Christians need to be clear about the gospel. If you were asked, “What is the gospel?” How would you answer that question? That question often receives blank stares from many who claim to be Christians. But this is the most critical question we must answer. If we can’t answer this question, we offer nothing to this world.

The Apostle Paul answered this question in 1 Corinthians 15 by stating that the gospel consists of four essential aspects. First, we are sinners. He says that Christ died for our sin. We must recognize that people are not basically good. Romans 3 informs us that we are all bad, completely evil. Our sin is more than a mistake, an error, or an illness. Our sin is a crime against God, condemning us to eternal wrath.

But second, Christ died for our sin. God himself became a man. He lived a perfect life without sin. And yet still suffered the penalty of sin for us. He died on the cross and took our sin on himself. We must note that he really died. Paul states that he was buried. For three days, he lay dead in the grave. Only through suffering death for us could he free us from sin. Through this death, God can justly forgive our sin.

Third, Jesus conquered death. He rose from the dead after three days. Through this resurrection, Christ accomplished several things. First, Romans 4 informs us that this resurrection accomplished our justification. Because Christ rose from the dead, he proved that his work is sufficient for our forgiveness. God is just to forgive us. Second, Christ’s resurrection proves that he is indeed God. Only God can conquer death and grant life. Third, Christ’s resurrection ensures that one day, all who place their faith in him will rise from the dead as well. His resurrection guarantees our future.

Fourth, we must respond to Christ in faith. This means more than simply agreeing with the previous three things. This means that we surrender everything to God and give Him our life. Many Christians refer to this as asking Jesus into their heart. They mean that they have surrendered their heart (the very center of their life) to God. All their actions, thoughts, beliefs, and desires now belong to him.

This is the Gospel. Do you believe it? Have you surrendered your life to God? Or are you relying on your morality for a relationship with God? Do you depend on your church attendance for a relationship with God? Only surrender to God saves us. Consider your life to see if you are indeed a child of God.  

These days are certainly interesting. Everyone feels the financial strain of inflation. The old Soviet Union is attempting to rise from the dead. Many friends are experiencing significant physical challenges. And as a result, it can be easy to fall into frustration and even depression. Over the last couple of weeks, as I have been thinking through these things, a song has come to mind continually.

In the late 1520s, Martin Luther faced extreme danger. The Pope and the Roman Catholic church searched diligently to kill him for the reforms he sought. The alliances between the Pope and state rulers meant that he was wanted in virtually every country. While in hiding, he contemplated the faithfulness of God and penned these impactful words:

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow’r are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us;
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly pow’rs, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth;
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Over the past few weeks, we have looked at the need to stay on task and target in the church and in our Christian life. Today we turn to the final aspect of this topic in Philippians 1. When we maintain the proper perspective in life, we can stay on task and target by responding the right way. Often the church and the Christian veer away because we respond wrongly in challenging times.

Although Paul had a legitimate reason to be angry or hurt, he wanted the Philippians to understand that he rejoiced because the Gospel was preached. When faced with difficult circumstances, we can be tempted to become frustrated, bitter, and depressed. When facing difficult people, we can be tempted to become angry, vindictive, and bitter. However, the proper perspective keeps the church on task and target by responding the right way. Paul begins this verse by asking a question. What then? What does it matter?

What does it matter that some preached the Gospel to hurt Paul? Paul did not view his life or reputation as something he needed to protect. His focus instead was on Gospel advance. So what did it matter if the Gospel’s advance came at the cost of his reputation or life? Whether through good motives or sinister motives, the Gospel advanced. In this, Paul rejoiced. The proper perspective allowed Paul to respond the right way.

