Hello FAC!
I am Gabe Lawson – a chaplain in the US Air Force, stationed at Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA. I, along with Mary and our kids Caroline, Luke, Olivia, and Jesse, have been part of the First Alliance family for nearing on 2 decades, and we deeply appreciate the support of our home church community.
I help lead our chaplain team in providing pastoral, ethical, and spiritual support to nearly 13,000 troops and families on this base. I’ve attached a photo of my team. The Lawson crew has been here for nearly 2 years. As things go in the military, I don’t know how long we’ll be here, but we are seeing beautiful things happen. People are coming to Christ, getting baptized, and growing in discipleship.
One thing I enjoy reflecting on over the Christmas season is the word Behold. In Luke 2:10 the host of angels appear to the shepherds in the field, and they say, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people…” (NASB).
But that word for behold is in the original Greek text. The word means to perceive or to see or to look closely at. The angel literally says here, “Do not be fearing! Be perceiving. For I’m telling you the good news – and it’s joyous.”
In essence, when we are really seeing, understanding, beholding the Gospel message, it will remove the fear that constantly threatens to shadow our lives and keep us from true freedom.
To the degree that we behold—gaze at, relish, ponder, soak in, contemplate the Gospel—that will be the degree that fear will be decreased. The more we behold Him, the more we can be overcome with the beauty of the love and presence of Jesus.
What are we beholding? What are we gazing at in our lives? As we approach Christmas, may we take extra time to contemplate Immanuel. A Savior is born. God has come. That night in a field outside Bethlehem, the realities of heaven and earth collided – and it announced the singular most astonishing thing that has ever or will ever happen in the history of history: God becoming human flesh. God is with us.