Kyle Kauffman

Christmas is often a season of great joy. There are all sorts of reasons we make look forward to Christmas, be excited about Christmas, or be happy at Christmas. Yet so much joy at Christmas (and in all of life) is surfacy, shallow, and hollow. This doesn’t mean that it’s bad, it just means that the joy can so easily be taken away. We were not meant for a joy that is simply found in the good things of this world. Rather our hearts were created to find joy in knowing the one who made the world. We find that the real reason for joy at Christmas is because Christmas makes it possible for us to know God. God offers us a type of weighty joy that can only be found in knowing him. So when other sources of joy fade or crumble, our joy in knowing God an remain firm.

Luke 2:1-20

Kyle Kauffman

In our lives the temptation to seek comfort in this world and apart from Gid is great. Our lives can so easily become all about finding and keeping comfort. We end up trying to avoid all that is uncomfortable even when we know God is calling us to give up our comfort. Christmas can so easily just become another season where we look for comfort in what this world offers rather than in God. In Christmas, we find a Savior who choose to give up all his comfort in order to become a man to rescue us and reunite us with God. As a result, we can now find comfort in God that is not temporary or simply circumstantial. Rather it’s actually when our lives become most uncomfortable that Jesus becomes our greatest comfort. And as we find our comfort in him, we are then called to give up the comforts of this life for His cause in this world.

Hebrews 2:10-18

Kyle Kauffman

We all have a tendency to put ourselves first. We our prone to prioritize our own desires, interests, honor, and recognition. We seek to look out for ourselves more than we do for others. We seek to climb the ladder and get ahead of others. We look for ways that we can serve ourselves (or that others can serve us) rather than how we can serve others. At Christmas God shows us that he is a God who came to serve not to be served. He shows us he is a God who prizes and exalts humility. He shows us he is a God who prioritizes going down and giving up for the sake of others. Because this is who God is he calls us to prioritize going down and giving up for the sake of others.

Philippians 2:3-11