Page 21 - Florida Sentinel 12-18-15 Edition

Holiday Feature
Going Back To The Real Meaning Of Christmas
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
Christmas as we used to know it is a religious holiday. People who are 50 years old and above can relate to this statement. However, today’s commercialism of Christmas has taken the focus off the reason for the season.
Some Tampa pastors and ministers were asked, “What do you think can be done to get the focus back on the real reason for the holiday season we celebrate.”
These are their com- ments.
Dr. Mark T. Jones, Sr.,
Pastor, Center For Manifesta- tion, 3202 E. Lake Ave., had these comments:
The Bible says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not per- ish but have eternal life."
“This scripture not only defines the sacrifice of Christ
DR. MARK T. JONES SR.
to effectuate our salvation, but it also reveals to us that "love" and “give” are synony- mous terms.
“We reclaim the essence of Christmas as we focus upon giving to meet the needs of people who can do nothing for us in return. When we as a community take the mes- sage of Christmas to heart, and look for ways to be a blessing to others who are less fortunate than we are, we begin to embody the message of the cross that, ‘it is more blessed to give than it is to re- ceive.’
“It only takes a small
spark to start a massive wild fire, and I believe that a little bit of generosity on the part of everyone can provoke a shift in the collective con- science of the masses and as- sist us with the reclamation of the true meaning of this time of the year.
“TO LOVE IS TO GIVE.”
Apostle Janice M. Baker, Pastor of Fulfilling
God’s Purpose Church, Inc., (1 church, 2 locations), said ironically, she was having this same conversation with someone a few days ago. She made these comments:
“In order to get the focus back on the real meaning, we’ve first got to go back to caring for one another. We’ve lost the concern, lost the love for one another. It’s all about themselves and their families.
“The focus has to be more about love and giving to someone less fortunate – not me getting, me getting, me getting.”
In conclusion, she said, “But, we won’t know how to love one another until we love Christ. We’ve first got to love Him because He is love.”
For Superintendent Charles Davis, Senior Pas- tor of College Hill Church of God in Christ, 6414 N. 30th St., “Christ is Christmas. If there was no Christ there would be no Christmas.
“Christians and non- Christians have allowed the social component of society to dictate what and how to say things. We’ve adapted to the world.
“For example, people ad-
SUPT. CHARLES DAVIS
dress each other with, ‘Happy Holidays.’ What holiday. That could mean any holiday.
“There was an attempt to ‘x’ Christ out of Christmas with the terminology – Xmas, because people were too lazy to spell out ‘Christ.’ Over time, it doesn’t seem to have the push it once did.
“As Christians, we can’t be socially correct. We can’t let society have an influence on the meaning of Christmas. Instead of the focus being on shopping, parties, getting gifts, we should be having more worship services.”
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 9-B