First Baptist Church of San Jacinto

Dear Loved One

This Christmas, I eagerly and affectionately desire to write to you a different kind of Christmas letter. I long to send you good tidings of great joy, and high hopes that your Christmas and New Year will be cheerful and full of good things, but I also wanted to write and ask you to consider the true meaning of Christmas.

As you know, Christmas is about more than eating together, mustering up good feelings, enjoying a restful winter holiday, giving and receiving presents, and singing songs around the Christmas tree. I don’t want you to miss the amazing truth about Christmas! Nor, do I want you to accept the glossy Christmas card version of this holiday anymore, “The jolly old man in a red suit, candy canes, decorated trees, and turtle doves.” The truth of Christmas is so much more!

I hope you will not become angry with me for speaking to you plainly about spiritual matters. If I suggest that you are currently lost and in need of Christ, I do not intend any disrespect for you as a person. On the contrary, it is because I care about you that I speak as I do. I would like to be of service to you.

There are only two kinds of people at Christmas: those who believe in the Christmas message, and those who do not! And just what is the gospel message of Christmas? Here’s what I understand it to be: “That there is One and Only One God, who is Holy,
who created us in His image to know and glorify Him (Nehemiah 9:6; Psalms 98:9; Isaiah 43:6-7; 1 Corinthians 10:31). But we all have sinned and cut ourselves off from Him (Genesis 1:27; Romans 3:23; Romans 1:28). In His great love, God became a man in Jesus Christ, lived a perfect life, died on a cross, and took on Himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever turn and trust Him (Isaiah 53:6; John 3:36; Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 1:15). Jesus rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted His sacrifice and that God’s wrath against us had been extinguished. He now calls us to repent of our sins and trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness. If we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God (Mark 1:5; Luke 24:46-47; Acts 16:29-30; Romans 10:13).”

This is good news, not just good advice. It is not a call to self-improvement, but instead to die to self altogether and be raised a new person, in Christ. It is the free gift of forgiveness of sins, right standing with God, and liberation from the tyranny of sin. Why not tell God right now, in your own words, that you despise your sin and believe Jesus
Christ died for you and rose from the grave. Tell God you accept His forgiveness from sin and by faith receive eternal life He has provided for you. Acknowledge that you want Him to be your leader and the Lord of your life. Admit that you are willing to surrender your life to Him and follow His Word.

In closing, you were created to have God as the center of your life. The story of Jesus as a baby will never be more than a sentimental notion unless you come to know who He grew up to be. Jesus was holy God who came for sinners like you and me. It is my prayer that this Christmas you will receive the greatest of all gifts, the Lord Jesus Christ.