Today @ The Gathering we officially kicked off the Christmas season as we began our brand new series entitled, “Surviving Christmas: How to get through Christmas in one Peace.”

The whole theme of Christmas is Peace. The world needed peace, cried out for peace, was dying for peace, destroying itself for peace, and what did God do?  He sent us, in His Son, the Prince of Peace.

It’s simply unacceptable that this time of year should lead us to depression.  It should lead us to joy.  So during this season, in this series, we will use five culturally relevant movies that illustrate the true meaning of Christmas, the provision of peace.

This week we dealt with the movie called, “Christmas With The Cranks,” a movie made for the great book, “Skipping Christmas,” by John Grisham.

The whole point of the movie and the book is that a family decides they will skip Christmas.  They’ll not give presents, or celebrate, or decorate, or contribute; that they will exclude themselves from their normal community or tribe, and stand alone.  It’s an illustration of how important Christmas is to our lives.  And though we get weary of the hustle and bustle, we would lose so much without it.

We were asked this question: “What is Christmas to you?” There are five ways people answer it.  For some, Christmas is a season of hurry and worry.  For others, it is a season of unmet expectations.  Still others see it as a season of firsts.  Some people view Christmas as a season of forced spending.  Then there are those of us who see Christmas as a season of celebration and anticipation.

We also talked about what we would be without Christmas.  And we listed four things:

We would be without permanence of hope.

We would be without the Prince of Peace.

We would be without a plan of salvation.

We would be without the promise of love.

Be sure to join us next weekend at either the 9:00 or 10:30 for the message entitled, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” when we talk about how everyday generosity can save the world.