DECEMBER NEWSLETTER

Dear Friends in Christ,

When I was at Luther Seminary, I worked at a nursing home. One of my favorite patients was John. John had suffered a stroke and had lost the use of his left side. But, that never seemed to phase him. John was always cheerful and full of life.

I always loved to tell John that he was going to have company. John loved company. So, it was with great joy that I told John about family or friends coming to see him. You should have seen John when he heard the good news. He would get a twinkle in his eye, and start to laugh. At dinner, John would go from table to table, telling everyone about his company. He couldn’t keep the joy to himself. John had good news, and he wanted to tell everyone about it.

Isn’t that the way we all react to good news? Can we keep good news to ourselves? Don’t we want to tell everyone our good news? Take the example of a new born baby. When a baby is born, there is no way a father can keep that news to himself. Usually he will go to everyone he can find, and tell them the good news. That’s just the way it is with good news. We can’t keep it inside. We want to tell the whole world our good news.

John the Baptist had good news, and John couldn’t keep it to himself either. So, John went into the wilderness and cried out his good news. John wanted everyone to hear his good news. Like the song says, John wanted to shout his good news "over the mountain, over the hills, and everywhere". John the Baptist had good news, and he wanted to tell everybody about it.

What was John’s news? Jesus Christ is coming. The one mightier than John was coming into the world. The one who’s sandal John was not fit to tie was coming. John’s job was to prepare the world for the birth of Jesus. John was know as the voice crying in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord!! Make straight in the desert a highway, for our God!!". The good news was: The Lord is coming!! Jesus Christ is born!! This was the good news that Jesus proclaimed to everyone.

On Sunday, November 28, we begin the Advent season. It is the time when we prepare for the coming of a Savior on Christmas. It is the time of John the Baptist. It is the time for all of us to tell the good news. The Lord is coming!! Jesus Christ is born!!

Your friend in Christ,