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The Reason for the Season: How Christmas Can Transform Your Life · Fostering Faith

• 0:00
  Welcome back to Fostering Great Friends. And so as we are going into this next episode, it is the week before Christmas.
• 0:09
  And so we hope that you have had time for family, friends and gatherings.
• 0:15
  And we just kind of wanted to step back and just remind ourselves the reason for the season and how Christmas can really transform your life.
• 0:25
  And so in this episode, as we the reason for the season and how Christmas can transform your life, we uncover a deeper meaning of Christmas.
• 0:34
  Exploring how the birth of Jesus brings hope, peace, joy and love into our lives today.
• 0:39
  And with practical tips of keeping Christ in the center of our celebrations, inspiring reflections of his transformative power, this episode will help you experience a true beauty of the season.
• 0:52
  And so we hope that you are well. We hope that last week was great.
• 0:56
  And as we walk closer into Christmas, that we are having, you know, great celebration and family traditions and making memories that last and that we're laughing and that we are really just enjoying life and that we do not have stress through the holidays.
• 1:13
  And that in two episodes, I think ago was the Holly Jolly during the holiday season and where we showed some practical tips on how to remain jolly during these seasons.
• 1:24
  And so we welcome the listeners that are here and we are just so excited for the Christmas season.
• 1:30
  It really is just a true celebration of Jesus.
• 1:34
  And as you look around you, we have lights, we have presents, we have all the things and it really is. We just want to take a step back and say.
• 1:44
  Jesus, happy birthday. And so just acknowledging the joy and the busyness of the holiday season, but shifting our focus to a deeper meaning of Jesus.
• 1:54
  And so we want to understand the reason of the season and its life changing impact. And so what is the true meaning of Christmas?
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  And we are not the elosions here. We are not here to get into a debate on when and where Jesus was born and the date and the time and all of that stuff.
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  We are not here to discuss that. We are here to discuss that we celebrate the birth of Christ Jesus as a reason for Christmas.
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  And we can read that through Luke 2, 10 through 11.
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  And we reflect on the gift that God's love and salvation is through Christ. And there are different cultures and traditions and spiritual things that go on during Christmas time.
• 2:39
  And you have different religions do different things. But here we are of a Christian faith. And so we do believe of Jesus and his birth.
• 2:50
  And so as we look into the Christmas story and how it impacts our life today, we have hope, peace, love and joy in the midst of that story.
• 3:02
  And so if you guys have not read Luke 2, you know, the whole story of Luke and it is it's so it's just so wonderful just to sit back and maybe even just starting as a new tradition is starting to read the meaning of Christmas through scripture.
• 3:19
  And so hope Jesus birth brings hope to the weary world. And so as we were never meant to be in God's presence because of the sacrifice and the sin and how we will never match up.
• 3:34
  God sent his one and only son to be a sacrifice for us. And so we have hope because of Jesus.
• 3:42
  And we have John 1427 about its peace embracing God's peace in this hectic season. And so just allowing the presence of peace during these times is just kind of sit back and just allow God to fill your heart with the peace that's on the other side of this life, the peace that we are going to be in heaven.
• 4:08
  And if you've accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and you have a relationship with God and that you believe that he died and rose from the dead again and that we're going to have peace in this in this next life whenever we go to heaven is that there is going to be peace on the other side of this
• 4:29
  chaos and that we find joy beyond the materialistic and circumstances of things that are going on. And so if your joy is because you know you get a gift underneath the present or under the tree.
• 4:41
  I mean you're missing the mark you're missing the point of this and do everybody like gifts. Yes, shut up.
• 4:49
  But we really want to step back and just have that reflection of what God did for us during this time he sent his son he laid him on the line he was the ultimate sacrifice he was the perfect son, and he died for you and I.
