by David Chadwick Christmas is a beautiful time of year to reflect on the birth of Jesus and the historic moment that marked eternity! The first miracle of Christmas: it is a rescue mission. God sent his son to save us from our sins and to rescue us from the effects of sin. Second, Christmas is good news! The goodness of God’s love has chased us down and re-established a connection between us and the Father. And today…Christmas is for miracles! The entire Christmas narrative revolves around one major miracle. A baby, the perfect God/man named Jesus, is supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit in a virgin teen named Mary. But there are other miracles in this biblical story as well. Gabriel, an archangel, appears out of nowhere to give Mary this news of Jesus’s coming birth. Shepherds miraculously show up because angels tell them to go and visit Jesus. Wise men from the east show up following a miraculous sign from heaven, seen in a bright star, that led them to Bethlehem to meet the Savior of the world. Perhaps the greatest miracle in the entire Christmas story is you and me who believe. That God would take our dead spirits (Ephesians 2:2) and miraculously make them alive in Jesus. “Born again” out of death and into marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). The many miracles found in the Christmas story show us that miracles are a part of how God displays his power, his might, and reveals his kingdom to his people. And miracles still happen today. Maybe there is a Christmas miracle around the corner for you? Something you have longed for, waited for, believed for? My dear friends, please remember that all it takes is for God to speak a word for something to be done! Don’t give up. Keep believing! Hope begets hope! May we thank God for the true meaning of Christmas!