“One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day. Don’t clean it up too quickly.” —Andy Rooney
“My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: Loving others.”―Bob Hope
Dear Friends and ST Partners,
I think Andy Rooney and Bob Hope have it just about right when it comes to Christmas! The Christmas morning mess left behind after the kids have ripped through their presents and stockings with reckless abandon is glorious indeed and is not something that should be too quickly cleaned up. And Bob Hope is absolutely correct that Christmas is about love and it’s about loving one another.
Christmas reminds us that we have been so blessed and that as Christians we have received the greatest gift of all, our salvation from sin, death, and hell. Whenever I hear that a person has passed away, I wonder if they are with Jesus right now or are they lost and without the joy of God’s loving and eternal presence? The Bible does not allow us to believe that everyone we know, regardless of what they believe, all go to a better place when they die. We must all open our hearts to Jesus, admit we need a Savior, offer up our sins in repentance, ask for His forgiveness and then receive the wonderful gift of His grace and mercy! I hope everyone reading this letter knows and has received the grace and love of God through His Son, Jesus Christ. If you haven’t, you can. If you don’t have it now, you can stop this instant, pray and ask Jesus to forgive you and redeem you right now at this very moment!
Our ministry here at Standing Together, like Bob Hope’s definition of Christmas, is all about loving other people. We want the Body of Christ to walk in Oneness and for everyone in Utah to experience the free gift of God’s amazing grace given to all people throughout all times!
As we come to the end of the year and as you consider your year end giving to ministries and churches that you love to support, may I humbly ask you to remember Standing Together? After your local church tithe, as you think of other ministries you might contribute to, remember this work of unity and transformation. We have lost some supporters this year, which is normal, and so we are hoping to find about $250 a month in new giving to our ministry to make up for some of our losses. Just ten new $25 monthly gifts will get us to our goal. Thank you for considering us and our mission field. We have also provided you with a stamped envelope to make to make it easier for you to share your gift with us, or you can do so on-line as well.
Remember to check out our new podcast Building Bridges on iTunes, Spotify, and Youtube as well as our shorter video blogs. We have been encouraged by several comments about our media effort so far! Help us get to 100 YouTube subscribers by Dec. 31st. Right now we have 81, which means we need 19 more subscribers in the next 12 days!
We are grateful for all of you and for all your love and support! We love all of you too. We love you because Jesus first loved us (I Jn. 4:19). And so to all of you, we wish you peace in your life and peace in your world!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone, from our family to yours!
Greg and Jill Johnson
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