“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

Luke 2:10

Reading scripture and bible passages can be a good way to remind us what we are celebrating when it comes to the good news of Christmas. With all the focus built around shopping and buying gifts, sometimes we need a reminder to bring us back to who started this celebration in the first place – God and the birth of his only son, Jesus. Luke 2:10 is a great bible passage to start with because it tells of the spreading of the good news and the hope of what was to come. The three things that mean the most to us in this bible passage are the mention of having no fear, the coming of great joy and that the good news of Christmas was for all the people. 

Have No Fear –

When the angel appeared to the shepherds, it was meant to be a spreading of the most joyous news but they were terrified at first. We fear what we do not know and they had never seen anything like this vision before. Once they understood to trust in the good things to come from this message, the shepherds were inspired into action and set out to find the new messiah. They wanted to see him for themselves and witness the child that was about to change things for good.  

When changes are being made, it is common to be fearful of how those changes will affect your life. During the holidays, we are bombarded with many feelings and approaching changes. Did the past year live up to my expectations? What are my hopes for the coming year? What can I do to be a better person? How can I contribute to make the world a better place? Ultimately, by persuading the shepherds not to be fearful they learned to embrace change and hope that this change will bring them good things.     

The Coming of Great Joy –

Many promises made throughout the Christmas story and in the proclamation said by the angel to the shepherds on that very night. Promises include good news, great joy and amongst all, hope in the birth of a new savior, Jesus, and hope of a better way of life. Perhaps that is why there were so many people present that night to witness the birth of hope in the form of a new baby savior. They were inspired into action to witness the birth of hope and to experience unspeakable joy. 

How would you feel if you were told you will soon experience unspeakable joy? What if you were told you will experience true, spiritual, long-lasting, glorious joy. Would you rush to see who or what is bringing you this joy? Perhaps that is how we can move forward into the new year. We can have hope in new good happenings and work towards finding joy in whatever form possible using inspiration from the story of Jesus’ birth. 

Good News for All the People

The news came to all without discrimination. All were included. People who would receive the message of the coming of Jesus included everyone. It included the people who would be thrilled with the news and ready to do whatever was needed to prepare all the way to those who would mock the messengers and even attempt to thwart the coming of Jesus to be the saviour. The good news was communicated to all people who were then given the chance to make a decision whether or not they accepted the good news and let it change their lives for good.

This part of the message hit home for us especially. We believe in offering hospitality to all people without discrimination. Let people accept the message of God and decide whether they want to accept it and let it change their lives for good. We believe in offering messages of love, unity, reconciliation and kindness for all people without discrimination. That is how we are going into 2020. 

With this message from The Leo House to you, we wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and the happiest of all the holidays you celebrate with your families and loved ones.

What is your favorite way to spread the message of the good news of Christmas? Do you have any traditions you’d like to share? Please comment on our facebook page, we would love to hear from you!