Do any of you remember the Sears Christmas catalogue? When I was a kid in the 1970s and 1980s, I couldn’t wait for that glorious volume to arrive in the mail every fall. I would carefully read the toy section (especially the Star Wars toy section) and make my Christmas gift wish list. Thereafter, I would make a point to walk my parents and grandparents through the list while showing them the items in the catalogue in great hope and anticipation that my advance research would pay off via gifts of the toys of my dreams on Christmas Eve.

That annual childhood ritual is a lot like life - we go through life desiring and hungering for something to bring us joy, to fill our days with meaning, and ultimately with hope that is from somewhere beyond ourselves. We intuitively sense that we don’t have all the answers to life’s challenges and questions; however, we can’t bear the thought of giving up on the quest for life and hope.

2600 years ago, the ancient people of Israel had been through a lot and had a lot of questions. They had been the chosen people of God, and yet because of their stubborn rebellion against him, He allowed them to be militarily conquered by neighboring superpowers and forced into exile in a foreign country with foreign culture, language, and faith. It felt like hope was all but gone; but in spite of that, they hoped for and dreamed of a return to their homeland, they hoped for God to send a Savior to bring them back to freedom, and they dreamed of God arriving to transform this broken world and make it completely new again.

They waited hundreds of years (a lot longer than I waited to receive my Millennium Falcon), but on that first Christmas 2000 years ago, God sent them and all humanity His son - God made human, God with us. He came in humility, born in a barn, sleeping in a feeding trough for animals. Jesus grew up as part of his oppressed people only to voluntarily lay down his life to be innocently murdered on a Roman cross to pay the price for every messed-up thing you and I have done. He did this to demonstrate His great love for us and so that humanity could have a friendship with God again. This friendship isn’t something we deserve or can earn, it’s a gift received simply by turning away from our mistakes and trusting that God’s love, lived out in Jesus, is enough to meet our deepest needs (Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Corinthians 12:9).

At Christmas, we celebrate with great joy that friendship with God can be ours by faith - and we eagerly anticipate the day when Jesus’ returns to make all things new again! I invite you to join us in the celebration of this world-changing good news on Christmas Eve, December 24th at 4pm or 5:30pm (contemporary), or 7pm (traditional), or Christmas Day, December 25th at 10am. Good news is coming!