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While the holiday season can be filled with joyous moments, there is also the potential for the “dark side of Christmas” to overwhelm us. The things that are not going the way we planned; the broken aspects of our world that still exist. Every person is going to suffer; following Jesus empowers us to suffer well. By believing that God is glorious, we can trust that what we go through will never cancel the plans that God has for us!
No one likes to lose control. How do we respond when things don’t go the way we want? The plans Mary and Joseph had to be married were disrupted when God announced that Mary would be pregnant with Jesus. They responded with surrender, not because they were great, but because God is great. When we believe the second eternal truth, we can trust that God is always in control.
There is always a temptation to settle while waiting. It’s easy to conclude that God will cancel his promise, when we don’t see the fulfillment. By looking at Abraham’s life, we discover that God always does what He says, not because we are good, but because He is good! Christmas is the proof that God keeps his promises! As redeemed people, filled with God’s Spirit, we don’t have to settle while we wait.
We are conditioned for immediate gratification. From Netflix to Amazon Prime, too many people are living for today with no thought about tomorrow. How can we manage our money in a way that sets us up for a good future? As we conclude our series, Making Change, we will discover that being faithful with what we have today, leads to rewards tomorrow!
There is something so special about giving. It fills us with joy in a way that consumption never can. Too often we don’t give because we really don’t know what giving is. Paul wrote to a group of churches and provided six definitions of giving. Discover our third financial principle: Giving is good!
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