Christmas is about Jesus and the giving of Jesus to the world. Sometimes we get away from that, but at the core it’s still all about JESUS. He was given to us as the greatest gift imaginable. And through us, his church, we are charged with the responsibility and privilege of sharing that same gift with the world. How can we do that this Christmas?
This Christmas, people at Singing Oaks are sharing Jesus with their time and money. Many of them are participating in the Angel Tree ministry that provides gifts for children of parents in prison. This involves contacting the homes of those children, finding out about ages and sizes for gift purchases, finding volunteers to purchase the gifts, collecting, wrapping, and delivering the gifts to homes. This is a wonderful service to our community. Many others are participating in a meal for those less fortunate on Christmas day. They have given time and money to purchase over 200 gift bags and will help on that day by greeting, cooking, serving food, babysitting, leading table discussions, and cleaning up. In all these ways we are sharing Jesus with the world. These acts of kindness and love bring joy to the giver and hope to the receiver. It helps people to see Jesus more clearly and draws them to Him.
In these ministries we are sharing Jesus through service. In that serving and in other ways we also share Him in word as God gives us opportunity. Recently I had one of those opportunities to share the gospel with someone I have known for quite some time. Many genuine acts of love by lots of people had preceded that day, and I felt like the time was right. We had a good discussion, and they are now thinking about the most important decision in life. I have hope for a decision to follow Jesus and the resulting great joy. But joy was there already, just in the simple act of sharing Jesus. It is the joy in giving, especially in the sharing of the greatest gift, Jesus!
There are many ways to share Jesus this Christmas, but in whatever way you share Him, just please share Jesus.
