The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
Christmas Greetings
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shined in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
And no man has ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 1:1-5, 10-14; John 3:13-18).
At this time of year we so often think only of the babe in the manger. But He also grew up to be a man. The cradle scene is hopeless without the reason for the advent of our Lord. Christmas without Easter makes no sense. Jesus Christ came to earth to redeem us from innate sin. It is only by faith in His death, burial, and resurrection that we can know forgiveness and be saved.
Merry Christmas as we joyfully celebrate the incarnation of God’s ultimate sacrifice.
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Update and Prayer Request (and Praise!): On Tuesday Dan tested the shallowest tumor, the one used for biopsy and the only one that can be palpated, and found it significantly smaller than it was at the beginning of his treatment. He will be having a PET scan early in January to confirm that the immunotherapy is working for all the tumors. At the same time Dan is finding that he is very tired for a day after each infusion. We praise God that he has been able to continue to sing, recently participating in programs with the Susanville Choral Society, Susanville Symphony, and Arts in Corrections. Please continue to pray for healing, energy, and consistent sleep for Dan. The insurance issues have become unexpectedly complex so I also need your prayers for wisdom in dealing with it all.
