Welcome and thank you for being here this afternoon at our Fellowship celebration of the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is with all joy that we spend time together honoring the Lord and declaring the wonder of all that He has done in our lives through His Only Begotten Son. We want to especially offer our thankfulness to Alberto and Felice and the rest of the Fausto family for opening their beautiful home to us today. 
Now, before we offer the Lord thanks for the great food that He has provided through your faithful service and work to prepare it, we want to see what this whole gathering encompasses. We need to offer Him thanksgiving and adoration for the heart of His so great love expressed in the birth of Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten Son.   
The gift of salvation offered in Jesus Christ, the reason that we celebrate His coming to earth as a baby, is straightforward and is freely available to all. John 3:16+17, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. 
	The Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 1:16-19 states that we need to listen to and obey that which is offered to us by this tremendous act of God’s so gracious love. For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased" — and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 
	The whole reality of why we celebrate Christmas rests in the fact that Jesus Christ came to this earth as a baby and grew and developed into the perfect man. He set aside His position as God in order to die on the cross for your sins and for my sins. In the power of His resurrection from the dead, we are given the greatest gift of eternal life if we will but accept that salvation. 
This is vitally declared to us in Rom 10:8-13. Please listen, hear, and obey this most simple and yet urgent plea by the Living Word of God. But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" — that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; for "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." 
	To obey this appeal is to freely receive the greatest gift that was ever and will ever be given, eternal life in Jesus Christ. James 1:16-18, Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures. 
	In such awe of what God has done for you and for me, let us join our hearts with that which is written for us in 1 Peter 1:3-9, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. Amen.
	
Let us now thank God for this so great salvation, and the fellowship and food as we share together in His glorious provision.