Christ — mas
Let us celebrate Christ!
Hello NACS Parents,
December seems to have snuck up on us. There is a lot we need to get done in a short period of time. Our church program is coming up this Sabbath, and we are not quite ready...yet. :D
This year we are hoping to start an annual tradition of taking the students ice skating. This is our way of saying thank you to the students for all their hard work on the Christmas program. The students in grades PreK-2 will go to the zoo. Parents are more than welcome to join us. As a matter of fact we will be reaching out soon for help with transportation. The students will need to dress warmly for the ice skating event. The arena is very cold. Hats, scarves, and gloves are strongly recommended. Students should also wear two pairs of socks to prevent blisters.
As Seventh-day Adventist there are some of us who struggle with the celebration of Christmas, as its origin is pagan. Here are a few excerpts from the writings of Ellen G. White, one of the founders of our faith, concerning this matter.
Christmas is coming. May you all have wisdom to make it a precious season. Let the older church members unite, heart and soul, with their children in their innocent amusement and recreation, in devising ways and means to show true respect to Jesus by bringing to Him gifts and offerings. Let everyone remember the claims of God.
His cause cannot go forward without your aid. Let the gifts you have usually bestowed upon one another be placed in the Lord’s treasury.
. . . In every church let your smaller offerings be placed upon your Christmas tree. Let the precious emblem “evergreen” suggest the holy work of God and His beneficence to us; and the loving heart-work will be to save other souls who are in darkness. Let your works be in accordance with your faith. (Review and Herald, December 9, 1884)
Brethren and sisters, while you are devising gifts for one another, I would remind you of our heavenly Friend, lest you should be unmindful of His claims. Will He not be pleased if we show that we have not forgotten Him? Jesus, the Prince of Life, gave all to bring salvation within our reach. . . . He suffered even unto death, that He might give us eternal life. . . .
Shall not our heavenly Benefactor share in the tokens of our gratitude and love? Come, brethren and sisters, come with your children, even the babes in your arms, and bring your offerings to God according to your ability. . . . Let us, upon the coming Christmas and New Year’s festivals, not only make an offering to God of our means, but give ourselves unreservedly to Him, a living sacrifice. . . . (Review and Herald, December 26, 1882)
Let us celebrate Christ!
Weekly Scripture
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. Psalms 95: 6
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