The Promise of Christmas
By Ralphine Major
ralphine3@yahoo.com
A brief look back at this year is a reminder that 2023 brought its share of change and news. A brilliant red sky ushered in the winter, Gibbs Community lost one of its oldest members in Clayton Sharp, and the Midway IGA changed ownership as the Longmire brothers retired. Asbury University in Kentucky was in the national news for weeks as a great revival took place on the campus.
Spring saw a magnificent carving of “The Last Supper” installed as an altarpiece at Clapp’s Chapel in Corryton in time for the Easter season, and Knox County Schools honored the McGinnis family for their “century” of school bus service. Summer celebrations included Fourth of July and Wallace Memorial Baptist Church’s 70th Anniversary. More losses in the Knoxville Community included former Knox County Executive Dwight Kessel, TV personality and chef Walter Lambert, and two heroes: Knox County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Tucker Blakely and United States Army Specialist Jeremy Daniel Evans. Who among us could have imagined the horrific attack on Israel in beautiful autumn?
Time continued to tick by bringing families together for Thanksgiving. Advent led into Christmas, but we had no “White Christmas” this year. Yet, the spirit of Christmas can live in our hearts all year long for it is not a one-day-a-year celebration. Rather, Christmas is the glorious gift of God’s Son, Jesus, who came to save the world from their sin. It is the message of Christmas that gives sinners eternal life if they only believe that the baby born on Christmas is the Savior. The message of Christmas makes any Christmas beautiful.
Words of Faith: “Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.” Luke 2:20 (NKJV).
