Alex Leononich, the director of SMS from 1958 to 2013, wrote in his biography the following words concerning the need for continued prayer for Christians in the Slavic countries. "Multitudes of Russian believers prayed fervently and kept the faith, even under great persecution. Their greatest desire was to remain faithful to God in the place where He had put them. The need to pray for Slavic Christians has not evaporated because communism no longer reigns. While grateful for their new freedoms, Russian believers also recognize the potential problems which accompany liberty and ask for prayer to remain faithful to God even while enjoying greater freedom."

Christians celebrate the birth of Christ during Christmas to commemorate the reason for His coming. When God promised a Savior, He kept His word. The “Christ” means the Anointed One of God and is linked to the Old Testament concept of Messiah. Jesus was the promised Messiah! The Christ child was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). It was the purpose of His coming to reveal the only way to come to God the Father.

Jesus was born to give the world love. The love that Jesus exemplified was sacrificial, not self-serving. The Son of God “loved me, and delivered Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). The love that Jesus epitomized requires a higher standard. “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8). Believers are to love their neighbors as themselves. Love is action for the sake of others. Love is service not just sentiment. “Through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).

Jesus was born to give the world light. Jesus came “as light into the world” (John 12:46). But men love “darkness rather that the light” (John 3:19). Rejection of God’s truth produces darkness. Darkness enters when there is deliberate refusal to believe the truth. The darkness is dispelled when a person repents of sin and receives Jesus as Savior. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Jesus was born to give the world life. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6). Our Lord, when on earth, said that He came that men might have fullness of life. “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Such an experience can be realized only when a person becomes a child of God. With this new life, the believer can know victory over temptation from the world, the flesh and the devil. Eternal life is guaranteed to that individual who repents of sin, receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and redeems the time available in this life to live for Him!

Because of selfishness, men live in desolation and need love. Because of deception, men live in darkness and need light. Because of sin, men live in death and need life. Jesus came to dissipate that desolation and darkness. He tasted “death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9) in order that everyone may now have the chance to live forever with God in heaven. Let us praise God for the love, light and life that were given to the world when Christ was born!

I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

Never wait for the lost soul to approach you and ask about the way to salvation. He or she seldom comes. The method of our Lord Jesus was to seek the lost. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). All around us are opportunities to witness about “new life” in Christ, if the believer will allow the Holy Spirit to assist him in sharing that marvelous message. People should be given a choice. Pray that all of the SMS missionaries will present the Gospel to anyone who is willing to listen to the “Good News.”