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Student Ministry January 2018

Dear Church Family,

 By the time you read this, Christmas will have been long behind us; at least a week or so anyway. I hope that you and your family had a great time together celebrating the coming of our Savior to the earth. I pray that there was little-to-no family drama, and that all the presents were exactly what they wanted. I hope that you were pleased with your presents too, of course. But I wonder, did you struggle at all to think of gifts that you actually wanted? I mean gifts within reason. I always ask Kayla for a brand-new Corvette every birthday and Christmas. That’s an easy one… and one I’ll probably never get, haha! But was it hard to think of things that you wanted for Christmas that you knew they could actually get you?

Some of you have no idea what I’m talking about, and that’s totally ok! But others know what it’s like to try to think of something you want, or even need (other than socks), to ask from others. Most of us living in the U.S. already have everything we could ever need. We also have many things that we simply want but don’t really need. If you’re like me, that can make it difficult to think of things to ask for from others. Did you find yourself thinking, “well no, I’ve already got one of those. Don’t need that either. Hmm, what do I want for Christmas?” I doubt that I’m the only one who had this experience.

Here’s my point; I find it interesting that we are not more aware of our extreme abundance at Christmas time. There are many people who feel their need the most at this time of year, but most of us have all we could ever truly need or want and more. Why aren’t we more content? Think about the new year that is upon us. People are far from content at the beginning of the new year. Instead we want change. We want things to be better. We want to be slimmer and manage our finances better and acquire more belongings that we think will make us happy. Did we not learn our lesson? Have we     already forgotten to be thankful? Have we forgotten that God has given us Himself in Christ so that we can have ultimate fulfillment through abiding in Him?

New Year’s resolutions can be quite helpful. But what kind of resolutions are we really making? Are we making a     resolution that finds our happiness in Christ, the One who’s birth we just celebrated? Or are we looking to the world for resolutions that it deems worthwhile? We cannot expect life to be very fruitful if we are making resolutions that are not first and foremost centered on Christ. Want to lose some weight? That’s great! But are we losing it for ourselves, or so we can be good stewards of the body God has given us? Want to have better time management? Superb! But why? So we can use time to be less stressed and more comfortable, or so we can use our time for God’s Kingdom and growing in Him and making Him known? Resolutions aren’t bad, but our motives matter immensely. What are your resolutions for this year, and how are they centered on Christ? I’ll tell you that our students need to see us adults be resolved to spend time in the Word and share the gospel. They need examples of godly resolutions. Will you help me be resolved to show that knowing Christ and being known by Him is better than all other resolutions?

Sincerely,
Brian Van Doren  

Student Ministry December 2017

Dear Church Family,

This year, what are you going to get your kids or grandkids for Christmas? Have you thought about it much? Some of you are those people who have already bought presents for everyone on your Christmas list. I commend people like you, but I am not one of them. I have thought about some presents that I plan on getting, but I have yet to buy a single one. I have only had to buy presents the day before Christmas a couple of times, and it was not fun. Never has being a Christian in public been more difficult than when you are surrounded by people at the mall and Walmart who seem to know exactly how to pull the sin right out of you while “Holly Jolly Christmas” is playing through the overhead speakers. But this year, I will be sure to get my shopping done in a timely and Christlike fashion. I know when I plan to shop, what I’m planning on buying, and for whom I am buying. I have a plan, a purpose, and a goal this year when it comes to present shopping. But more importantly, I need to have a plan, a purpose, and a goal to worship Christ this Christmas season.

You probably saw that last line coming, but seriously; have we put as much time into  planning how we are going to focus on Christ and bring him glory in our families and households as we have about what we’re going to buy and eat for Christmas this year? One year I spent some time in December in Southeast Asia in a Communist Country. They celebrated Christmas like you’ve  never seen! They had decorations everywhere. People wished you Merry Christmas in every shop and had Christmas trees and even little nativity scenes next to their statues of Buddha. They exchanged   Christmas presents and had Christmas parties galore. One might even argue that they celebrated Christmas better than we do in America. But when you asked someone what Christmas was about or what the nativity scene meant, no one could give you the right answer. They had no idea what Christmas was about and what significance it had for their lives. While many students and churchgoing people may be more capable of answering that question, I think its significance is largely missing in the heart and lives of many Christians this time of year and all throughout the year at that. Why do I think that? Because most people are more concerned with opening presents and eating food than with purposefully, intentionally  talking about Christ with their families at Christmas-time. If so few people have intentional plans for talking about Christ at Christmas time, what do we think we will find in the normal ebb and flow of life outside of Christmas time?

Now, by no means is opening presents and eating food together a bad thing. It is glorious! But my point is that it is way too easy to do all the “Christmas” things without focusing on Christ. My encouragement and challenge to you is to think of ways to intentionally and purposefully talk about Jesus and the gospel as you do Christmassy things with your  family. Your kids and grandkids need to hear and see you worshiping Jesus while you shop, and cook, and open presents. How can you do that? There are so many ways. But one thing my wife and I do is an Advent Wreath with candles that we light to represent different aspects of Christ’s coming. We light one candle a Sunday until Christmas day and we read  scripture for each candle. Why do we do this? Because my parents did it with me and my siblings. It was one way that my parents kept me intentionally focused on Christ at Christmas time. If it is our goal to glorify Christ at Christmas and to do that all year round, then what is your plan to purposefully point your family to Christ this year? Make it fun, make it        creative, but make it about Christ. He is the reason for the season, as we all say. So lets show the younger generation how to keep Christ in Christmas in a Christlike and loving way.

In Christ,
Brian Van Doren