Keeping Christ in Christmas

Now hear what I say. We wish you a Merry Christmas to me, to all of you. Merry, Merry Christmas to everyone.

What a joyous day this is. Oh man, it is such a privilege and an honor to be able to celebrate Christmas Day, to celebrate the birth of our great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And I hope that you can hear the smile in my voice because I am just so full of joy for what our Lord has done coming to this earth so that we could have the opportunity for eternal life. And we are forever grateful for this joyous occasion as we come to magnify, to celebrate our great Lord and Savior. And it's such an honor to be able to celebrate Christmas with you all.

So thank you for tuning in. I am being joined in the studio today by my lovely wife, Danita. I want to thank you for joining us today and Merry Christmas to you. And we also have guests that are joining us. We are very honored to have Elder James Fason of the Upper Room Church of God in Christ and his lovely wife, Dee.

They are such a beautiful, wonderful couple on the inside and on the outside. And they have taken time to come on today to talk to us about this again, joyous occasion, the birth of our great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So thank you both for coming on and Merry Christmas to you.

Merry Christmas to you as well, Brian and Danita. And we're definitely glad to be here. Glad to have my wife with me as well. And we're excited about Christmas time. So definitely glad to be on the show.

Absolutely. Merry Christmas. We are so excited and extremely honored to join you all today. So thank you so much for having us. Thank you.

Thank you. Certainly the pleasure is all ours to have you. And again, as I say, this is the time that we come to celebrate our Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, the interesting thing about it is that this time of year, there are a lot of people that even that are non-believers in Jesus Christ, and yet they still celebrate because they say there's something special about this time of year. They just know that when we come to this time that there's something special about it. Even if they don't accept our Lord Jesus, when we look at it, there's a reason for that. There's just something in the air that is pointing to our Savior.

I'm with you on that, Brian. And I think, man, normally there's a lot of people that during this time of year, people get more and more excited. People seem to be a little bit more nicer, even if they don't necessarily believe in the true meaning of Christmas. But it's just something about just the time of the year. And I really, we can attribute it to the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

But man, it's the most amazing thing to even, even though we weren't there during the time when He was born, we still, we can take part in it. And this is a good opportunity for us, but man, I'm, and I think as well to a lot of people, they get nicer too, because they, they get holiday, they get time off from work. Yeah, that's right. That time off of working in and know some presents are coming so they get extra nice and happy.

Right. Uh, and, and you know, but the sad thing about it is that how, how much commercialization that has been brought into it as, as I talk about the presence and I was listening to a show earlier today and the lady was saying, she said, if, if when this time of year comes and if you are stressed about giving presents to someone, if that's, what's in the forefront of your mind, you have your priorities out of, out of whack because that is not what it's about. It's okay to give gifts, but it's not about stressing on presence. It is about celebrating the birth of our Lord. But unfortunately there are a lot of people that instead of really looking at Jesus Christ, they're just concerned about, about getting presents. Yeah.

And I want to chime in on that. I think part of that is, um, is somewhat of a virtual signaling because virtue, you know, want to say, well, I've done this, I've given this to that person. Um, because I think part of the issue we have today is, um, Christmas has become more of a cultural thing. You know, America celebrates Christmas or, you know, those types of things.

It's become more cultural instead of looking at what the true meaning is. And people just kind of fall into the tradition of it all and say, well, I'm obligated to give gifts. And then they break the necks running around, you know, the last week before Christmas trying to, um, fulfill obligations, I think, um, rather than, um, focusing on what the meaning of Christmas is. And if they don't fulfill that obligation, they're worried about what someone may think instead of, you know, really focusing on what they need to focus on.

Yeah. And you know, we're also living in a time where, where people that they really believe that doing good deeds, that's good enough for the Lord. If I, if I, if I give to the poor, if I, if I feed the hungry, if I give these gifts, man, you know what?

I'm all right in the sight of, in the sight of the Lord and when in all actuality, you miss the whole point. There's more to it than just giving. I mean, giving it is very, it's important, but more than that, we got to give of ourselves and give our heart to the Lord and realize the true meaning for the season. And my wife and I, we were talking about it just recently. And it's amazing how when you ask people about their traditions for Christmas and the first thing that comes up, we talk about the gifts, we talk about the family time, we talk about all these other things. And a lot of times we forget to even mention Christ. And that kind of saddens me a lot.

