Now What?

NOW WHAT?

All the excitement was three days ago.  Today the activity and excitement has settled down, the work is done and all the guests have gone home.  All the waiting and anticipation that has been leading up to this event is over and we are left asking, now what?  I’m actually not talking about our celebration of Christmas; I’m talking about life for Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds.  In their own way, each of them asked this question in the days following the birth of Jesus.  Now what?  While we don’t know the answer, it’s an interesting question to think about because we ask the same question now that the celebration of Christmas is over.  Now what?  What does this gift of Jesus mean for my heart?  Has my heart become unfrozen?  Am I any different today than I was three days ago?  Will my life be any different?  Will my future be any different?  Maybe we can answer that question by thinking about Mary, Joseph and the shepherds three days after the birth of Jesus.

Let’s start with the shepherds.  A heavenly host of angels were sent by God to tell them that a Savior had been born for them and when they found a baby laying in a manger – they knew what the angels said was true.  A Savior had been born for them, them.  Shepherds.  The people no one wanted to spend time with because they were outcast and unclean.  The people no one trusted to tell the truth.    God loved them enough to send a savior and make sure they were the first ones to hear about.  

Three days later I can hear the shepherds standing around the outside of the cave saying to one another, do you believe it, God so loved the world that he us a Messiah, but he loved us so much that on the night he was born, God only told us.  Oh how loved we are by God   Three days after the birth of Jesus the shepherds are seeing themselves and their world with Different Eyes.  

That God chose these shepherds to be the first to hear about the birth of the Messiah means that they were people of value and sacred worth.  Imagine how this made them feel?  Accepted.  Loved.  These shepherds could now walk around with heads held high because they were loved and cared for my God.  It changed how they saw themselves. Three days later they saw themselves differently and Christmas can change how we see ourselves because God sent Jesus to us.  God didn’t send Jesus to an impersonal world  and salvation and life weren’t decreed by God to the world, God came in human flesh and met real people and this tells us that God still comes to us, ordinary sinners who struggle to live the way God calls us to, but he comes to us personally because he loves us.

We need to see ourselves with different eyes.  We need to see ourselves the way God does.  We can be harsh on ourselves and those around us can be critical so it’s easy for us to find fault and think we always need to do more to earn God’s love and grace, but it’s all a free gift simply because God loves us and so we need to ourselves as people worthy of God’s love and grace.  We need to look at ourselves with different eyes and sees potential not just problems, saints, and not just sinners.  The birth of Jesus for the shepherds meant that they were walking those hillsides of Bethlehem with a sense of value.  They saw themselves differently which means they saw the world differently.

We not only need to see ourselves differently but we need to the see the world differently as well.  When God looks at the world he sees all the strife and conflict but he doesn’t just see problems, he sees the greater potential – potential for healing and unity and peace.  God still sees what the Prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 11:6-9.

We need to see the world the way God does because if we see the potential and value in all people and if we see the possibility for healing and peace in all places then we will work to bring about God’s kingdom here on earth.  Christmas can’t be a one day celebration it needs to lead us to a fundamentally new way of looking at ourselves and our world.  If God has really come in the person of Jesus for us – then we need to look at ourselves and our world with different eyes.  


What can we learn from Mary?  What was she thinking about three days after giving birth to the son of God?  I have no idea! I can think spiritually and theologically about this, but I can’t put myself in Mary’s shoes, so I asked some people who I thought might.  I reached out to four young mothers and asked them what they were thinking about three days after they gave birth and each one said very much the same thing.  There comments were so wonderful I want share some of what they said:

Three days after I gave birth I was thinking…
When am I going to get some sleep?  What are we doing?  How are we going to do this?  What did we get ourselves into?  Am I doing everything right?  This is very scary.  

I knew that a mother had the majority of the responsibility with a newborn for feeding and overall care, but there was no way I fully understood what that actually felt like. There is a lot going on in your head (when was the last time she ate/when do I feed her again, is she getting enough to eat, when she cries like that is it because she needs something? Is it normal that my child never sleeps? Am I missing something? Does that diaper look right?), yet to everyone around you - including your spouse - it is a lot more low key because the child just sleeps/eats/diaper changes/repeat...which can be a bit frustrating because it is hard to express and share what you are feeling. On top of all of that you are healing yourself and you have no time to take care of yourself

I'm assuming you don't want the physical details of what my body was dealing with because that did consume my thoughts!  (and no, that is not what I was thinking about, but since every mother said something along those lines, it’s interesting to think about that with Mary as well)  I worried if they would be okay.  At only 3 days old, their lives were still quite fragile.  I was also exhausted.  The journey to get them to birth was difficult and I had no idea what the journey of life would be like.  (Man...I just re-read that sentence and thought about Mary!)  

I felt some real panic. Three days is a pretty significant time these days because the first two days of your baby's life you are in a hospital, surrounded by knowledgeable people making sure your baby if safe and taken care of.  But day three you are at home.  Just you,  your husband, and your baby. And then you start to think, oh no! This is such a monumental task, you want to do everything right for your baby. But somehow, two college educated adults, took an hour trying to give a tiny baby a bath and couldn’t figure out how the monitor worked, and went through 10 wipes and two diapers trying to change one messy diaper.  You kind of keep waiting for someone from the hospital to call and say, "Sorry we made a mistake, there are some "real" grown ups here that are going to come take care of your baby, you two are clearly not cut out for this task!" You really wonder how in the world you were chosen for such an important job, when you are so clearly not qualified. 

So I’m thinking Mary was thinking many of these same things three days later.  Now what?   How do I take care of this child?  How do I feed him, clean him, keep him safe and do it all away from home?  And how do I do it when I am hurting and in pain and in need of sleep?  I wonder if Mary asked God why he sent shepherds instead of nurse maids to visit on the night Jesus was born?  Mary was clearly focused on the daily needs of her child and just trying to get the strength and power to get to the next day.

But the bible tells us there was something else going on with Mary that I also heard from every mother who shared with me.  Look at Luke 2:19.  Mary pondered in heart all that had taken place.  The angel speaking to her and Joseph, the trip to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus in a stable, using a manger as a crib, the visit of the shepherds, somehow God was part of all this.  In those moments when Mary was able to simply sit and look at Jesus in her arms, she was captivated by a love that held her heart and changed her life.

I remember an overwhelming amount of love for my baby. I honestly felt like my heart was going to burst. And it was a different kind of love than I have ever felt before. You just look at your sweet baby and think, this is it, me and you, I will love you so much, your whole life, I will do anything for you, sacrifice for whatever you need, protect you at all costs.

 I remember feeling so overwhelmed with love, a love like I've never felt before. What gratitude to God I felt for having given me this child. 

How is it possible to love this little human I only met three days ago.

I remember a surge of unconditional love that I didn't even know was possible.

Not only was Mary consumed by thoughts of how to care for her child, she was also consumed by a love that she had never known before, a love for a child, and a love for the God who in very special ways chose her and gave her that child.  Mary was caught up in daily living and daily devotion to God and Christmas needs to shape our daily living as well.

In the days leading up to Christmas we often hear and read a lot about God and Jesus.  We read articles, books and devotions about Jesus.  We watch programs and worship and we need to continue these practices in the days ahead.  Daily devotions and prayers can’t come to an end when we take down the tree and put away the gifts.  This gift – Jesus - needs to be part of our lives forever.  Can we commit in the New Year to read God’s word daily, worship weekly, study with others and pray without ceasing?  Can we commit to pondering in hearts just how much God loves us and that God has chosen us to bear Christ into this world.  Christmas not only helps us see with different eyes it needs to guide our daily lives of faith not just be a moment of great worship and fun that we put away for another year.

And then there’s Joseph.  Three days after Jesus was born what was he thinking?  As the silent and often forgotten one in the story we might have a hard time thinking about this, but Joseph was a very human father who like most fathers saw his job as providing for and protecting his family far into the future.   Perhaps Joseph was doing some divine planning.  He had to plan their trip to Jerusalem to fulfill the law.  He had to plan where to live, what to provide for his family and this special child.  That Joseph’s task was divine planning is really made clear to us not three days later but maybe three months or more later when the Magi visited.  After they left, God spoke to Joseph in a dream and said take your family and flee to Egypt to keep them safe.  For Joseph, the birth of Jesus meant he had to do some divine planning.  What was God’s plan for him and his family?

That’s a great question we should ask ourselves in the days after Christmas and before the New Year?  How does God want us to live our lives with the gift of Jesus at the center?  And three more days before the beginning of the New Year, What does God want from us in 2015?  Can we take these days to do some divine planning?  Beyond diet, exercise and the other traditional New Year’s Resolutions, what divine planning can we do?  What new direction would God want us to go with our time, relationships, money, our faith?  The Christmas message is not something we put away until next year – it needs to direct us in the new year.  How can God’s love given to us in Jesus shape our plans in 2015?

