Once again it is my privilege and solemn opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas from Cybersalt World Headquarters.  As a subscriber to one of my newsletters, you are a big part of making my work on the Cybersalt site so rewarding and fun. Susan (Mrs. Cybersalt) has put together our online Christmas card with some pictures and news from our family and we’re glad to share it with you at https://www.cybersalt.org/christmasletter2012

As I said above, it’s a solemn opportunity to wish you Merry Christmas because I am mindful that that wish will be received in homes and other places where Christmas will not be very merry this year.  Even in our own circle of friends and influence, this season of celebration has also come with sadness.  On Thursday we learned that a fellow pastor and wife from our association of churches lost a beautiful daughter, in her 20’s, to a car crash on wintry roads. That same day I was told that a young, 32 year old man from our neighbourhood took his life and did so in front of his girlfriend.  Needless to say she and his friends are devastated and grief stricken.

The above are only two of the types of emotionally hard and hurtful things that happen all year round.  These and others - such as sickness, military service, prison sentences, missing persons, estranged relationships and economic hardships (to name a few) - are magnified by the lens of our heart’s checklist for what we think Christmas should be.

However, the good news for all of us – merry and sad alike – is that God’s checklist for what Christmas should be has only one item on it and it is always checked: unconditional love for us.  Christmas is a celebration of God’s love for us, a love clearly seen in what He has given and can never be taken away once we receive it: Jesus our savior.

And so, Merry Christmas to you wherever you are and however you are.  May the love of God through Jesus Christ cause your hearts to celebrate His gift to you.

Pastor Tim

PS – Want to hear even more about God’s love for you, and what to do with it?  Here’s a message that shares just that.
www.westsidefamily.org/christmas-sermons/love-give-it>

Pastor Tim has retired from pastoring local churches and is now working alongside his wife to help refugees and persecuted Christians.

For more about Cybersalt, the business, head on over to www.cybersalt.com