Christmas Sermons

Funny thing, Christmas used to be my most favorite time of year. In many ways it is still a very exciting time but not in the same way. The birth of Christ is a significant event on the Christian calendar but I have to say that as of late I have not looked forward to the singing of Christmas carols or the happy little sermons on things like, "Don't get overwhelmed in the trappings of the Christmas season". I've heard it all before and I don't care to hear it again. I sometimes think that we blend in with the "world" too much this time of year. Our words and actions are much too similar. Of course it is a great time to reach out to those who don't know the Lord. People who would be offended at a Christian card other times of the year, are much more open to them at Christmas.
Our pastor has been preaching a little differently this Christmas season. Because the word "advent" means "coming" he has taken the first "advent" of Christ and gone on to highlight His second "advent" or Second Coming. I have particularly enjoyed this series. To study the words in Revelation at Christmas has given me a whole new excitement. Instead of just looking back and celebrating His birth, we are directed to look forward and anxiously anticipate His second coming to earth! What a glorious time that will be. The new city of Jerusalem is a celebration of redemption. Praise God making a way back to a relationship with Him for eternity!

Mercy

Beautitudes (5) -- The Quality of Mercy...
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Mt 5:7
Mercy is one of the qualities apparent in those whom God is filling with his righteousness. Jesus himself showed us what it meant to be merciful. He relieved suffering and dealt with the results of sin. He spent time with the social outcasts, healed the sick, and comforted those in distress. He told the parable of the Good Samaritan as an illustration of mercy in action. The injured man had no claim on the Samaritan, who yet saw his need, pitied him and took spontaneous and costly action to bring relief.
Mercy is not a natural human quality, nor is a forgiving spirit. Our natural reaction is often to be vindictive, retaliatory and intolerant toward others, leaving them to suffer the results of their own stupidity or obstinacy. But that was not the way of Jesus. It was not that he was easy-going, ignoring or condoning sin. In fact it was just because he could not overlook it that he paid its penalty for us, and he asks us to show the same mercy, even to those to whom we have no contractual obligation. We should be prepared to spend time with the difficult patient or the terminally ill. We should be ready to see where there is a need and how best we can meet it, even beyond the call of duty.
In this beatitude at first it appears as if God's mercy towards us is a reward for our mercy toward others. That is not so. Rather the motive for our mercy is that we have seen our need and have found God's mercy for ourselves. The more we know his mercy in experience, the more our lives will show this characteristic of our heavenly Father.
If I am not merciful there is only one explanation;I have never understood the grace and the mercy of God.
D Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Further reading: Lk 10:30-37. Titus 3:4-8. 1 Jn 4:19-21.

The Politically Correct Christmas

Why is there such an absence of Christ in Christmas. After all, without Him there would be no such celebration. I was really pleased tonight at our son's school open house. There were angels on the walls for decoration. The music piped over the intercom was distinctly Christian. The school choir also sang "Joy to the World" and "Away in a Manger", among their selections. They may seem like small things but I am glad that our principal is open to expressing Christmas with some of its original theme.
I was talking with an EA from another school and she was telling me that in their school "Joy to the World" was sung by the primary classes only with the lyrics re-written to express the shopping frenzy during the holidays. Not one mention of the birth of Christ in any of their productions.
I get tired of the world being so politically correct that we take the entire meaning out of the holiday.Can you imagine changing the whole meaning of something like Ramadan to suit our tastes?? It would NEVER happen.

The True Vine

I heard a wonderful illustration regarding a non Christian.
Being a non Christian is much like being a cut flower stem in a vase of water.
The flower stem is alive because of the water but it is also slowly dying because it is cut off from the true life source.
When a person comes to know Jesus as Savior, it is like the flower is then grafted into the True Vine.
When connected to this vine it will then have everlasting life. It will never die.

Simple but complete.

Indispensable Man

"Indispensable Man"
Saxon White Kessinger

Sometime when you're feeling important;

Sometime when your ego's in bloom

Sometime when you take it for granted

You're the best qualified in the room,

Sometime when you feel that your going

Would leave an unfillable hole,

Just follow these simple instructions

And see how they humble your soul;

Take a bucket and fill it with water,

Put your hand in it up to the wrist,

Pull it out and the hole that's remaining

Is a measure of how you'll be missed.

You can splash all you wish when you enter,

You may stir up the water galore,

But stop and you'll find that in no time

It looks quite the same as before.

The moral of this quaint example

Is do just the best that you can,

Be proud of yourself but remember,

There's no indispensable man.

I recently was reminded of this over the last month. I am a nurse and I work for a visiting agency. I was working in another town for the last year and a half and had a chance to transfer to the town I live . It was hard to leave clients that I had really begun to build up a relationship with. Many were sad, a couple cried when I told them I was moving (I say this in all humility). Guess what??? They are all doing just fine with their new nurse and most all like her very well. I am replaceable. Sometimes I believe God places us in peoples lives only for a season. It is our duty to make the very best of that season.
If we hang on to a certain place when there is a door that clearly shows us to leave, we may hinder the work that God has for someone else to do.