And I have to make sure that I'm not doing it myself as well. Yeah, absolutely. And I just wanted to say, yeah, one of the things that we really try to focus on for our family is Jesus' birthday. And it's because of the, it's not about, we want to emphasize to our children, it's not about receiving gifts. It's about celebrating the gift. And that's Christ through salvation. And what are we celebrating?

His birth, death, burial, and his resurrection. And it's often sad. I was just thinking, I'm like, while we're celebrating Jesus' birthday, it's like everybody's celebrating Christmas. Everybody's giving everyone else's gift. And it's like, he's not even invited to his own birthday party. So often think about that.

It's very, it's very disheartening. And if anybody deserves a celebration for their birth, it's Jesus Christ. Right. And I think too, things are passed on from generation to generation and Dee probably can relate to me on this. Being a homeschool mom, one of the major things we try to do in our household, and I know you all probably do the same thing, is incorporating Jesus.

You know, you have to make him part of the season. You teach your children about Jesus Christ and his birth and you go through the word of God to even start preparing for the season. We all always go through and have our Bible studies and devotionals with our children throughout the year. But during the Christmas season, we are implanting that seed of why we're celebrating Christmas. And so I think a lot of people have gotten away from training up their children to understand what Christmas is about. And so that gets passed on because all of these traditions get passed on. So if you were to instill that in your children, then they pass that on to the next generation.

So we can see today really the product or the fruit of what has been instilled in people. Because as we go through time, we're seeing how people are looking at Christmas as just a time to get together and hang out and give out gifts and kind of party in a sense. And, you know, everybody's off work, we can party as long as we want to and just get together and they call that joy and peace. But the real joy and peace comes from the Savior Jesus Christ. And so they really don't know the peace that, you know, is really there. And I think that's a sad thing is that it starts out with what you're teaching your children about Christmas and then they pass that on and make that part of their families and then the next generation and everything.

Yeah. Yeah, that was so well said by both of you. And that's that's one of the things that we do D is that I, I stress to our kids to keep it in the forefront of their minds that this is about the birthday of Jesus Christ. And as we're leading up to it, I'll start asking them say early December, how many days is it until Christmas?

And so they'll calculate and I'm having them get some math exercise in and then I'll say, and what's the reason for it? And they will say Jesus birthday. And when we get together on Christmas morning, we do have them open gifts and everything, but I'll tell them before we open gifts, we're going to say happy birthday, Jesus. And so I always try to keep that in the forefront of their minds.

Yes. And Brian, I mean, this is such a great topic as well too. And I think about it now. I'm very thankful for my wife and definitely for homeschooling our children as well, because this is a special time of the year for us for many reasons, but also this is our son. It's coming up on, on our son's on his spiritual birthday. He actually gave his heart to the Lord on Christmas day. This was probably about when he was five years old and I'll never, never, never forget it.

And I attribute this definitely take the Lord from my wife homeschooling our children. I'll never forget it because instead of him going downstairs to open up presents, at the time my mother-in-law was staying with us, instead of him going downstairs to open up presents and really talk about that, he went downstairs to tell my mother-in-law that, Hey, I gave my heart to the Lord. And once he did that, it just, I was like, he got it. He knows the meaning, the reason for the season. And so, I mean, it's special for us.

Yeah. Yeah, that is, I mean, I'm just sitting here smiling because you know, he, he received the, the greatest gift, the gift of eternal life to celebrate the birth of Christ. And I know that for our Lord and savior, that is the best gift that anyone can give to him is their soul. That's why he came. That's why he died. And that's the reason why we, we celebrate.

So, so man, that is, that is just so awesome. And you know, last week I was at the doctor's office and we were sitting in the waiting room and a man struck up a conversation with me and he started talking about different things about God and everything. And so I started sensing in my spirit that this probably wasn't going in the direction that I was going to want it to. And he made a statement though, he said about, there are a lot of lies out there and deception, which I agree with, but he said about this holiday that's coming up, he said all these lies out there about Jesus. And and so I said, well, you know, we teach our kids that, that Santa Claus is make believe hoping that that was sort of the thing he was talking about, but he started saying that Jesus was not God. He said that first. And so then he said, Jesus really did not have any power and that if he did have power, he would have came down from the cross.

