{"id":570,"date":"2014-12-25T16:11:13","date_gmt":"2014-12-26T01:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/?p=570"},"modified":"2014-12-25T16:11:13","modified_gmt":"2014-12-26T01:11:13","slug":"dec-25-christmas-even-when-it-is-muddled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/?p=570","title":{"rendered":"Dec. 25 &#8211; Christmas Even When it is &#8220;Muddled&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"shariff\" data-title=\"Dec. 25 &#8211; Christmas Even When it is &#8220;Muddled&#8221;\" data-info-url=\"http:\/\/ct.de\/-2467514\" data-backend-url=\"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/wp-content\/plugins\/shariff-sharing\/backend\/index.php\" data-temp=\"\/tmp\" data-ttl=\"60\" data-service=\"gftr\" data-services='[\"googleplus\",\"facebook\",\"twitter\",\"reddit\",\"info\"]' data-image=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/?p=570\" data-lang=\"en\" data-theme=\"colored\" data-orientation=\"horizontal\"><\/div><p><a href=\"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/muddled-Christmas.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-571\" src=\"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/muddled-Christmas.jpg\" alt=\"muddled Christmas\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>At our Christmas Eve Service last night the pastor talked about a \u201cMuddled Christmas\u201d.\u00a0 A \u201cmuddled\u201d is one where one or more important things don\u2019t go correctly.\u00a0 The picture I posted is obviously showing the cook is aghast at the appearance of her turkey as it roasts in the oven.\u00a0 The point of Christmas is that its true meaning and purpose still happens even when:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Our menu is messed up somehow.<\/li>\n<li>Our gifts are not wrapped and sent on time.<\/li>\n<li>Our Christmas cards are sent late.<\/li>\n<li>Or when any meaningful element of our celebration is somehow not up to our expectations for it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The reason a \u201cmuddled\u201d Christmas is okay is that no matter what flaws arise in our plans and preparations Jesus is still born to fulfill God\u2019s plan.\u00a0 Through Christ we still have forgiveness of sin and guarantee of eternal life with God.<\/p>\n<p>Many times I encounter families who find they are in less than ideal situations as Christmas approaches.\u00a0 One of the most difficult scenarios is when a loved one has died or is declining toward death on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.\u00a0 To make myself clear, I do not consider this a minor challenge.\u00a0 It also is a challenge that God will help us meet.\u00a0 The promises that God makes to us about salvation and our place in the heavenly kingdom are still true and we can depend on them.\u00a0 By offering family members love and support all of us can help them shoulder the emotional burden they face and remind them of their faith and what it promises.<\/p>\n<p>I was thankful to have this reminder in worship that Christmas can be perfect even when our preparations for it fail to meet our expectations and desires.\u00a0 That is because Jesus Christ lives today!\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At our Christmas Eve Service last night the pastor talked about a \u201cMuddled Christmas\u201d.\u00a0 A \u201cmuddled\u201d is one where one or more important things don\u2019t go correctly.\u00a0 The picture I posted is obviously showing the cook is aghast at the appearance of her turkey as it roasts in the oven.\u00a0 The point of Christmas is &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/?p=570\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Dec. 25 &#8211; Christmas Even When it is &#8220;Muddled&#8221;<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=570"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":572,"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570\/revisions\/572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms.shelquist.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}