How many would show up? That was the discussion among our staff recently as we discussed our Christmas Day worship service. The guesses (and that’s what they were) varied greatly but the numbers mentioned reminded me that there has been a lot of debate about Christmas in recent years.
The issues are numerous. Should we say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas?” Is it ok to sing Christian Christmas songs in public settings? What will churches do when Christmas falls on a Sunday…like it did this year? If they have a worship service, will anyone show up?
With the bombardment of news and public debate, it is easy to become skewed and overly negative. If not careful, we begin to doubt God. If we don’t doubt God, we at least doubt His work among His people. “So few people actually love Him,” we might think to ourselves.
Then God, and His people, reminds us that He is still God and He still has a people. A people who love Him more than they often receive credit for doing.
Such was this Christmas at First Baptist. Did everyone who is part of our church show up? No! But an amazingly large number did. Not just on Christmas Eve, but also on Christmas Day.
Oh, that discussion by our staff! We all got it wrong (some more wrong than others) because God’s people showed up…in a big way.
I don’t know why that is such a surprise. The Bible tells us that God always has a people and there are more of them than many of us believe.
To the people of my Family of Faith, called First Baptist Church, let me say, “thank you.”
Merry Christmas,
Pastor Steve Hogg
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