And so I just said, no, I can't, I can't let that, let that go. And I said, no, it was because of the fact that Jesus loved us. That's what kept him, kept him on the cross because he loved us. And had he came down from the cross, we would all be headed for eternal damnation. So, so it is, again, it's about Jesus. And that's why we even display the cross even at Christmas because you know, he was born, but the whole reason why he was born was that he came to die. Yes, sir. That is not so powerful.

And Brandon, you guys, you guys know, and some people know as well too. I mean, we're living in a time where Christians, they don't even believe in the true meaning of Christmas. And our real life story, I mean, just a year ago, having to deal with our home owner association with the cross in our yard and putting it up for Christmas time, just right after last year was a, it was a challenging year and wife had came through a major surgery, the Lord brought her through it. And man, we were just ready for Christmas time, just really ready to celebrate and put that cross out in the yard to celebrate Christmas. And then HOA told us that, hey, this cross is not representative of Christmas and, well, of Christmas.

And I was just like, oh my goodness, how could you say something like this? And they said that they were professing believers. And so that thing, it just made me realize that people are, they're so misguided and they're misguided because they're not really studying the word of God like they should and really understanding the birth, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and how the cross plays a central part of it all. Amen.

Yes. I like that you pointed out that people are not really studying the word of God. And I know that the Lord gives us our strength. He gives us wisdom and understanding, godly wisdom through his word. And if you're not in his word and allowing his word to penetrate your spirit, then you're, you're not going to be able to discern what is truth. You know, you won't know those spiritual truths and is, that's why it's so important even at young ages to start teaching, to study the word, to read the word. Because if you don't have the word, the word is, is Jesus in print.

The word is truth. And if you don't have that and you're biblically illiterate, then you lack understanding and you lack truth. And that's why a lot of people don't tie in the importance of Jesus and what Christmas is really about. And I think too, that makes it makes it so that they do not know Jesus.

They don't connect with him. And another thing too, with really studying the word of God, what I like to tell people and even our children is how the Old Testament is critical to understand what's going on in the New Testament. When you can teach people or show people all of the prophecies that point to Jesus starting in the beginning, in the beginning, then you see how he's woven throughout everything, even from the creation all the way through. When you see his presence from the beginning, you start to appreciate him. You appreciate his power and how God has placed him in every bit of the word of God from the Old Testament to the New Testament. And you start to really appreciate how he has come from the beginning until, you know, the word became flesh and took up residence among us. You start to see those things and really understand who he is. And when you appreciate who he is, then you appreciate Jesus himself and you appreciate Christmas because you know that it is wrapped up in him. You have to go into the word of God and unwrap it and understand it. But I think understanding the prophecies from the Old Testament and how it points to Jesus and how he's woven through all of the word of God, it helps you to relate better to him. And so you draw closer to him.

And then at Christmas you are able to really, really fully appreciate how he came and how he is God and became flesh to be with us, to save us. And so that's where your joy comes from. That's where your peace comes from. That's why so many people around here today who are fearful and they're more worried about what the government is going to say about this mandate.

Am I going to be able to be with my family and all of those things? But our true joy and peace and comfort comes from knowing Jesus Christ, knowing who he is and why he came and being able to appreciate that. That's where our joy is.

And Danita, you are so spot on. I completely agree with you. I just believe as Christians, we are becoming so desensitized to these things and it's not affecting us because so many have taken on the spirit of life, if you will. We're learning to live in a spiritually dead and wicked society and just kind of blend in and not dare to be different and not come out from among them and be separate and just push back on the cultural agenda, strategic agenda that they're setting to really eliminate Christ and not glorify him.

Amen. And you know, and just kind of adding a scripture just coming back from the Old Testament, what Isaiah said in Isaiah 9, 6 through 7, he says, for a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us and the government will rest on his shoulders and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace and on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness. But that scripture just really ties in how Christ is going to be born and literally how the government was going to be on his shoulders. It was going to be opposing him and going against Christ and we're living in that time.

We're in those days and times. And I mean, it's crazy whenever you see there's more and more stores that are putting up, instead of just saying happy holidays, now they're starting to put up Xmas. I mean, really taking Christ out of the perspective and really trying to wipe it out. And if we don't teach our children to watch out for these signs, watch out what's going on, people, they won't be saying Christmas anymore. They'll start saying all this other stuff, the happy holidays, the seasons, greetings, all these other things besides Christmas. Yeah.

