Secret Church

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Christmas for the Persecuted Posted: 25 Dec 2012 04:00 AM PST For Christians all over the world, today is a day to celebrate the coming of our Savior. And most of us are free to do that openly. Right now, many are gathering together with loved-ones, singing songs about the coming of the Messiah, feasting… some may even have a nativity scene featuring baby Jesus in front of their homes. However, there are many believers who pay a high price for associating with Jesus during Christmas. Last Christmas, some of those believers were in northern Laos, where eight Christian leaders were arrested for holding a Christmas service. Four of them were put in stocks. One report quotes a spokesman for the Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom saying, "The police had been following them because they were actively building the church and spreading the faith." Believers in Madalla, Nigeria were also counted among those who paid the price for their faith last year. Forty-four died and seven were left blind after a bomb blast during a Christmas day church service. Today, the radical Islamist group responsible for the attack continues to violently persecute Christians. And this year, displaced by the civil war, Syrian Christians are fighting to survive freezing Christmas temperatures without a home. Today, let us pray for these dear brothers and sisters. Whether they find themselves homeless and outcast in the Middle East or face-to-face with violent opposition in places like Laos and Nigeria, they need our prayers for God’s strength in their lives. Remember, Christ was born in the manger to die on the cross. And as encouraging confirmation to those suffering this Christmas, let us also remember His words to His disciples in John 15:20: "'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you." God fulfilled His glorious purposes through Christ's suffering, and in Jesus, we can be sure that He will do the same for His followers. "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us… And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." – Romans 8:16-18, 28-29

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