Hi everyone,

 

            I have been thinking about memory this last few weeks. (I can’t remember why…haha).

 

I think memory is a very great gift that we have from God. We can experience something once, but then can relive it over and over again. Of course, if it’s a bad experience, memory can hurt us, but if the experience was great, then memory is such a great gift.

 

            Many of us have a lot of wonderful memories of Christmas.

 

Maybe it was of a favourite gift. One Christmas my dream gift was a Matel Virtibird toy helicopter. Sometimes those things say “batteries not included.” That year, all I got was the batteries! The toy helicopter never came.

 

Maybe your memory was of a funny moment. I can remember caroling with my family at our neighbours’ houses. At one of the houses, they had a rather steep driveway and we had just come from the church so our dress shoes meant that we couldn’t climb up the driveway to get to the door. We were laughing so hard that the neighbours heard us and came out to enjoy our Christmas laughing and not Christmas caroling.

 

Maybe your memory was of family celebrations or Christmas pageants or traveling to warm destinations.

 

Memories can help us enjoy our current situations by thinking back on old favorite times.

 

It is also a great practice to remember things that we haven’t personally experienced. This is why it is so important to reread the Nativity story (Matthew 1 & 2 and Luke 1 & 2). The entire thing only takes up about 150 verses. I led a group through memorizing those verses once and it was a great practice for all of us. It not only made the advent season more rich, it also made the story more alive as we spent the whole year learning it.

 

The true story of Jesus’ birth is a great “memory” to have stored in our minds. It’s as we remember the darkness the world was in, the wonder and the mystery of the birth of the Christ-child and the hope that His coming brought, that we truly prepare our hearts for Christmas and get the most out of this beautiful season.

 

            May your memories be filled with the joy and love of Jesus.

 

            This weekend will be the third part in our series “True and Better”. I will be preaching on the character of Esther and how she foreshadowed Jesus.

 

            I hope you can join us in person or online this Sunday.

 

            Have a great weekend.

 

            I love being your pastor.

 

Pastor Tim