The Lord's table is open to everyone. There is nothing any of us can do to ever be worthy enough to be at the table, but Jesus makes anyone who wishes to come worthy because of His sacrifice.

Instead of resolving to do or change things, let's instead resolve to leave all of this year's mistakes and problems in the past and start fresh. After all, Jesus has forgiven you and wiped your slate clean, so let's look forward and reflect that grace to everyone around us.

When we think of Christmas, can we see the face of our Redeemer in a small newborn child surrounded by shepherds and farm animals? The light of the world lying in humble surroundings so that we could all be saved. Wonder, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth!

If we have given our hearts to Jesus, we also shall bring our gifts to Him. Our gold, our silver; our most precious earthly possessions. Our highest mental and spiritual endowments will be freely devoted to Him who loves us and gave Himself for us.

In taking our nature, the Savior has bound Himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken. "For God so loved the world that He gave..." And through endless ages as the redeemed walk in the light of the Lord, they will praise Him for His unspeakable gift--Immanuel, "God with us."

Jesus came to build up the church and the church is sent forth to witness about Jesus to the world. And in order to achieve this witness, it takes all of us participating in what Jesus established.

We want to be grateful, we don't want to be stuck in grief while everybody else is celebrating, but you can't skip right from grief to gratitude and have the gratitude be real or have any depth. You have to sit with your grief for awhile and mourn what is not before you can celebrate what is.

God loves you. So why not put your faith in Him? Because faith leads to hope, and love pours out of the one who lives in faith and hope. It just so happens that faith, hope, and love together make you glad, and when you're glad you'll be thankful regardless of the challenges we face.

God loves you with a love that will not let you go. He knows how weak and feeble you are, and how imperfectly you love others, but throughout all of it, His love for you has never faltered. His love for you will never fail because God is love. Will you let Him love you today?

We often read "For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son..." and it seems so simple. But that gift was no small measure, that gift was beyond what we understand. God sacrificed more than we can imagine in the hope that we would respond to Him.