You may feel as though God asks the impossible. Responding with joy in difficult circumstances or while facing difficult people is impossible. Perhaps super Christians can respond with joy, but not you. However, Paul reveals that the secret lies in your perspective. If we are genuinely working towards the right goal, what does it matter if we get the recognition for accomplishing the goal. If we care more about recognition, then recognition is our goal. What does it matter if we face hardship and trial? If we care more about ease and security, our goal is ease and security. The way to respond right in every situation is to keep the proper goal in mind. We are all driven by goals. Our response to circumstances reveals our goals. The key then to the correct responses is the right goal. When we seek first the Kingdom of God, we can rest assured that all will be fine. When we set the advance of the Gospel as our goal, we understand that tribulation aids the advancement of the Gospel. Therefore, we welcome the tribulation; we don’t run from it. When we keep the eternal kingdom as our perspective in life, all we face will be worth the struggle when we see Jesus. This perspective allows us to respond with joy. The proper perspective keeps the church on task and target by responding the right way.

Remind yourself that God sometimes uses Christians whose motives are suspect. This does not mean that we must approve of their motives but must rejoice in the advance of the Gospel and trust God to guard His reputation. The proper perspective keeps the church on task and target by responding the right way.

Paul sat imprisoned because he dared to preach the truth of the Gospel. Some took advantage of his imprisonment to demean him. He may have been tempted to give up. He may have been tempted with depression. However, he maintained the proper perspective by focusing on God’s eternal goodness and the advance of the Gospel. He remained on task and target. You will face intense struggle and conflict in life. You will be tempted to turn your back and God and the church. You will be tempted to seek your comfort. Despite these temptations, you must seek first God’s Kingdom.

Some of you are facing challenging circumstances. All of us will face them at some point. Some of you are considering turning your back on God. Some of you are being maligned and criticized for doing what is right. God has called his children to be faithful to his cause. To remain faithful, you must develop a proper perspective. You must build your view of God. Building this view of God involves several essential steps. First, you must confess sin in your life. Sin impairs our relationship with God. It steals our perspective and hinders our joy. Yet, when we confess our sin, 1 John 1:9 informs us that he is faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Second, you must speak the truth to yourself. Throughout the Psalms, we observe the Psalmist speaking the truths of God to himself. Although he struggles to believe God’s promises, he preaches the truths to himself to believe them. So, you must speak the truth to yourself even when you don’t believe it. Third, you must consume the Word of God to learn about your God and gain the proper perspective. As you read God’s Word, note the way God describes himself. As you begin to understand who God is and what God is like, you will see your perspective change.

Stay focused on the eternal plan of God and maintain that proper perspective. Remind yourself continually that God works all things for his glory and your good. Build your view of God. If you have not surrendered your life to Christ, do so today. Gain a proper perspective so that you can stay on task and target

Very little moves a person or a church off task and target than disunity with difficult people. How are we to respond when someone begins to serve the church for self-centered reasons. They are not serving out of humble love for others or a desire to serve God. Rather, they serve so that people will notice them, for the power that comes with the position, or for financial gain? Paul faced a very similar circumstance in Philippians 1.

While many gained boldness and preached the Gospel out of love for God and Paul, some in Paul’s life were seeking to discredit Paul through taking over the leadership positions he held in the church. They preached the Gospel but to minimize Paul. Galatians informs us that a group of individuals from Jerusalem followed behind Paul, seeking to undermine all the work Paul had done in their midst. They preached the Gospel out of envy, rivalry, and selfish ambition.

Because Paul was imprisoned, he could not return to address the situation. Yet, Paul recognized that the kingdom was not about him. As a result, he was able to stay on task because difficult people were advancing the cause of the Gospel, which Paul was also working to advance. God sometimes uses people we don’t get along with or agree with to advance the work he has called us to do.

