{"id":5072,"date":"2021-12-08T22:00:09","date_gmt":"2021-12-09T03:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michigancog.org\/?p=5072"},"modified":"2021-12-08T22:01:01","modified_gmt":"2021-12-09T03:01:01","slug":"christmas-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/michigancog.org\/christmas-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Christmas movies are released every year and we\u2019re excited to add them to our Christmas movie \u201cwatch-list\u201d.\u00a0 <\/span>These movies usually come and go, but once in awhile one becomes a classic.\u00a0 <\/span>Some of the best all-time favorite classics include The Santa Clause, Home Alone, Elf, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Miracle on 34th Street.\u00a0 <\/span>If we\u2019re honest, we all have our own favorite Christmas classic that we just can\u2019t wait to watch again and again. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

However, there is one classic Christmas movie<\/span><\/a> that continues to inspire us each holiday season.\u00a0 <\/span>Frank Capra\u2019s 1946 film, It\u2019s a Wonderful Life<\/i><\/span><\/a>, is full of valuable life<\/span><\/a> lessons that remind viewers of the importance of family<\/span><\/a> and friends and of keeping things in perspective. The movie\u2019s protagonist, George Bailey, finds himself in the midst of a pity party and a depressive downward spiral.\u00a0 <\/span>However, on Christmas Eve, he comes to realize just how wonderful his life truly is with the help of Clarence, his guardian angel<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As a Senior Pastor, we can have many of the same feelings as George: feelings of unworthiness, self pity, and failure.\u00a0 <\/span>That list goes on, even amidst the holiday gatherings, festivities, and celebrations.\u00a0 <\/span>There are a few lines from this movie that are very powerful when we experience these feelings of unworthiness, self pity, failure, and inadequacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Quotes from Clarence (The Angel):<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cStrange, isn\u2019t it? Each man\u2019s life touches so many other lives. And when he isn\u2019t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. \u201cRemember, no man is a failure who has friends.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. \u201cYou see George, you really had a wonderful life. Don\u2019t you see what a mistake it\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Would be to throw it away?\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Quotes from George:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \u00a0\u201cI want to live again.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. \u00a0\u201cLook, we\u2019re still in business! We\u2019ve still got two bucks left!\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. \u201cIsn\u2019t it wonderful? I\u2019m going to jail!\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. \u201cDear Father in Heaven, I\u2019m not a praying man, but if you\u2019re up there and you can\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    5. Hear me, show me the way.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      George had the opportunity to see what life would have been like if he had never been born.\u00a0 <\/span>It was evident that his life was vital to those he had contact with.\u00a0 <\/span>During this Christmas season, let George Bailey inspire you once again, and hold tight to these two verses:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n

      John 1:9 \u201cThe true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

      Jeremiah 29:11\u00a0\u201cFor I know the plans I have for you,\u201d declares the Lord, \u201cplans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

      Your life, your ministry, is vital to those you have contact with.\u00a0 <\/span>We\u2019re still in the business of giving hope and love to those around us this Christmas season!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      New Christmas movies are released every year and we\u2019re excited to add them to our Christmas movie \u201cwatch-list\u201d.\u00a0 These movies usually come and go, but once in awhile one becomes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/michigancog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5072"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/michigancog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/michigancog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michigancog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michigancog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5072"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/michigancog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5074,"href":"http:\/\/michigancog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5072\/revisions\/5074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/michigancog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michigancog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/michigancog.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}