The Kiss

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  “Ryabovitch pulled the bed-clothes over his head, curled himself up in bed, and tried to gather together the floating images in his mind and to combine them into one whole. But nothing came of it. He soon fell asleep, and his last thought was that someone had caressed him and made him happy—that something extraordinary, foolish, but joyful and delightful, had come into his life. The thought did not leave him even in his sleep. When he woke up the sensations of oil on his neck and the chill of peppermint about his lips had gone, but joy flooded his heart just as the day before.” The Kiss By Anton Chekhov (1860–1904)

What have you got?

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What is Christmas?

Strip off the date, the name, Santa Clause, the cards, the presents, the tree and the food, and what have you got? Nothing! Absolutely Nothing! It isn't biblical, it isn't Christian. It is nothing.

So, why do it, if it is nothing?

Christmas is important because it gives Christians the opportunity to catch the world barely aware of Jesus, and give them the gospel truth, that God loved the world so much He gave Himself in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ because of our sin: born in a manger, died on a cross and risen from the grave!

Spurgeon said, "Look, Christmas is here. We might as well live with it and take the opportunity to exalt Christ."

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