universalist
EOG Dedicated
Have You Cut the Christmas Cord?
Many sincere people make it a priority to attend church at this time of year, Christmas. Then, a few months later, they attend church again on Easter. These “twice-a-year-churchgoers” can’t seem to find the time to attend church except on these two occasions. I recently had an insight into why this happens.
I think it is because people ultimately have a need for God—have a spiritual hunger and thirst. People attend a mass or special service on Christmas and Easter to seek something to satisfy a deep need for meaning and purpose. They are drawn by the lights, the music or the unique liturgy of a denomination. They go seeking to hear a message or experience through worship—something to fill the spiritual void created by a soulless material world.
They go, they experience—but they don’t return again for many months. Why? Could it be because truth is absent? Could it be that the core truths of the biblical story of the birth of Jesus and the coming of the Son of God are hidden and distorted by traditions of worship that have nothing to do with God’s eternal truth and divine plan? Detailed accounts of Jesus Christ’s birth, life and death are present in the Bible—but Christmas celebrations are not mentioned anywhere. Why?
“But I want to believe in the story,” you might say. “I want to know I live for some greater reason and purpose,” a person may argue for their observance of the Christmas tradition. “I want, I need to know I suffer for a reason within a great cosmic plan,” another might respond.
The true facts of the story of Christ’s birth are truly the great story. Wise men coming from a faraway land, their path guided by a star. A baby born in a barn to a very young woman chosen for a unique destiny. All these are part of the story that gives us hope in a reality bigger than ourselves, a realm we can experience. All this is what we desperately want and need to fill the spiritual hunger within.
I get it, dear reader. I understand we all need to know our life is part of some greater purpose. That is why I quit keeping Christmas decades ago. It was a difficult decision to do this, but I have never regretted it. I still believe in the virgin birth of Jesus—that He was born in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph. I believe He was the Son of God born according to all the prophecies as the Messiah who would bring salvation to all peoples. I know that He died for my sins and was resurrected and is today at the right hand of the Father waiting for the moment to return in glory as King of kings. I get this because it is truth and God can only be worshipped in spirit and in truth. But Christmas celebrations, with a pagan history, distort and mislead you on these basic, biblical truths.
Only truth can fill the spiritual hunger and thirst we have as humans. Could it be that the many who only go to church on Christmas and Easter, sincerely looking to be filled, do not return because they do not hear the truth of God? Could you be missing the great spiritual dimension in your life because you are not worshiping God in truth?
It is time you dig deeper into this subject of Christ, His birth and His life as God in the flesh. It is time you came to the source of truth, the Bible, so you can begin to see God in all the fullness of His glory.
Many sincere people make it a priority to attend church at this time of year, Christmas. Then, a few months later, they attend church again on Easter. These “twice-a-year-churchgoers” can’t seem to find the time to attend church except on these two occasions. I recently had an insight into why this happens.
I think it is because people ultimately have a need for God—have a spiritual hunger and thirst. People attend a mass or special service on Christmas and Easter to seek something to satisfy a deep need for meaning and purpose. They are drawn by the lights, the music or the unique liturgy of a denomination. They go seeking to hear a message or experience through worship—something to fill the spiritual void created by a soulless material world.
They go, they experience—but they don’t return again for many months. Why? Could it be because truth is absent? Could it be that the core truths of the biblical story of the birth of Jesus and the coming of the Son of God are hidden and distorted by traditions of worship that have nothing to do with God’s eternal truth and divine plan? Detailed accounts of Jesus Christ’s birth, life and death are present in the Bible—but Christmas celebrations are not mentioned anywhere. Why?
“But I want to believe in the story,” you might say. “I want to know I live for some greater reason and purpose,” a person may argue for their observance of the Christmas tradition. “I want, I need to know I suffer for a reason within a great cosmic plan,” another might respond.
The true facts of the story of Christ’s birth are truly the great story. Wise men coming from a faraway land, their path guided by a star. A baby born in a barn to a very young woman chosen for a unique destiny. All these are part of the story that gives us hope in a reality bigger than ourselves, a realm we can experience. All this is what we desperately want and need to fill the spiritual hunger within.
I get it, dear reader. I understand we all need to know our life is part of some greater purpose. That is why I quit keeping Christmas decades ago. It was a difficult decision to do this, but I have never regretted it. I still believe in the virgin birth of Jesus—that He was born in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph. I believe He was the Son of God born according to all the prophecies as the Messiah who would bring salvation to all peoples. I know that He died for my sins and was resurrected and is today at the right hand of the Father waiting for the moment to return in glory as King of kings. I get this because it is truth and God can only be worshipped in spirit and in truth. But Christmas celebrations, with a pagan history, distort and mislead you on these basic, biblical truths.
Only truth can fill the spiritual hunger and thirst we have as humans. Could it be that the many who only go to church on Christmas and Easter, sincerely looking to be filled, do not return because they do not hear the truth of God? Could you be missing the great spiritual dimension in your life because you are not worshiping God in truth?
It is time you dig deeper into this subject of Christ, His birth and His life as God in the flesh. It is time you came to the source of truth, the Bible, so you can begin to see God in all the fullness of His glory.