My opinion only...
Most Christians treat the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus as the real core of the message.
The suffering, death and resurrection are the meat and potatoes of the faith to many people, while the birth of Jesus is the parsley on the plate.
We spend 98% of our time talking about the suffering, death and resurrection and 2% talking about the birth.
4 weeks are given to advent. The other 48 can be about the suffering death and resurrection.
The result of this is that we have a message that can sound pretty heavy as related to the suffering, death and resurrection.... certainly the s, d, and r are important, but if we are not careful our message starts to sound like this. "You were bad, God is mad, so he mutilated and killed his son so that now he can be glad again."
Is this what the church is selling? No wonder no one wants to go anymore.
The problem with this as the main approach to faith is that the gospel does not begin with "you are bad" or with "God is mad. The gospel begins with "God so loved the world." That is why we call it good news. God loved the world and he sent his son.
Without the birth, there is no boy Jesus at age 12 at the temple.
Without the birth there is no calling of disciples.
Without the birth there is no baptism by John.
Without the birth there is no sermon on the mount.
Without the birth there is no water to wine.
Without the birth there is no suffering death and resurrection.
Maybe the birth is more important that we have thought.
God sent his son. This is a powerful message.
Ahh, yes. There it is. He sent his son. The birth of Jesus = good news!!! It is in effect the first miracle. God loved you so much that he sent his son. You were worth it, you are worth it! You are loved!
That is a gospel that I can get behind. That is a gospel that will build healthy relationships between people, God and each other.
It's a beautiful day in God's world be sure to see the good.
Send replies to jsbrink57@gmail.com
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I am leading some trips in 2018. If you are interested in reading about them, or joining in, the links are below.....
4 Night cruise from Port Canaveral to Key West and Havana, Cuba.
August 13-17, 2018
Wesley's Ireland with optional London Extension
October 8-17, 2018
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