Christmas is the Beginning!
Christmas is the special time each year we celebrate the coming of our Lord as an infant. Like the prophet Isaiah said, "For unto us a child is born…." And with the coming of the Messiah, a new age was ushered into this world. The Kingdom of God is here among all humankind. It is a new day!
There is a sense in which Christmas is born anew each time a person puts his or her faith and trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord. When the Spirit breathes new life into a sinner, a new creation is born (2 Corinthians 5:17). Just like Rev. John Anderson's transformation story, which you can read in this edition of Connections, God makes us new. God used the words of a Sunday school teacher that echoed in John's mind for years to draw him to Jesus as an adult. I join with John in saying, "Thank you!" to every Sunday school teacher who shares Christ week in and week out. Your service to Jesus makes a difference for eternity!
A New Beginning for SDMI
I am excited to say that as we celebrate Christmas this year, we stand at the beginning of a new day for Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International (SDMI) in the Church of the Nazarene. The new year (2020) is being called by the Board of General Superintendents, "The Year of Discipleship." During this year, you will hear of a new concept for SDMI called "The Journey of Grace." The new concept will give clarity to our call to make Christlike disciples in the nations. It will provide a biblical framework for that call to help guide the church to empower and release our laity to make disciples along the journey!
It is a new start, a beginning! And like Christmas, it is all about the mission of God and the coming of His Messiah! Let’s celebrate Jesus together, and let’s join the mission of God with the people of God!
Scott Rainey,
SDMI Global Director