The Tree Of Life

I heard an interesting teaching today regarding good and evil that has caused a paradigm shift in my thinking. While I have often gleaned over Genesis chapter 2 I haven't actually assimilated all the truth until now,

"GOD took the Man and set him down in theGarden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order. GOD commanded the Man,
"You can eat from any tree in the garden,
except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.
Don't eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you're dead."
(The Message)

Of course I have always focused in othe the "evil" part of the tree but it my focus was challenged when it was pointed out that the tree was the knowledge of not only evil but of "good".
In my flesh, I guess that I have always thought that I was able to tell the difference between good and evil. Didn't God gift me with discernment? Yes. But is discernment a licence to judge good and evil? No. Only God can do that....for example:

When a marriage breaks up we think that this is not good.....but what if through the break up of that marriage, God brings both spouses to the end of themselves that they realize the need for a Savior? Then that break up is not bad....but good in God's eyes.

I know even as I write the word "good" in that situation, it gives me some discomfort. We are so used to catagorzing certain events into "Good" and "Evil" columns.
God truely wants us to give over all of ourselves to Him. We must go and sit at the Tree of Life. We are to eat of it's fruit. The Lord truely wants us to place our burdens at the foot of that Tree.

12 Rules of Life

"Sometimes we just need to remember what the 12 Rules of Life really are."
1. Never give yourself a haircut after three margaritas.
2. You need only two tools: WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD-40. If it moves and shouldn't, use the duct tape.
3. The five most essential words for a healthy, vital relationship are "I apologize" and "you are right."
4. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.
5. Never pass up an opportunity to pee.
6. If he/she says that you are too good for him/her - believe them.
7. Learn to pick your battles; ask yourself, "Will this matter one year from now? How about one month? One week? One day?"
8. When you make a mistake, make amends immediately. It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm.
9. If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance!
10. Living well really is the best revenge. Being miserable because of a bad or former relationship just might mean that the other person was right about you.
11. Work is good, but it's not that important. Money is nice, but you can't take it with you.
12. And finally... Be really good to your family and/or friends. You never know when you are going to need them to empty your bedpan.

His Children

I heard a good analogy of belonging to Christ the other day and thought I would share it with you.

You have two children and they are outside playing with two other children. Your kids are being little monsters. They are getting dirty and they don't always play fair.

The neighbour kids are angels. They do everything right. They are polite, they share and they keep themselves clean and tidy.

When the day is done, and you call the children home, do you take your own kids home or the neighbour kids?

Of course you take your own home.

The neighbour kids are just about perfect in everything that they do, but they are not yours by birth.

Your children with all their weaknesses are yours by birth and you love them no matter what.

That is how Christ sees the world. There are alot of very good people out there that do very good things in the world, but if they are not His by their "re-birth" He can't take them Home with Him

Lesson From A Cherokee

" Lesson from a Cherokee "An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life."A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,"Which wolf will win?"The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Ann Weems Poetry

This is some poetry I found by Ann Weems. She is the wife of a Presbryterian minister and lost her son to murder the day after his 21st birthday. I can't find the title to the first one.

In the godforsaken, obscene quicksand of life,
there is a deafening alleluia
rising from the soulsof those who weep,
and of those who weep with those who weep.
If you watch, you will see
the hand of God
putting the stars back in their skies
one by one
Yesterday's Pain
Some of us walk in Advent
tethered to our unresolved yesterdays
the pain still stabbing
the hurt still throbbing.
It's not that we don't know better;
it's just that we can't stand up anymore by ourselves.
On the way of Bethlehem, will you give us a hand?

Not celebrate?
Your burden is too great to bear?
Your loneliness is intensified during this Christmas season?
Your tears have no end?
Not celebrate?
You should lead the celebration!
You should run through the streets
to ring the bells and sing the loudest!
You should fling the tinsel on the tree,
and open your house to your neighbors, and call them in to dance!
For it is you above all others who know the joy of Advent.
It is unto you that a Savior is born this day,
One who comes to lift your burden from your shoulders,
One who comes to wipe the tears from your eyes.
You are not alone,
for He is born this day to you.

Grace

I am reading a very interesting book called, "Men are from Israel, Women are from Moab". It is a book that instead of focusing on the differences of the sexes, it looks at the ways we are similar. Here is what it says:"GRACE is the defining attraction in any significant, meaningful relationship. Grace is the bonding agent that allows vibrant life to flow from one individual to anothers. Grace is the New Testament word that defines our relationship with our Lord. The apostle Paul said that we "stand" in this grace (Romans 5:2). Our LOrd's heart of grace opened the treasure vaults of heaven and invited us to receive all of heaven's blessing that flow from this bottoomless source of love (Ephesians 1:3).For years I have been movtivated to investigate, ponder, grapple with and tast this grace relationship our Lord extends to us. The longer I've studied it in the Bible and experienced it in my life, the more I"ve relaized that I was called to incarnate grace in my relationship with others. It became obvious that it is THE critical element to any profounds, loving human relationship. Without grace the relationship isnever infused with the energy to nurture another life.We mistakenly believe that if we gather enough truth about our Lord, our spouse, our children, our friends, ans so on, we will be successful in relating to them. What we fail to realize is that GRACE, not TRUTH, is that miraculous adhesive that bonds us to each other. (Both grace and truth are inseparable essential elements in living the Christian life. Our Lord never intends them to be separated--see John 1:14. What I am saying here is that one unique function of grace is to bind us together relationally"

The Mouths of Babes

The message at church was wonderful today. It, along with my devotional this morning really spoke to me about suffering. It has to happen in order to mature spiritually with the Lord. Tough sometimes though, but God is good!!!Today as Michael and I were driving home from church I was saying to him how nice it would be if we went to church as a family, daddy included. Michael agreed and then he said without a thought to it, "God just told me that daddy will be there with us someday." I was blown away by the fact that he can already sense God speaking to his heart. God has big plans for this little boy!
Amen,Kim