Each year, the celebration of Christmas starts earlier and earlier.  Wal-Mart had a few Christmas decorations for sale on Labor Day weekend.  Christmas decorations began to appear in all of the stores in late September.  On weekends in October, people could be seen putting up their outside lighting as they listened to OU and OSU football games.  And as I drove to Florida in November, most radio stations were playing Christmas carols. Some stations had already adopted a continuous, non-stop Christmas music format.  It seems that churches are the only group that hold off celebrating Christmas until December.
   At first, I thought everybody is rushing the celebration of Christmas.  But then I realized, hearing the Christmas message more often, even the commercialized forms, is not bad, if we remember the true meaning of Christmas:  Jesus Christ came to this earth as a baby, to give each of us hope for tomorrow through his death on the cross that allows for the forgiveness of our sins. 
   As we journey through the all too hectic Christmas holidays with all of its commercial interruptions, may we never forget, that the lights and presents and parties of Christmas show us the way to Easter, the cross, Jesus' resurrection and our salvation from sin and death.  And may we never forget the message of the angel of the Lord: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.  A Savior has been born  …he is Christ, the Lord."
   May we take the Christmas message of love, joy and hope to all people, not just repeat it to the people we see in church on Sunday.  May Christmas inspire us to love God, love our neighbor and make disciples.  And as we do this, Central Christian Church will grow beyond belief.
   Maybe it isn't so bad to think about Christmas more that just in the month of December.
  Don Johnson