My hope in the New Year is that as a congregation we can also spend some time doing some divine dreaming, visioning and planning.  God has moved among us in some significant ways in the past 6 years and God has brought forth a wonderful and powerful body of believers and we need to ask ourselves and God – Now What?
We will need different eyes for this task and we will need some daily devotion and prayer to enter into a season of divine planning but what a blessing for us to be able to do this.  It really is what Christmas is all about – the blessing of God’s gift of Jesus that brings us life, salvation, redemption and God’s kingdom into all the world.  What a great way to begin the New Year, asking God, with hope, excitement and faith... Now What?  


Next Steps
Now What?


1. Different Eyes.  The shepherds saw themselves and the world through different eyes.
• See yourself differently:
o Focus on how you have been created in the image of God
o Identify the gifts God has placed within you
o Look at your problems as potential for growth
o Don’t see yourself as a sinner, but a forgiven saint

• See the world differently:
o Identify people who need care not criticism
o Find ways to help others feel valued & loved by God
o What problem can you help solve in 2015
o Name one way you can bring about God’s potential


2. Daily Living.  In the days after Jesus birth, Mary was consumed with daily living and devotion.
• This week begin a yearly Bible reading plan
• Find a daily devotion to guide your life in 2015
• Commit to worshiping God each week
• Join us next Sunday as we learn how to create some breathing room for those things that matter most


3. Divine Planning.  Joseph led his family in the will of God.
This week make New Year’s resolutions that include God’s will for your:
• Relationship with your spouse, children, parents, coworkers and neighbors
• Use of money
• Setting of your schedule
• Service to God and others

The Steps of the Shepherds

Have you ever had a Christmas where nothing turned out the way you thought it would?  Maybe it was the year you didn’t want to fight for the last cabbage patch doll or you were too late for the rubix cube, or missed out on the new Nintendo. (And if you don’t recognize any of these things, chances are you were born after 1985.)  Maybe it was the year that your dog ate all your Christmas Cookies, the power went out on Christmas Eve leaving your family in the dark, or all the poinsettias for the church froze so that just a few days before Christmas not one of the over 100 plants ordered showed up at the church.  (Yes a true Story!)

Maybe this is the year your Christmas celebration isn’t going to look like what you thought it would.  Your family isn’t coming this year, or maybe the problem is that your family is already here.  Perhaps you still have to go shopping for your wife (not much open now guys, sorry) or maybe it’s that the gifts Santa promised to bring don’t come assembled or with batteries so you know it is going to be a long couple of days.  Maybe your tree has already dropped all its needles or maybe your Christmas tree contained a hidden nest of spiders that have all hatched and are now invading your home.  Believe it or not, that happened to my nephew and his wife on their first Christmas last year.  It was an invasion of spruce spider mites.  This year and in all years to come they will now have an artificial tree.  It happens to all of us at times, our vision of Christmas just doesn’t look like what we thought it should.

Last January as I was walking up a hill and I thought to myself, this doesn’t look like what I thought it would, but then again much of the Holy Land didn’t.  The shepherd’s field outside of Bethlehem was rocky and barren.  There weren’t green pastures with tall grass for the sheep and shepherds to settle into and there were no rolling fields just steep hills.  It didn’t look like what I had always thought the fields of Bethlehem would look like.  In this field we entered a chapel that was actually inside a cave and it was here that we heard the Christmas story.  Luke 2:8-20.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

I sat there thinking about how the shepherds may very well have been in a cave with their sheep on the night the angels arrived.  While it wasn’t what I had ever pictured, in that moment it made a lot of sense.  On those hills there was no good way to protect sheep at night.  The terrain was steep and rocky so it would have been hard to keep the sheep together and even harder to keep the wild animals away.  If you could push all your sheep into a cave for the night, that would have been the safest and most secure place for them to be.

Just because they may have been in a cave, however, doesn’t change the story.  There was still a heavenly host of angels whose glory was so bright that it woke the shepherds.  The shepherds would still have been terrified at the sights and sounds outside the cave so the greeting of the angels, Fear Not would have made perfect sense.  In fact, maybe it was those words, Fear Not, that drew them out of the cave in the first place.  The story didn’t change, God still came into this world that night, things just didn’t look like what I thought they would.  Sometimes Christmas is like that, sometimes life is like that.

Sometimes life doesn’t look like what we thought it would.  We never thought of ourselves as being 50 and single – or single again.  We aren’t doing the work we thought we would.  Our children and families aren’t turning out the way we thought they would.  Sometimes life doesn’t look like what we thought it would, but like with that first Christmas, the important things don’t change.  God still comes to us and the steps the shepherds took show us what we need to do if we want to experience the fullness of God

For the shepherds, they knew what their night was going to be like.  They were going to graze the sheep, push them into the cave and then rest.  That’s what the night was supposed to look like, but then the sudden lights from heaven changed everything and in that moment the shepherds had a choice to make, they could stay in the comfort of the cave or they could step out and see what was going on?


It’s the same choice we have today.  We can stay in the comfort of our lives or we can take a risk and step out to see what God has for us.  When the angels appeared on the night Jesus was born the first thing the shepherds did was leave the cave.

Leaving the cave is risky because it means leaving behind the comfort and security of what we know.  Even if our lives don’t look like what we thought they would, at least they are familiar which means they are comfortable and stepping out of what is comfortable to see what God might have for us is risky.  It takes courage to leave the cave and step out into the light of God, but that’s part of the Christmas story.  This Christmas story calls us to leave what we know and step out into the life God has for us.  Mary had to do this.  Joseph had to do this and now the shepherds are being asked to take that same step of faith.

Tonight God asks us take a step of faith and leave our cave.  Can we let go of what is comfortable and familiar so we can take hold of God and all God has for us?  We might need to let go of fear and try that new job or enter into that new relationship.  It might be to let go of hurt and anger so we can enter into a time of healing for our marriage or family.  It might be to let go of the control money, status and power has on our lives so we can have some breathing room and live with more humility, simplicity and purpose.  The Christmas story is a call to take a risk and leave what is comfortable behind so we can venture out into the light of God.  Tonight can we leave our cave and enter into the light of God?

After stepping into the light and hearing the message of the angels, the shepherds then took another step and went to find Jesus.  That’s right, then didn’t leave the cave and then say, that’s far enough – I’m done.  I’ve heard the message and now I’m going back to where it is safe and secure.  The Shepherds started out on a journey to find Jesus.  Tonight we have to be willing to continue on in our journey to find Jesus.  We’ve all started the journey.  If you are here tonight then you are on the journey in some capacity.  Like the Shepherds, you may be hearing this story for the first time, or maybe you are just hearing it for the first time with an open heart, but you are here and you are not here by accident.  The shepherds didn’t hear the news by accident, God knew they would be there and so He sent the angels.  God knew you would be here tonight so He is here to tell you of His love and that He has sent a savior just for you.

That’s the message of the angels that has really spoken to me this year.  The angels said, tonight I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  While a Savior had come to all the people, the shepherds heard that the savior born that night had come for them.  Tonight a Savior is here for you and me.  Tonight God is here to tell us that he loves us and that He forgives us and that He has something wonderful for us if we will step out and search for him.  When we go looking for God, God will be there.  God said through the prophet Jeremiah, when you search for me with all your heart you will find me, so if we will keep searching for Jesus tonight, we will find him and when we find Him we will find all that we are looking for.

The Shepherds found everything they were looking for.  They found a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and laying in a manger which meant that they had found the Messiah and all the love and life God had to offer.  When we search for Jesus tonight we will find everything that we need.  If we need forgiveness, we will find it.  If we need hope, we will find it.  If we just need to know we are not alone, we will find the presence of God.  If we need healing, direction, comfort, security, peace – we will find it – but we won’t find anything unless we are willing to leave the cave and step out to find Jesus.

After the shepherds found Jesus they took one more step and went into the streets of Bethlehem to share God’s love.  This also has to be part of the Christmas story tonight – sharing Gods love with others.  Our world is in desperate need of love and understanding.  From city streets right here to countries far away being torn apart by disease, despair and destruction, our world needs the love of God and God has said that we are the ones who need to share it.

We are now the hands and feet and heart of Jesus and as we serve people we share God’s love.  As we give to people around the world, we share God’s love.  As we serve dinner in our own community, we share God’s love.  When we reach out and ask others to forgive us, we share God’s love and when we offer forgiveness and grace to those who have hurt us, we share God’s love.  God so loved the world that he shared his one and only Son, Jesus, who came to live and die for us so that we might lie and never die.  When we receive Jesus as our Savior we receive the love of God and as we share this story we share the love God.  It’s risky to share God’s love, but it is part of this story.  

So the hillsides of Bethlehem didn’t look like what I thought they would.  Sometimes Christmas is like that, sometimes life is like that, but it doesn’t change the story.  Here’s the story: in Jesus, God has come to be our savior.  Jesus is here tonight to love us in a way that can change everything.  We just need to follow in the footsteps of the Shepherds and leave the cave, search until we find Jesus and then share with others the love of God that changes us, brings us life and life eternal.