As we ponder the idea that God would use people who seem like our enemies to advance the work he has called us to do, we need to look no further in the world at secular examples than world war 2. As Hitler and the Axis powers threatened to enslave the world and eliminate ethnicities the Nazis viewed as inferior, three unlikely allies stood shoulder to shoulder in opposition to the axis power. Roosevelt (a liberal from the United States), Churchill (a staunch conservative from England), and Stalin (a heinous communist dictator in Russia) formed the allied alliance to free Europe from bondage. One could not find more unlikely allies. Roosevelt held very progressive political views, as seen in the New Deal. In contrast, Churchill fought tirelessly for conservative values. Both held firmly to capitalist economics and personal liberty, while Stalin worked tirelessly to advance communism. He did so by murdering millions of opponents. Yet they came together for the common cause of defeating the axis power. Even in their motivations for victory, they differed. Roosevelt did not want to enter the war and came only due to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Churchill warned for years of the Nazi threat in Germany. And while Stalin sought to protect Russia from the Axis powers, the end of the war revealed he viewed victory as a way to expand the Soviet Empire. Yet, all worked together because the need for victory in the war outweighed their differences. The perspective of victory kept them on task and target despite difficult people.

When we focus on ourselves, we cannot overcome our anger with difficult people. However, when we keep the goal in mind, we are willing to work with anyone to see the goal accomplished. When working towards an important goal, feelings must take a back seat to the outcome. When we see the Gospel and Kingdom as the focus of life, we are not sidetracked by difficult people making life hard for us but advancing the Gospel.

As the difficult seasons of relational conflict with your fellow church members arise, we must remember the task and target to which we are called. Sometimes you question the motives of others in the church. You see their pride, selfishness, and pettiness, and you question why they are even in the church. However, we must remember why God brought us all together. The church is not a club where everyone comes with the same characteristics. This gathering is a church into which God brings various people and personalities. This reality must cause us to choose which battles to fight. When the ones whose character you question advance ministries or make decisions, we find difficult, we should joyfully support the ministry as long as they line up with the Word and advance the Gospel. When we lose perspective, the church splits. We have seen and felt this. However, when the church leans into the Word of God and the Gospel of God, the proper perspective keeps the church on task and target when facing difficult people.  

We all have “that guy” in our church with whom we struggle to get along. They steal the glory and platform. They rub us the wrong way. Sometimes, it is simply a personality difference. A name just came to your head. We are tempted to become bitter or angry when they walk into the room. However, if they are working to advance the Gospel, we can walk past their mistreatment of us and work together. When we focus on the Gospel, the Gospel reminds us that we also are sinners saved by grace. This truth allows us to respond with grace and mercy. Maintain a proper perspective on the Gospel.

God sometimes uses people whose Christian commitment is self-serving and insincere to advance the cause of the Gospel. A proper response does not mean that we approve of their motives or methods, but it does mean we believe that God can protect his work and keep the insincere proclamation of the Gospel from hopelessly confusing unbelievers or tainting the faith of people who sincerely believe as the result of these hypocritical preachers. We rejoice that the Gospel advances. The proper perspective keeps the church on task and target when facing difficult people.

Last week we began to examine Philippians 1:12-18. In the middle of a world which demands our full allegiance, how can we stay on task and on target as a church and individual believers. We stay on task and on target by maintaining the proper perspective of the gospel and eternity. Paul wrote this letter from a prison cell, imprisoned for the Gospel. The phrase in verse 12, “What has happened to me,” most likely includes all the events of struggle Paul faced. It contains the riots in various cities caused by anger at his preaching, the two years’ imprisonment at Caesarea, the appeal to Cesar, the threats on his life, the multiple shipwrecks he faced, and his impending trial. Paul had been stoned, imprisoned, and mistreated throughout his ministry for the Gospel. He had lost much for the Gospel. In chapter 4, we learn that he had suffered need and hunger. At the core was the fact that Paul was wrongly imprisoned for the sake of the Gospel. Many were attempting to kill Paul. Further, the Philippian church was founded through difficult circumstances. In Acts 16, we learn that a demon-possessed girl in Philippi harassed Paul and Silas. Finally, they cast the demon out of the girl, and she was miraculously saved. However, this action angered her masters, seeing the money they gained from her slipping away. As a result, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to court, where they were sent to prison. While sitting in the stocks, they sang praises to God. God caused an earthquake that opened the prison. Fearing that he had lost his prisoners, the jailer panicked. Yet, when Paul and Silas ensured him that no prisoners were lost, he recognized the difference in these men and also came to Christ. God founded this church through the persecution of Paul. Yet, Paul stayed on task and target through all the trials. Here Paul informs us of his secret. When the church and the believer maintain a proper perspective, they will stay on task and target. From a human standpoint, all seemed to be lost. Yet, the proper perspective allowed Paul to remain on task and target in the middle of difficult circumstances.

