Christmas Message from Pastor Rocky
2024 Christmas Message to Our Northside Church of Christ Family
By Pastor Rocky Smith
Dear Church Family,
As I’ve said from the pulpit, next to Easter and Christ conquering death, Christmas is the most meaningful time of year for most Christians. It’s the time of year when we give gifts, sing carols, and serve others in celebration of the ultimate Birthday! No greater gift can there ever be than the gift of Jesus who has set us free, and for all eternity!
And what a gift your love has been to Connie and I, as we enter into our seventh Christmas with you, our Northside Church of Christ family. What an honor it has been to serve our Lord with you. And what an honor it has been for me to pastor such a loving flock. Words cannot adequately express the appreciation Connie and I have for all the prayers and love shown to us during my tenure as your minister.
As many of you know, due to my ongoing health issues, I’ve recently had to step down from being the Senior pastor. It is with a heavy heart that I do so, but as Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 reminds us, there is a time and a season for everything. God is a god of change, He authored it, although He Himself never changes. We are eternally secure in Him and His love.
I have full confidence that God has a very good plan (change) for the future of Northside Church! However, it is imperative for each one of us to commit to praying for our church’s future, and to be willing to listen to, and to follow/change by the leading of the Holy Spirit. We are living in an amazing time, and my hope is that the future leader(s) of Northside will continue to encourage you to be in the Word daily, and in constant prayer.
I want to leave you with this Christmas prayer: That you’d be filled with the excitement and wonder of Mary, that you would walk in the dedication and obedience of Joseph, that your soul would overflow with the joy and jubilation of the angels, that the passion and awe of the shepherds would never leave your heart, that you’d be as focused and determined as the magi, and especially, that you would live in the love and peace of the Christ child.
May God bless you abundantly, and may you and yours have a very meaningful and blessed Christmas.
With love and appreciation,
Pastor Rocky Smith and Connie
Christmas Message from Pastor Ray
Christmas Is....
As we draw closer to December 25th, we each should take a moment and reflect on all the things that people of different ages and backgrounds associate with the Christmas season.
To a young child, Christmas is a plate of cookies and a glass of milk left out for a jolly man in a red suit who will hopefully leave a few wrapped presents under a decorated tree with their name on them.
To the CEO of a retail company, the Christmas season is a critical time of the year that represents over 20% of the company's annual sales.
To the outdoorsman, the Christmas Season is the time of the year when they can ride a lift up the side of a mountain in order to experience the thrill of coming back down on a pair of skis or a snowboard.
To the elderly relative, Christmas is a time to enjoy being together with family members only seen once or twice during the year.
To many parents and grandparents, Christmas is a time to express appreciation for the person who came up with the idea of gift cards.
To an atheist, Christmas is a time when they are forced to endure unending toy and jewelry commercials on television when they have to constantly encounter decorated trees cut down by earth-hating people, and face the many idiots who constantly wish them a "Merry Christmas". The atheist does enjoy getting the day off work, even if the reason is that some people claim to believe in an event they think happened 2,000 years ago.
But to the believing Christian, Christmas is a celebration of the greatest gift ever received, when the Almighty God demonstrated His great love for mankind by sending His only Son, " that whosever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life"'. Christmas is also the same Son of God humbly leaving the splendor of heaven to be born in a lowly stable and placed in a manger, all the time knowing that an agonizing cross on a lonely hill lay waiting in His future.
So this is the time of year when each of us must decide for ourself what we believe Christmas is about by completing the statement, "For me, Christmas is..."
