Dealing with family members during the holidays can be stressful! Joseph was very stressed as he tried to figure out what to do with his fiancée who just informed him that she was expecting a child … not his. Rather than immediately responding to Mary in anger, he carefully considered what to do. When family members frustrate you, do you carefully consider your response?

Between holiday parties and kids programs and lots of shopping and visiting relatives, Christmas calendars can get jam packed. What’s more, just one unexpected thing can turn your calendar upside down and add to the stress of the season. The first Christmas turned Mary’s calendar upside down. Yet, out of a stressful situation came the world’s greatest gift. How can God use your stressful situations?

When it comes to our faith, the world in which we live is filled more frequently with taunts than with triumphs. They are far more likely to cry out “If you are the Son of God” (as in Luke 23:35 & 37), rather than “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” as in Paul’s epistle to the Colossians 1:15. As we turn the page to a new church year, we end the narration of the greatest story in all history, and in so doing we signal the new beginning that story promises all of us. The triumph speaks louder than the taunts!

The message of the Reformation, which began with Martin Luther's posting of the 95 Theses on October 31, 1517, really could be summarized with one simple phrase: “Free Gift.”  No longer would consciences be plagued with thoughts of what must be done to be saved.  Rather, hearts and minds would be lifted with the knowledge that salvation is freely given by grace through faith in Jesus Christ!  What a glorious message of hope and freedom!  Contrast that with laziness.  Free Grace does not permit us to be lazy.   No, we have no work to do for our salvation, but much good work to do to show God’s Love to our neighbor.  Yes, we have been freed by grace!  … But freed for what purpose?

We all can be overcome by temptation – sometimes over and over again. Often, we try to tackle temptation through sheer willpower. We simply “try really hard” to resist sin. But our own willpower can never overcome sin. Thankfully, God’s will has the power to transform our hearts and change our lives. So, as Christians, when tensions rise, rather than getting angry at others, we are called to be forgiving of others.  Instead of exacting vengeance, we wait for God’s justice.