Trials are a reality of life. Just because you have trusted Christ does not mean that life is going to be a bed of roses. And just because you are facing some difficult circumstances in life, does not mean that God has forsaken you. Paul informed Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). You will face trials in your life. Some of you may even be facing them now. Whether it trials in your family (Relational troubles with your spouse, difficulty with your children or grandchildren), trials in finances (lost his job, or the job you have just doesn’t pay), trials at work (can’t get it right, co-workers or boss making life difficult for you), trials in relationships (with friends or significant other), trials in health; God has not forsaken you, and you can still live a life of joy even in the midst of that. How? How is that possible? The key is a proper perspective.

Paul observed this reality repeatedly in his ministry and now pleads with the Philippian church to observe it as well. He states, “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” The term “advance” was used in the Greek-speaking world to characterize blazing a trail before an army. Paul saw these events as forging new territory for the Gospel. While others may have seen the end of a ministry, Paul saw new ways for the Gospel to spread. And he informs the Philippians that indeed the Gospel did spread. It spread to the emperor’s inner circle. Roman military officers and Roman soldiers heard the Gospel in Jerusalem and Caesarea. Two Roman governors (Felix and Festus), King Herod Agrippa, and their wives heard Paul speak about faith in Christ Jesus. One of these governors, over two years, often sent for Paul to converse with him. What appeared at first to be the end of Paul’s ministry turned out to be the means of its advancement. These trials allowed Paul to preach the Gospel before governors and kings and ultimately to the Imperial house.

Further, we observe that some responded with boldness to fill in the gap left by Paul’s imprisonment. Interestingly, Paul uses the word “most,” meaning a great many or majority of Christians responded to Paul’s struggles with boldness and bravery. When believers heard that Paul used his chains as an opportunity to express his faith in Christ, even to the palace guard, they were emboldened to proclaim Christ fearlessly even when they might have been intimidated to keep their mouth shut. Courage is contagious—the timid catch boldness from the brave. Years later, when facing his inevitable death, Paul encouraged Timothy to carry on the task. He informed him of the secret, the needed perspective to stay on task and target in the direst of circumstances.

As this church faces the pressures of COVID and the variety of opinions, we must keep the target and tasks in mind to carry on in unity. Some would have the church close the doors for protection, and others would have the church never close. The divisions threaten the church’s viability. Some desire all to mask, and others see masks as a form of oppression. The divisions threaten the church’s viability. Some fear the ongoing threat of COVID, and some see it as a thing of the past. The divisions threaten the church’s viability. We must maintain a proper perspective. The church is not about the political views of COVID but the advancement of the kingdom. Our mission must be to press forward with the Gospel. The sufferings of today are working for us an eternal weight of glory. So don’t allow the perspective of the world to infect your mind and cause you to quit. As fellow citizens of the kingdom, we must seek to love and care for one another. This proper perspective will allow us to stay on task and target in the middle of these unusual and challenging days.

Many of you face the financial pressures of employment shortages in your work and inflation. You are tempted to question God and his work in your life. You are tempted to quit sacrificially giving to the church. Do not quit on the church. The church is about the Kingdom of God. Christ informs us in Matthew 6 that when we seek the Kingdom of God first, he will care for our every need. The proper perspective will keep you on task and target.