Yeah. You're so right, James. I communicate with so many people, like I'm sure you all do, just going into stores and email correspondences and they'll finish up with happy holidays. And I'll come back and say Merry Christmas.

I'm not giving them any happy holidays. I say Merry Christmas. And that's why I opened the show with what I said, Merry Christmas, because we are, we are here is all about Christ. I mean, we, we're keeping Christ in Christmas and you know, you were reading the scripture and as a, as you were reading, what came to mind is also the verse that says, uh, he will be called Emmanuel, God with us. And I thought about that and thinking back to that, that man that struck up the conversation with me and saying, Jesus was not God and that he didn't have any power. And I said, the scripture clearly says God with us. And so in there are so many other passages that we could point to that, um, that, that declare the deity of Jesus Christ. And so in contrary to what I heard a poll the other day, like we were talking about people who profess to be Christians, but are not well versed in the, in the Bible. And it was well over 50%.

I don't remember the exact number. I think it was 60% of professing Christians felt that Jesus, his existence began at his birth. And we say, wow, because Jesus has always existed.

You know, he is God, he is God, the son. And so, uh, that's just something that I try to stress to people. And another thing too, is I see some people that get caught up in the idea of the paganism and we are here to say, yes, we were talking now about, there are some things that are being done in practicing Christmas that we do not agree with, but I stress to people celebrate his birth in his purest form. You don't have to participate in that other stuff.

You know, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. And one thing that I hear some people say, they, they have a big problem with the Christmas tree. And I heard several say, show me where in the Bible it says to celebrate with the, with the Christmas tree. And my response to that idea is, well, show me where in the Bible it says to drive a car to church.

You're not gonna, you're not going to find that, right? We have the Liberty. If we want to go to church on a, on a mule or on a donkey or a camel, you can walk or you can ride a bicycle. You have the freedom to do that, but the Bible says, do not fail to assemble.

You just get there. So when it comes to Christmas, you know, I say, Hey man, look, there's nothing wrong with celebrate. If you want to put a tree up, if you don't want to put a tree up, so be it. We're not worshiping the tree. We are celebrating the birth of our Lord and savior. Amen.

Yes, sir. You, I mean, and you hit the nail on the head on that man. And I mean, there's, there's so many people here and if you don't watch out, they'll, they'll try to throw us off track and make it seem like, man, you're, you're worshiping, you're worshiping the tree or you're worshiping the gifts. You're worshiping the wrong thing. And, and we always point it back to Christ. And my question I always ask people is where do you stand when it comes to Christ?

What do you believe about Jesus Christ? And, and, and I know you said that the other guy was, he was pretty much saying that Jesus wasn't God. And anytime I hear that, man, that already tells me right, right from, right from the bat, that person is off.

They're off. And man, we have to point them right back to the scriptures and then point them back to our own personal testimony because sometimes people don't want to believe the Bible and they don't want to believe what it says. And, and, but one thing that we can always share with people is they don't want to believe the word, which they, they need to believe it, but they don't want to believe the word. A lot of times people will look at your lifestyle. They'll look at how you live and what you're living will speak for Christ. And so that's why it's so very important that we make sure during Christmas time, we're not, we're not the ones and thank the Lord, there's not any more to Black Friday, all that Black Friday's and all the Christmas, everything. Thank the Lord that the Christians won't be the one that's on TV that got into a fight trying to get a tour of the world. Amen.

Yes. Well, I want to read, uh, John one, because that tells a big part of the story about Jesus, his history, I should say. And it says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him and apart from him, not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in him and that life was the light of men.

That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it. The word is Jesus. Jesus is the word. He was with God in the beginning and he is God. And so that's something that we need to keep in mind. And the word became flesh and that's mentioned in John 14 and he took up residence among us.

And so that's important for people to understand. He was there in the beginning without him, nothing exists. He holds everything together.

And so he is that important to us. Amen. Amen. Well said. That's awesome.

Yeah. Well, I tell you, uh, James, the Anita, I feel like we could just go on talking, but we are just about out of time. But again, we are here to celebrate our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. That is the reason for the season. And that is why we live, why we exist, uh, to, to serve and to celebrate our Lord.

And I look forward to eternity because he not only came the first time as a baby lying in a manger, but he's coming back again. And so we should be excited about the return of our Lord. But I do want to say this one thing before we close though, is that there are a lot of people though around this time of year, that is not a joyous occasion for them. And the reason being that they they've lost the loved one. And I know personally, a lot of people who have lost loved ones around this time of year. And so it brings about depression because they have a lot of memories of celebrating Christmas with that loved one.