UNFROZEN ~ Love's Open Door

The people in the Christmas story that we seem to know well are those we place in our nativity scenes.  We know Mary and Joseph, the angels and shepherds and even the Magi who didn’t arrive until several months if not years later but we put them in anyway.  We know all of these people well, but there are two people who meet Jesus as an infant that we don’t know well and it might be because they aren’t in our nativity scenes because they didn’t meet Jesus in Bethlehem but in the Temple in Jerusalem.  Luke 2:22-24

After a child was born, there were certain religious ceremonies that were required of all Jewish families.  The first was that every firstborn child was to be presented to God in the Temple.  This practice goes back to the time when God led the people out of Egypt.  Look at Exodus 13:2.  This practice was to remind each new generation that it was God who rescued his people from slavery in Egypt and while the first born in all of Egypt was killed, God rescued his people and set them free.

The other requirement was a ritual of purification for the mother.  For 40 days after childbirth, a woman was considered ceremonially unclean and was not able to enter the Temple.  After 40 days, an offering was made and the priest declared the mother to once again be clean.  Because Mary and Joseph were faithful Jewish parents, they made the 6 mile trip from Bethlehem to Jerusalem when Jesus was just over a month old to fulfill both of these requirements, but the visit to the Temple held much more for them.  Luke 2:25-38

For a moment, put yourself in the place of Mary and Joseph as they make this trip to Jerusalem.  It’s been 40 days since Jesus was born and while on the first night a few shepherds arrived telling them that an angel had said that their son was the Savior, no one else had arrived.  The Wisemen are still months away and so for the past 39 days there has been no fanfare, no visitors and no messages from heaven declaring that their child was in fact the son of God.  There was nothing; it had been 39 ordinary days of taking care of what appeared to be an ordinary child.  If you were Mary and Joseph would you be doubting all that the angel had said a year ago?  Would you be wondering if what the shepherds had told you on the night Jesus was born was true?  I don’t know about you, but I would have expected something more to happen after Jesus’ birth, something powerful and profound and earth shattering, but there was nothing and so this journey to Jerusalem may have been filled with some questions or confusion.

Being faithful people, Mary and Joseph went to the Temple with Jesus to fulfill the requirements of the law.  The Temple was the holiest place on earth.  It was the place where the Jewish people believed God lived and I can tell you that it is still a powerful and holy place today and the presence of God is there and the moment Jesus arrived there, things started to happen.  An old righteous man named Simeon approached Mary and Joseph and took Jesus in his arms and proclaimed that he was the long awaited Savior.  This child was the one who would bring salvation to Israel and be a light to the Gentiles.  Jesus was the hope for the entire world.  Then a woman named Anna came up and started to speak about the child to all who were waiting for the Messiah to come.  For Joseph and Mary, this had to give them hope and encouragement.  Here was another sign that they weren’t crazy and that the last year had not been a dream but that everything the angels and shepherds had told them was true.  Their child was the son God, the savior of the world.

Beyond the assurance given to Mary and Joseph, there is something else profound taking place here.  The moment Simeon took Jesus in his arms the old covenant God made with the people of Israel and the new covenant God was bringing the world through Jesus came together.  Throughout the Old Testament God promised to be with his people and to be their savior.  That promise took many different forms through the centuries.  Sometimes God was there in power like when he parted the Red Sea, and sometimes he was there in victory, like when he tore down the walls of Jericho and sometimes God was with his people leading and speaking through King David and the Prophet Isaiah.  While God was there in each of these situations, there were limitations of God’s promise being fulfilled so the people had to wait - the promise was not yet fulfilled.
Simeon represents all that God has promised to his people and  God told him he would see all that history and promise fulfilled before he died and so he waited in the Temple.  He waited and he waited.  The singer and songwriter Michael Card has said that for all those in the Old Testament, having faith meant waiting for God to keep his promise.   Abraham.  Moses.  The prophets.  All those who trusted God demonstrated their faith by their ability to wait.  It’s true.  Abraham was told he was going to have a child but then he and Sarah had to wait many years for that child to come.  Moses was told he was going to lead God’s people into the Promised Land but he had to wait with the people for 40 years as they wandered in the wilderness and while Moses got to see the land, he never even got to enter into it.  Kings like David ruled with God’s power but they never saw the fulfillment of God’s promise and the prophets like Isaiah talked about the time a savior would come but none of them were alive when Jesus was born.  For all of them and many more, faith meant waiting and it means the same for us today.

While Jesus has come and God is here with us through the power of the Holy Spirit, we also live in this in-between time where just like our ancestors, faith means waiting.  Sometimes we wait for healing or restoration, sometimes we wait for justice and peace and sometimes like Mary and Joseph we wait for some kind of assurance that God is with us and that his plan for us is good.  Having faith today still means waiting.  If you are waiting for God to reveal something to you or to help or lead or care for you in some way, you aren’t alone.  We are all waiting and waiting is what it means to have faith and to trust in God.  So we keep waiting.

For Simeon, the waiting was over when he held a baby in his arms but I’m not sure Simeon was looking for God to fulfill his promise with a baby.  In fact, it makes more sense that Simeon spent his time looking into the clouds while he waited for the Savior because some people thought the Messiah would return the way the prophet Elijah left, in a chariot of fire.  Or maybe Simeon waited by searching the crowds in the Temple looking for a strong leader who had come riding or marching into the city to lead God’s people in a rebellion.  Simeon may have been waiting for some kind of powerful religious leader or an outspoken prophet who would shake things up, but chances are he wasn’t looking for a baby, but when God sent him to a baby – Simeon was willing to go and when he took the child in his arms, he found in Jesus all he had been waiting for.  Sometimes God answers our prayers and comes to us in unexpected ways.  Are we willing to open ourselves up and accept it?  Are we willing to take Jesus in our arms when he comes to us in unusual ways?

Think about that moment.  When Simeon holds Jesus in his arms, all of the waiting of Israel was over.  All the promises God had made to his people were fulfilled and there is a sense of profound completeness as the old and the new are brought together, but it’s not just a profound and powerful moment for Israel, it is a powerful moment for all people because this Savior wasn’t just for Israel, he was for everyone and God has always said that.

When God chose Abraham He said that He would bless all nations and all people through him.  The promise God made was that through Abraham all the people of the world would be blessed which means they would be loved, saved and redeemed by God.  God never went back on that promise and through the prophet Isaiah God said that the Messiah would not just bring back those in Israel but He would be a light to the Gentiles so that He may bring God’s salvation to the ends of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6b)  God’s promise has always been that the Messiah was going to be for all people and when Simeon takes Jesus in his arms and the waiting is over for Israel, Simeon makes sure to state that light and salvation has come through this child for all.  Luke 2:30-32.

It’s a common theme we have heard all through Advent, the love of God and the salvation that God offers through Jesus Christ is for all.  The prophet Isaiah proclaimed it.  That shepherds were the ones to receive the news of Jesus birth and that Jesus was laid in a manger shows us that God came in humility so that all might be able to come to him.  That a star appeared in the sky and spoke to Magi far from Israel and far from God, it tells that God sent Jesus for all.  Simeon and Anna proclaim in the Temple that Jesus has come not just for those who are waiting for the Messiah but for all people.  God’s love has opened the door to all, will we enter in?  Will we take Jesus in our arms and hearts and lives?  

Simeon was willing to embrace Jesus.  It may not have been what he was looking for or expecting and in that moment he didn’t know all of what it all meant to call Jesus the savior of the world, but he reached out and received all that God had promised and all that God had to offer and that moment made Simeon complete.  Simeon shows us in that moment what it looks like for us to accept Jesus.  We have to set aside our preconceived ideas and be willing to set aside our control so that we can draw Jesus close however and wherever he comes.  We have to open our hearts to God and look into the eyes and heart of Jesus and accept the love and forgiveness He has to offer.  God’s love is here.  God’s salvation is here.  God’s promise to us is right here and the door is open to God’s love, will we step in and allow God to make our lives complete.

God’s love is open to us and God’s love is open to all, the door is open to all and so we need to share this love with all.  Simeon and Anna did that, they shared with all around them that God’s love was there for them to receive and that’s the same message we can share today.  God’s love is right here for all who want to receive.  God’s love is right here for us to receive.  We might be discouraged like Mary and Joseph or we might not be expecting God to come to us this way or this day, but God is here for us.  Let us receive God’s love  and let’s share it today.


Next Steps
Love’s Open Door

1.  In his book, Emmanuel, Michael Card says, having faith means waiting for God to keep His promises.
• What promise are you waiting for God to fulfill?
• How has God shown you that He hasn’t forgotten His promise as you wait?
• How has God already fulfilled His promise to you in Jesus?  How does the promise still need to be fulfilled?


2.  While Christmas is the celebration that God has come to us in Jesus, we continue to wait for Jesus to come again.
• As we wait we are called to lives of faith and trust.  Name one area of your life where you need to trust God more.  Offer that area to God and ask for His power to help you stand strong.
• As we wait we also worship.  Join us on Christmas Eve as we celebrate the birth of Jesus and proclaim once again that God’s love has opened the door for us all.


3.  Anna spoke about Jesus to all who were around her.
• Who in your life needs the power of God’s love?
• Who needs to hear about the salvation God offers?
• How can you share the good news of Jesus with them this week?


