I don’t know about you but this Advent and Christmas season seemed to rush on by. Some tell me it’s because of the lack of snow. Others tell me that comes with age. Part of it was the calendar itself! With only three weeks of Advent, it was tough to fit it all in. As you well know, however, Christmas is a season; and it was nice to stretch it out this year. We went to South Dakota to be with family. We celebrated Christmas on Three Kings Day (Saturday) with Meg’s family.
But now comes what author Shauna Niequist calls “the messy after part.” It’s the undecorating, the packing away, the cleaning up. Isn’t that why Jesus came? In creation, he entrusted this world and our relationships with each other to us. But we messed it up! So, Jesus clears away the chaos with which we’ve cluttered the world. He comes to pack away sin and death in his grave so they are defeated forever. He comes to free us from our bondage; he comes to clean us up and sets us free. In the coming weeks, we will see how Jesus’ public ministry accomplishes all this and more!
I pray your Christmases were joyful and bright! I ask for God’s blessings upon your New Year!
Onward, we go, in his footsteps!
Pastor Culynn