Christmas is...COSTLY!

-It cost Mary and Joseph the comforts of home during a long period of exile in Egypt to protect the little Babe.
-It cost mothers, in and around Bethlehem, the massacre of their babies by the cruel order of Herod.
-It cost the shepherds the complacency of their shepherds' life, with the call to the manger and to tell the good news.
-It cost the wise men a long journey and expensive gifts and changed lives.
-It cost the early apostles and the early church persecution and sometimes death.
-It cost missionaries of the Christ untold suffering to spread the good news.
-It cost Korean and other Christian martyrs in all alges their lives for Christ's sake.
-More than all this, it cost God the Father His own Son-He sent Him to the earth to save men.
-It cost Jesus a life of sacrifice and service, a death cruel and unmatched in history.
IS CHRISTMAS TOO COSTLY?
-It is, if all that it means is gift exchanges.
-It is, if all that it means is tinsel.
-It is, if all that it means is the millions spent in commercialization of Christmas.
-It is, if all that it means is a holiday.
IT ISN'T TOO COSTLY...
-If it means the hope of the world.
-If it means the forgiveness of sin.
-If it means peace among men.
-If it means joyous singing!
DOES CHRISTMAS COST US ENOUGH?
-Are you giving enough for Christ and the world needs?