Pastor Weekly - 12/3/25
Hello ICC Family!
How many of you have a Christmas list? I remember several years writing one as a child. My brother and I would spend hours looking through the big Sears catalog at all the toys and sports gear and then scribble out a list of things that we thought we really needed. We would add on things that our friends had that we were jealous about and maybe some things that we saw in a commercial during Saturday morning cartoons. I think there might even have been a couple of years that we mailed that list to Santa Claus. Not that my parents encouraged that thinking at all, but it was more of a “just in case” mentality. At some point (probably in middle school when I thought I was too cool for such things) I quit making a list.
When I got married, though, I had to start making a list again. That side of my family greatly values being able to give a gift that they know will be appreciated. The only problem is that I am older now. I have a lot more stuff than when I was 5. And I have a job. I have money. I can pretty much buy anything that I “need". So writing a Christmas list is not easy. This year, however… I am on top of it. I have had a note on my phone open all year long where I have jotted things for my list. When the family started asking a couple of weeks ago what I wanted for Christmas… I was ready!
Giving Christmas gifts is not something that only Christians do. It is a tradition throughout most of the world at this point. But the world’s idea of gift-giving is very different than the Bible’s. If you think about how in the Santa tradition kids either receive the gift they wanted or they receive a lump of coal… that is the natural human idea of gifts. You get what you deserve. Or you at least get according to what you have given. Naughty kids get coal. People that didn’t send a Christmas card last year or that didn’t give a gift, get taken off our list for this year. To make things simpler and fairer, we tell people exactly how much money they should spend so that we can make sure that we don’t spend too much more or less than them. It’s a reciprocal system.
But praise the Lord that God doesn’t participate in our system! His idea of a gift is utterly rooted in mercy and grace. It is not based on what we deserve. It is not based on what we did for him. It is not based on what we can afford.
But to all who believed him and accepted him,
he gave the right to become children of God.
John 1:12 (NLT)
God’s gift of salvation, made known to us and available to us through the life and death and resurrection of his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, is a gift like no other. It only requires us to believe and accept him. It is such an amazing and wonderful gift that many people can’t believe it. They have never experienced anything in life that didn’t come with a catch of some kind. They have been burned too many times, so they don’t trust it and refuse to accept the gift. As ambassadors of Christ and people that bear his name, we need to help others get to the point that they will see and accept this gift of life. We need to be godly gift-givers - spiritual gift-givers. Givers of hope, and peace, and joy, and love to all peoples, regardless of whether we like them or approve of them, or whether they will reciprocate accordingly. Whether by word or deed, let’s bless others during this season by pointing them to the source of every good and perfect gift.
Blessings to you all!
And know that I am praying for you!
Pastor Aaron
How many of you have a Christmas list? I remember several years writing one as a child. My brother and I would spend hours looking through the big Sears catalog at all the toys and sports gear and then scribble out a list of things that we thought we really needed. We would add on things that our friends had that we were jealous about and maybe some things that we saw in a commercial during Saturday morning cartoons. I think there might even have been a couple of years that we mailed that list to Santa Claus. Not that my parents encouraged that thinking at all, but it was more of a “just in case” mentality. At some point (probably in middle school when I thought I was too cool for such things) I quit making a list.
When I got married, though, I had to start making a list again. That side of my family greatly values being able to give a gift that they know will be appreciated. The only problem is that I am older now. I have a lot more stuff than when I was 5. And I have a job. I have money. I can pretty much buy anything that I “need". So writing a Christmas list is not easy. This year, however… I am on top of it. I have had a note on my phone open all year long where I have jotted things for my list. When the family started asking a couple of weeks ago what I wanted for Christmas… I was ready!
Giving Christmas gifts is not something that only Christians do. It is a tradition throughout most of the world at this point. But the world’s idea of gift-giving is very different than the Bible’s. If you think about how in the Santa tradition kids either receive the gift they wanted or they receive a lump of coal… that is the natural human idea of gifts. You get what you deserve. Or you at least get according to what you have given. Naughty kids get coal. People that didn’t send a Christmas card last year or that didn’t give a gift, get taken off our list for this year. To make things simpler and fairer, we tell people exactly how much money they should spend so that we can make sure that we don’t spend too much more or less than them. It’s a reciprocal system.
But praise the Lord that God doesn’t participate in our system! His idea of a gift is utterly rooted in mercy and grace. It is not based on what we deserve. It is not based on what we did for him. It is not based on what we can afford.
But to all who believed him and accepted him,
he gave the right to become children of God.
John 1:12 (NLT)
God’s gift of salvation, made known to us and available to us through the life and death and resurrection of his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, is a gift like no other. It only requires us to believe and accept him. It is such an amazing and wonderful gift that many people can’t believe it. They have never experienced anything in life that didn’t come with a catch of some kind. They have been burned too many times, so they don’t trust it and refuse to accept the gift. As ambassadors of Christ and people that bear his name, we need to help others get to the point that they will see and accept this gift of life. We need to be godly gift-givers - spiritual gift-givers. Givers of hope, and peace, and joy, and love to all peoples, regardless of whether we like them or approve of them, or whether they will reciprocate accordingly. Whether by word or deed, let’s bless others during this season by pointing them to the source of every good and perfect gift.
Blessings to you all!
And know that I am praying for you!
Pastor Aaron
Posted in Pastor Weekly