You and I both know that this has little (if anything) to do with celebrating Christmas. It has everything to do with giving money to the power company.
When we celebrate Christmas we are really celebrating God fulfilling His covenant with Abraham from Genesis 12 .
If you just celebrate the Birth of Jesus, thought wonderful, you fail to see the scope of the story. The birth is only a step toward the fulfillment of the covenant.
This year Harvest is working through Advent in a different way. Advent is about preparation. So, we're looking at how God prepared for the coming, and sacrifice, of Jesus.
- God created the world. Everything is His.
- God Called Abraham and made a covenant with him to create His people.
- God called Moses to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt and in their journey they become God's nation.
That's where we left off this weekend. The Hebrews becoming a holy nation. A step toward the coming Christ.
I'm looking forward to the next couple gatherings. We'll continue to prepare for Christmas - remembering the larger story of God's work - and seeing how it all points to Jesus. His birth, life, death, and resurrection.
That's what Christmas is all about.
I wonder if Santa can find this house. The only thing that's missing is a "Santa, stop here!" sign.