4.  Take time on Christmas Day to read the Christmas story found in Luke 2:1-20 and give thanks for the great gift of God’s love given to us ALL in Jesus Christ.

UNFROZEN ~ Do You Want To Meet A Savior?

In Luke’s telling of the Christmas story, it is the shepherds who wanted to meet the Savior who had been born.  In fact, they were so excited to meet him that it says they hurried off to Bethlehem where they found Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus lying in a manger.  In Matthew’s telling of the Christmas story, the heavenly hosts declaring that a savior had been born was a star and the outcasts who hear the message weren’t shepherds but Magi, or a combination astronomer/astrologer, from the East.  That a star proclaimed the birth of Jesus to Magi far away, it tells us that Jesus wasn’t coming for a select few but for all people.  Just as we heard last week, the reach of God is not limited, God reaches out to all and God loves all, but we have to be willing to respond to God’s love.  We have to be willing to Go To God which is exactly what the Magi did.  They started a journey to find this new born King.

Now I know this blows apart most nativity scenes that we see, but the Magi didn’t arrive at the stable the night Jesus was born and they weren’t there with the Shepherds and Angels.  We condense the Christmas stories from Matthew and Luke when we put our nativity scenes together, which is fine, but if we really listen to Matthew’s story, if the star appeared at the birth of Jesus it would have taken the Magi some time to understand it’s meaning, plan their journey and then there would be the journey itself.  While we don’t know where they started, we assume it was somewhere in Persia which means it would have been close to 1,000 miles away, which would have taken then several months to get there.  

What really tells us that the Magi weren’t there at the time Jesus was born is that when Herod tried to destroy Jesus, he had all the children who were two years old and younger killed, which tells us that Jesus may have been up to two years old by the time the Magi arrived.  What’s interesting to think about is that while the shepherds made the journey in a few hours, it took the Magi months to find him which shows us the level commitment and excitement the Magi had in finding this new king.  They really wanted to meet him, but not all in this story were as excited.
Herod clearly did not want to meet a Savior.  Herod was made the ruler of Judea by the Romans in 40 BC and three years later when he conqueror the city of Jerusalem he claimed for himself the title, King of the Jews.  Herod was a ruthless leader who did all he could to keep his power and position.  Herod had many in his own family killed in order to keep his reign and so it’s not surprising to hear he would have children killed to protect to his power.  When the Magi arrived to declare that a new king had been born and that a star had declared it to the world, Herod wasn’t interested in meeting this king, he wanted to kill him.  Not everyone in the Christmas story wanted to meet a savior.

For Herod, a new king in Israel meant he would lose his throne which meant losing his position, authority and control.  Not only was Herod’s power in danger, every aspect of his life was going to be challenged and so while he made a pretense of wanting to welcome this new King, he really wanted no part of him.  Herod didn’t want to lose his control, he didn’t want to give up being in charge of his own life and sometimes that is why we struggle to accept Jesus as our savior as well.  We don’t want to surrender control and have every part of our life challenged by the authority of a new king.

Many people today struggle to meet a savior and don’t want to accept Jesus because they don’t want to give over the control and direction of their lives.  If following Jesus means allowing Jesus to guide where we go and what we do – we don’t always want that.  The truth is that we like to be in control of our lives and we like to make all the decision and we honestly think that we know what is best for us.  At least I did.

During college I thought I knew what was best for me so I started as a hotel management major.  I switched to Chinese studies for about a month and then decided to go into TV production.  I decided to transfer to another university for this major but that didn’t work out so ended up back at Michigan State.  Each decision I made I was sure was what I should be doing.  I thought I knew what was best.  All I can say is that God was very patient with me and many years later I finally gave in to God’s will and made the decision to become a pastor.

Many people stay away from Jesus because they think that giving God control will mean giving up everything they enjoy in life.  Many people stay away from meeting their savior because all they hear about is the service, sacrifice and suffering that is called for in following Jesus and who wants that for the rest of their lives?  What we forget, however, is that when we give to God we get so much more in return and what we get in return are those things money can’t buy.  Some of the greatest adventures in life have been journeys of faith and service.  Think about the Magi – what an adventure it must have been for them to travel 1,000 miles in search of a new king and what joy they must have experienced when the star they had been followed stopped over a house in Bethlehem.  Was it easy?  No.  Was it comfortable?  Probably not.  Was it exciting and worthwhile?  Absolutely.

Taking the risk to meet our Savior is always exciting and always worthwhile.  Look at Mary and Joseph?  They had to surrender their lives to God, it could not have been an easy nine months leading up to Jesus’ birth and not an easy time afterward, but God was with them and when they were in danger - God took care of them.  God appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to leave Bethlehem and flee to Egypt where they would be safe from Herod.  Because they were willing to open their hearts and lives to God – God was there to care for them.

When we are willing to open our hearts and lives to God, He will be there.  When we are willing to step out and meet our Savior and accept Jesus for who he is, problems don’t go away and struggles don’t disappear  but God is there to help us.  The good thing about having a savior, the good thing about having this savior, is that he is here for us.  When things get difficult – Christ is here.  When we are afraid, uncertain, and seem to be losing so much in life – Jesus is here to help us, heal us, love us and give us the hope we need.
When I read about Herod this week, I wondered what would have happened if he had chosen to go with the Magi to meet Jesus?  What if Herod had wanted to meet not just a savior but his savior?  How might his life have been different?  Herod was obsessed with losing his power and authority – which in the end he did anyway – could he have experienced peace if had come to Jesus and given his heart?  Could Herod have ruled the region with strength and honor for a longer period of time if he had allowed God to rule in his life?  While we don’t know, what we do is that this Herod died not long after his encounter with the Magi.  Historians date Herod’s death at 4 BC, which would have been 2 years after this encounter.

Herod didn’t want to meet a Savior, what about you?  Do we want to meet our savior today?  Saying yes takes some risk and it might mean allowing God to lead us in a new direction.  Saying yes might mean giving God the ability to guide our lives and giving him control.  Saying yes might bring us lose – but as Jesus said, it is only when we are willing to lose our lives that we actually find life.  Do we want to meet our savior?  Are we willing to come to Jesus and allow him to have our hearts and lives?  What the story of Herod and the Magi tell us is that meeting our savior and accepting Jesus love and grace and power leads to life: life abundant and life eternal.  Choosing not to meet our savior and rejecting God’s love leads to a life without love and in the end just leads to death.


There is one more thing that meeting our savior leads to and that is a heart and life that grows in its desire to give.  The magi didn’t come to Jesus empty handed, they came with gifts.  It’s not that God demanded gifts from them or us, but when our hearts meet the heart of Jesus, we suddenly want to give.  The Magi gave gold, frankincense and myrrh.  What gift can we give?  What gift can we give to Jesus today?  What gift of our heart, hands or lives can we give to Jesus today?

As we close this morning, we want to provide you a few moments to think about this and if you want, share your thoughts with others.  You can write down your answers on the next steps and place them in the gift box that will be in the lobby or you can pull out your smart phones and post your gifts on our facebook wall.  Sharing the gift you would bring to Jesus with others might inspire them to give in the same way or it might inspire them to come and meet a savior who has changed our hearts and lives so dramatically.  Share your thoughts with others and in this season share the gift of your love and life with God and with all those God places in your life.  Your giving may be what draws others to want to meet their savior.



Next Steps
Do you want to meet a Savior?

1.  Re-read Matthew 2:1-18 and reflect on these questions:
• Why did Herod act in such an evil way?
• When are we tempted to NOT want to meet a savior and why?
• God showed his love to the Magi, Mary, Joseph and Jesus by speaking to them and keeping them safe from Herod.  When have you experienced God’s protection and love?

2.  Holidays often tend to highlight the problems in our lives.  What problem are you and/or your family facing today?  Use this prayer to help face these problems with faith:

Dear God, Just as you loved and cared for Joseph, Mary and you Son Jesus, and protected them from King Herod; I ask you to love and care for me and my family.  Protect us as we face our own problems.  Lord Jesus, come and be my Savior.  AMEN

3.  The Magi brought gifts to give Jesus.  What three gifts can you give to Jesus today?  Share with others and post them on the Faith Church facebook page.

UNFROZEN ~ Let Us Go

One of the most surprising aspects of the Christmas story is its simplicity and humility.  We might have expected that the son of God, a child of the divine, would have been born in a palace surrounded by servants and waited on by the wealthy, but he wasn’t.  It would have made sense that God’s son would have entered this world in a place of importance and the city that was known as the only place on earth where God actually lived, which was Jerusalem, but he didn’t.  At the very least the birth of God’s son should have been announced to world leaders like the royalty of today, but even that didn’t happened.  God’s palace was a stable, his crib a manger, the city was Bethlehem and the announcement went to ordinary workers.  The story of God’s son coming into the world in flesh and blood has only one spark of glory and that is the hosts of heavenly angels praising God and announcing Jesus birth over the hillsides of Bethlehem, but the only ones there to hear it were the shepherds.

