As we prepare to head into the Christmas season (which for most people started after Thanksgiving, or even before), I want to take some time for a short devotional to help get us in the right headspace for Christmas. Before jumping into the devotional, what is your favorite gift you have received for either your birthday or Christmas?
Christmas is interesting because we're celebrating the birth of Jesus and usually when we celebrate someone's birthday, we're bringing them gifts to celebrate. Instead, we're getting gifts for others to celebrate Christmas. Through the commercialization of Christmas, it can be easy to forget to celebrate the one whose birthday it is – Jesus!
Now I'm not saying we shouldn't celebrate Christmas by exchanging gifts, but we ought to remember why we're celebrating Christmas in the first place – the birth of Christ and the message of good news for all people.
Just before this passage, in verses 1-7, it talks about Joseph and Mary (pregnant with Jesus at the time) going to Bethlehem to register in the census mandated by the Roman emperor. While they were in Bethlehem was when Mary would give birth to Jesus – wrapping him in swaddling cloths and laying him in a manger because there was no place for them. After Jesus' birth, God sends an angel to make the announcement of the birth. Who does he make the announcement to? None other than the lowly shepherds. You'd think that with this incredible news, God would have the angel go to someone higher up in society; however, that wasn't the case here.
In verse 10, the angel talks about Jesus' birth by saying things like "good news", "great joy", and "for all the people." The shepherds realize this incredible gift they are receiving through Jesus is one that not only they need but the entire world needs. Jesus has come for all of us. The gift of Jesus is the greatest expression of God's love for the world – this is a life changing gift!
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16
There is no gift in the history of the world that is as life altering and transforming as the gift of Jesus. If this is a gift that is transformative and life altering for all of us, it's a gift we cannot keep to ourselves, we must share it with others! This is what we see the shepherds do after they experienced this news.
Let's not get caught up in the commercialization of the Christmas season, and remember that we're celebrating the greatest gift, which is Jesus!
2024 Cornerstone Recap
We live in a world that doesn't care what God wants. Our nation, and the world as a whole, are living lives further and further from the way God intended. As Christians, we should be committed to following Jesus in every aspect of our lives. Honestly, in the United States, we still have it pretty easy as Christians compared to other places in the world. However, we're not very good at remaining faithful when put in tough situations.
Throughout 2024, we looked at two very different Jews, but they both faced life threatening situations because of their faith in God – Daniel and Esther. These are two very good examples of people who placed their complete trust in God in seemingly impossible situations and saw God's mighty hand at work. My hope through these studies this year is that we can use Daniel and Esther's stories as both conviction and encouragement for our own walks with God.
The first 7 months of the year, we focused on the book of Daniel. You can find all the blog posts through Daniel here.
Courtney Dent
The last part of the year we shifted to look at Esther's life. You can find all the Esther blogs here.
Courtney Dent
Stay tuned for 2025 as we start a new study through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew!
BRI Objections
We started offering our Cornerstone Portfolios in 2020. Over the last few years, we've received a lot of questions and objections to these biblically responsible investments (including push-back from Christians). After years of rebutting the objections we receive for Cornerstone, we decided to start 2024 with a series going through the common objections we have received and how we respond to them. If you missed this series, I encourage you to look through them here:
Courtney Dent
Invested with Purpose
We finished out 2024 with a new series discussing the birth of biblically responsible investing. In this series, we'll see the different challenges that have been faced to get BRI where it is today. While it's better known now, BRI still faces challenges and push-back today. Find all the posts from this series here:
Courtney DentThank you for following along throughout 2024! I can't wait to continue to share more content in 2025!
