Kenny Hibbard

About five minutes into my message yesterday I could feel the tension and sensed that many people were thinking…”he is talking right to me AND I don’t want to really hear this!” I know I threw you a Christmas Curve ball. It was not a fun little cute Christmas message to kick off the season. However, as I said yesterday, it was very needed by all of us if we are to fully enjoy the reality and wonder of Christmas as a person and family.

By the end of the message I could tell that many people had come full circle and were glad to have heard the truthful message and were ready to do the hard work of forgiveness about some negative past Christmas experiences. The End Zone was full of people after each service sharing with me that they were thankful for the message and they knew they needed to hear it and do something about it. I have already received a bunch of emails about the impact the message had on people.

As a reminder, here is what we all need to do with those negative Christmas experiences:

1) Be honest about any and all negative Christmas experiences we have had.

2) Express your true feelings about the situation and the people you see as being responsible.

3) Forgive all those who were involved in creating this negative Christmas experience.

Also, remember…..True Forgiveness is: The act of setting someone free from an obligation to you that is a result of a wrong done against you!

Also, remember the message is FREE on-line on our web page. Also, this tool is a great way to invite people next week. Have them listen to the message from yesterday and then come to hear about the next thing on our Adult Christmas List…Enjoying Christmas Present!

Let me ask you a very basic question….

Do you have friends, co-workers or neighbors that do not attend any church on a regular basis? Do you know if they have given their life to Christ and are Christians?

If you do have people in your life like that, then you have a great chance to make a huge eternal difference in their lives this Christmas season. Statistics show that unchurched and non-Christian people are more willing to attend a church service during this time of the year. In America, the Christmas story of Jesus and His birth is accepted and celebrated in our Christmas cartoons, movies and discussions about the event we celebrate.

We have creatively designed our Christmas series to be one that is a wonderful blessing and declaration of our faith as Christians. The worship, decorations and teaching is directly centered of course around the story and meaning of Christmas so that as Christians we can enjoy this special time of the year. However, the series has also been specially designed to be a source of help and spiritual encouragement to all people who may be struggling during this time of the year in different aspects of their life. This would be especially true for the people you know who do not attend church anywhere.

For many, December is a month of loneliness, depressive feelings, financial unrest and even family/marriage struggles. These people, like all of us, have internal Christmas wishes that they wish would come true during this time of year.

Let’s all plan to reach out and invite someone to join us at CSF on Sunday’s during the Christmas Season! The name of our series is “My Grown-up Christmas list!”

Remember we have three identical services to choose from: 9, 10:30 and 12.

The message is simple but so life changing:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Decide today who it is that you need to share this life changing message with and be sure to invite them!

My family and I watched the “old-school” cartoon classic…The Grinch That Stole Christmas last night on ABC. During the cartoon, ABC kept running the advertisement for their 25 days of Christmas TV schedule. Every night they will show the classic Christmas cartoons mixed in with a few of the newer ones from the last 15 or so years. Last year this was one of the fun family things we did in the evenings as the days rolled by in December. Mixed in with a few parties and dinners, each night in December is filled with a bunch of festive FUN! Speaking of Christmas parties and good times…let me get something off my chest that frustrates me every year! Maybe, we can stop it around CSF…before it starts.

Every Christmas Season I hear one of the most frustrating grumblings from people that quite frankly turns my stomach. Since December and all the festivities is only one day away, I wanted to remind us all that we live in a great country that is full of abundance that affords us the privilege to have a good time with family and friends almost all month long. Every year, I hear people complaining about “all the parties and dinners they have to go to!” People will say something like..”Do you know I have a party every Friday and Saturday night in December?” Or they complain…”I am so busy with having to go to the mall, make cookies and then still find time to attend four special Christmas parties.”

Do we realize that we are the only country that would ever complain about “having to go to parties with family and friends!” Think about it…what would people who are less fortunate in our country or those in other poorer countries say if they actually heard us complaining about “all the parties and shopping we have to do!”

Think about it….we are complaining about the abundance of food and fun we are privileged to partake of every December. Now, I can hear some of you saying…but it is that we are “out almost every night and it just gets tiring.” Really? That is the reason for the seasonal complaining that we do every year?

Here is solution for that challenge: Say no! If you don’t want to go to 5 Christmas parties in 2 weeks….say no to a few. However, please don’t get caught in the suburban crying of having to eat too much, party too much, spend time having fun with family and friends too much! We come across as thankless spoiled brats.

Is Christmas over commercialized? Sure….

Has Christmas turned into a month long time of hustle and bustle? For some…

However, you are the controller of your party calendar and what you allow Christmas to be in YOUR home and life. No one forces us to start shopping the day after Christmas, no one forces you to attend “all those parties” and no one makes you miss the meaning behind Christmas. We choose to make Christmas and the month long extravaganza what we want it to be for our family. Personally, I love all the parties and dinners with friends. If you don’t…..don’t go. If you do make all the plans..please, let’s don’t complain about it.

Okay…I am done!