I hope you all have a peaceful and joy-filled Christmas. One of the beautiful things about this time of year is the extra attention given to the blessings associated with faith. Christian faith spotlights God’s love and grace, his desire to show us favor and care. Through Christ’s redeeming work, God has taken away our deepest fears and replaced them with profound peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).

I’m struck by how many times in the narratives surrounding the birth of Jesus we have to hear the reassurance: “Do not fear.” When angels show up to deliver a message, that’s the first thing they usually have to say. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).

We habitually need reassurance. After all, fear so quickly creeps in when uncertain events arise. That’s the case with Joseph and Mary. And so God sent a messenger to give them reassurance. It’s true of all of us as well.

Fear debilitates. It impairs our thinking, acting, and judgment. To quote Frank Herbert in his masterpiece sci-fi novel Dune, “Fear is the mind-killer.” Fear also causes us to lash out and attack others in desperate self-preservation. Fear prompts defensiveness. It makes us rash. It makes us harsh. It makes us sin. Fear inhibits our ability to rightly respond to the good things of God. Fear puts up blinders that hinder our ability to see the beauty of God. We need less fear and more faith.

The coming of Christ separates us from our fears. The incarnation of Jesus was God’s masterstroke of breaking into a broken world with hope and rescue. In the coming of Christ and his subsequent atonement work at the cross and empty tomb, sin and fear are defeated. We boldly believe that fear will ultimately be beaten at his anticipated second coming when all things will be made new. In the Christmas season, we’re invited to both fixate on his first coming and keep watchful for his second. When he comes again in glory to receive his own, we will inhabit a new heaven and a new earth together, and all our fears will vanish.

Today’s world can be scary, and most of us find ourselves grasping for something temporal for security, whatever that may be. We live in a world where it is tough to be fear-free. But amid anxiety and insecurity, Christians have true peace and true security in the one place it has always been and can still be found.

Paul Merideth

I hope you have a Merry Christmas. Remember, we can have faith even in the face of fear because we have a heavenly father who has sent salvation through a Savior, Christ the Lord. Therefore, fear not.

  • 51st Week of 2023 Reading: PHILIPPIANS 2:15-16 “That you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”
  • Prayer to God: “Lord of All, we give you thanks for your abundance and all the great things you have given us, especially the gift of Your Son. We ask your blessing upon our food, work, life’s provisions, and friends and family. We also pray that you will look kindly upon all in need with great mercy. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”
  • Video Devotional Spotlight: Confidence in Christ
  • Reflections: Have you counted your blessings lately? Why not do an inventory today of all the good that God has poured into your life and cap off your review with a prayer of thanksgiving.
  • Sermon Preview: I’m finishing my sermon series on Matthew’s Gospel with a look at the crucifixion in 27:35-50. The birth scene of Jesus is humble, tender, and beautifully simple. Except for the angelic host onlooking, it was a private happening in obscurity. The death of Jesus, however, was a humiliating public spectacle. Yet, it is in the cross of Christ that we locate our Christian identity. You’re invited to come and worship with us.

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