Audience Of One

While I am not a Philadelphia Eagles fan, I am impressed with the quarterback who led them to a super bowl championship last year, Carson Wentz. 

Carson is a strong Christian and he was instrumental in leading many of his players to Christ.  Last year there were several stories of players being baptized in hotel pools and training room tubs.  Carson also leads a mission and ministry called, Audience of One or AO1.

The AO1 Foundation was founded in 2017 with the goal of uplifting individuals and communities around the world by demonstrating God's love for His people.  They do this through sports and outdoor adventures as well as distributing free food to those who are hungry.  While he plays football in front of millions of people during the season, Carson says he really lives his life for God alone, an audience of one.   

I first heard the phrase, audience of one, from my sister over 10 years ago.  She was a youth leader at a church in Lancaster and every few years that church sent out their youth choir on a tour.  It was always a highlight for the students and through the years they had not only performed at nursing home and churches, but one year they were featured on TV.  The director was in her last year of leading the choir and felt a calling to do a tour and concert for an Audience of One.  With my sister’s help, they found an amazing spot along the Blue Ridge Parkway where they could pull off, set up all their sound equipment, and perform a concert for God alone. 

It was a pretty radical idea.  There could be no spectators for the concert, so all chaperones had to sing in the choir and even the bus driver who took them there had to agree to stay on the bus.  Everyone in the choir had to commit to not only being at all the rehearsals but to also doing a yearlong devotional to prepare their hearts and lives for that day.  Some parents objected to this unique tour because it just didn’t seem like the right thing to do, and some of the students struggled to understand the concept.  They said it didn’t seem right to put in all that work and then have no one hear them.  Those parents and students kind of missed the concept. 

When it came time for the tour, nothing seemed to go as planned.  They didn’t know there would be a fee for taking a bus on the Blue Ridge parkway, so the students had to decide if their concert was worth chipping in extra money.  They took up a voluntary collection among themselves and got more than what they needed to pay the fee.  The day of the concert arrived and it was so foggy that they couldn’t see anything on the drive or at the location they had picked.  Not only couldn’t they see more than a few feet in front of them, but when they got off the bus they found the ground to be so wet that they worried about setting up all the electrical equipment.  Everyone was soaked from the knees down as they set up, but they got ready and began to sing. 

During the concert a few deer walked through the adjacent field.   They didn’t seem fazed by all that was going on and would often turn their heads to listen to the music.  Then some turkeys arrived and then the sun broke through the clouds.  Their Audience of One had shown up and poured out his blessing upon them.  My sister said she had never experienced anything like that in her life, and hasn’t since.  She said there was a very clear presence of God that moved among them.  She said there was a heaviness in the air, a spirit that moved her to tears and others to their knees, and they sang like they had never sung before.  As my sister shared the story with me again a few weeks ago, she spoke with such a profound sense of awe that I knew it had been a very moving and truly holy experience. 

As we sit at the end of 2018 and look to begin a new year, I ask myself if I can live 2019 for an Audience of One.  In this coming year can I, like Carson Wentz, make my motto, Colossians 3:17.  Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.  Do it all for an Audience of One.   Can I live my life this way and experience the awe and blessing of God’s presence throughout the year. 

To live for an audience of one means that I have to stop thinking about what is good for me and how to make myself look better in the eyes of others and how I can get ahead in this world and just focus on living for and pleasing God.  It means getting up every morning and dedicating the day, the schedule, the pain and problems, the hopes and dreams of my life to God.  It means going to bed at night thanking God for everything that has happened and asking God to shape the day to come.  It means setting Godly priorities for my life and committing my family to God, my job to God, my free time to God, my rest and my reflection to God.  It means truly living for God alone.  An Audience of One. 

