Fellowship with One Another

Merry Christmas! We look forward to seeing you tonight at one of our Christmas Eve services. We hope you are filled with the joy of Jesus this Christmas season. As we look ahead to Sunday and Boxing Day, my American friends and family always find it odd that we have a holiday the day after Christmas. They wonder whether we need time to box up all our gifts or maybe fight (box) over those gifts. (Let’s just admit it - we like holidays up here!)  Boxing Day can be traced back to the Middle Ages. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Boxing Day’s purpose in 1830s Britain was designated as "the first weekday after Christmas day, observed as a holiday on which postmen, errand boys, and servants of various kinds expect to receive a Christmas box.” This tradition was carried over in Canada as we were part of the British Empire and the Christmas bonus at our workplaces was born. The irony is that while Boxing Day often provides the greatest single day revenue for retailers and when we consumers spend Boxing Day trying to get discounted items for ourselves, the poor may be forgotten. Instead, we may tune into all the football matches both in the U.S. and U.K. or we may join Pastor Kyle in cheering on Team Canada at the World Junior hockey tournament. Pastor Kyle will have to break away from cheering on Team Canada’s breakaways as he will be preaching on 1 John 5:5-7. This will conclude our One Another series with the focus on having fellowship with God and each other. Maybe that focus on having fellowship with one another will encourage you to join a small group this year if you haven’t already? Maybe if you are already part of a small group you will want to band together to help the poor in some way? Fellowship with one another requires our time, talents, treasures and thoughts and these gifts don’t stop on Christmas Day, but extend throughout the year.