Christmas From the View of a Believer in God.
- Written by Jim McWaters
Please do not call me the Grinch who stole Christmas! But we ought to rethink Christmas from the view of a believer in God.
The Scriptures say much about the birth of Christ, but not much about the date of his birth.
Galatians 4:4 tells us,
“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.”
But there is no exact date!
Why didn’t God give us the date? Perhaps it was because He knew and knows the propensity we humans have to worship, call sacred the day instead of giving that honoring to the One born in the fullness of time. Humans like to control their religion and they do that by selecting a date for this thing we call Christmas.
Thus, looking back to the fifth century and following, we see the Armenian Church choosing January 6th as the sacred day. Later, the Eastern Orthodox Church selected January 7th as the day. The Western Roman church said it was December 25th when the Mass of Christ was to be celebrated. However, the only fact we know is that when the time was right God sent His Son to humanity. There is no command, no suggestion, no hint when to celebrate Christ’s birth.
Time has seen Christmas evolve: The Mass of Christ to a sacred date to a holy season to a festive season to a public holiday. Our world in general recognizes Christmas as a time for family and fun and parties, but has no clue about the fullness of time.
What should we do about Christmas?
Enjoy it: Time with family; a sharing of gifts and well wishes is good.
Use it: It is an opportunity to point to Christ. Remember the slogans of the past?....reason for the season, or put Christ back into Christmas. It is an excellent time to share the reality of Christ’s coming.
See it as it is: Because God decided when it was the fullness of time and He would share Himself more completely with His creation….because of this we are able to become God’s kids. And the Heavenly Father will always get His kids home safely.
So allow me to add to the typical seasonal greeting by saying Merry Christmas because in the fullness of time God sent His Son.
Special Christmas Missions Offering Opportunity
CCY has a great opportunity this Sunday, December 12th to share the love of Jesus with believers around the world who because of the worldwide Covid pandemic have been struggling to earn a living and put food on their tables.
So many Christians have lost their job and thus their ability to meet the basic needs of their family. Some are here in the United States but our government has stepped up and provided funds. In Third world countries like Burma, Guatemala, India, Philippines and Thailand the governments do not support their people. But the need is still there so this Sunday we can stand up and support our fellow believers.
Our Special Christmas Missions Offering goal for 2021 is $25,000. The funds received will be evenly divided toward the 5 above mentioned countries to be distributed by our missionaries in those countries whom we support monthly.
Please pray about your generous gift then write your check and mark it “Special Offering”.
Even though I will be preaching in Weatherford, Kathy & I will leave our special offering with CCY. Together we can make a big difference in the Kingdom!!!
May God richly bless you!
John Miller
Angel Tree
Hi CCY family! We have 4 children on the Angel Tree this year, with an opportunity of 8 gifts (a want and a need for each child). If you and your family feel led to bless a child please click the link and choose a child to bless. Gifts need to be returned to the church by December 19th so that we can get them delivered to the parents. The suggested limit is $25 per gift.
We have also added some extra gifts on the Angel Tree in case any last-minute needs arise. Thank you so much for being a blessing this Christmas season.
Christmas Extravaganza
I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who helped with the Christmas Extravaganza! Whether you helped before the event by sorting or setting up, contributed gifts and wrapping, volunteered the day of or prayed for or supported financially……..THANK YOU to each and every one of you! We served approximately 150 families with over 800 people coming through and had about 60 volunteers! We have the best church family with the biggest hearts!
- Shera Porter
Celebrate and Give Thanks This Season.
Written by Dana Park
We are heavy into the holidays once again! For some it is a joyous time, others, not so much. I’ve been talking to the kids about Thanksgiving, and how it’s not just a day of the year. We are to practice it every day. Now depending on the translation of the Bible, gratitude, and thankfulness are mentioned up to 151 times. Colossians 4:2, tells us to devote ourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, always be joyful. Keep on praying.
No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I find it especially difficult to stay joyful and or even thankful when bad things happen. Recently, I had an encounter where I was taken advantage of. I purchased some items for my children for Christmas back in June. I did not receive the items, nor a refund. With times being hard, and frankly just mad about the injustice, I have to say I could have handled myself better. I did, however, start off strong in prayer. I gave it to God and he changed my attitude. Great! That was one day.
The next day, I hadn’t devoted myself to prayer, and decided to take “said injustice” back from God. Because you know, I could probably handle it better.🙄
Does anyone else relate? No? Just me? Well, let me tell you, it DID NOT turn out well. Immediately, I regretted it, and knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, of my sin. There is a reason God tells us to pray continuously. His ways are not our ways. He works everything to our good IF we let Him. Patience is a virtue. Being still and waiting is not my strong suit. But we can ask for all the fruits of the spirit. He is faithful and just to meet our every need. He calls us to be obedient.
Today I choose to be thankful in ALL circumstances. Yes, we fail. But our God is faithful and just to forgive. So in this very busy time, I pray that we all stay close to the One we celebrate and give thanks for the many blessings He has given us.
Upcoming Events
November Participation
Note from Clay
This time of the year lends itself to a lot of reflection. The last couple of years has certainly helped with that as well! As I write this Thanksgiving is just a few days away and Christmas is just around the corner. I pray that you and the ones you love will be able to connect and relax during this season – and just enjoy being together. Life is a gift from God… and getting to share it with others is an incredible blessing. I am so thankful for this church family! As we turn the page into 2022, we do so with great excitement and anticipation. As we walk into January of 2022 you will hear our heart for getting people involved in the ministry of Christ’s Church of Yukon. We believe every member is a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and should have a ministry! Many of you know where God has gifted you and are using it for His glory, those of you who don’t, we want to help you find it. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us!
Together for the Glory of God,
Clay