Merry CHRISTmas

We are on the final leg towards Christmas. It is only 4 days away! I pray your home is brimming with family and friends.

As we take time off school or work let’s keep our minds and hearts set on the true meaning of the season. I love the rush of the malls and smells of all the baked goods but without our Savior these fabulous perks are hollow and meaningless. They are just another average day filled with busyness and calories.

As you finish your final stretch, I encourage you to bring to remembrance the very reason we celebrate this “Holyday”. As families travel and gather, let us remember the first travelers that started the journey towards celebrating this glorious day. As gifts pile under the tree, keep in mind the gift that was poured out for us on a criminal’s cross. As we congregate around the table for fellowship and food, recall the gathering in an upper room where His gift of the Spirit fell and empowered the church.

Taking this time to delight in our Savior’s gifts of acceptance, grace, peace and invitation to relationship with God, will bring back the Christ that many are trying to leave out of the season. Say it with conviction when you leave a store, greet a stranger with the fervent message, bless the needy with the hope of what it truly means to proclaim the words “Merry Christmas”. Be the Jesus people need to see, and deliver the gift that the lost need to receive.

It is with a bold heart I say Merry CHRISTmas!!!

Holly Ruddock