by Pastor Victor Chen

When talking with children about Christmas, we can face a theological dilemma.

We can liken Christmas to Jesus’ birthday in our efforts to explain the significance of Christmas to children. And though it is true that Jesus was born into this world on Christmas (the exact day likely unknown), we see in John 1 that Jesus was there from the beginning with God because He was God.

What can follow then is a endless discussion with a child navigating the difficult theological topics of the trinity, incarnation and the eternal nature of the Lord:

“I thought Jesus was born on Christmas. It’s His birthday, right?”

“Well, yes. Jesus was born on Christmas into this world. But Jesus was there from the beginning. He always existed because He is God.”

“Wait. I thought God sent Jesus on Christmas.”

“He did. God the Father sent Jesus, God the Son, on Christmas.”

“Wait. How come Jesus is a baby when He has been there from the beginning of time?”

And on and on the discussion can go with “why?” interspersed every other second.

To help children (and adults) avoid theological confusion and better understand the significance of Christmas, we can begin moving away from saying that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday and start saying that Christmas is when Jesus, God the Son, came.

We can then go on to share why Jesus came.

On Christmas, God the Father sent Jesus, God the Son, into the world to rescue us from our sin. Jesus did this by taking our place, the punishment for our sin, at the cross. There, Jesus endured the wrath of God the Father for our sin and died as an offering for our sin. God the Father raised Jesus, God the Son, from the grave and as a result, we have new life with God the Father in Jesus.

On Christmas, Jesus came. He came to live in this world, but ultimately to die in our place.

On Christmas, Jesus came to die.

And if Jesus came on Christmas, He will come again.

Jesus will come again to make all things right and make all things new.

We know this for sure, because on Christmas, Jesus came.

So we celebrate Christmas because we celebrate that Jesus came to rescue us.

And we celebrate Christmas to remind each other that because Jesus came, He will come again.

“Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)

by Sandra

Hi, my name is Sandra.

I am a mother of two children. One is 14 years old and her name is Joanne. She is a freshman in High School who loves boba milk tea and is an awesome older sister to her brother. The other is Nathan, who is 11 years old and a 5th grader who loves connecting with people, has a great sense of humor and loves Legos. They complete our family of four and we love exploring life together.

Let me introduce ourselves. This is my husband, Johnson, myself, Joanne and Nathan.

Our youngest, Nathan, happens to have a disability. We received a prenatal diagnosis that he was going to be born with Down syndrome, a genetic condition characterized by full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21. Down syndrome is the most common genetic condition. It affects all races, religions and economic backgrounds. Trisomy 21 causes developmental and intellectual delays.

It was an unexpected revelation to us. We came to embrace it after the natural initial shock, which came because we didn’t know anything about Down syndrome and what the future would look like for our son.

We reflected on these Bible verse many times after receiving his diagnosis:

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praised you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:13-14

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

With that in our hearts, we took a leap of faith to create a vision full of possibilities for our son.

Over the years, we’ve learned that we could and should have hopes and dreams for both of our children. The support in place might look a bit different, but don’t they all look different for all of our kids?

For Nathan, what can look different is the fact that things take more time, effort and practice for him to learn, and support might be needed until he feels more confident and independent with the skills he acquires.

Our parenting is not about performance or something to brag about, but about a shift in mindset so that we can renew our expectations, find opportunities and provide Nathan risks for him to attempt with dignity. The result is a change in the perspective of what can be.

With all our hopes and dreams, we could absolutely not surpass the biggest hope and dream of all, which is to see Nathan to learn and grow in his love for God, and for him to understand the meaning of communion, the broken body of Christ and the blood Christ shed for us.

So our discipleship for Nathan is for him to learn about God’s Grace and God’s love, for Nathan to know that God loves him so much and has a special plan and purpose for his life. We have faith that one day, he too will desire to ask Jesus into his life, to be his Lord and Savior and to be baptized.

I have to humbly acknowledge that we cannot do this alone. Thank you Church School and Staff for shepherding Nathan.

One way you can help us in our discipleship of Nathan, is to feel comfortable around him, get to know him, pray for him, mentor him and see him as a part of the body of Christ.

Here is a video that captures a vision for what discipleship in our church can look like in this young man’s testimony and baptism. His name is Ryan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocIwGXf2L80

by Pastor Victor Chen

During the Christmas season, much has been made about putting “Christ” back into “Christmas”. We make it a priority to actually remember the Lord rather than gifts, lights or fancy decorations.

However, we need to make it just as much a priority to remember the Lord during Thanksgiving. 

This time of the year has been overtaken with sales and deals (Black Friday comes early and isn’t even on Friday?) Thanksgiving can be more about family gatherings, food and being grateful in general (to whom it is not clear). 

But the whole purpose of the Thanksgiving holiday was to give thanks to the Lord. 

And though the community gathering of Pilgrims and Native Americans to give thanks to the Lord is not found in the Bible, the practice and exhortation to “give thanks to the Lord” is.

So just as we make it a point to say, “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays”, let’s remember to reference “the Lord” when we give thanks. 

Instead of saying, “I’m thankful for …”, let’s say, “I’m thankful to the Lord for …”

Instead of saying, “Be thankful”, let’s say, “Be thankful to the Lord”.

Instead of saying, “Give thanks”, let’s say, “Give thanks to the Lord”.

We make it a point to remember all that we should be thankful for. Let’s just remember who the source of all blessings is and who we should be thankful to (lest we end up thanking ourselves!). 

For just as much as the Christmas season is an opportunity to point others to Christ, the Thanksgiving holiday is an opportunity to point others to the Lord. 

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. 

He is good indeed.

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever! -Psalm 118:1 (ESV)

by Ian Nagata

Last month, all eyes were on a Buddhist priest and his giant calligraphy brush.

There atop Kiyomizu Temple’s iconic wooden terrace, news crews gathered to see what single kanji (Chinese character) he would draw, to summarize the entire year.

Stepping up to the blank sheet of paper over a meter in width and length, he dipped his brush and began to write.

密

2020 in one word.

Years from now, if nothing else, people will remember密mitsu, meaning “close” or “dense.” It’s Japan’s social distancing keyword, used in the “3 mitsus to avoid”: “closed spaces” 密閉空間, “crowded places” 密集場所, and “close-contact settings” 密接場面. 

Not bad considering some of the previous choices since the tradition began in 1995, like 災 (disaster), 震(quake), 戦 (war), or even 毒 (poison)! 

Nevertheless, COVID-19 had the lasting word. 

I posed the same question to our church. What did God teach us these trying 12 months?

Immediately, one boy replied, “endurance.” Then another girl, “home,” and yet another, “creativity.” Even words that seemed grim at first (like my choice, “weakness”), captured a sense of hope.

Then as we were about to move on, I realized one person hadn’t shared: the husband of one of our members. Though not yet a follower of Christ, he has been attending services over the past year. 

Hesitantly, I put him on the spot. 

He immediately replied, “family.” 

“In what sense?” I asked, thinking he was referring to the extra time he had with his wife and daughter this year.

“This church has become like family,” he said.

Despite all the opportunities we “lost” to COVID-19, we overlooked the ones we gained – quick weekday lunches together while working from home, golf outings, even online celebrations. Through these and more, our church had become like family to him.

Indeed, someone had been painting this word, along with all the other words we shared for 2020. Not a priest in his lofty temple, but our Great High Priest upon His throne. God had the final word. 

May our eyes be watching and waiting for His next brushstrokes.