There are two people we find in the New Testament who lived their lives this way, Simeon and Anna.  Both of these people had lived most of their lives in and around the Temple in Jerusalem.  In fact, in Luke 2:37 it says that Anna never left the temple but worshiped night and day.  Both of them were living their lives for the same thing, they were waiting for the Messiah.  They had been living for God alone, an audience of one, and they had been waiting for the Messiah to appear.  And then one day, without warning, Jesus arrives in the arms of his mother, Mary.  Luke 2:22, 25-32

Simeon had been told he would not die until he saw the Messiah and he had been living for that moment all his life.  He was living for an audience of one, and then it was as if the clouds parted and that One showed up.  At the very moment Simeon is praising God for the gift of the Messiah, Anna arrives.  Luke 2:38.  For 60 years Anna had lived in the Temple worshipping God, living for an audience of one, waiting for that One to appear and then on this day, at this moment, God in the flesh arrives, and she knows that her faith has been fulfilled, the redemption of Israel had come in Jesus.  Her Audience of One appeared. 

On that day, Simeon and Anna literally welcomed their audience of one – Jesus – into their lives, but they only had that experience because they had spent a lifetime living for God alone, and we learn from them some of what it means for us to live for an audience of one.  The first thing we learn is that living for God alone means waiting.  Luke 2:25. 

Simeon had been waiting for the consolation of Israel.  He had been waiting for the Messiah to come and save God’s people.  Waiting means patiently sitting and watching.  It means preparing and persevering.  It means not giving up when things don’t happen right away but being willing to keep going in faith even when we don’t see anything happen.  The picture that always comes to my mind when I think of someone waiting well is my mom. 

Throughout high school, my mom did a lot of waiting.  She waited for me after youth group because I would always hang around and talk to my friends after it was over.  She would wait for me at piano lessons and tuba lessons, quietly sitting in the car reading, knitting or grading papers.  She waited for me at band practice, choir rehearsals, youth retreats, and more events than I can remember.  She waited with patience and love, being willing to place my needs, my wants, and my life before her own.  This is how we are to wait for God.  Patiently, quietly, and faithfully putting God’s life and will before our own.

Waiting is not passive, however, it needs to be active.  Waiting for God means that we prepare our lives by doing all we can to grow closer to God.  Simeon didn’t just go to the Temple and hang out.  He would have studied God’s word, shared his faith by teaching and preaching, and he would have observed all that was going on around him in order to see the movement of God.  Waiting is not passive, it is active.  It is a time of preparation and growth.  Can we make 2019 a year of active waiting and commit to study, spiritual growth, prayer, and reflection? 

I want to invite you to live of an Audience of One and wait every day by committing to what I am calling a 5X5.  5 days of reading and 5 minutes of prayer.  We have included a 5 day reading plan that will lead you through the entire Bible in 2019, and while it only requires you to read 5 days a week, which can be a helpful schedule, I want to challenge us to pray for 5 minutes every day.  The prayer can be silent, reflective, the reading of God’s word, asking for help, praying for others, or praying for the world, but can we pray for 5 minutes every day.  This practice is one way we can train ourselves to live for an Audience of One and wait on God.

The second thing we see in Simeon is that he was full of the Holy Spirit.  In Luke 2 it says that the Holy Spirit was upon him, that the Holy Spirit spoke to him, and that the Holy Spirit moved him.  Living for an audience of one means asking God to fill us with his Holy Spirit.  Living for God alone is not easy.  When we commit to this way of life we will begin to find that many things will start to try and pull us away, so the only way for us to be faithful and follow through is if the Holy Spirit helps us and leads us.

Now here is what is amazing, for the Holy Spirit to rest upon us, fill us up, speak to us, and move us through our day, all we have to do is ask - Luke 11:11-13.  If we ask for the Holy Spirit to fill us and guide us, God will provide.  Part of our 5 minutes of prayer should be a simple request for God to send his Holy Spirit into our lives. 

The last thing we learn from Simeon and Anna about living for an Audience of One is that we need to commit ourselves to worship.  Anna worshipped God day and night.  She was committed to worship.  She committed herself to giving thanks and praising God and lifting up her needs and the needs of others.  She focused on God all through her day and she made worship a priority. 

Can we make worship a priority in 2019?  Studies show that most people who attend church regularly do so less than twice a month.  While this is a good place to start, this is not what it looks like to live for an Audience of One.  While corporate worship with God’s people might not always be possible with our schedules, can we make it more of a priority? 

