What do you think Christmas is all about?  We’ve included a video of some people answering that question on the street at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ1050bLTVw

From that experience, or your own, you can probably identify some answers drive religious people crazy: Santa, gifts, Elf on the Shelf, and so on.  They will shout – it’s about Jesus!

You can also probably identify some answers religious people would love.  Jesus is the reason for the season.  A saviour was born.  God is with us.

You can see how polarizing Christmas can be!  It is a religious occasion that is solemn, deep and meaningful, and yet it is also a cultural reality with rampant consumerism, time with family, funny traditions and oddities like eggnog and mistletoe.

You might think Chiristmas shouldn’t be polarizing, and that this is a new reality.  But Christmas and its effect on the world was polarizing not just today, but 2000 years ago.  We’ll see how later this week.

Question: How much of Christmas do you think is religious, and how much is cultural?  How much Santa, how much Jesus?

Reminder: We have a great Christmas event coming December 14th, 2013: The Original Christmas Party.  Hope you’re coming!

Read the Bible in Sync Today

Ryan Sim - May 13, 2013

Monday - A New Idea - Forgiveness

Sermon on the Mount

On the news last week, we heard about how no one wants the body of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the deceased suspect in the Boston Marathon Bombings. No cemetery seems to want the body, and the funeral director is under attack for his involvement. You can hear the anger in people’s voices. They cannot forgive this man for trying to kill them, their friends, their families. One man said, “dump him off a boat like Bin Laden”. Maybe it would be different if he was alive, and people could tell him off, see him stand trial, explain his deeds, and see him convicted and put away. But they can’t – he’s dead, and so they can only try to deny him a proper burial – many seem unable to forgive this man. A few columns and blogs here and there have spoken of forgiveness. You can tell it’s hard – more often than not you can tell they wish they could hate, but are held back by something, someone, who compels them to go against their baser instincts and forgive someone who they want to hate. Question: Can you forgive someone who won’t apologize, or forgive you? Why or why not? One example of a blog advocating forgiveness: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-martha-r-jacobs/is-a-person-bad-or-does-a-person-choose-to-do-bad-things_b_3200740.html

From Series: "Sermon on the Mount"

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