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Dear Friends,
I pray that your season will be blessed. I know Christmas to be a time of rejoicing, remembering, and reaching. Rejoicing that we have a Saviour that loves us. Remembering His promises and the day we believed on Him to save us from sin. Reaching out to others with the precious Gospel – good tidings. Matthew 1:23 "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." God with us! I heard about two missionaries who were captured and imprisoned in the same cell but forbidden to speak to each other. Christmas came. One of the missionaries, shivering and silent, sat on the floor covered with hay. As he was playing with bits of hay around him, he thought that he discovered a silent way of communicating with his friend. He spelled out the word Immanuel. As soon as his friend saw the word, immediately he lit up with joy. They were captives, but they both believed that God was with them and that ultimate triumph would be theirs. To make Christ the center of Christmas and the center of your Life will only guarantee that God will be with you now and for all eternity no matter the circumstances. Luke 2:11 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Christ for us! Many people are left empty after the Christmas holidays. As the season of eating, drinking, and merry-making passes, so does the smile on people’s faces. This temporary happiness occurs as people forget the true meaning of Christmas. People must value the gift that was born to die on the tree (Cross). Grace Davidson took her four-year-old granddaughter to “big church” for the first time. She sat quietly taking in every aspect of the service and her attentive curiosity stayed in check until the pastoral prayer. The pastor said, “We thank You, Lord, for Your presence.” The little girl’s eyes flew open and she whispered to her grandmother, “Granny, we’re gonna get presents!” When you take Christ out of Christmas your life will only be unfilled. How much better it is to keep Christ the Lord the very center of Christmas and of our lives. Keep Christ in Christmas, and Christ in your lives. Someone once said that Xmas means Xhaustion, Xcuses, Xchanges, Xcesses, Xtravagances, Xasperations, Xhibitions and worldly Xcitement. How sad to see that many people do not know the true meaning for this season of Christmas. "Jesus is the Reason for the Season." He is the promised redeemer, the one that was born to die to save His people from their sin! Jesus is the greatest gift ever given to the world. Have you considered Him and received Him? Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Without Christ we do not have a Christmas. Without Christ we do not have forgiveness. Without Christ we do not have a purpose. I challenge you to leave Christ in Christmas and in the very center of your life. In Christ Alone, C Haddad - Galatians 2:20 W: www.gbbc.org.au I E: [email protected] I W: www.eternal.org.au M: Po Box 318 Kotara, NSW, 2289 I P: 0401 955 955 I P: (02) 4023 4889 Meeting: 135 Ambleside Cct, Lakelands I 10:30am & 5:30pm Sunday services Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah here is prophesying or foretelling the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ; the Messiah, the Holy One that is to come. This was the anticipation for many of the people of God in the Old Testament, waiting for the Messiah to come. As the people of God in the New Testament/the church age we wait for the signs of the times for the Second coming of Christ, the people of the Old Testament waited for the signs of the first coming. The Prophet prophesied that Jesus Christ would be born of a Virgin. Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” “WHO IS THIS SON THAT IS TO BE BORN & WHAT SHALL HIS NAME BE CALLED?” Isaiah 9:6 “….and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” 1. Wonderful Wonderful = “wonder, to make one marvel” Jesus is Extraordinary, Amazing, Awesome, Overwhelming, and Breathtaking. He is Wonderful in all that He does. Psalm 139:14 “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” 2. Counsellor John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” If you desire to have wonderful counsel, look no further than in the pages of the Bible. The Biblos (Bible) means = “THE BOOK” Jesus is the revealed Word of God from the beginning. He is the “Way, the Truth, and the Life!” 3. The Mighty God Isaiah 63:1 “… I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Mighty = powerful, strong… Jesus Christ is the one that makes the impossible possible. He is the one that made the blind to see, the dumb to speak, the lame to walk, and restored lives with the power of the gospel. He has come to bring life to the lifeless, hope to the hopeless, and help to the helpless. Isaiah 61:1 4. The Everlasting Father John 14:8-9 “Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father…” vs9 “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” 1 John 3:1 “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” 5. Prince of Peace John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” The peace in which Jesus gives is true peace. He has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. |
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