Christmas is a time of God showing His great love for us. You see, Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. God sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to be born. His birth brought great joy to the world, and the shepherds, wise men and the angels all shared the excitement in this great event. They knew this was no ordinary baby. The prophets had foretold His birth hundreds of years before. The stars even moved to bring them to Bethlehem, where Jesus laid in a manger. “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was” (Matthew 2:9).
Why did Jesus come to us? Why did God send His only Son to this often cruel and utterly depraved world? We, mankind, have a great problem—sin. God knows, and only He would be able to provide a solution to this problem. Jesus, and He alone, can take away all the sins of this world. Jesus eventually died on the cruel cross and shed His precious blood. It is through the shed blood of Jesus that can take away our sins, but only if we believe that Jesus died for our sins and can also give us eternal life in heaven. That is the place that we can go to when our life on earth is over.
We have been given the precious gospel to spread to the world. Let us look at Christmas in a new way this year. Our Lord Jesus commands us to preach the gospel,
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Preaching the gospel is not an option, but a command from God. While Jesus lived on earth, He had great compassion for the lost souls. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). May we be moved like our Lord Jesus with compassion for the lost. May we seize the opportunity that this Christmas presents to preach the gospel to our friends and loved ones. What better time than this to invite your friends and loved ones to our Christmas service and making this as an evangelical outreach. May we be like the disciples of old, for when they found the Messiah they were so eager to make known the Saviour to their loved ones. “Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas’ (which, when translated, is Peter)” (John 1:40-42).
When Andrew first saw the Saviour, the first thing he did was to find his brother Simon, and tell him about the Saviour. He then brought him to Jesus. May we have the same excitement like Andrew, to eagerly bring our friends or loved ones to our Saviour.
As Christmas approaches, let us think of whom we can invite to our Christmas service. We can start by praying, inviting and bringing them to hear the gospel during our Christmas gospel outreach. May the compassion of our Lord move us to bring our unsaved friends and family to the Christmas gospel outreach.