What would it take for you to turn your back on God? What would it take for you to quit the church? In the 17^th century, a tinker named John Bunyan trusted in Christ. Before long, he recognized that error had infiltrated the church of England. Desiring to restore the church to its proper focus, he began to hold services in his hometown of Bedford. He was an ordinary man with little education. But he longed to serve God and do what was right. However, the church of England did not agree. They had him arrested and thrown into prison, where he spent the next twelve years. He tried to do what was right; he tried to serve God. Yet, he spent years in prison away from his wife, young children, and friends. Put yourself in that situation. If you were punished for doing right, if you faced criticism and persecution for doing right, if you couldn’t see your family because you did right, how would you respond? Would you be tempted to turn your back on God? Would you be tempted to give in to the sinful demands of others? Would you be overcome by bitterness or depression? John Bunyan spent twelve years in prison because he did what was right. But Bunyan did not turn his back on God. Bunyan did not give up on the church. Instead, John Bunyan continued to preach every day from his prison cell. People would gather outside the cell window and listen to him preach. He also took the time to write a book that for centuries became the second-best-selling book only to the Bible: Pilgrim’s Progress. He and his church stayed on task and target. How was this possible? Every believer and every church will face challenges that will cause them to question their faith.

Our church sits in the middle of a confused culture. The battles of the culture easily draw the Christian and steal their focus. In turn, this lost focus drags the church down with it. Further, over the next year, our church seeks to expand our impact for the Gospel in several ways. Without staying on task and target, these advances can threaten the unity of the church. So we must examine how we can stay on task and target in every situation.

Philippians 2:12-18 contains Paul’s secret to staying on task and target in every situation. Take a moment to read the section. Over the next few weeks, we will walk through this text and seek to understand how we can stay on task and target. For this week, simply read through the text several times and ask the question, “What was Paul’s secret to maintaining a proper focus?”

As you examine the text you will discover that a proper focus keeps the church on task and target when facing difficult situations, difficult people, and when we respond properly. Keep the Kingdom first!

Again, this week we are reminded of the importance of absolute truth. Lafayette, Indiana, seeks to pass a regulation against counseling individuals towards Biblical morality. Across the border in Canada, the same law passed. Next week, Dr. Phil will air a show featuring a debate between those who hold to the concept of gender fluidity and those who hold to Biblical morality.

In each situation, the debate surrounds the concept of truth. One group claims that truth is relative and fluid. The Bible demonstrates that truth is absolute and centered in God himself. For the past decades, society has deserted absolute truth. Since the enlightenment period, society sought to find truth through science instead of God. However, the World Wars and advances in science shattered this thinking. Now society has moved to a post-modern age where everyone determines their truth.

Society would believe that gender fluidity and sexual immorality must be celebrated because truth lies with the individual. Simple definitions are no longer absolute. When asked to define what a man or a woman is, society balks at the question. Instead, claiming that it is whatever each individual feels it is. However, this chaos cannot lead to freedom. It can only lead to despair.

Consequently, society must find ways to anesthetize themselves from the despair they feel. Drugs, alcohol, and many other things keep individuals from feeling the despair surrounding their lives. Yet, when the anesthetic wears off, the despair returns.

The answer lies in the absolute source of truth. God holds the keys to satisfaction and joy in life. Absolute truth anchors our lives. And the Gospel declares that truth. Christians cannot afford to respond to the current societal situation with false answers. Anger, frustration, worry cannot exemplify hope. Politics does not provide actual change. Entertainment and comfortable lives cannot last. Only the absolute truth of the Gospel can change anyone. Christians must stand and proclaim the truth of the Gospel regardless of the cost.

The question remains, will you stand on the Gospel? Or will you settle for lesser answers which do not provide hope? Will you anchor yourself to the Word of God, or will you drift aimlessly with the culture? The day has come for the Christian to choose. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Sometimes in life, we question God’s actions. As we look at life around us, we wonder if God is really in control. Paul writes a letter to a group of people in Philippi wondering the same thing. In Philippians 1:6, he states, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” The acts of history are not up to us; they are up to God. God began redemption in us. Because of this, we can have confidence that he will complete this redemption.

Perhaps we struggle with the challenges of life because we don’t value our redemption. Because we don’t appreciate our redemption, we have a faulty view of life and history. We become frustrated when we depend on other things for our happiness, satisfaction, or stability. All are sin-stained and unable to accomplish the things for which they were not created. As a result, our faulty view of redemption and God creates instability.

