Christmas and the Cross

by Adam Hengst, Associate Pastor at King of Glory Lutheran Church

Christmas is a wonderful time of year. A time where chestnuts will roast over an open fire and Jack Frost nips at your nose. A time to gather together with family and friends and celebrate the life you share together, a time for giving and receiving gifts. Even though there are many things that make Christmas great, it is a lot of work. There is a lot of preparation that goes into Christmas; from decorating the tree, to shopping for gifts for others, to traveling, and so much more. There are so many things that we must do and so many things that are a part of Christmas.

With all that is part of the Christmas season it can become very easy to forget what Christmas is all about. It is not about the presents, or the tree, or Christmas carols, or parties, even though all these things are good. But it is about God becoming man. It is about Jesus being born in manger in the little town in Bethlehem. Because even though presents, trees, Santa, and carols are fun, without Christ there would be no Christmas.

Christmas is truly about God’s love for us. He has loved us so much that he has given us the greatest gift of all; the gift of his life. Jesus was King over all, yet he came down to the earth, being born as a helpless little baby for us. He lived a perfect life and then he went to the cross to die for the sins of the whole world. God gave everything for us so that we could have life and be his children. That is what Christmas is all about. It is about Christ coming to earth as a baby, and he came for a reason, and that was so that we could be his.

So during this Christmas season, let us look to the cradle, where Christ was born as a baby for us, but let us also look to the cross, where Christ died for the salvation of the whole world.

Adam Hengst is Associate Pastor at King of Glory Lutheran Church. He is from Las Vegas, NM and received a call to be a Pastor at King of Glory in June of 2012. He is graduated of Concordia University-Nebraska and received his Masters of Divinity from Concordia Seminary, in St. Louis, MO. He has been married to his wife, Heidi, since 2010 and they just welcomed their child into their family this last year in March.

King of Glory Lutheran Church