 Why did God choose to enter into the world this way?  Why choose humility and not worldly honor?  Why choose poverty and not praise and glory?  Two reasons come to mind.  The first is that God is making a statement that His kingdom is not going to look like the kingdoms of this world.  The nations of this world are ruled by Kings and leaders who are set apart and given privilege – which often leads to pride.  They are giving all the splendor of this world which often leads to selfishness and riches which can easily lead to ruin.  God is making a statement in the birth of Jesus that His kingdom is going to be different and the focus is going to be the power found in humility and an eternal life and love that come through sacrifice and service.

The second reason Jesus came into this world through a stable is that a stable was open to everyone.  Not everyone could enter a palace.  Not everyone would feel comfortable or be welcomed in a palace, but a stable is different.  A king would enter a stable to find his horse but so would shepherds and servants.  The choice of a stable means God was making a choice to come to everyone, not just a chosen few.  By coming in humility God says he is coming for all.

The first people to welcome Jesus also tell us that God was coming for all because the shepherds of Bethlehem were pretty ordinary people.  They were hard working servants of the wealthy and religious who because of their job working with sheep were often considered outcasts and unclean.  These were not people able to worship in the Temple or live among their family and friends so it seems to be a pretty unlikely group of people to first get the news of the Messiah’s birth and yet God chose them to make a statement that He had come for all.  No one was beyond the limits of God’s reach.

Today that message is still the same – no one is beyond the limits of God’s reach.  God is here for everyone.  God loves everyone.  It doesn’t matter our past or present, it doesn’t matter how rich or how talented we are, how smart or pretty or accomplished we are – God has come for all of us and we all have the same choice as the shepherds did that night: we can let this message of God’s love for us go or we can go and check it out.  Let it go might be a catchy Disney song, but it was not the response of the shepherds, look at what they said – Luke 2:15.

Let us go.  The shepherds didn’t let it go, they didn’t let the news of Jesus birth go – they went to check it out and what they found at the manger changed their lives.  When they found a child wrapped in strips of cloth and laying in a manger it changed their lives because that child confirmed what the angels said which was that this child was not just a savior, and not just the world’s savior but their savior.  Look at Luke 2:11.  A savior has been born for you.  This was their savior, their king, their God and instead of letting it go – they went to find him.

They were not the first ones or the only ones to do this, however.  Mary and Joseph faced the same choice.  They could let it go or they could go.  When the angel Gabriel came to Mary and Joseph and told them that they were going to be parents of the Messiah – they could have let it go and followed the easy road and left God behind, but they didn’t, they said, let us go and together they went.
When a star appeared in the sky on the night Jesus was born the Wisemen who saw it could have said, let it go, it’s just a new king in a far away land, but they didn’t, instead they said, let us go and worship this new king, and so began a journey of following the star.  They all had choices to make when they heard about this new king, the son of God and their choice was to Go TO God and to Go WITH God.  This is the same choice we face today.

Today we can let it go and allow this message of God’s love and salvation to just remain out there or we can say, let us go and we can come to God and find the salvation, freedom and life God has for us.  God has taken the first step by coming to us, it’s now our turn to take a step toward God.  It’s time for us to Go TO God.  That step toward God for Mary and Joseph meant yielding their own will to the will of God.  It meant they no longer lived in ways that put themselves first but put God first and others second.  Mary had to put God first and forget about what other people thought and Joseph not only had to put God first but then he had to put Mary’s needs before his own.  Coming TO God changes our priorities and perspective.  We don’t live according to the ways of the world and the values of the society around us, we live according to the word of God and the values of God’s kingdom of love.  We stop placing ourselves first and put God first.

When we say, let us go TO God, it means we allow God to enter our hearts and lives and give direction to how we live, but then there is the second step.  We have to Go WITH God.  After the shepherds found Jesus and knew that they had found God’s son, their Savior, their lives were changed and they left that meeting WITH God.  They went forth praising God and sharing with people all that they had seen and heard.  They went into the world sharing this good news of God’s love with others and that is part of what it means for us to Go with God.  The story of Jesus and the love of God is not something we can just keep for ourselves; it is something we need to share.  This has always been a story that has needed to be shared.

On the night Jesus was born creation itself proclaimed that Jesus was born by placing a star in the sky and the hosts of heaven broke forth in songs of joy.  This is a message that still needs to be shared and so we need to find ways to go into the world and share what we know of God and what we know of Jesus with others.  Whether we know a little or a lot, whether we have walked with Jesus for a few days or a lifetime, we need to share what we can about God’s love for us and the difference that Jesus makes.

The shepherds didn’t know much about Jesus, in fact they didn’t know anything all.  All they knew was that the baby laying in the manger was the Savior of the world.  They couldn’t say how or why or when or what, all they knew was who – that child was the Savior and that is what they shared.  We don’t have to have any answers, we just need to be willing to go and share what we do know about God’s love and invite others to come and see what Jesus is all about.

This season is a great time to share the news of Jesus because people are open to it.  People are often looking for an invitation to worship with someone on Christmas Eve.  Lots of people want to find ways to help others in this season and share God’s love.  Many people are trying to find ways to make this season something more than just giving and getting presents.  People are open to hearing about Jesus and the love of God and so this is a great time for us to simply share what we know.  We can do that through a Christmas card to friends and neighbors, or sending an invitation to worship on Christmas Eve to a coworker.  We can go caroling in our neighborhood or take our family or small group and go sing to one of our shut-ins.

Everyone who came to Jesus and accepted his love, grace and truth had to make the decision to go and share it.  The disciples were also given the mandate to go into all the world and share what they knew – to make disciples – and they went.  Are we willing to go?  Are we as a church willing to Go WITH God and share his love and grace to people and in places that might be new to us?

Let it go might be a catchy tune, but it is a lousy response to Jesus.  The response God is looking for is the same one given by the shepherds the night Jesus was born, Let us go.  Let us go TO Jesus and then once we have accepted his love and grace, let us go WITH Jesus and share his love with others.


Next Steps
Let Us Go

1.  Take time to reflect on the story of Jesus birth found in Luke 2:1-20
• What does Jesus being born in a stable tell us about the nature and character of God?
• What were the first words said by the shepherds after being told that a Savior had been born?
• Why did God reveal this to shepherds?
• What did they do with this news?
• What did they do after they saw Jesus?
• Who first shared the news and love of Jesus with you?
• How did they do this?

2.  What does it mean for you to go TO God?  Where does forgiveness need to bring you healing?  Where does God need to strengthen you?  How can you actually go TO God?

3.  What ways can you go WITH God in this holiday season and share with others the love and grace of God?
• Invite family, friends, coworkers and neighbors to Christmas Eve worship (postcards available)
• Donate items or time to Toys for Tots (December 15th at the Food Bank)
• Help distribute Food Bank Christmas Boxes to the Brokerhoff residents (December 19 at 9:00 AM)
• Provide for a family in need
• Go caroling as a family or small group to one of our shut-ins
• Sign up to help with the Christmas Day Dinner or provide food for the meal (sign-up in the lobby)

Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the LORD has told us about.  (Luke 2:15)

UNFROZEN ~ Frozen Hearts

Whether it is unrest in Ferguson or the terror brought on by ISIS, the world is not what we would want it to be.  Love, justice and peace are hard to find.  There is uncertainty about our economy, growing tensions in the Middle East and Ebola continues to bring devastation and death to our brothers and sisters in Sierra Leone.  There seems to be less desire for God but a never ending appetite for entertainment and media and while we have more ways to be connected, we are making less real connections with the people who matter to us the most.  The end result of all this is anxiety, fear, disappointment and discouragement.  The end result is frozen hearts that struggle to give and receive love and find hope.  While things might look dark around us and in us, the world today isn’t that different from the world Jesus entered 2000 years ago.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Israel was occupied by the Roman Empire which didn’t give God’s people a lot of freedom or stability.  The Roman government taxed the people of Israel heavily and so between their taxes and their offerings to God, the rich seemed to get richer but most people struggled to survive from day to day.  Sound familiar?  Life was hard and people had a hard time seeing God working around them which meant they struggled to understand and accept God’s love and find hope.  Like many people today, their hearts were frozen.

The world of Jesus, however, wasn’t that different from the world 700 years before Jesus because at that point in time God’s people also faced huge challenges and deep darkness.  As a nation, Israel faced such deep internal struggles that they had split into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel.  A series of good and then bad kings weakened the faith and stability of each kingdom which meant that they faced growing threats from the nations around them: Assyria to the north and Egypt to the south.  There was ongoing anxiety, discouragement, fear and disappointment and the people wondered where God was in the midst of it all.  Their hearts were frozen but God didn’t abandon them to the cold.

Around 745 BC, when Israel was divided and facing almost certain destruction from the Assyrians, God called a prophet named Isaiah to go and speak to his people and for close to 50 years God spoke through Isaiah.  Some of God’s messages were pretty harsh and honest about what was going on and how people had failed and needed to open their eyes to what they were doing and how they needed to change their attitudes and actions toward God and others, but other messages were filled with love and hope.  God reached out to the frozen hearts of his people and through Isaiah God assured them that He had not forgotten them and that no matter what, God still loved them.  God had not forsaken his people but promised to send them someone to help.  God promised them a savior.  Look at Isaiah 9:2-7.

