Dec 25 2011
Merry Christmas 2011
The Apostle John tells the Christmas story this way…
John 1:1-18John 1:1-18
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
The Word of Life
1
1 In the beginning was the one
who is called the Word.
The Word was with God
and was truly God.
2 From the very beginning
the Word was with God.
3 And with this Word,
God created all things.
Nothing was made
without the Word.
Everything that was created
4 received its life from him,
and his life gave light
to everyone.
5 The light keeps shining
in the dark,
and darkness has never
put it out. a put it out: Or “understood it.”
6 ; ; God sent a man named John,
7 who came to tell
about the light
and to lead all people
to have faith.
8 John wasn't that light.
He came only to tell
about the light.
9 The true light that shines
on everyone
was coming into the world.
10 The Word was in the world,
but no one knew him,
though God had made the world
with his Word.
11 He came into his own world,
but his own nation
did not welcome him.
12 Yet some people accepted him
and put their faith in him.
So he gave them the right
to be the children of God.
13 They were not God's children
by nature
or because
of any human desires.
God himself was the one
who made them his children.
14 The Word became
a human being
and lived here with us.
We saw his true glory,
the glory of the only Son
of the Father.
From him all the kindness
and all the truth of God
have come down to us.
15 John spoke about him and shouted, “This is the one I told you would come! He is greater than I am, because he was alive before I was born.”
16 Because of all that the Son is, we have been given one blessing after another. b one blessing after another: Or “one blessing in place of another.”
17 The Law was given by Moses, but Jesus Christ brought us undeserved kindness and truth.
18 No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is truly God and is closest to the Father, has shown us what God is like.
WP-Bible plugin
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[b] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Rejoice because for the first time, when Jesus was born, we could see God dwelling among us “in the flesh” through his Son, full of grace and truth – the light of the world!
Check out some of Christmas pictures! Check out all our latest pictures.
Merry Christmas every one from the Yabuki’s!
On Friday, the large neoeclectic home of our friends, Greg & Angela Speed, founder and owner of Speedsoft (
world, from Africa, the Mesopotamia, and Asia, shared the Christmas story through song, candles and storytelling capped off with departing student, Joy sharing about the signficance of the gospel and how people can choose to follow Christ. People left with much joy in their hearts, lots of pictures and a warm feeling about Christmas.
the students, from China, Japan & Korea enjoyed a sumptious lunch of sandwiches, cookies, etc. One of the more popular part of the trip was that all the students had the opportunity to drive a “tractor” around the property. Afterwards, we were able to feel the warmth of a huge bonfire that would make the Texas A&M bonfire proud next to the family pond as we rosted s’mores that many students were tasting for the first time. Interns Matt & Allison, who are 
leaving to live overseas this week, were able to say good bye to our students friends in a good and proper way. T-8 and C-5 got to enjoy some of the leisure life on hammocks and students wandered all over the former ranch-housing development. All students went home with goody bags and smile on their face as they were reminded of the many of our “ministry partners” who love and care for them.
J-11 is now 11 and definitely in the “pre-teen†years. He has grown a lot this year through Scouting and participating in service projects at church. For example, he spent several hours unloading heavy boxes of donated canned food at Mission Arlington and helped with a Christmas party at a local children’s home. He continues to love learning new skills on the computer. Besides developing his own website, he is also helping our children’s pastor with a website and started a blog for his Boy Scout troop.
T-7 is 7 and feeling the pain of being the “middleman.†Nevertheless, he is doing really well in school, especially in math. He has also begun to read chapter books and take “AR†tests at school (Accelerated Reader). One thing Timothy especially enjoyed this year was taking a karate class through an after-school program. His mom was amazed when he started responding with “Yes, ma’am†when asked to do something! He plans to continue taking karate in 2008. As a Cub Scout, he got to be in 2 parades this year, one on the 4th of July and again during the Parade of Lights in December.
C-4 is learning how to write and spell. One of her favorite words to spell is one we see a lot this time of year—JOY! And C-4 is a real joy to us. She always wants to help around the house, especially with cooking. She would also like to learn to sew (perhaps she can learn from one of her grandmas?) She also loves to spend time cutting, gluing and taping any sort of paper she can get her hands on.
Powered by FireStats