Each Advent season brings controversies over the placement of nativity scenes on public land and whether retailers specifically say “Christmas” (rather than “holidays”) in their advertising. Instead of discussing these controversies, LinC will look at ways that we as Christians cheapen the true meaning of Christmas through materialism, blindness to our neighbors, and losing sight of what we’re celebrating. Key Scriptures: Amos 5:21-24; Matthew 6:19-21; John 3:16-17. Christmas brings out the child in each one of us. Perhaps it is because, at Christmas, God came to live among us as a small, vulnerable child who would grow up to teach, "Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:4). Next week LinC explores the importance of having a childlike faith and living as children of God. Just as Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds had faith in the person Jesus would become, God has faith in who we can become.