God knew his people were walking in darkness. He knew they were struggling to find their way, wrestling with doubt and fear and that on their own they weren’t going to make it.  God knew that their darkness wasn’t going to be overcome unless he sent them light or help so God promised to send them a savior who would be a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.  Each of these titles would have given hope to God’s people and been an encouragement to them to keep going.

The people knew they needed a counselor who could help them make sense out of all the confusion and chaos they were living in daily.  They needed guidance and direction from a divinely appointed leader who could help them in this world and not the kings who would come and go and rule in their own strength and wisdom.  They needed a Mighty God who could lead them against the strong armies of their enemies.  They needed an Everlasting Father who would nurture them and care for them and they longed for a Prince of Peace who would establish a reign and rule of peace and prosperity that would allow them to experience all in life that God said he had for them.  This message of a Savior encouraged God’s people; it brought light into their darkness and it started to thaw hearts that had been frozen by fear and discouragement.

So it was God’s word through Isaiah and the promise of a savior that brought hope to God’s people but that hope didn’t last.  When the promised Savior didn’t come quickly, the people once again got discouraged.   When God’s promise wasn’t fulfilled fast enough, the people grew impatient and their impatience led to hearts once again growing cold.  Does that sound familiar?

While the promise of God here to help us brings encouragement, when the help doesn’t come when we want it and how we want it, we get impatient.  Doubt creeps in.  Discouragement enters and begins to freeze our hearts and that is what happened to God’s people in the days of Isaiah.  Their hearts grew cold and so God’s response was to keep sending them His word to remind the people of his promise.  Throughout his life, Isaiah told the people that God would send a Savior.  He told them repeatedly that God’s hand would help them and then when Isaiah died God sent other prophets who stepped in and continued to share this message of hope.  From generation to generation God kept speaking to His people telling them that a Savior would come.  God kept sending hope because the people continued to need it.  For 700 years God reminded his people about the promise of savior and that promise kept their hearts and faith from freezing solid.

When Jesus finally arrived in Bethlehem he was that word God promised through Isaiah come in the flesh.  Look at John 1:1-5.  So the word of God spoken through Isaiah was now flesh and blood and lying in a manger and the light of God began to shine in the world in a new way.  Jesus was the light of God and his presence and love thawed the frozen hearts and lives of God’s people.  In Jesus, people could now see the power and love of God making a difference.  They saw people healed and restored.  They saw the power of forgiveness lift people up and reconcile families and change communities.  They saw good triumph over evil and even life over death so that the cold hardness of their hearts began to melt away and people began to experience the love of God.  The promise of God which had encouraged people for 700 years was now the son of God in the flesh which brought people life.  Hearts were unfrozen.
That’s what I love about reading the gospels and hearing the stories of Jesus.  There is so much passion in Jesus that it sets people on fire and brings them life.  There is such a radical life changing love of God that Jesus brings to people that it changes everything.  The fire of God’s love melted hearts and lives and communities and as people came to Jesus they experienced the fullness of life and the fullness of joy and the fullness of God’s kingdom.

But the problem we face today is that the person of Jesus didn’t remain in this world.  After his death and resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven and God sent the Holy Spirit into the world so that the power of God could now dwell with us and as Jesus ascended he promised that he would come again.  It has been 2,000 years and Jesus has not yet come back and while the Holy Spirit is here to help us and guide us and care for us, we get impatient and our doubt and fears grow and we get discouraged and the growing darkness causes our hearts to grow cold and just like in the days of Isaiah our hearts freeze over.  While the promise of our Savior returning brings hope, our waiting brings doubt and anxiety and so our frozen hearts ask, “Where is God?  Where is God’s love and grace?  Where is God’s goodness and power?”

Where is God?  God is right here.  Jesus made a promise that when he left this world that he would still be with us.  Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  So God is right here.  The single light of the advent wreath reminds us that in the midst of the darkness of doubt and fear, God is right here.  In the midst of the disappointment and despair we so often see around us, God is right here.  In the midst of our own frustration that life and family and job and friends aren’t what we want them to be, God is right here.

At times our hearts and lives may feel cold and frozen, but the light of God brings warmth and a fire which can melt our hearts and change our lives but only if we will allow it to.  Our hearts can only become unfrozen if we will allow God to love us and forgive us.  It is love that casts out fear, it is love that overcomes doubt, it love that lifts despair and it is love that softens and melts hearts and it has always been God’s love that has done this.

It wasn’t just God’s word that brought people hope, it was also God’s love because it was God’s love that brought forth the word of hope.  Why do you think God spoke into the darkness of His people 700 years before Jesus?  It was because God loved them and God made this clear to his people through Isaiah.  God didn’t just send messages about a coming Savior, he sent them messages about his never failing love.
Isaiah 41:9-10,
Isaiah 43:1-3a,
Isaiah 54:10

It is God’s love that melts frozen hearts.  It was God’s love through the words of Isaiah, God’s love through the word made flesh in Jesus and God’s love with us today that melts our frozen hearts.  God’s love is always here, always available and always powerful enough to help us through whatever it is we are going through and in this season of Advent as we think about the coming of Jesus in Bethlehem and the coming again of Jesus into our world we are reminded that it is the love of God seen most clearly in the person of Jesus that brings us hope and life.  The apostle John said that there is no greater love than this, that we lay down our lives for our friends and that is what God did for us in Jesus and when we believe this and accept God’s love for ourselves – it brings us life.  It is this love of God spoken through the prophets and lived through Jesus that can be accepted into our hearts and lives and when it arrives, it melts and thaws and changes forever our frozen hearts.

Sometimes God provides just the right illustration at just the right time to communicate his message and he did that yesterday.  What does the love of God thawing frozen hearts in this world look like today?  It looks like this:

Portland OR Police Officer giving hug to African American boy in wake of Ferguson Protests.

Love breaks through fear, mistrust, hatred and despair and love brings hope.  This is what love unfreezing hearts looks like today and it is the light shining in the darkness.  Thank God his love is still alive.
Next Steps
Frozen Hearts

1.  What are the fears, doubts and disappointments that keep your heart frozen?

2.  God tried to thaw the hearts of his people Israel by giving them a message about a Savior through the Prophet Isaiah.  Read and reflect on how these words brought hope to God’s people then and how they continue to bring hope to us today
• Isaiah 7:14
• Isaiah 9:2-7
• Isaiah 11:1-16
• Isaiah 40:1-14, 25-31
• Isaiah 61:1-7.

3.  What does it mean to call Jesus a Wonderful Counselor? Mighty God?  Everlasting Father?  Prince of Peace?

4.  What do these names mean for you?  How has Jesus been your Counselor and Father?  How has He brought you peace?

5.  God helped thaw the hearts of His people by giving them a message of hope.  Take time during this Advent season to read God’s word of hope (the Bible) every day.  Use the family advent devotions (available in the lobby) as a guide for daily Bible reading.

6.  Share God’s message of hope with someone this week.


The people walking darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
Isaiah 9:2

G.I.V.E. ~ Effective

All month we have been talking about those things that help us GIVE.  Knowing that when we are generous we will be healthier and happier can move us to give.  We are often inspired to give by those we have seen live generous lives and when we have a vision of how our giving can change us and others and actually work to bring about God’s kingdom, it motivates to give and at times give sacrificially.  Jesus had this amazing ability to do all of this in people’s lives.  Last week we heard about how Zacchaeus was willing to give away half his possessions and pay back anyone whom he cheated 4 times the amount because Jesus helped him see a vision of who he could be and how God wanted him to live his life.  Jesus inspired people and helped them see a vision of God’s kingdom and the potential for their lives which moved them to give generously.  But there is one more thing Jesus was able to do which motivated people to give – he showed them that their giving was effective.  When people gave, it made a difference in their lives, the lives of others and even the larger community in which they lived.  When we know that our gifts will be effective, we will feel better about giving and in turn be more willing to give.

Today we have blessed and will send hundreds of shoeboxes to children around the world and one of the reasons we can so easily collect all these is because we know that each box will make a difference in the life of a child.  Each and every box will be opened by child who will be filled with joy and gratitude and appreciation.  Each box will be effective in changing the heart and life of a child and because it is given in Jesus’ name and contains information about the love of God and the gift of Jesus, the box can be effective in changing a child’s entire life and outlook and future.  The reason we don’t have to push Operation Christmas Child and work hard to encourage people to give to this is because we know our giving here will be effective.  We give when we know our giving will be effective and make a difference.