And they're no longer here. And there are a lot of people just sort of want to get through this time, just get onto the new year so they can get back to life. So I want to ask James or D either of you, if you would close us out by, by just praying for those people out there to give them some encouragement to, to let them know that there is still joy that Jesus Christ, he gives that joy that the Bible says it surpasses all understanding even in the midst of their hurt and their struggle. So if you would would graciously do us that to pray for those people out there who are hurting right now due to the loss of a loved one. Dear kind father God, we come before you as humble as we know how Lord, we just even thank you for another day that you've allowed us to see. Father God, we thank you because you told us not to be anxious about anything but in everything through prayer and thanksgiving to let our requests be made on unto you.

And you said that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding should guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Father God, we just even come thanking you right now for the birth of your son, Jesus Christ. Thanks because Jesus is the reason for the season. And God even during this time, Father God, we even pray for bereaved families, Lord God, families that have lost loved ones, Lord God, even before COVID even came in, Lord God.

God, during the holiday season, Father God, even as they're thinking about their love for Lord, God, let them realize that you don't make any mistakes, Father God. God, we thank you right now in the name of Jesus. We ask you to send them comfort, Lord, right now, Father, because you are the God of all comfort, Lord.

And God, you comfort us in our situation so that we can comfort somebody else that is going through in the name of Jesus, Father God. God, I just ask you to touch them right now, Father. Touch even that child right now that's longing for their mother. Touch even that touch right now, Father God, that husband or that spouse, Lord God, that's longing for their spouse, Lord God.

God, just even touch right now in the name of Jesus, Lord God. And God, we just ask you right now, Father God, that you would even send them Jesus' joy, Lord, because you said in your word that the joy of the Lord is our strength, Lord God. And God, I even believe that strength is coming to these families right now, Father God.

God, I believe that you're even going to even touch, Lord God, even the hung down head, Lord God. Lord God, I just even ask you to move on their families right now, Father God. God, I ask you right now in the name of Jesus, send a word of encouragement, Lord God, even this encouraging prayer, Lord God.

Let them know right now in the name of Jesus that you have their interests, their best interests at heart, Lord God. And God, we just thank you right now for what you're going to do based off what you've already done, Father. And God, then I ask you to remind them of how you brought them out in time past, Lord God. God, because you have brought us through so many wonderful things, so many trials and tribulations, Lord God, but you said in your word that, Lord God, in the name of Jesus, Lord God, many are the afflictions of the righteous, Lord God, but the Lord delivers them out of them all, Father. So God, we thank you right now because we are coming out, Father God.

And not only are we coming out, but we're coming out with a high hand, Lord. And God, so we thank you right now in the name of Jesus, Lord God. And God, we just even thank you for every person that's going to hear this prayer tonight, every person that's going to hear this broadcast, Lord God. God, I ask you right now, Lord God, I ask you to heal, I ask you to save, I ask you to deliver, and I ask you to set free in the name of Jesus, Father God. Save that lost soul right now. Save that lost soul that's even longing, Lord God, and ask Him, Lord God, what must I do to be saved, Father God?

Touch right now. Touch right now in the name of Jesus, Lord God. Jesus, you get all the glory, you get all the honor, and you get all the praise. We just thank you right now, and Father God, I even pray right now for the Thomas family that you touch them, Lord God. Bless them and keep them, cause your face to shine upon them.

Be gracious to them and continue to give them peace for this work that they're doing. We just thank you, we love you, and we bless you. In Jesus name we pray, Amen and Amen. Amen.

Amen. Thank you so much, James. Thank you, Dee, for joining us. This has been wonderful.

I've enjoyed it so much. We thank you. We pray blessings upon you and your family. And we just say again, Merry Christmas to both of you. Merry Christmas. We love you all. Merry Christmas. Yes, we do. We do.

All right. To our listeners, thank you so much for tuning in with us today. Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season. We come to lift up and to adore our great Lord and King. He came the first time and guess what, folks? He is coming back again. And I am looking forward to that day when we all will gather around and we will give praises and honor and adoration to our great Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. So folks, as we depart, we just want to again say to all of you out there, have a very Merry Christmas.