|
stories are
gifts: share |
feature
 Those
of you who know me, know that I am not addicted to coffee. Rather,
coffee is addicted to me! Recently after buying a package of French
Roast from one of Tokyo's 940+ Starbuck's stores, I was intrigued by the
slogan on the gift bag. It read, "Stories are
Gifts: Share."
Two weeks ago we hosted a Christmas gather for our
friends from a local hair salon. Together Jill and I prepared food and
sought to create an inviting ambience for our friends in order to
leverage the opportunity that Christmas naturally presents to talk about
Jesus with our friends.
The evening was filled with lots of eating, laughter and
good conversation. Toward the end of the evening I played my guitar and
sang a few Christmas songs. I then used the Starbuck's slogan as a
springboard to explain why stories are gifts and the shared the
Christmas story. Before reading Luke 2, however, I asked my friends,
"Have you ever heard the real meaning of Christmas?" Not surprisingly,
three of the four had never head the Christmas story before. You see, in
Japan, just like in the States we have the lights, songs, paraphernalia,
presents and even Santa Clause, but Jesus is conspicuously missing. In
answer to my question one friend piped in, "No. I want to hear it!"
That evening three of our friends heard for the first
time, "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you: he
is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11 NIV) What a privilege to be
the first to share the story of Christmas, the story about God's
greatest gift to humanity -- Jesus, with our friends!
contributed by Alan & Jill
Kropp
1/10/2011
|
