far from very good. There is a desire, though, in every single one of us for this world to be restored back to that place of being very good. We long for that, and not just us, but everybody that you meet in this world is desiring the same thing—that this world would be very good once again.

In the beginning, everything was really good. It started off that way; unfortunately, it didn't stay that way. But at this point in Genesis chapter 1, verse 31, the story gets even better. The good creation that God made gets better in chapter 2. Chapter 2 of Genesis is basically a restatement of chapter 1. It's not just a continuation from chapter 1; it's maybe just a little bit different perspective on what took place in chapter 1.

In chapter 2, God is seen creating. The Creator God, who is life-giving, forms man from the ground and breathes into him the breath of life. After He does this, we read in Genesis chapter 2, verse 16, that the Lord God commanded the man, as He created this garden, to eat of every tree in the garden. He says, "You may freely eat, but of the tree in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die."

You see, in Genesis chapter 2, God not only creates this beautiful creation, but then He makes this beautiful garden. In this garden, He makes all these wonderful trees that are pleasant to the eyes and good for food. Then He takes man, whom He formed, and places him in the garden, essentially saying, "This garden is for you; it's a gift." So the life-giving God is also the gift-giving God.

God, which is what we're going to be talking about next Sunday, is the gift-giving God. The gift-giving God places man in the midst of this garden. He says, "This whole thing is for you. All of these trees you may freely eat of, except for one. There is one tree in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that you shall not eat of. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die."

Now, I don't know what it is, but every single time I read Genesis chapter 2, verse 17, where it says, "Don't eat this, because in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die," the same thing happens in my head after I read that. I hear these little things done. But every time I read it now, you'll hear it too every time that you read it. So, I just imparted that to you. It's like there's this little foreshadowing of something that's not good that’s going to be coming in just a moment when we get to chapter 3.

But every one of these trees you may freely eat of, but if you eat of this one, you shall surely die. Thank you, perfect. Now you are in my delusion, and we're good.

So, it's a sweet setup that God gives to man. He places him there and says, "This is my gift for you." Everything was perfectly good in God's creation, and He places him there in the midst of it. But look at the next verse, Genesis 2:18. The Lord God said, "It is not good." This is the first negative of the story. In Genesis chapter 1, everything was really good, but then God creates this garden, places man in the midst of it, and looks at all that He had made. Previously, He said it was all really good, but now He says, "It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him."

I can't help but throw this point in there: point number three on your outline. God created us to live life in connection. God created us to live life in connection. That's our vision; that's our mission here at Cross-Connection Church: life in connection. Of course, it's life in connection with God, with one another, and with the world through Jesus. But life in connection—that's our website, that's our mission.

We see from the opening words of the Bible, Genesis chapter 2, verse 18, that God created us to live in connection with one another and ultimately in connection with Him. When He made this creation, when you get to the end of chapter 2, what you see is that man was living in perfect harmony with God and with one another. This is the way that God designed it; this is the way that He intended it. Of course, we know, sitting here today in 2017, coming to the...

At the end of the year, we often reflect on how we are living and whether we are living as God intended. The Christmas story plays into all of this, as we will see throughout this narrative. God originally intended, in His creation, for us to live in full connection with Him and with one another.

When He looked at the solitary man He had created in that beautiful garden, He declared, "This right here is not good." This "not good" did not imply evil; rather, it indicated incompleteness. God understood that this creation was not yet ready to be deemed complete. While God recognized the incompleteness, I believe that Adam, the first man in the garden, did not yet realize it.

In Genesis 2:18, the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." Out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, bringing them to Adam to see what he would call them. Whatever Adam called each living creature became its name. Adam named all the cattle, the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, but for Adam, there was not found a helper comparable or compatible to him.

The life-giving and gift-giving God placed man in this garden and saw its incompleteness. Adam, however, did not yet see this incompleteness. To make Adam aware, God caused all the animals to pass before him, giving Adam the task of naming them. As he did so, Adam undoubtedly noticed the pairs in God's creation: there was a lion and a lioness, a stallion and a mare, a bull and a cow. Yet, as he observed this, he realized what God already knew: there was no helper comparable or compatible to him. If he had chosen one for himself from among the animals, it would have been unsuitable.

Now aware of his incompleteness, Adam understood what God had known all along. So, what does God do? In Genesis 2:21, we read that the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept. God then took one of his ribs...

From His side, God took something and closed up the flesh in its place. Then, the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman and brought her to the man. The life-giving, creative, and gift-giving God created a good creation. At that point in Genesis chapter 2, verse 19, it was incomplete, but now He is completing that creation. He takes from man something, forms woman, and brings her as a gift, a helper compatible with him.

When Adam sees her, he says, "Whoa, man!" and that is why she is called woman. It always gets a laugh, so I'll just keep saying it. You may mock me, but I’ll say it anyway. When Adam looks at her, he says, "This is right. This is exactly as it should be. This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." This is how it is supposed to be. God brings the two of them together; it is a beautiful thing that God did. From one, God made two for the purpose of joining them as one. He joins them together as man and wife.

