12/13/2025
Not with scoffing and offense, but with kindness and charity, should Christians look upon those who trade the gospel message of “peace on earth” for a Hallmark version of a lesser hope. A Christian can sing, “Through the years we all will be together,” looking not to the earthly passing of time, but to eternity, where the family of God will feast and worship in glory. We can point toward a time when God will “wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore” (Rev. 21:4), when the Lord will say, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5).
The warmth, nostalgia, and longing for better times woven into the secular celebration of Christmas is telling. At least this once a year, a world that refuses to acknowledge its Creator, and is blinded to the light of salvation, spills open the inner longings of the human heart, which breaks with weariness from sin and suffering and longs for restoration. For all those suffering beneath the dreadful weight of a cursed world, a light has come—would they confess and believe. Hope has taken on flesh.
— Mary Van Weelden
We are no longer in the age of exclusion, but of inclusion, and God is pleased to use us to bring the gospel to our unbelieving friends, neighbors, co-workers, classmates, and local baristas—not by insisting on a “Merry Christmas,” any more than invoking a more inclusive “Happy Holidays”.....