Redemption (the good work God began in us) refers to more than simply getting out of Hell and going to Heaven one day. This redemption brings us into the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom overarches all human life and history. This Kingdom overarches all of life as it grants the believer a different motive and focus. No longer must we rely on this world for satisfaction, joy, and stability. All too often, we rely on family relationships, work success, financial advancement, recreation, acknowledgment, or our political party in power for our stability and satisfaction. When the thing we are looking for fails (and it will), we become unstable and frustrated. Yet, we find wonderful satisfaction when we focus on and live for the everlasting Kingdom.

The Kingdom overarches all of history. God is working every action and circumstance towards the ultimate establishment of that Kingdom when Christ returns. The changes in political establishments and countries continue to take place. Hoping that some political victory will change the course of history is foolhardy at best. Yet, the Kingdom remains an eternal promise. Relying on that Kingdom grants stability regardless of the current political or socio-economic climate.

As you walk through life and find yourself frustrated with the challenges you face, remember that God will work all things for our redemption. You can be confident through the darkest of times because your hope is in Christ. He is solid and steadfast. Don’t be angry or frustrated; find contentment in Christ.

I don’t generally make new year’s resolutions. I tend instead to make resolutions throughout the year. Yet, like every human alive, I struggle to keep the resolutions after making them. After a week of 2022, perhaps you are struggling to keep your resolutions. I would encourage you to press forward. Proper resolutions provide great help in our lives.

Whenever resolutions become a topic, I think of the great puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards. He regularly made the practice of resolutions. He recorded 70 of them. His resolutions tended to be profound. Consider some of these resolutions and determine if they would not be reasonable to resolve for yourself.

1 – Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever.

4 – Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.

5 – Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.

10 – Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.

16 – Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.

24 – Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then, both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.

28 – Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

40 – Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking.

41 – Resolved, to ask myself, at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly, in any respect, have done better.

56 – Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

The complete list of resolutions can be found at www.jonathan-edwards.org/resolutions

God created all things in absolute perfection. However, humankind quickly destroyed that perfection through willful disobedience and rebellion. As our representative, Adam plunged all men into sin through that one sin. Creation became subject to the horrendous impact of sin. And the world became broken. Yet, God in His sovereign love did not walk away. Instead, He began to work all things towards redemption through God’s eternal plan. We find this promise in Genesis 3:15.

God chose to preserve Noah and his family out of man’s depravity. Later God called Abraham and identified this man as the headwaters of redemption’s stream. This stream would pass through Judah and ultimately be identified in King David. Through David, we learned that the One who would come would be a redeemer and a King. However, things did not go as humanity expected. Israel and Judah entered into captivity, and God stopped speaking to man. Four hundred years of silence ensued. All hope seemed to be lost.

Then, an angel visited a young woman in Galilee one spectacular day. He informed her that she was the final piece before the Redeemer. She would miraculously conceive through the Holy Spirit. We see her incredible faith because she believed the angel and responded in worship.

One can imagine the ensuing conversation with her fiancé, Joseph, and her family. Matthew 1 indicates that Joseph did not believe her. Who could blame him? An angel visited Joseph to confirm Mary’s account. Joseph also responded in faith. Nine months later, the miraculous happened. God entered the world as a baby. Christmas happened.

As we celebrate Christmas over 2000 years later, we must keep in mind the reason for our celebration. Giving gifts and spending time with family is wonderful. However, they are not the reason we celebrate. We celebrate because Jesus became a man so that he could live a sinless life, sacrifice his life for our sin on the cross, and establish the Kingdom of God again. We celebrate because God forgives our sin through our faith in Jesus. We celebrate because God makes us citizens of the eternal Kingdom of God. We celebrate because Christmas means God will fix the world fixed again and make all things right.

So, celebrate this Christmas! Give gifts as a picture of the greatest gift given to us. Spend time with family as a picture of the eternal family we have in Christ. And regularly point to the Gospel. Remember, while the world is broken, it will be fixed because of Christmas (and Good Friday and Easter)!