Abundant Life: December 2009

Toward a Better Understanding of Christmas

The song says it is the most wonderful time of the year, but for some Christians it is easily the most awkward time of the year. All around we see reminders of Jesus and His birth. “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” and “Wise Men Still Seek Him” are written everywhere. Nativity scenes spring up in yards, stars top trees, and people who never go to church head for services on Christmas Eve.

Why Doesn't Westside Have a Christmas Service?

At a time when most churches are planning special services for Christmas Eve and Christmas day Westside’s calendar remains remarkably constant. Nothing special is planned. Nothing special will be done. Why is that? Further, as we probe that question, we find room to look and see why many Christians choose not to celebrate Christmas in a religious way.

More Than a Babe

It is a stunning event in a book full of stunning events. It begins the narrative of God’s new covenant with His people, and it is a most unusual way for such a narrative to begin. A child is born to a poor Jewish couple; so poor that when they go to offer sacrifice to God, they must buy turtle doves instead of a lamb or a calf. So poor that the child is born in a stable, not the pristine, clean version depicted by most nativity scenes, but a real stable, complete with the filth and smells of ordinary barnyard animals.