The Christmas Experience

It used to be that decorations and merchandise for Christmas came out after Thanksgiving.  Now, all of this is coming out before the end of October. The phrase Black Friday (the first shopping day after Thanksgiving) was coined for two reasons: 
1) Police in Philadelphia called it Black Friday as they griped about the congested streets, clogged with motorists and pedestrians. 
2) It became the day when stores moved from the red (losing money) to the black (showing a profit).  
 
In an attempt to lure consumers, stores would open early on Black Friday to compete.  Stores opened at 6am, then 5am, then 4am.  To “one up” the other, some retailers decided to open at midnight.  Now, Walmart announces that they will open at 6pm Thanksgiving evening.  Merchandisers are pulling out all the stops to get as many of your dollars as possible—their goal is to
make as much of a profit off of Christmas as they can!  
 
The celebration of the birth of God’s Son Jesus, was designed, not to profit off of mankind, but so that God could profit mankind!  Starting this Sunday, in our 9:30am service, and continuing for 6 Sundays, we will explore Christmas from the perspective of those who experienced it first.  Once you understand that, it will change everything for you now.