The last verse of Genesis chapter 2 says that the two of them were together; they were naked and not ashamed. There was nothing dividing them, no separation. They were completely connected as one, as God had designed them to be.

However, we read back in verse 17, "In the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die." Oh, come on, you could do better than that! "In the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die." Thank you for the crowd participation; you know this anyway.

Now, Genesis chapter 3, verse 1: "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." He said to the woman, startlingly strange to us, but apparently not to her, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'"

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

The serpent comes and says to the woman, "Can you eat of every tree?" She replies, "Well, yes, but no. There's one that we shouldn't eat of, nor shall we touch it, because if we do, we'll die." The serpent responds, "No, no, no! That's not how it will be. God knows that if you eat it, you will be enlightened. If you just partake of this plant, you'll be enlightened."

Nothing has changed in thousands of years; we are still saying that your eyes will be opened if you just partake of this thing. In verse six, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave it to her husband with her, and he ate.

The question that the serpent put into the mind of the woman was one that sprang forth and started her questioning the goodness of the gift-giving God. Essentially, the little seed of a thought that the serpent planted in Eve's mind was this: Is God really interested in my good? Has God indeed said you shall not eat? The implication was that God is holding her back.

I think many paths toward fall and sin have begun with that thought: God is holding me back from what is really good and what is really desirable. She saw that the tree was good for food; she saw that it was pleasant to the eyes. Do you realize that pretty much every one of the fruit-bearing trees in the garden that God had created was pleasant to the eyes and good for food?

But the serpent planted a new thought in her mind: This fruit of this tree is able to make you wise. So she went down this well-worn path, at this point, of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. The lust of the flesh—this food, this fruit will satisfy my desire; it will satisfy something that I want, my tastes, my appetites. The lust of the eyes—it's pleasant to the eyes; it looks good. And the pride of life—it will make me wise.

The serpent said that eating the fruit would make them like God. Even so, she took it and gave it to her husband, and they ate. Then, in Genesis 3:7, it states that the eyes of both of them were opened. The serpent had said, "In the day that you eat of it, your eyes will be opened; you'll be like God, knowing good and evil." While their eyes were opened, they realized they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Point number four on your outline: disobedience and rebellion brought brokenness into God's creation. All of a sudden, the innocence of Adam and Eve was lost. Their eyes were opened, and they knew they were naked. Previously, in Genesis 2:25, it said they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed. That was their state when they were living life in connection, the way God designed it to be. They had a oneness with one another, but now that oneness was broken because they saw their nakedness and felt shame. They covered it up by sewing fig leaves together to hide their nakedness.

This disobedience and rebellion brought about a knowledge, but that knowledge brought shame and fear. The oneness they had was now gone. Brokenness came in, and it was a brokenness of connection. It was not only a brokenness of connection between Adam and Eve, but also a brokenness of connection between them and God. When God came into the garden, they heard Him and hid themselves from His presence.

God created us to live life in connection with Him and with one another, extending that wonderful oneness to the rest of the world. However, disobedience, rebellion, and brokenness entered because of sin, and that connection was lost. This is why we need Christmas. This is why this holiday, this celebration that we set aside one day out of 365, is important—to remember the coming of Jesus into this world.

On December 25th, we celebrate His birth. We celebrate this because the world is broken. The reason for His coming is that this world is broken. If you've been around Cross-Connection Church for a few years, you've heard this before. This is something that I talk about quite frequently because it is essential and important to us.

Point number five on your outlines: Christmas is essential because the world is broken. I am convinced that the celebration of Christmas doesn't entirely make sense without this as a starting point. We will not fully understand why the "whys" of Christmas are there unless we understand this point: the world is broken.

What do I mean by that? You might know the story about Mary, Joseph, Jesus, a manger, and Bethlehem. You might know those details—the "whats." But why? Why is that important? Why did this little baby need to be born? What was the whole point of this situation? The whole reason is that the world is broken.

We all know this broken reality intuitively. Innately, we know this inside of us. Every one of us is bombarded with the brokenness of this world every single day, and every person that you know understands intuitively that the world is broken. You may even be able to remember back to when you were a kid and first came into contact with the brokenness of this world. You might be able to identify that exact moment, that memory, where you realized this world is not the way it should be.

Maybe it was the death of a family member, or perhaps it was when you hurt yourself, like breaking your arm. Something brought about the realization that this world is not the way you desire it to be.

Not only do we intuitively know that this world is broken, but inside every single one of us is a desire for the world as it once was. In Genesis 3:9, it says, "Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, 'Where are you?'" There is a disconnection between man and man, and man and God. Adam, where are you?

So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself." And God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you that you should not eat?"

And then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." This is classic sinner behavior; it's awesome. The implication is, "Your fault." Everything was perfect, everything was good, and then You said, "You need a woman," and You brought her to me. You did it, God. Then she gave me this gift, this fruit, and I just did what you're supposed to do as a man. I ate what she put before me. That's just what you do, right?

