Christmas 2020

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By Ron Hutchcraft

We really need Christmas this year. So many headlines about innocent people being killed by an angry man - in a church, a synagogue, a school, a business.

It even happened around that first Christmas. When King Herod ordered all Jewish babies killed. Because the wise men came to him looking for "the one who has been born king of the Jews" (Matthew 2:2).

Herod was king. He didn't want Jesus to dethrone him.

Neither do we. Oh, we're fine if God runs the universe. "But I'll run me, God!" The Bible says we were "created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16), but "we have left God's paths to follow our own" (Isaiah 53:6). Spiritual hijacking. With an eternal death penalty.

But Jesus, the King of all kings, loves you too much to lose you. He was born in that manger to die on that cross. For the very sins we've done against Him.

That's why I've surrendered the wheel of my life to the One who should have been driving all along, I'm hoping you'll do the same.

If you'd like to begin your relationship with Jesus, contact us at 888-NEED-HIM or ChatAboutJesus.com. Let Him forgive you, Let Him love you.

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By Ron Hutchcraft

When I was a kid, the Christmas season always began the same way - we went out and got our Christmas Tree. Now with kids and grandkids the tree is still the center of our Christmas!

But then, in a way, a tree was at the center of the first Christmas. The angel told Joseph, "You are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).

That "saving" us from our running our own lives would require the greatest act of love and sacrifice in history. In the Bible's words, "He carried our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Peter 2:24). That tree was the cross where Jesus laid down His life to pay sin's death penalty that we deserve. Born in a manger to die on a cross.

My whole life changed when I said two words in my heart - "For me." He loves me. He died for me.

That tree - and what we do with what Jesus did there - is the deciding factor in where we'll spend eternity. If you want to take what Jesus died there to give you, contact us at 888-NEED-HIM or ChatAboutJesus.com. Because you really do... need Him.

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By Ron Hutchcraft

Poor Ebenezer Scrooge. What a miserable Christmas Eve! Trying to sleep, with three ghosts showing up to haunt you. Christmas Past, Present, and Future.

There's one of those we all know all too well. The Ghost of Christmas past. Our past continues to haunt us, not as a ghost, but in memories we wish we could forget. The brokenness. The people we've hurt. The regrets. The things we've done that we thought we'd never do. The dark stuff we've hidden.

But that past does not have to follow you into your future. Because Jesus came. When He was born, angels announced, "A Savior has been born to you" (Luke 2:11). A rescuer. Who came, the Bible says, "to save His people form their sins" (Matthew 1:21).

As Jesus was laying down His life on the cross to pay for our sins against God He said, "Father, forgive them." That's what He wants to do with every sin of your life - forgive it. Erase it from God's book forever. Give you a new beginning.

If that's what you want, contact us at 888-NEED-HIM or ChatAboutJesus.com. It feels so good to be clean - inside.

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By Lisa Hutchcraft Whitmer

Our new normal includes staying apart, wearing a mask, cancelled plans, few hugs. It feels a bit like we're in the wilderness. Recently I passed a sign saying, "Absolutely no parking. You are in a wilderness area. Be aware of danger, which includes venomous snakes, poisonous plants and berries, and snapping turtles."

In these strange days, we have venomous snakes such as grief from lost experiences, poisonous plants and berries like anxious thoughts, and snapping turtles like feeling alone, fearful or worthless.

And then comes Christmas! Here we need a baby who grew into a man who would take away the sins of the world. When we turn to Jesus, we find the only One who will make a way in the wilderness.

Want the way out of your wilderness this Christmas? Call 888-NEED-HIM or ChatAboutJesus.com.

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By Ron Hutchcraft

It was Christmastime, and my wife was in Cardiac Intensive Care after open heart surgery. I had to do something to Christmasize her room!

I found this little ceramic manger with Mary, Joseph and the Baby. And one little word at the bottom. "Hope."

My Wife came back from that surgery. But two years ago, she was suddenly gone. I was devastated. That little manger now sits in the head of our bed all year long.

As crushing as the grief was, there was something that outweighed it. Hope. The kind the Bible talks about in this statement about Jesus: "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" (Hebrews 6:19).

My gal had put all her trust in Jesus' death on the cross for her sins. As I have. And in His Resurrection from the dead. Thus, proving He can guarantee heaven to all who pin their hopes on Him.

Hope of sins forgiven... the power to change... to finally know why I'm here.

If you'd like to be sure you belong to Jesus, contact us at 888-NEED-HIM or ChatAboutJesus.com. Take it from me. The Anchor holds.

