[Faith-talk] FW: [thefamilyoffaith] It's Always the Season for the Christmas Story - Dr. Larry Ollison

[Eric Calhoun]

Original Message: 
From: "thefamilyoffaith" <TheFamilyofFaith at tampabay.rr.com>
To: <thefamilyoffaith at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [thefamilyoffaith] It's Always the Season for the Christmas
Story - Dr. Larry Ollison
Date: 
Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:42:11 -0500



It's Always the Season for the Christmas Story 
by Dr. Larry Ollison 
 
The birth of Jesus, the wise men, the shepherds, the manger, and all the
other events of Christmas are glorious. However, the Christmas season is
not just a seasonal holiday. It is the commemoration of the birth of our
Lord Jesus.

Most Christians and theologians agree that Jesus was not born on the 25th
of December; it is simply the day that we set aside once a year to publicly
acknowledge to the world that Jesus Christ was born. The point is the date
is not important. The event is. The date is only a 24-hour time period. The
event changed the world and the universe for all eternity. 

The birth of Jesus was the beginning of the earthly manifestation of
God's plan to reconcile man back to Himself. Several years after the
resurrection of Jesus, the apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans,
talked about how those who believed in Jesus were reconciled to God through
the death of Jesus. "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God
through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall
be saved by His life" (Rom. 5:10.)

Actually the birth of Jesus is not just the Christmas story, but the
beginning of the salvation story -- and all of the story should be told all
of the time. 
Several years ago I was talking to a fellow minister about some of the
miraculous things that took place at the birth of Jesus. We got very
excited in our conversation. Then he looked at me and said, "I can hardly
wait until Christmas so I can teach this at church." His statement struck a
nerve inside of me. That day I realized that too many ministers and
Christians only talk about the birth of Jesus one Sunday a year.

The Christmas story is a wonderful story, but Jesus should never be
reduced to a holiday icon. He is the Savior of the world who was born of a
virgin, fathered by the Spirit of God, ministered on the earth, and laid
down His life as the once and for all sacrifice. He did all this as He
pressed toward the goal of fulfilling the Father's plan.

Each year as we celebrate Christmas let's keep the knowledge,
understanding, and spirit of Christmas fresh every day throughout the year.