Optimist Roundtable
By Martha Sykes
And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people”. Luke 2:10 These words are from the very familiar Christmas story. There are many reasons for us to be afraid in our world today, and there are so many things that are out there just waiting to steal our joy. But I’d like to talk about some good reasons for Christmas joy this year.
of the reasons for us to experience this good news of great joy is because the Messiah has come at all. God sent Jesus to us for many reasons and one of them was to bring us joy. And this is good news for us today because behind that is the true message of Christmas. And that messages that you all really matter to God. You matter to God so much that He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to let you know that. This shows us what it is to give and we need to be like Him. Each person here and around the world is special to him. No matter what race, income, or religion.
The other good news of great joy is that the Messiah came to save. Luke also tells us that “Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord“. Jesus was born into the world on that first Christmas as our Savior, for us to be saved we must let Jesus be born into our lives. Not just in one part of our lives, but in every area of our lives that we live. Maybe there’s a part of us that we hold back from him. We need to have Him everywhere; in our families, our community, but especially in our own thoughts and actions. We are reminded of the words of Jesus when He said, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”.
Amy Grant has a popular song that says, “lay down your burdens, I will carry you, I will carry you, my child, my child”. Let’s turn our burdens over to Him so that we can let Jesus born in our lives today and experience the real feeling of Christmas.
The good news of Christmas is that it’s for everyone. God wants us all to unite and have good relationships with other people. There are many broken relationships in our world today because people build walls instead of bridges and they refuse to forgive one another and enjoy life. It would be great if those who have these barriers between them would reconcile this Christmas and give a gift of joy to each other. We are to show others this joy that we have as Christians. It’s all about being obedient, about giving glory to God, about teaching others through our lives, and showing people the joy that we have in our hearts because of Jesus.
