{"id":34644,"date":"2024-12-07T10:56:27","date_gmt":"2024-12-07T15:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=34644"},"modified":"2025-03-08T14:18:43","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T19:18:43","slug":"pastors-ponderings-christmas-in-our-hearts-all-year-long-dec-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=34644","title":{"rendered":"Pastor’s Ponderings: Christmas in Our Hearts All Year Long (Dec. 2024)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems hard to believe, but Christmas is almost upon us already!\u00a0 But don’t we say that every year???\u00a0 Getting ready for Christmas doesn’t happen automatically as soon as the calendar is turned to December.\u00a0 Pastor Mike submitted the following thoughts for the December 2024 issue of our church newsletter (Steeple Notes).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

As we look upon Christmas, we look upon a time of excitement, generosity and\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 birth.\u00a0 The church will be a busy time, full of special services as we welcome visitors through our doors to celebrate\u00a0 this season of joy. It really is a fun time of the year, but what happens after the holidays? What happens after the joy of the gifts \u201crub off\u201d and the New Year\u2019s Eve ball has dropped, and we are staring at January? Reality hits that life resumes and we are \u201cback to the grind.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

As we have just finished the book of Hebrews (in the sermon series<\/span><\/em><\/span>), we remember what the Hebrew writer says in Hebrews 12:1\u20132<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t

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Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.\u00a0\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div> \n

The verse tells us and encourages us to live a life of “perseverance.” Just because the celebration day of Christmas has to wait another year, the hope of Christmas is still alive and well! Nothing changes the message that we share that Jesus is the hope and the light of the world. The shepherds worshiped him in the manger, we worship him at Christmas and we worship him everyday. \"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Let us run with perseverance and know that nothing changes in January and that the message is still as amazing as it was in December. Jesus came to seek and save the lost and transform our hearts which will lead to a changed community. I want love to overwhelm hate just as much as anyone; but I do not have the power to\u00a0 do that. The Holy Spirit is the one that can transform and change everything! So let the Christmas season continue in our hearts as the message will carry onto Easter. From the cradle to the cross is where our savior’s life was poured out\u00a0 here on Earth. God is good, all the time!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pastor Mike<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

+\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0+\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0+\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0+\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0+\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0+<\/span><\/p>\n

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For more Pastor’s Ponderings articles, click this button:<\/p>\nPastor’s Ponderings<\/span><\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christmas doesn’t end in December! The decorations might come down, but the message lasts throughout the entire year. Celebrate the Good News and persevere in grace throughout the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[123],"class_list":["post-34644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pastors-ponderings","tag-christmas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34644"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34651,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34644\/revisions\/34651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}