Beyond The Holiday

Beyond The Holiday is a thoughtful and engaging gospel booklet that encourages readers to look beyond the celebrations and traditions of Christmas to discover the true meaning of the season.

In a world where Christmas can easily become focused on holidays, shopping, and festivities, this booklet points clearly to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and the eternal hope found in Him. Written in a warm and accessible style, it presents the message of the gospel in a way that is both relevant and challenging.

Ideal for Christmas outreach, personal evangelism, literature tables, carol services, and community distribution, Beyond The Holiday is an excellent resource for assemblies and individuals seeking to share the real message of Christmas with family, friends, neighbours, and local communities.

Wording Inside:
Since 1963 the dulcet tones of Cliff Richard crooning, “We’re all going on a summer holiday”, has become classic summer listening and the song sums up how many of us feel when the time comes for us to get away from it all and hopefully see some sunshine.

Holidays give us a break from the reality of our usual routines and a bit of escapism for a time. The change of scenery and pace, rejuvenation and relaxation can even bring the health benefits that come with lowering our stress levels. And yet the day always arrives when the holiday comes to an end and we have to re-enter normal life. Before we know it, we feel like we’ve never been away at all!

The question was posed on a Quora forum, “I’m exhausted with living. I want to be on vacation forever. How can I escape the harsh reality of life?” People pitched in with some answers that included suicide, drugs and music. No one had an answer that would give the original poster hope that he could find satisfaction in life that would last longer than a holiday. The good news is that there is a lasting solution to the emptiness of life. We can have peace and joy that last longer than a fortnight. The answer is found in the Bible.

The root cause of our lack of real and lasting satisfaction in life is a broken relationship with our Creator. God created mankind in His own image (Genesis 1:27) and it was His desire for us that we would have love, peace, joy and a right relationship with Him. This was ruined because of sin when Adam, in Genesis chapter 3, chose to rebel. This brought separation and this has continued down through the generations. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NKJV).

The amazing good news is that God loved us so much He took the initiative and provided a way for us to have that relationship restored; He sent His Son, Jesus, to be the Saviour of the world (1 John 4:14). The Lord Jesus declared, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 NKJV).

The Lord Jesus came with the primary purpose of giving His life to bring us the peace and fulfilment that only comes with the forgiveness of sins. A holy and righteous God cannot allow wrong-doing to go unpunished, and on the cross the Lord Jesus took that punishment and negated the necessity for us to bear it ourselves.

After He had been humiliated, beaten and crucified, the world went dark for three hours while God laid the sin of the world on His sinless Son; a clear path back to God had been secured. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6 NKJV).

If you are desperate to know peace in your life and a joy that continues even when your holiday is over, you can find it in having your sins forgiven and establishing a real relationship with God. Agree with Him that you are a sinner deserving of punishment and repent of your sin; turn to Him for forgiveness and put your faith and trust in the fact that the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus is sufficient to bring about your reconciliation with a holy God.

You will have purpose in this life and an eternal home in Heaven in the next.

“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9 NKJV).