A number of years ago a relative of mine was talking to me about what they believed. I said that what they believed wasn’t Christian. They said that was my opinion, you have your Christianity, I have mine. We live in a culture where people just make stuff up and call it truth. Part of our identity as Americans is that we allow people to believe and say anything they want. 

We must lose our lives if we hope to find them. This isn’t a call to physical death, but a call to dying to ourselves - our own concerns, desires, and obsessions - and a promise of life. Life lived fully in this time and a new, physical life in the one to come in glory.

Eternal life… Just the words draw us forward to a time that Revelation says will have no pain, sorrow, death, or struggle. It is one of the keystones of the Christian life. A reward waiting faithfulness and service. But what if we are simply wrong, and when we die, it all ends?

It’s one of the most beautiful sights a person can see. In the midst of the darkness and cold of winter, we wake up after a nighttime snowfall and behold, everything is white!

In the midst of our busy lives, decorating, gift buying, and dinner making, God is born to us. A Wonderful Counselor bursts into our lives to help us keep things in perspective. When we worry about bills, what to wear, and if we have planned all that needs to be planned, we experience a Mighty God who makes things out of nothing

That question will be asked millions and millions of times all over the world over the next few weeks. The answer varies a million times. A video game, a big check, a trip to the Caribbean, my family all home for the holidays, or a magic Christmas dinner.

We often consider a large crowd a mark of success. Large crowds at a football game, or a concert, or the opening of a store, or at a church worship service. Jesus had large crowds follow him. And why not?!? He gave them free food, he healed the sick, he told amazing stories and he could do miracles. But Jesus was not always affirming of the large crowds.

Isn’t it amazing that we usually have a positive way to look at things, or a negative way. Some people look at October and see Winter coming, while others see a glorious climax of Summer. Some people travel hundreds of miles to see our Fall colors, while others curse the trees.