Reach out this holiday season
Churches, groups, fraternal organizations, etc., need to think about reaching out to people this season. Real, actual communication is the key.
People don’t need more robocalls, more Facebook videos or mail to read. People need real human interaction, and this may be the toughest December in our modern history to have this.
Sunday School classes, senior adult organizations, school organizations, classes [and] teams should coordinate efforts to reach out to each other and to others. Letting others know you are thinking about them with positive reinforcement will be critical this holiday season.
Make a holiday telephone list of people you are going to call often between now and Jan. 1. You may call them every week. Or it may be someone who needs a call every two or three days. Keep the calls brief. Often five or 10 minutes will be a boost to someone.
If you text message or video chat then commit to connecting with others with occasional chats and brief hellos.
One of the ways to boost your spirit is to be helpful. Who can you help this holiday? How can you help your local school? How can you help someone who is hurting more than you? How can you help a local human aid group or senior citizen’s group?
You may know people who have lost loved ones. If you do, it helps to talk to others and say, “I know how you feel and what you are going through.”
There are people all around who may not be suffering as much as you. When you take your mind off yourself to help someone else, then you will find your load will be a little lighter and your spirit brighter.
Excerpt from “Blue or Merry Holiday Season”
By Glen Mollette, author and columnist
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Faith is salted and peppered through everything at Christmas. And I love at least one night by the Christmas tree to sing and feel the quiet holiness of that time that’s set apart to celebrate love, friendship and God’s gift of the Christ child.
Amy Grant
And when the Lord Jesus has become your peace, remember, there is another thing: good will towards men. Do not try to keep Christmas without good will towards men.
Charles Spurgeon
May the hope, the peace, the joy and the love represented by the birth in Bethlehem this night fill our lives and become part of all that we say and do.
Richard J. Fairchild
The hinge of history is on the door of a Bethlehem stable.
Pastor Ralph W. Sockman
(1889– 1970)
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Luke 2:14
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: God is not dead, nor doth He sleep …
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
From the poem “Christmas Bells”
The goal is to not just come to church and hear preaching but to live on mission wherever God has [you].
Pastor Matt Carter
Sagemont Church
Houston, Texas
As the family gathers together for another Christmas, we measure our lives against who we were last year, and we realize our dreams haven’t materialized. We’re still single. We’re still childless. We’re still grieving. We’re still battling illness. We’re still not who we want to be. The holidays, perhaps more than any other time of year, remind us of what we’re missing.
But what if this Christmas you found yourself seated at the table you’ve been longing for all this time? … In Ephesians 2:6, Paul writes, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” This little word, seated, allowed me to visualize myself at a grand table next to Jesus. Here, I had everything I needed because I was seated with Christ. What could be better?
Heather Holleman
crosswalk.com
From Genesis to Malachi, [the Old Testament] is the story of people not being able to freely come near to God because of His holiness and their sin.
But the glory of the incarnation is that God Himself has come near to us. For Jesus to be swaddled, God had to be touched. For the shepherds to praise God for the Savior that was born, God had to be seen.
Author Jackie Hill Perry
Speaking at The Grove, Atlanta
This Christmas, no matter what’s under your tree, remember the key to a full Christmas comes when we allow the Gift of Christmas — Jesus — to fill all the empty places in our soul and lives.
Kristen Welch
incourageme.com
Emmanuel. God not against us, God not far from us, God not abandoning us, God not forsaking us, God not punishing us — but God with us and for us, always and forever.
Ann Voskamp
annvoskamp.com
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From the Twitterverse
@Corey_OGrady
Why is it crucial for Christians to see theological learning as important? LEARNING about God increases our LOVING of God which motivates our LIVING for God. You can’t love what you don’t learn and won’t live for what you don’t love.
@BarnabasPiper
“The early Church didn’t say, ‘Look what the world is coming to!’ They said, ‘Look what has come into the world!’” — Carl F.H. Henry
@dailyspurgeon
The day is coming when He will ride on His white horse and go forth conquering and to conquer; but today it is the red horse; for His Church still suffers; still is she stained with the blood of persecution.
@timkellernyc
Gospel-humility means I stop connecting every experience and turning every conversation toward myself and self-interest.
@PaulTripp
There is no power like the restorative and transformative power of God’s amazing grace. There is no bond so strong as the bond of God’s redeeming love.
@ChrisCrain4
Praying for pastors who wake early on Sunday morning with adrenaline flowing and passionate hearts but have no place to preach. Forced termination, retirement — whatever the circumstances — do not take away God’s irrevocable call.
@louiegiglio
Anointing is all about God’s glory. It is God in you. If no one applauds, or if they do, make sure you applaud God.
@newheightsky
“You can see in the Bible that wherever God sows true believers, Satan always sows a counterfeit.”
@PSChadBurdette
@JL_Wood
We serve a mighty God! Praise His name
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