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We held Chicago Area United UBF Christmas Worship Service at Regina Dominican H.S. on December 16 at 2pm. The UBF chapters around Chicago: Chicago main, IIT, Triton, Du Page, West Loop, Wright, Hyde Park, and U of Iowa joined together to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The theme this year was Jesus: God’s Gift based on John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” The message was delivered by Bob Henkins in a comfortable and loving style. He began by reminding us that we live in a broken world and that many people feel utterly lonely at Christmas time. He said that of the many gifts we can receive, God gave us the gift that we truly needed. God’s gift satisfies our every need and his gift is eternal. God gave us what was most precious to him, his one and only Son Jesus. Jesus is the perfect expression of God’s love for all humanity. Bob gave his own personal testimony as an illustration. Bob only partied all the time but he lost everything because of his party life. But when Jesus came into his life, he found the full and abundant life in Jesus.  Afterward, the Christmas drama began almost immediately. It was partly based on Charles Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” and partly on “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Evan Rouge is a heartless business CEO whose stock suddenly falls at the pinnacle of success due to a storm. Then he is befriended by Jack the angel who leads him to the Christmas future where he discovers just how unimportant and cursed he is because of his selfish life. He repents and comes back to the present with Jack’s help and turns over a new leaf. Everyone joins in to sing “Hark the Herald!”

After the play, there was a Christmas dance based on a Jewish messianic song “Baruch Adonai” that exalted Jesus and gave praise to his name. The service ended with a powerful song “Rejoice” a medley of Christmas songs sung by our UBF chorus. After attending this CWS, one person who came for the first time said, “Jesus is the best gift of all because he gives us what we need.” A real business executive confessed that he treated his employees badly and wants to treat them well from now on.  Out of God’s love, we made an offering to God for “Bethesda Mission Hospital in Uganda and local relief.” This year’s Christmas Worship Service gave us a sneak preview of the 2013 ISBC conference theme: “So Loved”. God loved us so much that he gave us his one and only Son Jesus. Praise God for his indescribable gift!