Hmm, before I talk about the Christmas message in Church on Christmas Eve, let me just fast-forward and rant about Aunty Elsie's Christmas Party.
For this event, Jia Qi and Jia Hui plus my siblings, Er Yi and mum went too so it was quite a party. Upon reaching Aunty Elsie's Sengkang flat, we were immediately greeted with the wafting smells of catered food outside the apartment. Schneider boy, Aunty Elsie's nephew, was as cute as ever. In fact, he was much more adorable and I kept pinching his cheeks!!! [At least I handled him with care, unlike my violent aunt who deftly snatched him from his walker and planted wet, slobbery kisses on Schneider's forehead, to the point where there were lipstick stains! If Schneider boy could talk, I bet he would be complaining nonstop! :P
Watched "Over The Hedge" and "Click" after dinner. It was such a pity that Aunty Elsie's mum did not cook her famous vegetable curry and Bee Hoon! I would give anything to have that again! [Ok, I'm exaggerating but it's really mouth-watering!]
We also got to taste Italian Chocolate. I think a friend of Aunty Elsie's sent the Chocolates all the way from Italy as a Christmas present. As I was a sweet tooth, I kept taking more Chocolate until I had to exercise some self-restraint!
Aunty Elsie gave us presents when we left. She was really generous cos she gave my brother a Swatch Watch! She gave me this nice, metallic necklace and my sis also got a necklace.
Now for the Christmas message.
Pastor Lim preached about the real meaning of Christmas. He got his inspiration from The Straits Times "Saturday" Section after seeing the headlines: "World with no Peace? World with no Joy?" Following the headlines were the various statisics depicting the number of lives lost to natural disasters, incurable diseases and the no. of people living in poverty or those who were abused, tortured or who worked as forced labourers and sex workers. Pastor Lim portrayed a grim outlook of the world's state by the look of the statistics and through this, showed how many people really needed Jesus this Christmas.
Using anecdotes to better illustrate his point, he describes the time where he went for this year's Home Christmas at a fellow member's house nearby. Upon reaching the place, he noticed a thin,young boy of about 12, crouching in a corner of the corridor near the house he was heading to. Pastor Lim then asked what the boy was doing, squatting there all alone, and he invited him to join them for the party. The young boy remarked that he couldn't as he had to sell finish the ice-cream that he was carting around, otherwise he would have no money to buy school books. Pastor Lim then asked him how many boxes there were to which the reply was 8. (There were about 10 ice-cream cones in 1 box) He then proceeded to question how much the boy would make per night by selling these ice-cream. The boy replied approximately 10 dollars. To the boy's amazement, Pastor Lim told him to join the party and not to worry about the ice-cream cos he would buy them ALL!! (the total cost was roughly $30++!!)
During the party, the group sang Christmas Carols and there was a short sharing. When the time came for the preacher to asked if anyone would like to accept Jesus, the little boy raised his hand and the group prayed for him. Isn't that amazing? 8 boxes of ice-cream to save a soul!
The reason I shared this was because it gave me so much encouragement. It also serves to remind me the purpose of Christmas. In the past few years, Christmas has become more and more commericalised. Shopping malls are known for taking advantage of this festive occasion to attrtact more shoppers for more profits. People get so caught up with buying gifts and planning parties that they seemed to forget the real meaning of Christmas.
I have to admit that this year, Christmas seemed to be more of a hassle than a time to rejoice and reflect. Even though I'm more or less satisfied with the parties I attended and the presents I received, I still felt rather empty inside. In contrast, when I received a Christmas SMS, the joy was incomprehensible. It just shows that sometimes it doesn't take much to make someone's day.
This sermon really came at the right time. As Christians, we should not be disheartened by the reports that the newspaper published cos we know that God would be the one that would give us the inner peace and joy that the world would not provide. After all, God is Wonderful. He is the Prince of Peace, our Counsellor whom we can turn to not only in times of trouble but when we are happy and we give thanks.
According to what Pastor Lim quoted from a famous personality, he said something like this: "History teaches us that Man does not learn from History" Isn't that true? Even though we know about WWI and the number of lives lost, there was still WWII and even now, the Iraq conflict is still taking place. We just don't seem to get it, don't we?
This Christmas, instead of just celebrating it like any other Christmas, wouldn't it be nice if we can really do something that will create a significant impact in someone's history of pleasant memories...
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