Sincerely and honestly,
at this time and always,
we wish you the joy from above
that only the Lord Jesus Christ can give

At this time of the year it is customary to send Christmas cards to relatives, friends and acquaintances. Although we appreciate your thoughtfulness, we cannot in good conscience toward God and His Word take part in the exchanging of Christmas cards or in the celebration of Christmas or any other religious holy-day, month, time or season.

It is significant that there is no Biblical precedent for observing such a day. The Word of God "thoroughly furnishes" every Christian "unto all good works", yet it does not furnish us to observe Christ's birthday (see 2 Timothy 3:16 & 17). The early Galatian Christians were even rebuked for observing days (see Galatians 4:10 & 11).

One need not go far, however, in the search for the origin of Christmas:

• Encyclopedias and reference works unite in telling those who consult them that Jesus Christ was not born on December 25th
• After the birth of Christ, the precious name of Christ was merely yoked up with the ungodly heathen festival Saturnalia
• The Christmas tree, holly, mistletoe, Yule Logs, Wassail Bowl, wreathes and (yes!) Santa Claus figured prominently in idolatrous practices and popish traditions

Because we love Christ and the Bible more than the traditions of men, we believe we cannot "put Christ in Christmas" but must take His Holy Name out of this unholy and pagan Santa-mas. We seek, not to celebrate His birth, but to demonstrate the fact of His death-conquering life to a pleasure-mad world of dying souls.

For these reasons we cannot wish you a "Merry Christmas", but beseech you instead to turn your eyes away from "Christmas trees" to the "Christ of Calvary" (see Galatians 3:13) and see by faith the One who died there for your sins. If you already know Him, then we beseech you to "Set your affection on things above and not on things on this earth" (see Colossians 3:2).

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