The meaning of Christmas - A Christian's view

What's the good news about Christmas?
We all have heard something about the birth of Jesus in a manger, but what does that mean to us? What are we celebrating here?

The word Christmas comes from 2 words: Christ and mas.
Mas represents a celebration or festival. Christians celebrate Christ. Catholics call Communion Mass. So we are celebrating the birth of Christ on Christmas, but what is Christ? Well, that would take too long to cover all that Christ means, but here is a brief explanation....
Christ is not Jesus' last name! Christ means anointed One and the Hebrew Messiah. To anoint someone or something is to rub an oil or ointment all over them. The Bible meaning here is Spiritual: Rubbing God all over and permeating a man with Himself.
Jesus read this scripture from the old testament: "The Spirit of God is upon Me, for He has anointed Me.. to preach the good news to the poor, He has sent Me to release the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are oppressed (downtrodden and broken). Luke 4:18 - MSG
Jesus made some bold claims here. He was saying that He was the One that the Jews prophesied about in the Old Testament, sent from God to save the people of the world, "the Christ". He brought the good news of eternal life! He healed people physically and spiritually. He helped the poor and set free those with addictions and depression - that's good news!
It says in Acts 10:38 " How God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with strength, ability and power, how He went about doing good and in particular curing all who were harassed and oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." This is what is meant by the word Immanuel often heard at Christmas - it's about God being here with us. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we are not only forgiven of our sins, our relationship with God is restored! We can have His Holy Spirit living inside us! Jesus came to save us and connect us with God's family. The word Christian in the bible means "little Christs", or little anointed ones. God lives inside those who invite Him in! Celebrate...we can now have a relationship with God. He is here to save us, heal us, protect us, help us break free from addictions and have a relationship with us.

Christmas every day
On Christmas, many who don't even know Christ have experienced the goodness of this Spirit: Love, forgiveness, kindness, generosity. Why do people say "I'll let that go today, it's Christmas."? Imagine every day being like that.. people forgiving, sharing and sacrificial giving, helping children who have no toys, putting on meals for those who are in need...
For those of us on the Reach team, it's like Christmas every time we gather together. No, I'm not talking about the nice traditions we celebrate in our home like the tree or wrapping presents. I'm talking about the Spirit that brings joy, peace and generosity dwelling in us. The Spirit of Love is here, and we can yield to it. We are believers in Christ, celebrating that God is with us! Jesus said that "whenever 2 or more of you who believe are gathered together in My name, I'm there in your midst!"

You can have Christ too!
The good news is that everyone can have this relationship with God through Christ, our God-connection! You don't need to be perfect or sinless - simply choose to follow Jesus. Seek Him in His Word and get around believers who have the Spirit of Christ...and God will "rub off " on you too!

Merry Christmas!

- This message given by Neil at the Reach Van

A Homeless Man

A homeless Man?

Today I came across this ad from the Coalition for the Homeless that got me thinking... Although Jesus grew up in a home and became a carpenter by trade, He left houses and lands to go into full time ministry and even at times had no where to lay His head.

I never thought of Jesus as a homeless Man, because He always trusted God for provision and performed great miracles in this area. I wonder if the times that He was without shelter were times that He gave all He had away to those in need? In Mark 10:29,30 Jesus said, “Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land—whatever—because of me and the Message will lose out. They’ll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—but also in troubles. And then the bonus of eternal life! This is once again the Great Reversal: Many who are first will end up last, and the last first.”

One thing we can be sure of: Jesus knew what it was like to suffer and be rejected. He knows what the homeless and needy are going through and is moved with compassion for them. He is calling all who will - to help His hurting humanity. It’s so important to Jesus that we help the needy - He takes it personal…

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you ga

ve

me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.’

“Then those ’sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’ - Matthew 25:35-40, MSG

“Lord, help us to see You in each one. Forgive us for the times we walked by without heeding Your call to stop and listen and pray. Help us to recognize people in need that we cross paths with, people who are hungry, homeless, sick, addicted, beaten and rejected. Fill us with Your compassion and help us not to overlook or ignore Your people.” - Amen

Food pantries see increased need, drop in donations

WMUR news article here.

God is close to the poor

Found this article from World Challenge on God's heart for the poor. Read - Here.

Outreach on January5, 2008

Every Saturday a group of Reach volunteers show up with the van full of supplies. Rain or snow, hot or cold - a team of volunteers arrives, and so do many who are in need. January 5th was a cold day, and many were there looking for things like thermal underwear and toiletries.

We may not have shelter to offer at this time, but our focus is not on what we can’t do, but rather what we can do now with the resources that we do have. Most of us have felt God calling us to help in some way, or at least felt compassion (Which is from God, but we often don’t recognize it). That’s why we are here. We are motivated by our faith in a loving God and we share our faith with those who are interested. Each week we share a scripture that has encouraged and helped us and we join hands in prayer. Although we make it clear that there are no strings attached, almost all who are there choose to join in and pray with us. People are finding hope.