• 5:09
  He loves us that much that he sent his one and only son and this is the time of year that we get to remember his birthday, and I love a birthday present I love a birthday party and I love setting big parties out I do love it and so this is an ultimate birthday
• 5:30
  party is that we get to celebrate him every year, and we really do try to make that a mark to add in church as well. And so we make a gift gift bags out with birthday, birthday cake and candle and, and just so we can really separate celebrate you know Jesus's
• 5:48
  birthday because that is the reason for the season. And we can demonstrate Christ's love to others during the season and beyond and so people will continue to see come to church and celebrate
• 5:59
  them to come to church on Christmas, and on Easter, and, and that's if that's the only time that they come to get their feet wet with the taste of God's love, then let them come do not judge someone for coming, oh nice to see you on Christmas.
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  Don't, don't be that way. They, they made an effort to come to church and so love on them, because God loved us. And so we get to love on them. And so practical ways to celebrate the real season.
• 6:29
  And so we can do that by reading the Christmas story as a family. And so taking it maybe chapter verse, a couple of verses every night.
• 6:48
  And so, you know, it's really helpful because if you start that now and if your children have kids, what happens if they do it and then they do it and they do it. And so you can really be the generation that changes the trajectory of your future of the kids future and so really
• 7:03
  incorporating, you know, worship and prayer into your holiday tradition. You know, what are some practical ways that you could implement the Christmas story and Jesus into what you guys are doing and so looking at some of the ways that you know our pastor said that to
• 7:20
  implement it was, you know, they do like the frankincense gold and myrrh, you know, as their gifts for their kids. And so as the, in theory, the, the wise men who came and gave the gifts he was gold frankincense and myrrh and so you know you get a big gift you get a gift that you can wear.
• 7:39
  And then you get a gift to make a memory out of. And so, you know, incorporating the gifts and not going above and beyond and expending money that you ain't got and trying to impress people that don't even like, quit doing it.
• 7:52
  I mean, that is not being a good steward of what God has given us. And just looking at practical ways to maybe cut into things and spreading the love of joy, serving in a kitchen serving, buying, you know, potential gifts for people that are less fortunate
• 8:07
  than us because that he's given us, you know, such great opportunities to serve your community, you know, looking at ways to give, rather than to receive, just like we just talked about and so you know serving in a soup kitchen serving at your church.
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  We have several different churches here that do outreach programs to make sure that people that have no family have a hot meal. Maybe your house is lonely this time of year and so inviting people in from the outside that typically don't have someone to celebrate
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  Christmas with attending a church service, go to a program connect with people that you kind of know but don't really know and so going to a candlelight service. I know that there's so many churches here that do so many different times to work with people schedule.
• 8:58
  And so going in and just trying to experience it just even by yourself if you have to going in setting in that back row and just just coming in. You don't have to believe before you belong and so just walking into a church and just see what the message is about.
• 9:15
  I mean so if you're new to Christ and don't know where it is, this is a great time to start. Come in and let's celebrate his birthday together and see why we are so excited as Christians during this time of year because it's just a great reminder of how it all started,
• 9:34
  and know how God sent his one and only son, and he paid for our sin, your sin that is paid in full and we get to go to heaven and be in the presence of God, not because of something that we've done but what Jesus did for you and because you were loved.
• 9:50
  And so, as we are focusing on Christmas and the Christmas experience. What would be a way that you guys could use Jesus to transform your Christmas experience and so look at ways that you are celebrating now and what are some ways that you could take and put Jesus into the center of it
• 10:18
  and see some ways that you guys could change and and focus the holiday experience on others and not yourself.
• 10:27
  And, you know, having the listeners and share, share your testimonies with other people. And that way that faith grows during the holidays like you know this is what we used to do and this is how we, you know, we kind of walk in, in our faith and this is how we've changed our
• 10:43
  religion, you know, we used to be all about you know as many gifts as you want and you know but really we've kind of tailored it back and so instead of just providing for our family we provide for six and seven different families that are you know, essentially
• 10:57
  having a family that is fortunate or you know has had a hard time with the economy or whatever and so instead of you know, having super extravagant gifts and your home, you know adopting a family making sure that your kids in your community always have, you know, a gift to open and know that
• 11:13
  they are seen and and that God can bless them, even if they don't go to church and so just allowing that as an opportunity to come in and being grounded in the midst of the holidays distractions and so you know as the hustle and bustle and oh I want this and I want this and I want that and you know just we're going to encourage you to reflect on God's presence in our everyday lives
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  and so just looking at the way that the holidays can really be a huge distraction of what God really wanted you to do and so what would it look like if God said don't buy any gifts this year, donate that money to a charity, donate that money to your church, would you be able to do that, that would, you know like, how would it look like if you, you know, didn't spend
• 12:05
  X, Y, and Z on all your best friends but you donated that money to the homeless shelter or to the kids that are on the tree at the hospital? What would that look like? And you can just, you can see the difference in people that give during this time of year versus just want to receive it.
