Merry Christmas from the Green Family
As you know, we've been talking about Christmas a lot over the past four weeks.
Did you know that December 25th is not the actual birth date of Jesus Christ? Did you know that this was a date that was established by the Roman Catholic Church when they initiated a Mass during the same season that pagans were already engaged in various winter solstice celebrations? That's how the term Christ Mass was established. It was all part of an effort to covert people to Christianity. However they failed to steer the people away from the sun god rituals in spite of the new church-initiated Mass to celebrate the Son of God.
We share this with you because many skeptics use this well established historical fact to attack Christians who are ignorant of church history. They feel that this discrepancy concerning the birth of Christ, gives them leverage to deny the Bible and the Son of God.
Many Believers already know that the Bible never says that Christ was born in December. The point is that it doesn't matter that He wasn't born on December 25th. We believe this church-initiated celebration should no longer attempt to celebrate December 25th as Christ's date of birth. Now it can be used to celebrate the REALITY and PURPOSE for His birth.
Since millions of people have come into the Faith as Protestants, they have never been aware of the history behind Christmas. Most of that history is very negative and even involves an annual persecution of Jewish people on that day.
The Christmas (Christ Mass) celebration has embraced many not-so Christian-like traditions and those traditions have become disconnected from historical facts and understanding. Of course the history is far more complicated than this, but we really don't have space to cover every detail in a simple newsletter. Hopefully, this will get you started in pursuing answers in your own personal study.
As a side note, many Biblical historians believe that Jesus was actually born at a much more significant God-ordained time (perhaps in the Spring when sheep were giving birth). However, for most Jewish people, Christmas is directly connected with a negative history of persecution, and it is a 24-hour celebration declaring that Jesus Christ is the only way to come to Jehovah God; so they want no part of it.
Pagan rituals, like the evergreen tree, mistletoe and December 25th itself, have had attempts by many generations of the Church, to be Christianized and set apart from their wild, sensual and wicked celebrations.
For instance, many songs (Christmas carols) have been written to point the celebration away from other gods to Christ. Christian meanings of the evergreen tree were reassigned and it was declared to be a symbol of new life in Christ and not an actual god to be worshipped. Some church leaders vehemently rejected these ideas and they are still rejected by many to this day.
Since tree worship is firmly forbidden in scripture (Jeremiah 10), many Believers cannot, in good conscious, celebrate the season with an evergreen tree. Still there are others who desire to use this holiday, with its many pagan attachments, as a way to connect with their non-believing family and friends, for whom Christmas has no religious or spiritual meaning at all.
Over the past few weeks we have been offering very important points for us to consider for making Godly responses to the pagan origins of December 25th. As Christian life coaches, we have decided to provide practical answers and solutions for you and your family.
Here are the four points we asked you to consider for responding to people who are caught in the midst of this controversy:
1.) Become all things to all men - 1 Corinthians 9:18-23 (NKJV)
2.) Don’t cause your brother to stumble - 1 Corinthians 8:4-13 (NKJV)
3.) Use the opportunity (holiday) to bless your enemies - Matthew 5:43-45 (NKJV)
4.) Continue in the early church lifestyle of giving to others/helping the poor - Acts 2: 40-47
This week we are offering the fifth response:
5.) Partake of the Lord's Table in Remembrance of Christ - Luke 22:14-20 (NKJV)
Jesus instructed His followers to partake of the communion table in remembrance of Him. The holiday season is another perfect opportunity to place emphasis on Jesus Christ by gathering to do what HE instructed us to do. That's what we choose to do every year with our Urban Life family. We did it this past Sunday.
Millions of Believers will gather in sanctuaries or in their homes to partake of Holy communion and truly reflect upon the reason Christ came into the world.
These special gatherings remind us that the Son of God is not to be merely thought of as a baby lying in a manger, but as our Savior who was brutally beaten and nailed alive to a wooden cross. We should remember that He rose again from the dead to usher all of us into the Kingdom of God.
As we stated last week, we are simply trying to communicate that in spite of the historical facts, controversies and conflicts, CHRIST must truly become YOUR reason for this season and all year round. The world will continue to celebrate the sun god (in all of its many names and forms) as part of their annual winter celebrations. WE must celebrate the Son of God and give a Godly RESPONSE to our non-believing family and friends, and to our Christian brothers and sisters who may not have this insight.
Enjoy the day and enjoy the season!
---Chris and Carol Green
