Why you shouldn’t celebrate Christmas!

What should we celebrate this Christmas? With the arrival of the Advent season every year, Christians all around the world acknowledge that the celebration of Christmas has strayed so far from what it used to be. The humble remembrance of the prodigious gift of Jesus has become a month of hectic consumerism, based on a highly judgemental fictitious character. But has it strayed?

Where did Christmas come from? How did the early Church celebrate it? – As we unpack every aspect of the festivities, we will discover why Christmas is not so much of a Christian festival as we thought and what we should be proclaiming instead.

The Bible, the source of wisdom and truth for Christians of the world today, bears no mention of the festival. The book of Acts, written by the apostle Luke, records the actions of the early church for over 30 years after Jesus’ ascension and contains no record of any Christmas celebration. So what does the Bible say in relation to the convivialities?

Christmas trees-  Around 30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the US alone every year. Surely an unpretentious tree, whose roots are found in the garden of Eden is acceptable during the time of advent.

“This is what the Lord says: Do not learn the ways of the nations…

For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.” – Jeremiah 10:2-4

What is faith without action?

Today, I come to you with this post. I do not intend so much as to educate you today, but just to provoke thoughts, which will, in turn, allow you to make your own judgements on this topic and ultimately strengthen your faith in the Lord your God.

 “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” – James 2:17

The passage above from scripture is one which is so commonly misinterpreted, especially when read out of context. James is saying here in his letter, that if we have true faith in Jesus, then that faith causes a change in our behaviour.

James goes on to say, “you believe that there is one God. Good!”, well “even the demons” and Satan believe in God. Christians believe in God, not as to his existence, but who he is; Christians believe in God’s grace, which is only possible as a result of Jesus’ death and resurrection. That is faith, and it is only by such faith that we are made righteous with God.

We must remember, through our belief in Jesus as the Son of God, and in his death and resurrection, we are made one with God and can have a relationship with our heavenly father. Our righteousness with God is not a reward for our earthly actions.

Jesus came to Earth to teach us that it is not through keeping the rules and regulations of the law, that we are accepted by God. God’s grace is a gift to all and not doing these actions does not make you any less righteous.

Why do I worry? – A Practical Guide

Worrying; we all do it, some more than others. Some worrying can be good, but more often than not, it can get out of hand and become detrimental the way we act and think.

Anxiety can be expressed in many ways, including worrying, which is what we will refocusing on in this post. We will look into practical ways of reducing the amount of time you worrying and how your relationship with God can help this.

“Do not worry about tomorrow… for each day has enough trouble of its own.”

– Matthew 6:34

When reading up on this topic, I realised that as well as the every day worries that occur but then soon dissipate, there is such a thing as background worrying. It’s so bad that it’s become anxiety and you are forced to react; you are surviving, but not relaxed. Background worrying is bad when we start to think it is an ok thing in life.

What would your life look like if you worried less?

Top 5 American Church Podcasts

Thanks to the internet, not just the American readers among you have the ability to listen to some of the best Christian preachers, who speak in a number of church and events around the USA.

We have complied a list of 5 Christian Podcasts which can all be accessed for free online. Their topics are wide ranging and we really recommend if you enjoy listening to audio podcasts, this post is for you.

1 – Woodlands Church with Kerry Shook
With three sites, and at least 8 services every week, Kerry and Chris Shook has hundreds of podcasts available all for free, of the Woodlands Church services. They have been watched and listened to hundreds of thousands of times

The non-denominational Church which was founded in 1993 by Pastor Kerry Shook who “had a vision for a church that is driven by God’s vision to be bold and innovative to do whatever it takes to reach The Woodlands and surrounding areas for Christ.”

You can watch services live online, by clicking the link here or catch up on old services and special events on their YouTube channel by clicking here. As well as all of that, you can download their podcasts for free on iTunes here.

 

For information on another 4 American Church Podcasts