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By Ron Hutchcraft

Little Stephanie had only seen her soldier dad twice in two years. They each wore a key chain with half a heart on it, Her only wish was that Daddy would be home for Christmas. As she was sitting on Santa's lap at the mall, he suddenly handed her the missing piece of her heart. Daddy was home for Christmas.

A lot of people have wished for a daddy - not only at Christmas. Because either they haven't had a father, or the one they had was distant. Or abusive... angry... gone.

In a way, we all have a daddy deficit. Because we were made for a love relationship with a Heavenly Father. But the Bible says, "Your sins have separated you from your God" (Isaiah 59:2). We're away from God because we've tried to be our own God, running our own lives our way.

But Jesus came, in the Bibles words, "to suffer for sins... to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18). His death on the cross was to tear down the wall between you and God. So you could be His child. And, yes, He could be that Father your heart has always needed.

If you'd like to begin this relationship today, contact us at 888-NEED-HIM or ChatAboutJesus.com. And find your Daddy for Christmas.

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By Doug Hutchcraft

I remember the gift my son wanted the most last Christmas - a Star Wars Millennium Falcon Lego set. Now I made him think there was no way he was going to get it. You know, it's too expensive, too hard to find. I wanted him to think that there was no way it was going to happen.

You might be able to guess the rest. I sold a kidney and surprised him with the Falcon. The time he may have felt the least hope at Christmas, was the time he actually received the most incredible gift.

What a great way to describe what this season is all about. With all the talk about joy, many of us experience some our deepest sadness and hopelessness this time of year. God's book says we're actually born without hope for this world or for the next. It's because we're born with this thing called sin which is basically us deciding to run our lives our way instead of God's. It keeps us from a relationship with God.

The Good News is His book says that while the "cost of sin is death," the free "gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:23). If you want to receive this gift contact us at 888-NEED-HIM or ChatAboutJesus.com.

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By Ron Hutchcraft

It's been a year of the mask, thanks to a small but dangerous virus. They say masks are for protection. They also offer a place to hide. I mean, the mask has been worn for years. Like the "I'm OK" mask when we're dying inside. The "I'm a Christian" mask when Jesus is in your head but not in your heart. All kinds of masks that conceal the true us from everybody but God that is.

The Bible says "People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." He sees the broken, the fake, the dark, the dirty. But knowing what He knows, He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love." Because He knows the mess behind our mask there was Christmas, when He sent His Son to be born in a manger and ultimately to die on a cross for our sin.

And He wants you in heaven with Him forever, but you have to put your trust in Jesus to go there. And if you've never done that and you want to, contact us at 888-NEED-HIM or ChatAboutJesus.com. No more mask because you are loved forever.

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By Brad Hutchcraft

It happens every year. My family keeps jammies on a little longer and we settle in to kick off the Christmas season by watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. But just like so many other areas of our lives, a virus changed how that looked this year. In the midst of all the Christmas merriment, it just feels like something is missing.

For you, that might not be new this Christmas. You've gone through the Christmas motions year after year, but that hole is still there. Maybe that's because something or rather someone has been missing.

The Bible tells us that "God has set eternity in our hearts." We long for more than this world has. The good news is that there is more when you have Jesus. Jesus said, "Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy burdened." There is hope for the hurting because Jesus has brought healing.

He's just waiting for you to call out to Him. And you can do that today. Let this be the day your heart is forever filled. Connect with us at 888-NEED-HIM or ChatAboutJesus.com and find out how Jesus can make you whole this Christmas.

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By Ron Hutchcraft

Cabbage Patch Kids, Tickle Me Elmo, Star Wars figures, Lego's latest... oh I've been there with lots of other parents over the years trying to find each year's must-have toy. They'll love it! Until the next must-have comes along.

You know we grew up but we're still like that. We think we'll find satisfaction and meaning if we can just get that house, that job, that relationship, that goal. But it's never enough to fill the hole in our heart. The Bible says God planted eternity in the human heart. So, none of earth's toys and joys could fill that hole because they don't last.

Well the Bible says about Jesus, "we were created by Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). So, there's a hole in our heart until we belong to Him, but our sins separated us from Him.

And that's why Jesus came on Christmas morning. Ultimately, to die to pay for our sin on Good Friday and crush death when he walked out of His grave Easter morning and He's waiting for you to open the door of your heart to begin a relationship with Him. Do you want that?

Contact us at 888-NEED-HIM or ChatAboutJesus.com.

He is the end of your search.