simple christmas pic onlyWell, it’s here. The Christmas season is upon us. The lights and presents…trees and Santa…hot chocolate and plates of food. Shopping and Christmas parties take center stage. The kids are our of school, and the extended family is on the way! The honest truth is that most of the time Chrismas gets fairly complicated and very busy. It’s true that depression and even suicide rates dramatically increase during the Christmas holidays and immediately following. I even recently hearted that apartment rentals increase dramatically right after Christmas because family members decide to move out after spending extended time with each other!! Charlie Brown’s quote still rings true: “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” It seems that way. The message of Christmas is not complicated. In fact, it can really be explained with one word: Immanuel. The word means, “God with us”. We see it connected with Jesus birth in Matthew 1:23: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, ‘God with us.'” The idea that God is with us is full of implications and blessings! Over the next few weeks, we will look at the simple truths of Christmas. It is my prayer that we can all have a ‘simple Christmas” celebrating the fact that God is in

deed with us!

-Bro. Steve