Christmas Season

I was talking to my first graders today at work and asked them what they were most excited about and of course their answer was, "Miss Lauren I love the PRESENTS!!" I was laughing but at the same time I was bummed to know that was what they were most excited about but yet unfortunately that is how most people feel. We are very fortunate enough to be able to receive presents, however that is not the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas is supposed to be one of the most exciting and celebrated holidays because of the BIRTH OF JESUS! Christmas is the time of year of joy and celebration because our savior was born.... you know the one that all em prophets were prophesying about. However, I see so many people including myself getting caught up in buying presents and into the materialistic part of this world and forgetting this true meaning of Christmas.

The purpose of Christmas is God has given us this gift of salvation. God himself came down to earth as Jesus. If we think about it God could have come down to earth as a wealthy man who had everything but no... God came down as a servant that was brutally treated and mocked by his own people. BUT even though he knew this was all going to happen he did it because he loves us so much. The capacity of his love in incomprehensible. When I think about how much God loves me I try to think back at times when I have felt the most loved and times that by a zillion.

God didn't buy all of us toys and tangible objects but he has given us this greatest gift of all, salvation. By God's grace and mercy he saved us from all of our sins through JESUS. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16. The purpose of Christmas is to celebrate Jesus' birth and to give. God gave us the gift of salvation. We should be giving but to share God's glory within our giving. The most precious gift you can give someone is time. If we really take the time to give gifts to people to share God's glory Christmas can be a joyful experience. We can truly celebrate the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.

Operation Christmas Child

Last week, Young Life helped out with Operation Christmas Child. Operation Christmas Child is when local churches and schools create shoe boxes filled with presents for children who aren't fortunate enough to get presents. Young Life volunteered to go through the boxes to make sure the boxes were safe. It was a great way to serve our community and to bond with Young Life kids. It is so crazy how our world has become so materialistic and take our presents for granted. As I was going through these kids boxes, they had toothpaste and life essential things with maybe a stuffed animal. Most people would be dissappointed if they recieved this gift. However, to these less fortunate children, this can mean the world to them. Be thankful for the things that we do have and how fortunate we are.

On Thanksgiving, I was in constant thanks to the Lord for each and every person in my life. If you really sit down and think about all the things you can be grateful for, there are countless things. Trials are even blessings because you have been given the opportunity to trust in the Lord and grow spiritually. But the number one thing we can be thankful for is Jesus and his love for us. That he died on the cross for our sins so we don't have to carry that burden anymore. That no matter what situation we are in, God will be there with you. Thank God for all things because all good things are from God. "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." -James 1 :17 Some of these kids pray for presents and you can contribute to this! Help this cause and give someone a gift they will remember.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

Psalm 136 (NIV)

¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.

His love endures forever.

² Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.

³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.

⁴ to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.

⁵ who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.

⁶ who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.

⁷ who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.

⁸ the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.

⁹ the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.

¹⁰ to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures forever.

¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them
His love endures forever.

¹² with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.

¹³ to him who divided the Red Sea, His love endures forever.

¹⁴ and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.

¹⁵ but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.

¹⁶ to him who led his people through the desert,
His love endures forever.

¹⁷ who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.

¹⁸ and killed mighty kings—
His love endures forever.

¹⁹ Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.

²⁰ and Og king of Bashan—
His love endures forever.

²¹ and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.

²² an inheritance to his servant Israel;
His love endures forever.

²³ to the One who remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.

²⁴ and freed us from our enemies,
His love endures forever.

²⁵ and who gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.

²⁶ Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.

Samaritan's Purpose

God has blessed each and every one of us with a purpose. A God filled purpose. As Christians we are to serve and make disciples of all nations. But how are we serving? Serving is part of our faith. In James 2:17 it says, " So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless." WE ARE TO SERVE! Having faith and living for Christ on a daily basis isn't just believing but also acting upon it. We have been blessed with God's grace and mercy that we have our salvation. But to live for Christ and live like Christ we are to serve and embrace being servants. We are not to just get spiritually fed ourselves but to also invest in others and serve our community because that is who we need to love. "impression without expression equals depression."- Rick Warren. I was at Saddleback one time and Rick Warren was speaking about how joy is the number one thing we can loose quickly. We are loose our joy simply by someone not calling or a bad hair cut. However the number one thing to recover our joy is serving others. There are so many opportunities to serve and it is a HUGE need!

What is your passion? What is your purpose? What are you being called to? My personal passion is evangalism. I have been so blessed to be given the opportunity to serve in Young Life and share the love of Christ. These High School kids just need to be loved! Serving has been such a growing experience. It's so much different serving for Christ than it is to follow Christ. ITS SO AWESOME! I have grown spiritually so much because of Young Life and I am helping grow the kingdom of the Lord.

I really feel God put this on my heart and I just want everyone to know that there is such a need to serve! I am making a short 10-15 min video of giving the opportunity to serve. I want to do a short interviews of different ministries, organizations and people and ask what is their purpose and how are they pursuing it? I want people to be able to KNOW that there are opportunities to serve. For example, Young Life's dream or purpose is to walk alongside teenagers and spread the word of the Lord. I want to document how that organization has been pursuing that dream like young life would be "we run a club at a house for high schoolers and earn the right to be heard by hanging out with them... .( you get the gist) I want people to be like WOW I CAN contribute to that dream of Young Life... In can volunteer! etc.

But I also want people to know that they can be a servant by just the simple act of contributing a shoe.. for example, my friend Sarah was telling me this story of how when she was in the Ukraine, these two boys wanted to be a pro soccor player. These boys would play with no shoes. One day at the market she saw soccor shoes and surprised them with the shoes but didnt tell them she bought it. They treated the shoes like they were gold. They would clean the shoes every time after they played and stuck them perfectly in the box.

My vision is to make this short video or even youtube it and pass it out to missionaries in Bali as well as small groups, youth groups, just to get the word out that as Christians, we are to serve and make disciples of all nations that there is a need to serve and there are organizations they can contribute to but as well as just be a good light wherever they are. I see so many people that think by going to bible study and church that they are serving, however, i want to give them the opportunity to make a difference and share some different organizations that they can contribute in.

Paul wrote, "For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ."- Philippians 1:21

How are you serving? Get Involved.