16.5 hour drive to wish you a merry christmas

Dear Friends, Readers, Questers, fellow Seattlites, and Blog Lurkers,

Minhee and I wish you a very merry Christmas.   Wherever and whoever you may be, may the peace of Christ descend and dwell in your hearts.  May God illuminate you through His Holy Spirit that we may once more be renewed by the Hope of our Savior.

My family will be experiencing a different Christmas this year.

Question:  Where are you spending the holidays this year?

We left this Christmas Eve morning for what ended up being a 16 1/2 hour drive from Seattle to San Francisco.  When we left, there was a heavy snowfall in Seattle.  It either rained or snowed every single second of our drive including 3 hours of driving in blizzard like snow in the mountains but we made it safely to San Francisco.  My folks live out here and while it’s awkward to be missing our first Christmas in Seattle since we moved there 12 years ago, we thought it would be nice to honor our folks to visit them for a change. 

But enough of us. 

Christmas and for that matter, everything…it’s all about Jesus. The birth of Christ conveys three unchanging Truths:

1. Jesus came to show God’s love for us.  God is with us.  He is Emmanuel.  He loved us enough to enter our condition and situation.
2. Jesus came to demonstrate our need for salvation and reconciliaton.  He was born…in order to die for us.   Jesus is our Savior.
3. Jesus came to show us a better way.  He came to invite us to a Kingdom life of peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness.   He is the Way, Truth, and the Life.

Luke 2:1-14

The Birth of Jesus

    ¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

    ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

The Shepherds and the Angels

    ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

    ¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

    ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
       and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Filed under: bible, church, quest church , christmas, Jesus, Jesus Christ