And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”Matthew 1:21 

*"Longing to leave her poor Brazilian neighborhood, Christina wanted to see the world. She was discontent with a home having only a pallet on the floor, a wash basin, and a wood-burning stove. And she dreamed of a better life in the city. One morning, she quietly slipped away, breaking her mother's heart. 

Knowing what life on the streets would be like for her daughter, Maria, her mother, hurriedly packed and set out to find her. She went into a photo studio to get one last thing, pictures. She sat at the photograph booth and closed the curtain and spent all the money she could on pictures of herself. And with her purse full of small, black-and-white photos, she boarded the next bus to Rio de Janeiro.

Maria knew Christina had no way of earning money. She also knew that her daughter was too stubborn to give up. When pride meets hunger, a human will do things that were before unthinkable. Knowing this, Maria began her search. Bars, hotels, night clubs, any place where the reputation for streetwalkers , she went to them all. And at each place, she left her picture taped on a bathroom mirror, tacked to a hotel bulletin board, fastened to a corner phone booth. And on the back of each photo she wrote a note. It wasn't long before both the money and the pictures ran out and Maria had to go home. The weary mother wept as the bus began its long journey back to her small village.

And it was a few weeks later that young Christina descended the hotel stairs. Her young face was tired. Her eyes spoke of pain, and  fear. Her laughter was broken. Her dream had become a nightmare.  Yet, the little village was, in too many ways, too far away. As she reached the bottom of the stairs on that fateful day, her eyes noticed a familiar face. She looked again, and there on the lobby mirror was a small picture of her mother. Christina's eyes burned and her throat tightened as she walked across the room and removed that small photo. Written on the back was this compelling invitation: "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn't matter. Please come home".

And she did. And I want you to know that that's what the message of the gospel is all about. Did you know that the Bible says that, "Jesus Christ has come to seek and to save that which is lost"? And Jesus Christ is God's picture to us. Did you know that? The Scripture says, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father". Jesus said that. Do you want to know what God is like? He's pictured in Jesus. Jesus is God, but He's a picture of who God is. And Almighty God sent His picture down here. It's taped on the podium of churches. It's heard on the dial of radio stations. It's seen in television christian programs. And on the back of the picture is this message: "Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, come home".

May this season be a time of repentance and turning back to God.. 

Jesus is the reason for the season... 

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.I John 1:7‭, ‬9 

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