Dear Origin Friends,
Thanksgiving is behind us, December is here and Christmas is around the corner. We’re entering into that festive, yet frantic time of the year–the holidays. We will be bombarded with Christmas advertisements, decorations everywhere and reminders that, “Tis the season to be jolly.” Most of us will respond to the season by giving presents to our loved ones.
And why not? It makes great sense to give during the holidays. After all, “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.”–John 3:16
But too often we forget the real meaning of Christmas. We forget whose birthday it really is. We can easily forget that Jesus is the reason for the season.
This Christmas season I’d like to encourage you to keep in mind that it is Jesus’ birthday. Let’s all keep Christ as the center of Christmas. So, how can we do that? Instead of getting wrapped up in wrapping and baking and feasting and traveling, how can we keep Christ in the forefront at Christmas?
Here’s a suggestion. Let’s make our first gift this Christmas a gift to Jesus. It is His celebration. Let’s make sure we start off the holidays right by giving to Jesus first. If we do that, it will be a great indication that Jesus really is first in our lives, and it just might set the tone for a more spiritual season this year.
At Origin Church we’ll be taking a special “First Gift” offering this December. We’re going to try to give as Jesus gave. He gave sacrificially (He gave up heaven to become a man). He gave unselfishly (He was born in a humble stable). He gave to those who couldn’t give back (He came to seek and save the lost). And he gave first (We love because He first loved us).
At Origin we’ll be using the offering for several projects:
● Helping start a new church on the Las Vegas Strip- $1,200
● Continuing to upgrade our children’s ministries with new state of the art video/audio, and props – $2,000
● Upgrading the audio/video system for adult worship with some new speaker monitors (currently don’t have any)- $10,000
● Winter outreach, service projects, and experiences for January and February- $2,000
● Helping with a local homeless outreach (You can also help here by giving coats. blankets, socks, ramen noodles in the cup, and hot chocolate packets)- $2,000
You are welcome to send it in via mail to the church mailing address, or give online at www.originchurch.tv anytime during the month of December. Additionally, you can go to www.originchurchchristmas.com and view our 2009 Christmas catalog.
Regardless of how you give, let me encourage you to join Kim and me as we put Jesus at the top of our Christmas list this year. Thanks for responding to God’s gift by giving. And let me be the first to wish you an early Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