We are able to collect 500 cans of sweet potatoes because we know that the food boxes will make a difference in the life of a family this Christmas.  We know the food bank does a great job in screening families to make sure those in need get food and we know that most of the food is donated so it is an effective way for us to help feed those who are hungry

We will work hard to serve hundreds of meals on Christmas Day and we will do it with joy and enthusiasm because we know our giving to the Christmas Day dinner makes a difference in the lives of people who have nowhere else to go.  We have heard the stories of people who have said if it wasn’t for the church, they would have no one to talk to, no one to eat with, no one to be with on Christmas Day; so we know our giving there makes a difference.  It also makes a difference in the lives of the people who come here to help.  Remember giving generously brings health and happiness which means giving makes an effective difference in our lives.  Last year a family volunteered to help at the dinner just a few weeks after the sudden death of a family member.  They needed to not only be with other people they wanted and needed to help other people on Christmas Day so they came to serve in the dining room and just being here to help others made a real difference in their lives.

This church gave a lot to establish the Faith Centre and continues to give a lot to keep it going and we do this because we know that our giving makes a real difference in this community.  The Faith Centre is THE place where anyone and everyone who has a need goes to get help.  There have been people who have showed up at the Faith Centre when their water broke and they started to go into labor and the reason they went there is that they knew someone would help them.  That ministry makes a difference in our community and so we continue to support them and many of you support them with your time, energy, gifts and donations.

People want to give and are willing to be generous if we know that our giving is making a difference and the reason Jesus was able to call people to give so much of their lives to God and to his mission to bring forth the kingdom of God was because they could see that giving to Jesus was effective.  Giving to Jesus made a difference.  Look at John 6:5-14.
The last line there says that the people saw this as a miracle; they saw that Jesus was able to take this small gift of 5 loaves and 2 fish and feed thousands of people.  When we give to Jesus it makes a difference.  It also makes a difference in our lives – think about that little boy watching his gift feed so many people.  You have to believe it motivated him to give at other points in time in his life.  When we see our gifts change people’s lives it moves us to give joyfully and generously.

Jesus also shows us that our gifts to others can make a difference.  One day some men came together to give their paralyzed friend some help and so they picked the man up and carried him to Jesus.  When they couldn’t get through the crowd they carried the man to the roof and dug their way through and lowered him in front of Jesus and the Bible says that when Jesus saw their faith, he healed the man.  It was when Jesus saw the faith and the hard work and determination of the friends that he healed the man.  In that moment those men knew that their giving was effective – it made a real and lasting difference in the life of their friend.

So when people gave money or possessions to Jesus, he used those gifts effectively and changed situations and lives and when people gave their time to Jesus or to people in need, those gifts also made a difference.  People also gave their lives to Jesus because they knew that following Jesus and living for him would be more effective than living without Jesus and following their own way.  The disciples followed Jesus and gave him all they had because Jesus was making a difference in their lives.  They found more purpose and satisfaction in following Jesus than in fishing or tax collecting or any other job they had.  Giving to Jesus made a difference in their lives and so they kept on giving.

But it’s not just giving to the person of Jesus that is effective, so is giving to God through the church and from the very beginning of the church there has been a call to support it with our gifts.  In Acts 2 we find the church has just been formed and the people started to pool their resources for the work of the church - Acts 2:42-47.  
So worship, mission, outreach and fellowship were all supported by the gifts of the people and people gave to the church because they knew that what they were doing was making a difference in their lives, the lives of those around them.  They knew that giving to the church was changing people’s lives, look at verse 47(b) – the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.  People continued to give not because they were ordered to or because it was the new law of the church, they gave because God was calling them to give and because they knew their gifts to the church were effective in all kinds of ways.

My hope and prayer is that people still see giving to the church as an effective way to change people’s lives, change communities and change the world.  Beyond shoeboxes, sweet potatoes and the Christmas Dinner, giving to the church is effective because like Jesus, what we seek to do in the church is to change people’s hearts and lives.  Think about it, Jesus did provide food for the crowds, but he also taught people that it is important to trust God for what we need.  And while Jesus did heal people physically, he also taught people the importance of living in ways that bring healing and hope into our lives and the lives of others.  Jesus taught us to forgive and to seek forgiveness which can heal us in ways doctors and medicine and surgery can’t.

While Jesus often called us to change our actions what he really wanted was a change of heart and that is something we can do which few other organizations and institutions can.  While the government can feed people – they can’t tell people about the God who provides us with all the food and who will always care for us if we will trust in Him.  Schools can educate but they can’t tell children about the God who loves them so much that he has a purpose for them and a plan to prosper them if they will trust Him.  And health care might get us to doctors and hospitals but the affordable care act does not bring hope and healing like Jesus can.  What the church has to offer is a relationship with God that can make a real and lasting and eternal difference in people’s lives and that is what Jesus offered and that is what we as the body of Christ today can still offer.
So it’s important for us to give to the church because what we do is helping shape people’s hearts and lives and teach the next generation that living the way Jesus shows us and teaches us makes a real difference.  This week I heard from a couple who said “having Mark come up and share helped us to start thinking about ways to encourage our child to begin developing a lifestyle of generosity.”  That’s the power and importance of the church.  We can model for one another what living for God looks like with the hope that our lives will inspire, encourage and cast a vision of how others can follow Jesus.  We are seeking to do what government and social agencies can’t do and that is establish a faith and trust in God that shapes values and morals that can improve people’s lives and the world in which we live.

A few years ago we were offered a chance to partner with head start in our daycare, but if we did there were going to be certain times when we weren’t going to be able to talk about God.  We said, thanks, but no thanks.  Talking about God whenever and however we wanted to and needed to is important to who we are.  It is what sets us apart from other organizations and we aren’t going to compromise on that.  Talking about God can bring more lasting and eternal changes to the hearts and lives of children and families and that is more effective than anything else we do.  Families from our daycare and playschool say that their children are coming home and saying grace before a meal and they say the ones they have learned here.  Teaching children about Jesus in VBS, Sunday School and Children’s Church makes a difference in the lives of our children and their families and it is make a real difference in our life as a church and in the community in which we live.  

I can tell you that giving to the church so that we can come together to show the community the love of Jesus is making a difference in this community.  I hear about it all the time.  Many leaders in the community say to me that this church is making a difference.  Parents tell me that this church is making a difference in the lives of children, youth and families.  What we are seeking to do in Sierra Leone is making a difference in a nation that is being torn apart again and is going to struggle once Ebola is contained to rebuild.  Giving to the church is effective.  Yes, sometimes our giving to the church is to keep the lights on and the carpets cleaned and the ministry going, but the life of Faith Church is making a difference in this community.  We are being effective both here and around the world and so we can give with confidence that our gifts of time, energy, prayers and money are all worthwhile.

While this is not a specific call for us to all give more to the church, it is a reminder that God has shown us that generous giving to God through the church is the way God wants to work in the world.  Giving to the church is one of the most effective ways we can give because what we do here makes a difference in people’s lives and it makes a real difference in families and our community and communities around the world and it makes an eternal difference in all of our souls.  We are created in the image of God and the very first thing God did was to give – to give light and life to the this world.  So it is in our spiritual DNA to give.  We were created to give and wired to give and Jesus knew this which is why he called people to give.

God’s giving made a difference and so Jesus knew that people wanted to give in ways that would also make a difference so he showed us how our gifts of food, money, time and faith are effective and the more we give the more we will receive.  The more we give the more of an inspiration we will be and the more we give the more of a vision of God’s kingdom we lift up for others to see.  So the more we GIVE the more our lives become an invitation and inspiration for others to GIVE.


Next Steps
G.I.V.E ~ Effective

1.  Read and reflect on how Jesus shows us that giving to God and others is an effective use of time, faith, money, possessions and lives:
• Matthew 4:18-22 – The calling of the fishermen
• Luke 17-26 – Jesus heals the paralytic
• John 6:5-14 – A boy gives his lunch
• Acts 2:42-47, 4:32-35 – The church gives to others

2.  Identify ways in which giving to the church is effective.  How does the church help change lives?  Families?  Our Community?  World?

3. During the following weeks, here are some ways to give to God and others that can make a difference:
• Attend next Sunday’s Essence of Joy concert
• Donate food, money or pies to the Christmas Dinner
• Volunteer to help with the Christmas Dinner
• Support the Faith Centre (Food Bank, toys for tots)
• Consider alternative gift giving and donate money to the church or charities instead of giving gifts
• Set aside money for the Christmas Eve Offering which will go to Sierra Leone
• Support a needy family through the holidays
• Commit to being in worship through Advent as a gift of time and worship to God

4. Giving Thanks is always an effective use of our time in prayer.  Set aside time this week to say thank you to God.

Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon His name; make known His deed among the people. 
1 Chronicles 16:8

In everything, give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.  
1 Thessalonians 5:18

G.I.V.E. ~ Vision

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and it has nothing to do with the Turkey, stuffing, football or shopping, it has to do with the story of the Pilgrims.  While political correctness has tried to rewrite the events of those who came over on the Mayflower, I still find their story inspiring.  Here was a group of people who were willing to give everything they had to start life over in a new land.  They faced the hardships of weather and disease that in the first year claimed the lives of half their company.  What inspires me about their story is the hard work needed in order to survive in the new land but also the generosity of the Native Americans who in many ways were their salvation, but what really inspires me is thinking about what caused them to leave England in the first place - vision.

