If you could choose one word to describe the feeling you have at Christmas, what word would you choose?  I imagine many would choose a word like joyful or happy.  Others may use a word like nostalgic especially if they have seen dramatic change in their lives this year.  If you are spending the first Christmas without one you love the word sad might come to mind.  How many of you would answer with the word afraid?  Christmas doesn’t really come across to us as a time of great fear, does it?  But that was not always the case. 
 
Have you ever noticed how many times the words, “do not fear,” are recorded in the account of our Savior’s birth?  The angel Gabriel spoke those words to Zechariah who was filled with fear at the sight of an angel in the temple, to Mary who was being asked to take on such a blessed but burdensome role, to Joseph who was afraid of what people would think and say about him and Mary, and to the shepherds who saw the glorious sight of angels as they tended their flocks.  The angel brought them a message from God himself that removed that fear from their hearts. 
 
That message is also spoken to us.  God came to live among sinners.  He came not in judgment but in mercy.  He came not to destroy but to save.  He came that we might have nothing to fear.  That is the message of Christmas.  We need fear nothing.  Jesus came to remove the fear of death, the devil and the world.  He came that we might know true peace with God through the forgiveness of sins.  Because Jesus came to Bethlehem, this time of year is filled with joy, peace and happiness.  At Christmas we, too, hear the message of the angels that there is nothing to fear for a Savior is born to us who is Christ the Lord.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

Multiple studies have proven that the holiday season exacerbates mental health issues. For some, the pressure to have “a perfect Christmas” can be overwhelming. For others, their loneliness is amplified. Such people need a real Christmas, one that results in great joy. But joy is not the same thing as happiness. It is infinitely better. Happiness is an emotion. Joyfulness is a condition. Happiness comes from your circumstances. Joyfulness comes from Christ assuring you of his abiding love and your glorious future. Therefore, happiness—“holiday cheer”—is fleeting. Joyfulness is enduring. The historic Christian Church gave Latin titles to each Sunday. They titled the Third Sunday in Advent “Gaudete,” which means “Rejoice!” As we reach the midway point of Advent, we ask Christ to empower us to do just that.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

The closer we get to Christmas, the greater the pressure. There is so much work to be done! We want our houses to look good for out-of-town guests. We want to impress people with the thoughtfulness of our gifts. What a welcome relief, therefore, to hear what is required to really be ready for Christmas: only repentance. You see, repentance is the opposite of work. It is the candid and honest admission of our sin combined with the joyful trust that everything needed to bring us close to God has already been done by Christ. At this frenetic time of year, the call to repent is not another demand to do something more. It is gracious invitation to set down our work to make way for Christ’s work. Rooted in that repentant rest, we can fully enjoy a real Christmas.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

It is easy to get so caught up in the imagery—a tiny newborn baby, lying in the straw filled manger under a star-filled sky—that we forget the why. Why did the Son of God come into our world and take on human flesh? So that he might die as the sacrifice for our sins. One Christmas carol puts it this way. “Neither crib nor cross refuses, all he suffers for your good to redeem you by his blood.” Advent marks the start of a new Church Year. We begin at the end, watching Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey colt, knowing full well that he would be killed before the end of the week. The events of Palm Sunday serve as a microcosm for all Jesus’ work, proving the Son of God was willing to humble himself and endure anything for our salvation. That is precisely why Christ came. And a real Christmas requires remembering why Christ came.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

“Eyes on the prize.” That axiom stresses that when pursuing some good goal, focus is important. You don’t want distractions or a lack of self-discipline to keep you from obtaining whatever that prize might be. “Eyes on the prize.” You summon the willpower to fixate on that good thing. You let nothing divert your attention from obtaining the prize. The prize that we want most is spending eternity with Jesus. As the Church Year comes to a close, Jesus promises that he will come again “in clouds with great power and glory” to give us that prize. That prize will be so unbelievably good, it is worth fixating on. It merits our striving to set aside all that would distract us from Christ. Let us be ready. Let us keep watch. Let us live with our eyes on the skies.

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) affects many millions of adults. It is more than shyness. SAD includes an acute fear of being judged. An individual with SAD struggles with everyday tasks like talking to people at work or school because he is terrified that he is constantly being evaluated. Even if you don’t have that disorder, perhaps you have experienced that uncomfortable feeling that others are watching you, trying to find something to criticize. We don’t want others judging us. It is bad enough listening to the voice inside our own head, whispering that we aren’t worthy. How do we overcome the fear of judgment? It begins by realizing that there is only one person whose opinion ultimately matters—the Judge. Everyone is going to live forever in one of two very different places. Where you spend eternity depends on a judgment that Jesus will render. This week we see why his judgment need not trigger any sort of anxiety. Judgment day is something we can joyfully anticipate. We can live free from the fear of judgment.
 

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Remember your Savior Jesus loves you! May he bless you with his grace!

Perhaps you have heard the axiom, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” In other words, while you still can, use what you have in order to enjoy life to the fullest. If this life is all there is, St. Paul agrees that would be a good philosophy. Paul wrote, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’” (1 Corinthians 15:32). However, note the “if.” Paul was saying that the epicurean approach to life makes sense only if this life is all we have. But it isn’t. Jesus will raise us from the dead and take us to live in his home, a place of perfect comfort and beauty. Knowing that, we are set free from the need to live a self-indulgent life now. Instead, we can be generous people, using the wealth that God has given us to serve both him and others. We can live a life of startling generosity.

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