Advent Season By Rev. Dean Franklin


 music, watch all the Hallmark Christmas movies, and start shopping for gifts all you want. As many of us know, there is a threat that some of the gifts that we order or look for might not arrive on time, due to shipment issues. That being said, I want to challenge us all to not forget why we celebrate Christmas all together. The late delivery of gifts cannot cancel Christmas. Christmas has turned into a consumerism and materialistic holiday. It has turned into, who can get the biggest and grandest gifts.


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 Christmas has turned into a holiday all about self. So how do we guard against a self-centered Christmas, while still balancing the joys of Christmas? First, we must remember the reason for the season; Jesus Christ remember to produce a grateful heart during this season. When we think about Jesus Christ, why He came, how He came, and who He came for, how can we help but to be grateful. As Paul writes in Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Second, we must remember to worship the reason for the season birth and our salvation. We must response in worship and in praise. We must respond as the Psalmist does in Psalm 98:1, “Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” When we worship God, it takes our attention off self and places our worship and desires properly in its right priority. Third, we must remember those around us


  and think of others before ourselves. We must seek to serve others as Christ humbly served us. I pray that the Lord would direct your hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ. Rev. Dean Franklin is the pastor of Shiloh ARP Church in Lancaster, SC.


November/December 2022


29


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