The pilgrims had a vision of what it would be like to live in freedom.  They wanted to worship freely and live freely and it was this vision of freedom and faith that moved them to give up all that they knew and the comfort of their homes and family and the assurance of food and safety in order to set sail for the new world.  Why I like their story so much is because they teach us that we will be willing to give if we have a clear and compelling vision.  Whether it is our time, money, energy, possessions or even life itself, we will give and give generously when we have a strong and clear vision.    

Today I want us to look at 3 biblical stories where vision helped people to give.   Now when I talk about vision I am not talking about those things we can see with our eyes, I’m talking about what God helps us see by faith.  Vision is seeing the better future God has for us and there are several ways God can help us see this.  In one story a man saw a problem so gave what he had to solve the problem; in another a man saw potential for his life and the world so he gave what he had to make a difference and in the third story a man saw a person and gave all he had to bring hope and salvation to the world.  In all three stories, however, it was a God inspired vision that caused each of them to give and to give generously.  The first story is about Nehemiah.

In 586 BC, the city of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians.  The temple was destroyed and the walls of Jerusalem were torn down.  Most of the Jewish people were carried off in chains and lived in captivity.  About 50 years later the Babylonian Empire was taken over by the Persians and in 516, 70 years after the temple had been destroyed, the people of Israel were allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.  The city of Jerusalem, however, still laid in ruins and the walls, which were there to give the people protection, had not been rebuilt.  70 years after the Temple had been rebuilt, Artaxerxes was king of Persia and Nehemiah was his cup bearer.  Nehemiah was a from a Jewish family that had been living in Persia since the fall of Jerusalem and when he heard that the city of Jerusalem still laid in ruins and that the walls had not been rebuilt, it broke his heart.  Nehemiah 1:2-4.

Nehemiah saw a problem.  It was a disgrace for the city of God to be unprotected and lying in ruins and it was this vision that stirred his heart.  Nehemiah wanted to do something to solve the problem and so he began to give.  He started by giving his time to God in prayer, and then through prayer God gave him faith that something could be done and a solution to the problem was found.  Nehemiah led a group of people to Jerusalem where they began to rebuild the walls.  Because of his position as a cup bearer to the king, Nehemiah was able to ask the king for help, and the king was moved by Nehemiah’s passion and vision so he not only gave him permission to go but he also gave him resources needed to rebuild the walls.

Sometimes it’s the problems we see that cause us to give.  We haven’t seen firsthand the problems and effect of Ebola on the lives of people in Sierra Lenoe, but we have seen with our hearts and so people have started to give.  When the Bishop says the situation is hopeless and that his people, our people, God’s people are starving, we have a vision of helping solve the problem in any way we can.  We haven’t seen firsthand the people in our own community who are hungry but we can see them in our hearts and minds and so are willing to give.  We won’t see the children who will receive the shoeboxes we are putting together, but we have a vision in our hearts of 500 children experiencing joy and so we give.  Many times it is the problems that we see that move us to give our time, money, faith and lives and so we give to be part of the solution.

It wasn’t until someone told Nehemiah about the situation in Jerusalem that he saw the problem and sometimes we don’t see great problems around us until someone tells us.  So let me share with you a problem.  Do you know that in our county the number of people who claim to be non-religious is growing?  The population is growing and the number of people who claim no faith at all is growing.  Worship attendance in UMC churches in our county is also declining.  While our attendance is up and has been up every year for the past 7 years, the same is not true for our county.  Are we willing to open our eyes and hearts and see this problem?  Like Nehemiah, the problem can lead to a vision to solve it if but only if we are willing to give.  The first thing Nehemiah did was pray and so maybe we need to just start praying and ask God to show us how we can be part of solving this problem.  Problems can lead to a vision of solving the problem which in turn can lead us to give.

The second story about how vision moves us and energizes us to give is about a tax collector named Zacchaeus.  If you grew up going to church or VBS than what you know about Zacchaeus was that he was a wee little man.  He was short and yet he wanted to see Jesus so he climbed up into a tree to watch as Jesus passed by.  This is from Luke 19:1-9,  

What happened to Zacchaeus during dinner that moved him to give away half of his possessions and pay back anyone he had cheated?  It was a vision of God’s kingdom.  Just by going to Zacchaeus home, Jesus made a statement about who Zacchaeus was.  He was not a hated tax collector who had no place in God’s family and no part in God’s kingdom; he was a child of Abraham.  Jesus opened Zacchaeus’ eyes and the eyes of his heart to see the full God given potential of what his life could be and what the kingdom of God was all about.  Zacchaeus could now see that the life God wants us to live is filled with acceptance and forgiveness and that we all need to work to make things right.  It was this vision that moved Zacchaeus to seek forgiveness and offer restitution.  It was a vision of God’s kingdom and the potential of a new life that was so compelling that Zacchaeus willingly gave all he had to see it become a reality.

Seeing the potential that God has for us and for our world can move us to give.  We give to the food bank and work hard to feed people on Christmas Day because we see the potential this ministry has to bring about God’s kingdom.  We know that what we do in Jesus’ name can and will change people and our community so we give to make the potential of God’s kingdom a reality.  We forgive people and we ask people to forgive us because we see the potential of what forgiveness can do in our families and n our community.  We work to help people and offer hope to people because of the potential power that brings to our world.

Jesus was the master of helping people see the kingdom of God and getting people excited about this vision so that they would willingly gave themselves to it.  Zacchaeus gave away most of his money to help make things right in his life and because it was what the kingdom of God was all about.  The disciples gave away jobs and careers because they saw greater potential in following Jesus.  They found more personal satisfaction for their own lives in following Jesus so they gave.  When we have a vision of what God can do in us and through us, it will move us to give and give generously.

Sometimes I get excited when I think about the potential of Faith Church.  When I look at what you have done in the past and the potential of what God can do through us in the future it motivates me to give.  We can build a school in Sierra Leone and partner with a Big Ten University to make it a success.  We can spread the gospel of Jesus Christ right here as we encourage our brothers and sisters to do the same thing on the other side of the globe.  We can change the heart of a child through 500 shoeboxes filled with gifts, we can feed our community on Christmas Day and we can live more fully and give more generously.  We can do all this because we have a vision of what God can do in us – we see God’s potential.
So the vision of a problem or the vision of God’s potential can cause us to give, but sometimes it is a person who causes us to give and that was true for Thomas.  Thomas was the disciple who was not in the upper room when Jesus first appeared after his resurrection.  All the rest of the disciples got to see Jesus alive and standing in front of them and that vision changed them, but Thomas didn’t get to see Jesus alive and so he couldn’t believe it was true.  A week later Jesus appeared again and this time Thomas was there and the vision of the risen Jesus forever changed Thomas.  John 20:26-28

This vision of Jesus changed Thomas forever and it moved him to give all he had.  It is believed that Thomas left this encounter with Jesus and at some point traveled East, all the way to India where he shared with the people his vision of the risen Jesus.  Thomas called them to place their faith and trust in Jesus as their Lord and God.  Many did and generations later when missionaries arrived in India they were surprised to find Christians who knew about Jesus and a man named Thomas who shared with them his vision of the risen son of God.  So the person of Jesus changed Thomas.

When we get a clear vision of Jesus it changes everything and while we won’t physically see Jesus standing in front of us like Thomas did (at least I never have), we can still see him in faith and trust.  Look at what Jesus says to Thomas – John 20:29.  We don’t physically see Jesus, but we can still have a vision of this person that can change us and excite us and cause us to give.  When we see Jesus in the scriptures, in prayer, in the world around us, in the problems and potential God has shown us, it will change us and move us to give in ways we never thought we would or could.  Everyone who encountered the person of Jesus gave.  It started at the manger where shepherds gave their praise to God and it ended after the resurrection where Thomas gave his future to God.  A vision of Jesus will move us to give and give all we have.

Without a vision of who God is, what God is doing and what God wants to do in us and in the world around us, we might give some but we won’t give all.  Generosity comes with vision.  Inspiration comes with a clear and compelling vision.  Giving requires vision and what can move us to give is seeing problems, potential and the person of Jesus.  May God open our eyes and the eyes of heart so we may see Jesus and the potential of God’s Kingdom and our lives.  

Next Steps
G.I.V.E. ~ Vision

God can develop His vision for us when we see
problems, potential or people.

1. Problems
• Read the story of Nehemiah’s found in Nehemiah 1-6,
• What problems in the community has God helped you see?
• What might be some solutions to these problem?
• What is God calling you to give in order to be part of the solution?
• What one step could you take to move forward this week?
• Pray for solutions and the courage to give.

2. Potential
• Read the story of Zacchaeus found in Luke 19:1-10.
• In the Lord’s Prayer we pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.  What aspect of God’s kingdom would you like to see formed in this world?   In our community?
• What can you give to make that potential become reality?
• What God given potential can be realized in your life and what do you need to give to make it happen?

3. Person
• Read the story of Thomas found in John 20:26-29.
• Why did seeing Jesus cause Thomas to give?
• Where and when have you seen Jesus and how did this vision change your vision of yourself or the world?
• How has seeing Jesus caused you to give?