December 19, 2017 SHARE: Reading time: two minutes. Some people are just naturally good connectors. They bring people together. My partner at Grace Place Wellness, Randy Fauser, is a connector. We attended a Christmas party at the Fauser’s on Saturday along with about a hundred and fifty of Randy and Susan’s other close friends. That amazes me. Randy says, “We just love bringing people together and watching them connect!” Jesus is a connector. Christmas, our celebration of the Son of God who became a human being and dwelt among us, is a celebration of connections. The connecting that Jesus does is really on two very important but also very different levels.First of all, Jesus came to connect us to God and to invite us to call the Lord of the universe our Father. Because Jesus walked among us, because he lived for us and died for us and rose again from the grave for us, and because he ascended on high into the presence of God the Father, we will follow. By the forgiveness of our sin, the door of access to the Father has been opened. The door that Jesus opened to the Father has a wonderful consequence for you and me. The wall that divides people like us has had a door bored open in it, and we now have and invitation to a relationship with one another on a whole new level. For the first Christians, this division was often characterized by the differences between Jews and Gentiles. The presence of Christ among us has broken down that dividing wall and every other wall that pops up between us because of sin. Our country is feeling the consequences of the dividing wall of prejudice, hostility and bigotry. It always has, and I expect it always will. But the Church of Jesus is different. In the fellowship of grace, gathered at the foot of the cross, the saints of the Lord find that what binds us, the hope of life forever in the presence of God, is far greater than that which divides us. Jesus is the great connector. On his last night with his disciples, Jesus said, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). Jesus connects us to our Father. Jesus calls us friends. Because of what he has done for us, we also call each other friends. God bless your home and your ministry with friendships filled with his grace and peace this holy season. Thanks for reading. Do you serve in a multiple staff setting in a church, Lutheran school, university or social service ministry? Discover how a Ministry Team Wellness Workshop can help enhance your team ministry by building the unity, spiritual life and communication essential to partnership in ministry. Contact Program Director Darrell Zimmerman for more information.