Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas. It is my great privilege to be spending my twentieth Christmas as pastor of Catskill Mountain Christian Center this year. I am so grateful to God for the faithful souls of the many people I have come to know and love in this region over the years. The past two decades have flown by quickly as together we’ve built a dynamic church and ministry center serving thousands of people each year, socially, physically and especially spiritually.

Maybe the most amazing aspect of the Christmas story to me is the decision by God Almighty to have Jesus born in a manger, outside the comfort of a hospital or even a cozy home. It seems funny in a modern world fixated with safety that the Creator of the Universe would entrust His only begotten Son to a peasant couple without enough influence or money to manage a safe human dwelling for childbirth. Cold, dark, anonymous and lonely, what could God be saying through this mystery? Three thoughts:
  1. God is showing what He thinks of our value system. In a world obsessed with financial success, God entrusted His own Son to common folks rather than rich folks. I guess He wants us to know that there is more to life than money.
  2. God is not impressed with a special location or building. Church buildings are nice as gathering places but Jesus does not need a temple or fancy location to dwell within. He’s most comfortable among His sheep.
  3. When God is doing something really great, popular culture won’t budge for Him or even notice. A small handful of select people were the only ones highly favored by God to be in on the divine caper: Joseph, Mary, shepherds and wise men.
That we would be vigilant to consider God’s values and stand watch for Jesus being born in the hearts of humble folks in our generation.

Christmas Blessings,
Pastor Bob Engelhardt

1 comment:

Government Grants said...

Thank you and a Happy New Year to you too :-) I find your website quite interesting - keep up the good work. I'll be looking more into it and will surely share with my friends on social media :-)