December 6 Home Communicator – Experiencing Joy This Christmas
“Behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 NIV
Thanksgiving celebrations are over, yet for us, our season of thanksgiving continues. We are now celebrating Advent, spending time in spiritual preparation for the coming of Jesus, the Alpha and Omega – our God who always was and always will be. We remember and praise God for Jesus becoming like us, born in Bethlehem, living on earth, then dying to save us. During this Advent time we look forward to Jesus coming again at the end of time. But we also celebrate the fact that He is here with us now – Emmanuel – God with us!
This is truly a joyful time for Christians. As John Piper writes in his book The Dawning of Indestructible Joy, “This is a time to feel some measure of the joy God intends for Christmas to bring. ‘Behold I bring you good news of great joy’ (Luke 2:10). Not small joy. Not modest joy. But ‘great joy’.” The joy that Jesus brings is like no other and once we accept this joy it can never be taken from us – it is “indestructible joy”.
So during this Advent season as you reflect and prepare for Christmas Day which celebrates the coming of our Emmanuel, use this time to strengthen and intensify the great joy of Christmas. Embrace this great joy; use it to stir up and deepen the awe for and adoration of our Emmanuel. Thank God for this indescribable and indestructible joy!
Celebrating the One,
Mary Broene, Middle School Principal
