Christmas begins with....

This video started life as one of my 2014 Christmas countdowns, showing how people were preparing for Christmas in the lights appearing around town. This is the video without the count. Christmas begins with Christ is a play on words because Christmas is made of two words Christ and mass - so Christ-mas begins with Christ! For many people Christmas begins with something else - the festive lights, the festive decorations, the Christmas shopping. But Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Anything else is peripheral. What I found interesting as I did my photographic survey of people's Christmas decorations was that there were plenty of santas, reindeer, snowmen, Simpsons, presents depicted by the lights, but I found only one house that depicted a nativity scene - and that belongs to a family in my congregation! Christmas begins with Christ because that's who it is about. And the significance of celebrating Jesus' birth? Because it was the start of the human journey of the Son of God from the manger in Bethlehem to a cross in Jerusalem. Jesus died to open the way by which we can know God, right now and eternally as we find forgiveness through trusting and following Him.