A New Beginning

A new beginning is always a fascinating and exciting prospect. The drug addict who goes cold turkey in an attempt to throw off the terrible destructive effects of addiction is often motivated by the prospect of a drug free life. The smoker, the alcoholic, the compulsive gambler, each mercilessly a captive of his sinful compulsion, longs for the freedom to be found in a real and lasting new beginning.

All of us are subject to this same fascination at times. If we could just wipe the slate of failure clean and start all over again, geographically, vocationally, financially or even matrimonially- ,the new beginning would ultimately lead to a great success.

But would it? Does an attempt to deal with and eliminate the failures of the past necessarily guarantee success in the future? Does turning over a new leaf guarantee we will not spoil it too? As an ex-smoker I can empathize with those who year after year make New Year's resolutions to give up such compulsive and destructive habits. As a much younger man, my repeated failures to deal with the problem finally led me to consider a resolution to quit trying to quit. Then I resolved to confess my failure to God and ask him to give me a personal victory. He did not fail me.

Herein perhaps lies a lesson for us all. God has told us that all our righteous efforts are as filthy rags before Him. That we cannot through self reformation or under our own steam really conquer sin and change our own character. The power and motive for effective and enduring change must come front outside ourselves. Jesus said, ".The Truth will make you free." "He whom the Son sets free, is free indeed!" - Pastor White

Christian New Year Resolutions

During The Year I Will:

Like Paul, forget those things which are behind and press forward. Like David, lift my eyes to the hills from which comes my help. Like Abraham, trust my God implicitly. Like Enoch, walk in daily fellowship with my heavenly Father. Like Moses suffer rather than enjoy the pleasure of sin for a time. Like Joseph, turn my back on all evil advances. Like Gideon, advance even when my friends are few. Like Andrew, strive to lead my brother to Christ Like Peter, repent of my failures and begin anew as a witness for Christ- The Witness

What Is Christmas?

What Is Christmas? Is it an endless shopping list or a depleted bank account or an overflowing credit card? Is it fir trees, candy canes, holly wreaths, bells, tinsel or toys? Is it the sound of piped music played to set the mood for maximum consumer response to insure a seasonal commercial success? Is it Santa; photos, office parties or holiday breaks?

Is Christmas a family gathering around lavishly spread Christmas dinner or a barbecue and the inevitable over-indulgence that seems to follow?   To give Christmas a sacred touch, is Christmas attending a concert or carol sing or switching channels to catch a traditional seasonal Christmas movie?

A Christ-centred Christmas is about perishing men needing to be rescued and lost men needing to be saved. Christmas is God giving His Son to the world and His Son giving Himself for our sins. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Christmas is Christ the Son of God becoming the Son of Man that sons of men might become sons of God. (I John 3:1) Christmas is much more than tinsel, ribbons, presents and parties or a hectic rushing to and fro; giving and getting temporal gifts that will have no value in eternity. It is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who came to give us the greatest of all gifts, eternal life

If you are one of those seeking to know the true meaning of Christmas, He stands ready to come into your heart this season and share the true meaning of His birth, life, death and resurrection. Is there room in your Christmas for the real Gift of Christmas? Why not open your heart to Him in real faith and He will come into your heart and life? Then you can truly say with Paul and those of us who have received Him, "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!"

Your Christmas Wish

Christmas is an exciting time of the year. We wait with great anticipation for the opening of gifts. Will our most important Christmas wish come true?  If you could have just one wish this Christmas, what would that wish be?  Would you wish for real peace on earth this Christmas! As our world seems to teeter totter on the very brink or war in this day of crisis and conflict, what a marvelous thing that would be! If all the threat of violence and war would suddenly vanish and 'absolute peace prevail among men and nations.

Would you wish for real lasting.,joy and happiness this Christmas? In a world of sin, sorrow and sadness the pursuit of true happiness and permanent fulfillment seems never ending. But it often seems our blue skies are cloudy, our rainbow has no end and our ship never comes in. And even the momentary thrill and joyous laughter of our Christmas mornings die in the air and the tinsel, treasure and glitter become the litter of Christmas afternoons.

Would you wish for real love to fill your,life and permeate all your relationships this Christmas? In the tensions and pressures of today, real loving relationships are hard to achieve, and often seem so fragile and easily shattered that they are even more difficult to  maintain.

Would your Christmas wish be to receive a lasting gift?  A gift  above  all gifts? A gift that keeps on giving?  Jesus Christ, the real Christmas Gift, is the incarnation and embodiment of man's deepest' spiritual desires. That first Christmas Day marked His arrival on earth on a mission of mercy to fill the emptiness of the human heart.

The wish for peace has been fulfilled in Christ. Real peace on earth must begin with peace in each human heart. Only through the forgiveness of God that Christ the Peacemaker can bring can a real reconciliation be achieved. Paul said that only those justified by faith have peace with God. 'Then he asserted that although such peace is beyond man's ability to understand or express, it is a real and lasting peace.

Our deep desire for lasting joy and true happiness can only be fulfilled in Christ. Man's common experience confirms that temporal joy and happiness are elusive and fleeting. But the angels heralded Christ's coming as a mission to bring joy and fulfillment to man on earth. And those. of us who have experienced Him personally know such joy eludes expression in the human tongue.

Of all the needs common to man, true  love is the greatest. To be loved, warts and all, with an unselfish love that expects nothing in return, seems the greatest yearning of the human heart. But where, in this egocentric world we live in, can such pure and unselfish love be found?

Such love can only be found in the true meaning of Christmas. In God giving His only begotten son for the sins of the world and the Son giving His life that we might have eternal fife. In our being offered through Jesus a loving Father-Son relationship with the Creator of our universe.

If you could have just one Christmas wish what would that wish be? The gift of God, eternal life, is the gift Christ came to give all who would receive Him when He came to. earth on that first Christmas Day. It can be yours if you will simply receive Him in simple child-like faith. (John 1:12) Only then can you know what Paul when he said,  "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!"