• 12:26
  Their hearts are generous, their smiles are bigger and I can just tell you from a personal experience just taking Gia to shop for other families and just watching her face knowing that the gifts that she wants, she's putting in the cart but she doesn't get them.
• 12:44
  They're going to, you know, other girls and boys that would not be able to have a Christmas if it wasn't for the generosity of people in our community and so just having that whether you know and if you can't afford these, you know, a big shop, you know, just buying one gift, you know, skip a McDonald's drive-thru one day and that $10 or $20 or whatever that you would spend, go out and get, you know, a bunch of Bibles for some kids and that would be a big gift.
• 13:13
  And so just having that for some kids and that way they can have that to open up on Christmas or a toy and just put a little note in there and you know the Dollar Tree has Bibles for $1.25 or you know Walmart hasn't for $2 and you know there's like the shoe box gifts that you know a lot of schools do and there's gifts, there's blessing baskets that a lot of schools do around this time of year and so just getting involved.
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  It doesn't have to be millions of dollars. It doesn't have to be hundreds of dollars, you know, just kind of maybe start skipping one fast food restaurant that week and just donating that money to a bank or maybe doing that every week for a full year and just be like, hey, this year we're going to set a new tone and that we're going to skip fast food one time a week for a full week and then just put that money in a tote or a jar and then just that can be, you know, a gift.
• 14:05
  And then just that can be your Christmas for the community funds. I mean, what would that look like and how you can spread the joy and love to someone that's in need and those kids really do feel the presence of God whenever they open those gifts and you pray over them and and let him do the work.
• 14:24
  So, as we encourage you guys to, you know, rate and review and leave comments as this podcast grows, you know, bigger and bigger as we are growing and maturing into this whole season of life, as we walk in through different topics, and we uncover deeper meanings of just practical things that we have to deal with every day, whether it be
• 14:49
  Christmas, whether it be New Year, whether it be weight loss, stress, how to tone your mouth down. And so as we walk in through the holiday seasons and looking into next year, the last episode before this was the new year new you of how, you know, practical tips about how you can set the tone and start off on the right foot.
• 15:12
  And so, as a reason for the season Jesus is our reason for the season and so if you want to bow your heads let's pray us out and so dear Heavenly Father thank you so much for today. Thank you so much for yesterday. Thank you that you sent your one and only son.
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  Thank you that he paid for our sin debt and full thank you that you are so loving thank you that there is nothing that we can do to ever repay you, but because of your grace and mercy that we have a chance.
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  Thank you that you've moved mountains for us to be here thank you that this word is going to be here heard by those that need it thank you that it is going to reach the one that has been changed our life thank you that we get to be a disciple for you thank you that we get to build your kingdom,
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  every day. Thank you for being such a good father, thank you for everything that you do.
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  Jesus name I pray. Amen. So we want to say thank you so much for tuning into this episode as the reason for the season and we encourage you guys to make changes into your holiday traditions make sure that you are including Jesus in the center of it because he is the reason that
• 16:13
  we celebrate Christmas that we get a holiday break because that he paid for our sacrifice, he was our sacrifice for our sin. He is the reason to celebrate and so make sure that we incorporate Jesus in the center for his birthday as you guys are gathering around tables,
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  making sure that we just hit a pause and just saying thank you to Jesus for everything that he has done for us because if he did not come, we would not be here. And so, as we close this season or close this episode we just want to thank you for tuning in.
• 16:46
  Great review, leave a comment, let us know what you guys want to hear about as we kind of grow and mature in this podcasting world and so thank you and have a great week.