FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

Hubbard, texas


DECEMBER 2025 NEWSLETTER

  • pastor ricky newsletter




      

    Dear Church Family,

     

          Those that know me know that I love Christmas shows.  A couple of years ago I wrote a Christmas newsletter article about one of my favorite characters, The Grinch!  You can learn a lot of good lessons from some of the children’s show if you look closely.  The Grinch is definitely one of them.         

          I have heard people sing about Christmas in many languages in my life, but “Fa Who Doray” has got to be one of the strangest!  Some of you probably recognize the song, but some of you may not be familiar with it.  It is from the Christmas Classic, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  One of the lines from the story goes like this, “Every Who down in Whoville loved Christmas a lot, but the Grinch who lived just north of Whoville did not!”  It turns out the Grinch hated Christmas.  He hated the songs.  He hated the joy.  He hated the presents and toys.  He hated the whole season.  In fact, he did everything he could to keep Christmas from coming to the folks in Whoville.  What was the reason he hated Christmas so much?  Dr. Seuss tells us that his heart was two sizes too small.              

          Where in the world do writers like Dr. Seuss and others get their inspiration for such characters like the Grinch in their Christmas stories?  Well a good place to look is in the gospel of Matthew and the events in that original Christmas account.  Matthew tells us about another Grinch, King Herod.  Herod hated Christmas before he even knew what Christmas was.  Like the Grinch, he tried to keep Christmas from coming.  He would have killed the baby Jesus had God not warned Joseph to flee to Egypt in a dream.  Instead, he killed every baby boy 2 years old and younger just to be sure.  He probably would have detained the Wise Men had they not been warned as well.   Why did Herod hate Christmas?  Like the Grinch, his heart was also the problem.  Herod had no room in his heart for anyone except himself.  The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that Herod died an excruciating death.  His final disease was sometimes named Herod’s Evil because of the severity of the illness and because of how evil he had been in his life.

          That is where King Herod and the Grinch part ways.  Unlike Herod, the Grinch had a change of heart.  In fact the story says his heart went from being two sizes too small to…well in Whoville they say, that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day.  And the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches, plus two!

          The story of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is a Christmas Classic to be sure.  But upon close examination of this simple child’s story contains a truth that rings loud and true.  A heart can change!  A hard heart can feel again.  A bitter heart can smile again.  A dead heart can be made alive again.  All because God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son.  That whosoever believes in Him, shall not die, but have everlasting life!

    Merry Christmas!!


    Pastor Ricky



     


                                       


       



                                                       

  • merge student ministry


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  • W. M. U. events



  • Children's ministry

    Children's Church Dates for December

    December 7th


    Childrens Wednesday Night Activities:  

    R.A.'s,  G.A's and Mission Friends meet in Big Red each Wednesday night from  6:30 - 8:00 p.m.  


  • Womens Ministry

    Ladies Bible Study:  Check for future dates coming in 2026



  • The upright love thee:  song of solomon 1:4

    Habakkuk 3:6 His ways are everlasting.

    What he hath done at one time, he will do yet again. Man's ways are variable, but God's ways are everlasting. There are many reasons for this most comforting truth: among them are the following--the Lord's ways are the result of wise deliberation; he ordereth all things according to the counsel of his own will. Human action is frequently the hasty result of passion, or fear, and is followed by regret and alteration; but nothing can take the Almighty by surprise, or happen otherwise than he has foreseen. His ways are the outgrowth of an immutable character, and in them the fixed and settled attributes of God are clearly to be seen. Unless the Eternal One himself can undergo change, his ways, which are himself in action, must remain forever the same. Is he eternally just, gracious, faithful, wise, tender?--then his ways must ever be distinguished for the same excellences. Beings act according to their nature: when those natures change, their conduct varies also; but since God cannot know the shadow of a turning, his ways will abide everlastingly the same. Moreover there is no reason from without which could reverse the divine ways, since they are the embodiment of irresistible might. The earth is said, by the prophet, to be cleft with rivers, mountains tremble, the deep lifts up its hands, and sun and moon stand still, when Jehovah marches forth for the salvation of his people. Who can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? But it is not might alone which gives stability; God's ways are the manifestation of the eternal principles of right, and therefore can never pass away. Wrong breeds decay and involves ruin, but the true and the good have about them a vitality which ages cannot diminish.

    This morning let us go to our heavenly Father with confidence, remembering that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him the Lord is ever gracious to his people.