The life-giving, gift-giving God is also the missionary God. What does that mean? He sought out hiding, lost, sinful, scared, ashamed humanity. God came into the garden and said, "Where are you?" God is seeking lost humanity. His response to the brokenness of this world was not to start over. I mean, this was very early in the story. He could have said, "Let's do Earth 2.0," and just wiped it all away, but He didn't. Why? Because He is the missionary God. His response to this broken, fallen world is to step into the brokenness and seek out the lost, to step into darkness with light.

Why do we need Christmas? We need Christmas because the world is broken. It was created very good, but it didn't stay that way because of disobedience, rebellion, and sin. This world is broken. Cookies, bells, presents, lights, candles, decorations, trees, wreaths, carols, and eggnog—these are all really good traditions, cultural trappings of Christmas for 21st-century Americans. They are things that we identify as "Christmasy."

Cultural Christianity and Christmas in America are certainly not the true reasons for the season. If we're not careful, these things can become enjoyable distractions from the brokenness of this world. Think about it: one of the reasons many people in our culture celebrate Christmas is that it offers at least a day or a few weeks of the year where we can try to put aside the brokenness of the world. We can be distracted by gifts, things that smell good, taste good, and bring warmth and happiness. For a time, we don't have to think about the brokenness.

Most people in our culture look forward to these little points on the calendar as a way to escape the brokenness of this world. However, I would suggest that we need to truly encounter this brokenness and be reminded that the world is indeed broken. That is why we need Christ; that is why we need Christmas.

If you are a Christian today, or a churchgoer, we need to recognize that this season is an opportunity to share the truth of what God did in response to the brokenness of this world. It bothers me that there is sometimes a movement among Christians to boycott Christmas, to distance themselves from the holiday because they believe it is all about consumerism and consumption. They argue that there are no Christmas trees in the Bible and that Jesus probably wasn't even born on December 25th, so they choose to reject the Christmas celebration.

I understand these concerns. There are indeed cultural trappings of Christmas that have nothing to do with Jesus or the Bible. However, we can either reject the whole concept of Christmas or look for an opportunity to redeem the situation. I believe our God, who is a missionary God focused on redemption, would prefer that we see this as an on-ramp to reach people with the greatest gift, which is Jesus. We can respond to culture and all its trappings in different ways; we can choose to reject it or find ways to engage with it meaningfully.

We can wholesale receive it, but there are certain things about the Christmas holiday that we can't receive. Alternatively, we can seek to redeem it and look for the opportunity. Whether you realize it or not, all of us have family members and friends who don't know Jesus. However, this time of year, for some reason, they tend to be a tiny bit more open. There is a little bit more warmth, even with all the stresses of traffic.

Have you tried to go to Costco right now? What a joke! Don't go there today; it'll be crazy. You might get stressed out because of traffic, bills, or all the engagements you have signed up for. Yet, with all the stressors of this time of year, there is still a little bit of openness and awareness because His name is in the name of the holiday. We have an opportunity to reach out to people and ask them a very simple question: "Hey, do you celebrate Christmas?"

When they respond, "Yeah, why do you celebrate it?" you might hear, "I don't know, it's just a family tradition." You can then ask, "Do you know anything about the Christmas story?" Often, the answer is, "No, I didn't know anything about that." This presents a great redemptive opportunity to share these things with our friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family members.

It's an amazing thing. When my wife and I got married, I was brought into her family, and really, nobody in her family were church-going people. They weren't necessarily interested in faith. They might say, "Yeah, I believe in God," but they often express that they don't need it, even though they acknowledge that some people really need that.

Every year at Christmas, they gather together as a family— aunts, uncles, cousins— a big family. They come together on a Saturday before Christmas and sit down in a room, from the youngest to the oldest. They read through the Christmas story in an old, tattered booklet that grandpa had. He passed away years ago, but they still have this booklet, which contains the gospel story of Christmas from Luke and Matthew. They read it from the youngest to the oldest.

They know the "whats," but they need to know the "whys." The "why" has to do with the brokenness of this world, and God wants to heal that brokenness.

That's good news, Church. God wants to heal that brokenness. That's what Christmas is about—God coming into this world to heal brokenness. We have the beautiful prophecies of Scripture telling us that there is coming a day when there will be a restoration of all things, and things will be better than they were.

But right now, there's brokenness, and we've been given the healing words of that brokenness through the gospel. I hope and pray that we won't miss the opportunity we have to share about Christ, who came—His Advent, His coming—to heal the brokenness. Amen.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Father, I thank You that You love this broken world so much that You, the gift-giving God, would give Your Son, Your only begotten Son, for us, so that we could experience the healing of His gift, of His sacrifice.

Jesus, we thank You that You loved us so much that You gave Your body. You demonstrated Your love towards us in that while we were still sinners, You died for us. We thank You for the gift of Your grace and salvation.

I pray that among all the gifts we will give and receive this season, Lord, the gift of sharing the good news of Your grace with neighbors, co-workers, family members, or friends who know the brokenness but don't know the Healer will be included.

Lord, we thank You that You are the gift-giving God. I pray, God, that You would pour out upon Your Church Your blessing and Your Spirit to enable us to have boldness to share that truth as we celebrate this year. We praise You and thank You for Your grace. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.

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