Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas! 

I hope this letter finds you hopeful and grateful as we move through the Christmas season.  I love this quote by W. J. Cameron: "There has been only one Christmas -- the rest are anniversaries." 

So we are celebrating another anniversary of the coming of Christ into his world!  The Apostle John put it this way, “He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him” (John 1:10 NLT).  More than 2,000 years have passed and still today, many do not recognize him!  Our great desire is for college students and everyone to ‘recognize him’!  When we do we’re welcomed into his family and experience the new life, the abundant and eternal life as a gift!  This is the joy of Christmas! 

God continues to do great things in and through the students in Marlin Ministries!  It is a great privilege to build up young people in the faith.  The conversations, the insights from the Scriptures, students stepping up in leadership and hearing how God is at work among our alumni are all great sources of encouragement to me personally.  There have been numerous times over the semester where I’ve been able to share the story of Jesus with a student who is unfamiliar with the story and in a couple cases, the students have never heard!  Wow, to share the greatest story ever told is a phenomenal delight.

If you have been at one of our Christmas worship gatherings or Life Groups, you may have heard me share my favorite Christmas Carol.  It is Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, written by Charles Wesley.  As I write this, there are students next door are singing it, getting ready for our annual caroling of the campus!  When I was in college the words to this marvelous hymn became reality to me, as I understood them for the first time!

 

Mild He lays His Glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the new-born King

I had recently received Jesus as my Savior and my Lord as a junior at Old Dominion University.  In that moment, this song that I had sung every Christmas without understanding and without the life of Christ in me, gave me understanding as to what had happened in my life!  The eternal Son of God willingly set aside the glory of heaven and the glory of the presence of his Father.  He came to earth!  And his purpose in coming was to raise us, to give us a second birth! 

This Christmas know that you are loved with an everlasting love!  And the proof is the life of Jesus.  I want to challenge you and your families to read or reread the Christmas story in the Gospels.  You can cover this in just five chapters: Luke 1 & 2; Matthew 1 & 2; John 1.

Consider well Christ this Christmas, his birth, his teachings, his example, his claims & promises, his death and his resurrection and finally consider his LOVE for you and all of us . . . then act!

A blessed Christmas to you all,

Greg West