Bringing the Good News

If you asked people what Christmas is all about, when taking away the physical things like presents, many people will tell you it's about spending quality time with your family, being happy, and showing 'goodwill'. And in one sense, that is correct. Christmas is seen as a time that you spend with your close (and maybe not so close) family as much as possible. Christmas is a time where you can be happy and joyful, for sure. And Christmas does include showing 'goodwill' to men- as sung by the angels. Yet, there's something big that is lacking in this picture of Christmas. For isn't it every day that we should spend time with family? And isn't it every day that we should be happy and show peace and goodwill? Christmas is a special time of year, is it not? So, is Christmas simply about placing more emphasis on these things, or is there something else that is the cause of the Dec 25th celebration? Okay, Kara, you've already discussed the true meaning of Christmas and how this differs from the many views people have... write about something different! Well okay, I drifted away from my original intentions for this post.

Back to the point, Christmas is all about the good news. The gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And we have a calling to spread this good news. The shepherds who followed the star to the stable on the night of Jesus' birth were the first evangelists (so I learned in Sunday's yesterday's (time flies!) sermon). And so, like those shepherds 2000 years ago, we may, with the grace and power of God, bring the tidings of joy still today. Yesterday, I was priviledged to be able to go with a team of devoted Christians to a local prison and spread the Word. This is a very special thing, and I say 'priviledged' for a reason. Firstly, because with God's strength, I can confess my faith and share His Word and have opportunities to do so. And I was priviledged in many ways to be able to be a member of the fellowship team and spread the gospel in this prison. Because, on Christmas Day, many prisons are in total lockdown state (no visitors allowed) and therefore the prisoners can not spend quality time with their families, their happiness is limited, and peace might be far from their minds (there, I knew there was a reason for my fist paragraph!). We bypassed many security measures and by the grace of God, He (almost literally) opened doors for us so that we could still bring a Christmas message. And that's what we did. For four hours we visited each prison unit and sang Christmas hymns, a few of the male team members brought a short Christmas message, and we handed out home-made biscuits and shook hands with the prisoners.

And it was an absolutely AMAZING, inspiring experience. We were able to sing God's praises and spread His Name in a 'poor' and ridiculed place. The ability to go into a maximum security prison and actually shake hands with prisoners is humbling. It's saddening. It's wonderful to see that they were willing to receive us into their 'home' and actually listen to our singing and the message. It's amazing to feel the immediate benefits of giving- we were able to give them the gospel, our voices, our biscuits, our time and energy- and to see the gratefulness on their faces. To see them joining in when we sang. To see them intently listening to the message. To see them rush forward to grab some biscuits. To look past their clothes and tattoos and see them as people in need of (and wanting to hear) the gospel. And to be able to give them, even if it was just a small hint, the peace and joy that comes with Christmas- the lasting gifts which God gives to us in Jesus Christ.
And so it is my prayer that the grace of God and His Holy Spirit might work in these men so that they may come to know Him, and that they too may fully receive His forgiveness and grace. It is my prayer that the Prison Fellowship team may continually be endowed with strength to continually bring the gospel to those in prison. And it is my prayer that the good news may continue to go out to the ends of the earth.