Council Grove Christian Church

12/4/25
Servants of God,
“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”
-1 John 3:8
Genuine Christian faith engages the culture around us. Christians must believe truth and live righteously. That includes celebrating Jesus in every legitimate manner possible. Christians ought to celebrate the birth of Christ because it reminds the pagan culture we live in that God exists and has acted in love to rescue rebellious human beings. Christmas, rightly understood, is about spiritual warfare. Jesus came to destroy! He was born into a culture where brutality and social confusion was the norm. He came to destroy such sinful realities.
It is true that Christ came into the world to save sinners, but it is also true that he came to destroy the things that were destroying human beings. Rejecting God’s authority destroys human relationships and the societies that humans form. Things like the denial of sin and the commission of theft destroys the humans who practice such evil and pollutes the places where they live and move and have their being.
Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34). This means that moral integrity and virtuous patterns of living lead to human thriving and that the absence of them leads to a demonically destructive outcome.
I have watched a couple of things happening in our nation that ought to alarm Christians. One is the concerted effort to thwart the removal of illegal aliens from our country. Especially in the large Democrat Party dominated cities, federal law enforcement officers are being resisted not just by local protestors but by the mayors and police chiefs. The feds have announced their priority is to remove criminals who are here illegally. The bitter and dangerous opposition is cloaked in rhetoric that makes the criminals the heroes and victims while the police are painted as the villains. This approach is immoral. A nation that tolerates such nonsense cannot last long. This is the result of rejecting objective standards for behavior. What is objectively wrong (crime) is being touted as right and enforcement of law is declared to be wrong.
The other issue that bodes ill for America is the government’s appetite to spend money it does not have. There are several words that describe this sort of policy but the simplest is  theft. Since the nation left the gold standard in 1971, we have been on a debt trajectory that can only eventually end in financial collapse. Unless an entity lives within its means, bankruptcy lurks. When a family goes bankrupt, it is a tragedy. When a nation goes bankrupt, it can be an indescribable disaster. It is immoral to debase money. If you have heard that the Federal Reserve has done “quantitative easing” you have heard a euphemism for inflating the money supply. Every dollar is worth less and less as the money supply grows by government fiat.
Christians ought to have a basic understanding of economics. God is interested in money and in the right use of it. We should be too. Money, rightly acquired through work, investment and thrift can be used for the glory of God. The love of money for its own sake is the root of all kinds of evil—including the destruction of families, businesses and nations.
Christians would do well to reenergize our worship and celebration of Jesus as Lord of all and Christmas is the best of times to recognize the industrial grade mission of Jesus. He was born into the world so he could destroy the works of the devil and so he could reconcile fallen humans to their loving heavenly Father. Maybe we should give this truth some true consideration this year as we celebrate Christmas.
Blessings,
Pastor John
Coram Deo