Everybody loves a good story, especially around Christmastime. And, the best stories are the ones that are worth repeating. They’re filled with powerful words, not to merely tickle the ear but to prick the heart, leaving a lasting impression. These particular stories are seasoned with life lessons to be remembered and passed on, like the story of the birth of Jesus and the new life that we can have in Him.
You may be thinking, “How can I tell Jesus’ story this Christmas? How can I share the gospel with others?” The easiest way to communicate the first Christmas story is to:
1. Tell your story in light of His story.
Heather Davis, who attends the Station Hill campus, recently shared her story in our daily devotional. At the age of 26, she became pregnant with a man she hardly knew. However, she soon discovered that moment would be the turning point in her life. Calling her adolescent self a “broken, lost, and angry atheist,” Heather revealed that her pregnancy was the start of God’s sovereign work in her heart. She began to have a great passion for His people and fervently studied His Word.
Upon reading about Jesus’ birth in Luke 2, Heather gained a new perspective of the first Christmas. She mentioned,
I do not picture the idealized and brightly colored manger scene often displayed on Christmas cards. Instead, I visualize sweat on Mary’s brow as she inhales the mingled stink of animal manure and blood. I feel her confusion as she wonders, “Is this how it’s supposed to be, God?” I imagine Joseph struggling to keep animals from jostling the newborn child as they poke their noses into a trough that should hold their dinner but instead holds this baby. And, I picture the babe Himself lying there, straw poking His newborn skin through cloth scraps, like a premonition of the nails that would one day pierce His flesh. In my mind’s eye, the shadow of the cross obscures the infant’s features.
Do you see it? Embodied in helpless human infancy is the King of kings. In an unthinkable act of humility and sacrificial love, He willingly lays aside boundless power, confining Himself to the stuff of His own creation. Learning to walk, to talk, enduring the pain of human life, He would grow into a man who would take on the sin of the world—and greater pain still—to finally settle the price of redemption for the creatures He loved, for the creatures who even now reject Him. And someday, that King will return. Someday, He will make all things new. To this new creation in Christ, that is the true joy of Christmas!
Like Heather, may we boldly share our stories in light of God’s story this Christmas. May we share the good news of the coming Christ. May we have gospel conversations with our families, neighbors, strangers, and friends. And through the words that are spoken, may He continue to draw people to Himself.