The Ornament

Many of us know what loss is. From the time we are children we experience that dreaded feeling of losing something. As a child you may have lost a toy or your dog ran away. As a teen you may have lost a boy friend or girl friend or maybe your lunch money. In college, did you ever get lost on that long drive back home for the holidays? Have you ever been late for work because you’ve lost your keys?

Later in life the losses get a bit deeper, the loss of health, an aging parent, or even marriages make the realities of life and loss stare you in the face.

Holidays are times when deep losses are felt the most by many people. The smells, sounds, events and moments left alone to contemplate can leave us anxious, lonely, sad and frustrated.

On this side of heaven loss doesn’t always equate to gain. However, in God’s order of things loss can be viewed as opportunity and blessing. We see that in many stories in the Bible but the greatest gift that mankind has ever known came at a significant loss to the Giver but made the way for eternal gain for us. The Sacrifice that God the Father made by giving up His only Son paved the way for us to experience the greatest gain that we could ever imagine, a relationship with the God of the universe and eternal life.

That reality should give us great hope as we go through the myriad of circumstances that life places before us.

Next week, we invite you to come and bring your friends and family as we present the drama, “The Ornament”. It will take place in both the 9:00 and the 10:45 services. In this drama you will meet men and women who have been touched with the losses of life, but find in the end that, God is indeed a good God and that the Christ of Christmas does bring hope to a world that has lost it.

My friend, as you continue to prepare for Christmas this year, remember that in God’s economy, “loss does equal gain, unchanging gain…eternal gain. It may not change your current circumstances, but it can change how you embrace them.” (Miriam Drennan)

Be praying for us as we continue to prepare and pray that God would challenge and encourage the hearts of all those present.

Blessings,

MJ