December 1999

The splendor of Christmas.  Once again we are in the light and glow of the beautiful season of Christmas and its outstanding story.  What a story indeed!

Jesus was born in an obscure village, in a world ruled by a dictator.  Even as a baby, the dictator tried to kill him.  He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty, and for three years he was an itinerant preacher.  The words of his teachings were so simple that he was wise.

Jesus never wrote a book or had an office.  He never went to college or owned a home.  He never traveled more than two hundred miles from the place of his birth.  He had very little money, if any, and none of the things that go with success or greatness, as the world measures them.

He had nothing to do with the world except to shot it the diving power of one who lives by the law of love. He believed that if a singe soul achieves the height form of love, it is enough to neutralize the hate of millions.  

He "went about doing good," only good, to everybody, in every way.  He healed the sick, he restored the sight of the blind, gave harmony to many a life.  He cheered up people.  Little children loved him.

Jesus taught in pictures and parables.  All kinds of people heard him gladly because he dipped his truths in the colors of life.  To him all life was an ever-present reminder of the love of God, which was the theme of every sermon and story. What he taught with his lips he lived in his life, giving everybody a new vision of life and a new kind of goodness.

Today, as we approach the third millennium, Jesus is more alive than in the days of his flesh.  He is the centerpiece of history, it's challenge and hope - the divine in man and the human in God.  No one ever affected the life of humans upon this earth as has that single life that seemed to end in a pitiful defeat and broken failure on a painful cross.  And the beauty of his life is that he did not ask to be worshipped; he asked to be followed.  Surely, in this Christmas season, as in all our days, we can entrust our souls t the one who is "Lord of lords, and Prince of Peace."

May you all have a most blessed and joyous Christmas.

Pastor Bob