Losing our Uniqueness

I enjoyed Christmas this year. One of my favorite things about Christmas is that it is the one day of the year where everything is closed. It's fantastic. Even Wal-Mart was closed! There is and should be something unique about Christmas. It is the celebration of God's gift to mankind and His dwelling among us in human flesh. Culture to some extent gets the uniqueness of Christmas, at least the being off from work part. No other holiday can say that. However, all the pundits have been pontificating for the last week or so, saying "What is Christmas, really?" Well last year you may recall a good many churches stated that Christmas was nothing more than spending time with family, so they canceled services. What a wonderful message, God came into the world so we could spend time with family, be off from work, and worship and imaginary fat man who lives in most God forsaken part of the earth. Merry Christmas! Just curious, is that part of Jesus' discussion to Nicodemus? If we do not teach the radical difference between our belief in the one true God and salvation through Christ, as opposed to secularism, Islam, Buddhism, and everything else, then we will see Christmas and the Church continue to be marginalized as "just another religion,"and Christmas as "just another holiday." Christmas is the beginning of our uniqueness and Easter is the consummation of it. We must emphasize sin, salvation through grace alone, and the need for Christ. No other belief system preaches the message of the pure Gospel. So, if the church does not preach and live the Gospel, how will the dying world know Jesus. Is this not what Paul says in Romans 10? So, be bold for the Gospel. Do not be scared to discuss sin. If people do not like it, that's good, they shouldn't, I don't like sin either and neither does God, so much so that He sent His only Son into the world as the only way to redeem us from it. That is Christmas, redeem it from the rest before it becomes just another "Happy Holiday"