Rejoice! Our Redeemer is Born!

Have you ever received a disappointing Christmas gift? For example, that crazy-looking necktie with a picture of Donald Duck on it, or the pocket fisherman that didn't work, or fruitcake that keeps reappearing again and again? 

 Well, there are a couple of things you can do. You can re-gift it to someone else (as long as you don't give it back to the person who gave it to you in the first place), or you can exchange it for something better. Exchanging a gift is basically the same thing as redeeming it. This brings us to one of the themes of Christmas, that of redemption: the act of making something better or more acceptable, to save a losing cause, to turn things around, to take something and make more out of it. Gifts are one example of something that can be redeemed. But there are others. For one, the Scriptures tell us that we live in a world that is in need of redemption, a world that needs to be exchanged. The world we live in, your world and mine.

 Let's look at some of the things that are happening. There is currently significant political and social turmoil in several African nations with no apparent end in sight. North Korea continues to make threats toward Western countries including the US. The Middle East is conflicted as ever with horrible bloodshed in the areas threatened by ISIS. According to the United Nations this year over 870 million people worldwide have suffered from malnutrition, with starvation contributing to the deaths of an estimated 5 million children this year. In 2014 an estimated 10 million children around the world have died from routinely curable diseases because they did not have access to the medical care that so many of us enjoy in our country. Senseless shootings continue in the public arena and, tragically, in our schools. Here in Philadelphia so far in 2014 there have been 228 victims of homicide, an increase of ten from last year's total. And there are the events of Ferguson, Missouri. I could go on and on.

 There are plenty of examples that tell us that our world is in need of redemption. Perhaps all of humankind could go to the cosmic exchange counter of the universe and say, I'd like a new world please. There are too many things wrong with this one.
And that, my friends, is exactly what Christmas is about. Through Christ God has redeemed humankind and the world. Jesus saw a need to exchange the world for something better.

 We think our world is messed up today. At the time of Jesus, the First Century, it was worse, and in need of redemption as well. And Jesus did that. He went to that cosmic exchange counter with our world in his hands and said, "A different one, please."

But instead of asking somebody else to do the work of redemption, he did the work himself.

 Jesus taught us that God is not a mean-spirited and vindictive God but a God of GRACE. And that this grace is shown specifically in God's mercy, forgiveness and companionship. We are informed that God loves us, and we are provided the example of how to live, an example is probably best summed up in these core teachings:

"Love your neighbor as yourself," knowing that if you do not love yourself, you cannot love your neighbor and if you do not love your neighbor, you cannot truly love yourself. They go hand in hand. "Do for others as you would have done for you," not as they do to you but as you would want done for you. "Love your enemies," because if you do this, you will have no enemies. Forgive others with the same standard of forgiveness you would want applied to yourself.

What is at the heart of God's redemption is God's grace. By this, the worst of situations are redeemed when they are handed over to God. That's what God does. Redeem, over and over and over.

What about your life? Do you see a need for redemption? Is there a need to turn things around? Can the disappointments, the heartbreaks, the regrets, be exchanged for something better? The Christmas answer to this is a resounding YES!

Last year on our Facebook page we posted something from Episcopal Church Memes which said, GRACE MEANS THAT ALL OF YOUR MISTAKES NOW SERVE A PURPOSE INSTEAD OF SERVING SHAME.

In other words, our lives, and our world, are not a lost cause.

So before you go to the store to exchange any of your gifts, open up your heart, turn in your mistakes, exchange your shame, and redeem it all for a new life, as a follower of Christ, the newborn King.

Made possible by the grace of God.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Brad+

Thank you to everyone that has provided feedback and suggestions on how to make our All Saints' revamped website more member (and guest!) friendly. Due some technical changes, we needed to redesign our recent All Saints' redesign. (yes, again!). 

We are happy to announce that the new format will give us many new ways to update information. The All Saints' website contains:

+  Latest News & Announcements

+  Service times for upcoming funerals

+  A 'Member Resource' page with links to our resource library containing:

- Our recent annual report and approved vestry minutes

- Upcoming Usher & Lay Reader Schedule

- Event & Activity Photos

- Member eDirectory

Is there something you'd like to see on our website or in our newsletter? Share your thoughts by sending us an email at info@allsaintstorresdale.org.