Pastor Leyrer
Text: Genesis 4:1,2,6-8,25-5:5
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Dear Friends in Christ, to some degree its always been this way, but for the last few decades there seems to be an increasingly concerted effort to remove just about any religious element from the way in which our nation acknowledges Christmas, starting with the name itself. What used to be office Christmas parties have become “holiday” parties. What used to be Christmas breaks at non-religious schools have become winter breaks. Whether spoken or written, the common greeting of “Merry Christmas” has given way to the more neutral “happy holidays.” Even Christmas trees are referred to as holiday trees. This trend has not gone unnoticed and has created something of a mild backlash among those who understand that you can change the name or the emphasis or the focus of an event, but you can’t deny the event itself. In this unofficial “reclaim Christmas” movement, one of the more popular and catchy slogans seen on bumper stickers and lapel pins and Christmas cards is the phrase, “Jesus is the Reason for the Season.” Which, of course, is true. But our text for today drills down even deeper and explains for us why Jesus’ arrival on our planet was necessary in the first place. What becomes clear is that, in another sense, we – as in all of mankind – are THE REASON FOR THE SEASON.
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