CHRIST IS BORN FOR US!

Dear Foothills Family and Friends,

It's great connecting with each one of you today! Can't wait to see everyone this coming Sabbath.

I love Christmas! It's one of my favorite times of the year. And, being a music lover, it's enjoyable to hear the songs and carols associated with this season. The Carols that I grew up singing are special to me--Away In A Manger, Joy To The World, O Come All Ye Faithful. There is a sense of peaceful serenity that oozes into my awareness when I hear and sing these beloved Christmas Carols.

The message of Christmas is profound and powerful. It centers in a glorious condescension where Jesus, the Son of God came down, humbled himself, and took upon his Divine self, humanity. Why did He come to us in the "incarnation?" Matthew 1:21 says: "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 

The relational connection between God and us was interrupted, broken, severed when Adam and Eve chose to believe the lies about God that were presented by the evil enemy of all that is good. God knows we can't find our way back into that relationship, so he sent His Son to come and be one with us so that we can find "the way" to again become one--reconciled, connected, unified with God.

Perhaps you are feeling this Christmas, some feelings like "I'm not good enough for Christ." “I don't feel deserving of Christ's gift of perfect love, kindness, and full acceptance.” But in the person of Jesus, God's LOVE for us is on full display. You and I, and all the imperfect people of this world, are exactly the type of person Christ came for. There's a song I've grown to appreciate: "O Come, All You Unfaithful" that highlights the kind of people that Christ was born for: the broken, the beaten, the imperfect, those with a checkered past, the workaholics, the perfectionists, the self-absorbed...in other words, all sinners.

Christ was born for you, and for me! His promise is peace for those who will just accept what He offers. So, let us come, though we have little to offer. Let us come, though we know we are broken and undeserving--though we feel unlovable and un-loving. Let's see and experience this Christmas, what God has done, and is doing, for us!

Christ has come for us!

Hallelujah!

With much love,

Duff