Christmas message

An excerpt from my Christmas message today:

Look at the first 200 years of Christianity. It flourished and spread through Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and even as far as India. Yet there were no church buildings, no cathedrals, no priests, no clergy, no statues or idols, no Christmas or Easter…. ….virtually nothing by which people today would identify something as Christian.

Was this accidental, or by design?

Was this to demonstrate to the world that Christianity is not a religion, as compared with the religions of the world?

If it’s not a religion, if observing all the traditions of Christianity doesn’t make you a Christian, then what is a Christian?

Look in the Gospels. Jesus spoke of His disciples, and what it means to be His disciple.

A disciple follows Jesus and abides in Him.