I Think I Lost My Christmas Spirit... Now What?

Sooo... you think you lost your Christmas Spirit... what do you do now? Well if you are like me you open up Google and find out how to get it back! First you will notice an eHow article explaining how to get it back... some of those suggestions are actually good.

Perhaps the Christmas Spirit can only be found in the heart of a young child, you think... so to find out I asked my son Josh to tell me, how to get the Christmas Spirit back if you have lost it... here is what he said:

"Well... put up a Christmas Tree, and put a big snowflake at the top with star lights on there... put God into your heart, that will get you the spirit."

I think maybe Josh nailed it, but you still may not have the Christmas Spirit back... so you have wisely come here. Let's get to work fixing you...

The first thing we want to ponder is: what IS the "Christmas Spirit?" To find that out we have to go back to the beginning and remember what Christmas IS. 

First, let’s start with the word Christmas:  from Old English Crstes mæsse, Christ's festival. Literally it was a feast to celebrate the birth of Christ. It is not some random holiday to celebrate a fat man in a red suite... It was, "Christ' Festival." So to revive the "Spirit of Christmas" we must return to the original meaning of Christmas - a festival in Jesus' honor. 

Now we know what Christmas IS...and that's a lot different from how we celebrate it today. What is the Christmas Spirit? Well if you go back to Google you find this ridiculous article that tells us it was how people thought and acted in the 50's and 60's... HA! What a laugh!

No... the Spirit of Christmas is the Spirit of Christ. When we say we want to get the Christmas Spirit, we are saying that we want to get more of the Spirit of Christ. So, how do we do that?

I'm glad you asked! Josh once again, gives us this sage advice: 

"You pray to God, that is the first thing I know, and you just believe in Him and you will get all that stuff that you need with the Christmas Spirit."

Man my boys are smart... not to brag, but... DANG!

Here is my advice: 

#1 Rekindle your quite time with Jesus... start by reading the Bible, book of John if you don't know where to start - there you will get to know this Jesus and you will find out why he deserves his own special feast day! 

#2 Once you begin to know about Jesus and what He has done for you... how He has loved you and given so much to you, you'll want to do the same for others. So do it! Show some love this Christmas season. As you do, you will be filled anew with the Spirit of Christ and the Christmas Spirit will mean more to you than it ever has before.

Merry Christmas,

Pastor Willy 

5 Ways to Get Your Spiritual Fire Back!

This week at Southside we are half-way through our study of the Pastoral Epistles. 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus. This week we started 2 Timothy 1. In this chapter Paul tells Timothy in VS. 5 & 6:

5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 

6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 

This Sunday we talked about how our Christian faith has a tendency to lose its flame, lose its passion. It is so easy for that to happen to any of us. This letter was written by the Apostle Paul, in chains, under a death sentence, to Timothy a fellow pastor. If it is possible for a pastor, who was a follower of the Apostle Paul to lose his flame, how much more so for us?

Here are 5 Ways to "Fan into Flame" your love and passion for God:

1. Personal worship times.

Don't wait for Sunday morning to roll around! Don't look to a church worship service to be your only time of worship during the week. Turn on some worship songs and worship along... just you and Jesus. Not because you have to, because you want to!

2. Read and Memorize the Bible.

This is a no-brainer. If you want to get close to Jesus, read the letter He sent you! As you meditate, think about, study, read and ingest God's letter to mankind, you will find the fires of your faith stoked!

3. Offer to pray for friends and family. 

Nothing helps fan embers into a roaring fire like being pushed out of our comfort zone. You know you should do it... so do it! You will find the more you make this a lifestyle the more spiritual fire you have. 

4. Give something away.

Kicking greed out of your life and putting your focus on others helps us see others the way that Jesus sees them. Once you start to view the world through those eyes of compassion, you will never be the same.

5. Serve the needy.

One of the biggest ways we can fan the spiritual flames is by serving those who have need. When we get the focus of off ourselves and onto others, then we can realize our own need. Each one of us is broken and needs to be healed by Jesus. Serving others not only demonstrates the goodness of God, but it also is part of our own spiritual healing and stokes the spiritual fire in our souls.

Fan the Flame!

Pastor Willy