Call to Worship December 12 2021
“When I was a child, Christmas seemed to die every year by bedtime on December 25th. The anticipation seemed long; the realization all too brief. I even tried wrapping up my presents again and opening them the following day. But my childhood disappointment could not be relieved. It was gone for another whole year.
I know now why that was true for me, as it is for every child. It was because the true meaning of Christmas eluded me. In that sense Christmas never did really ‘happen.’ I was looking in the wrong direction for the wrong things instead of in the right direction for Jesus.
The truth is, Christmas is not coming. It has come. The Word already has been made flesh. He already has lived, bled, died, and risen again for us. Now all that remains is to receive Him. For Jesus Christ Himself is the meaning of Christmas.
Have you received Christ? One of the ways you will know that you have is this: you will begin to call God ‘Heavenly Father.’
Why not put this book aside, and do that now?
Lord God,
You sent Your Son from the heights of heaven to the depths of earth for us.
I have begun to see the ugliness of my sin in the light of His beauty.
I know I deserve only Your judgment.
Lord, I want Jesus the Lamb of God to be the Saviour who takes away my sins. I ask you to forgive me, and to enable me to turn away from sin and begin to live for Him.
Thank you, Lord, for Your promise that if I seek You I will find You, and if I knock the door will be opened, no matter how sinful I have been.
Father, I confess now that I have turned from You in my sin. I need forgiveness and new life from Your Son. Help me to receive Him and to discover what it means to be forgiven and to become one of Your own children.
I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.”[1] (Sinclair Ferguson)
[1] Sinclair Ferguson, Child in the Manger: The True Meaning of Christmas, (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2015), 41-42.