December 21, 2017
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
I thank God for what He is doing through you for the pastors, churches and villages of Gulu, Uganda. Through your gifts: pastors are being supported, pastors and church lay people receive training in the Christian faith, wells are drilled and pumps repaired to deliver safe drinking water, Bibles and mosquito nets are being distributed to save lives, Orphans are being educated and discipled, churches are providing ministries to their communities and much more.
We know that the gifts given in love to accomplish these things, are our response to God’s gift of love in Jesus. It is at Christmas time that the world is confronted afresh with God’s gift of love expressed in the Babe in a Bethlehem manger. The birth of Christ begins the gospel story. The world wonders what this is all about. It is up to Christians to use this opportunity to complete this Gospel story of God’s love expressed in Jesus’ birth, life, crucifixion, death, resurrection and living today and seen visibly thru the words and deeds of His body the church.
The love of God is expressed so profoundly in the birth of Jesus Christ. No human intellect, no matter how advanced, can wrap his or her arms around how God, who cannot be contained in the universe He created, yet could be born of woman, clothed in flesh, and down-sized to fit in a manger. Yet, that is exactly what happened. I cannot understand or explain the “how,” but I can believe and trust in Jesus, the ‘Why”.
Let me put this cosmic, “why,” in the earthly arena of my own story that is your story too. The devil had me down. My sins beat me to a pulp. I was powerless in my human strength and ability to stand against the devil. Even when I wanted to do good, I screwed it up. I was destined to be a servant in the devil’s house until God ’s judgement day when I joined satan and all his house in hell. If I was to escape this horrific fate, I needed a Hero. But who could possibly be that Hero and why would he want to save me?
The “why” question is personified in Jesus, God’s loving response to our need for a hero (John 3:16),”For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son …” God sent Jesus into the world to be our Hero and not ours alone but every human person ever born. The blood that Jesus shed on the cross, cleanses us from sin. The power of the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead makes us a new creation in Christ. That same power of the Spirit transforms us and gives us a new birth into His body the church. God in Christ, gives us a new purpose to evangelize and disciple all those about us and throughout the world.
My Hero is 100% God and 100% human (another thing we can’t comprehend). But my Hero began his human life born of a virgin in a humble stable but became the King of kings, the Lord of lords, Emmanuel (God with us). No matter how humble our beginnings, God wants to do great things in and through us (“more than we can imagine” – Eph.3:20) through the power of the Holy Spirit.
May God grant you the best Christmas ever and a fruitful New Year.
Without neglecting your home church we invite those who feel led of God to support GMPI. You may give a general gift to go wherever it is presently needed or you may designate your gift to support Gulu pastors, Childero or any of the other vital ministries listed on this GMPI Website. Send your checks to GMPI Attention: Treasurer, 133 Cumberland Rd, Greenup, KY 41144. Unless your gift is for the general support of GMPI, clearly designate where your gift is to go.