Can we commit to not just being here, but maybe stepping out to serve and give while we are here?  From child care, to teaching, to greeting inside and outside, to running sound and multi-media, and to sharing our gifts of music and art, the talents and service of God’s people are needed to make weekly worship happen.  How can your commitment to live for an Audience of One shape your commitment and involvement in worship?  Like the trip my sister took where there could be no spectators, worship really is not a spectator sport.  We all need to be actively engaged and involved.  If you want to commit to serving in worship in some way during 2019, just take out the information card in the pews and let us know! 

While living each day for an Audience of One will involve so much more, as it will touch every thought, word, decision, and action, this is a great place to start. 
• Can we wait for God each day and listen for God to speak through his word? 
• Can we ask God each day to guide us by his Holy Spirit? 
• Can we make worship in 2019 a priority and give our gifts of time, talent, and service to the worship life of the church? 
If we do this, God will show up in our lives in very real ways and fill us with the power of his presence. 




 
Next Steps
Audience of One

1.  As you look back over 2018, what audience have you been living for?  If you were to live for an Audience of One – God – what would it look like:
• at home
• at work 
• with your use of time
• with your use of money

2.  What did living for God alone look like for Simeon and Anna?  Read Luke 2:22-40.

3. Memorize Colossians 3:17
Whatever you do, whether in word or deed,
do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.

4.  Wait on God. 
• Commit to the 5X5 Plan in 2019. 

5. Ask God for the Holy Spirit to fill you and guide you.

Almighty God, you have promised to those who ask that you will give the gift of the Holy Spirit.   Give me the gift of your Holy Spirit this day so that I may hear your voice, move according to your will, and find the courage to do all things for your glory.  For it is in Jesus name I pray.  AMEN


6. Make worship a priority in 2019. 
• Offer the gift of your time and talent to the worship life of Faith Church.
• Fill out an information card in the pew, or contact the church at office@bellefontefaith.com to get involved. 

Christmas Eve - The Light of God

I love nativity scenes.  I have a lot of them, and I enjoy taking out a few each year, and setting them up.  One of the things I enjoy the most about Nativity scenes are the animals.  I have a Native American scene that includes a wolf, but I don’t think there was a wolf at the first Christmas, but chances are good that there was a donkey, a sheep, and a camel.  What is interesting about these animals is that each one is connected to a person found in the Christmas story, and each person came to Bethlehem following some kind of light.  Tonight we come to this place looking for a light, a that can fill us and change us and brighten our world, and we are not disappointed because in Jesus we find the light of God’s plan, the light of God’s purpose, and the light of God’s promise – and it is this light that guides us to new life.

So let’s go back to the animals, the donkey is associated with Mary and Joseph, who made a long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  We don’t know that Mary and Joseph actually had a donkey on their trip, but considering Mary was pregnant at the time of their journey, chances are good that they used the help of a donkey.  But the donkey, and Mary and Joseph, didn’t follow the light of a star to Bethlehem, they followed the light of God’s plan. 

Nine months earlier, God spoke to both Mary and Joseph through an angel and it was that message that shed some light on their lives.  God told them that His plan was for them to help bring the Messiah, God’s Son, into this world.  Neither Mary, nor Joseph, was expecting this would be the path for their lives.  They were ordinary people, living ordinary lives, but suddenly God revealed that He had something else in store for them, another plan.  Mary and Joseph listened to God and said yes to His plan.  Mary became pregnant by the power of God, and Joseph took her as his wife, and together they raised the son of God.

But God’s plan for them wasn’t finished because the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, and Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth.  So a census was called, which meant that Joseph had to return to his hometown of Bethlehem.  He took along Mary and as luck would have it, or as God had planned it, the child was born while they were there.  The light of God’s word again revealed God’s plan for Mary and Joseph, the child was to be born in Bethlehem, and it was a donkey that helped make that plan become a reality.

So the donkey reminds us that God has a plan for us.  We might feel like our lives are pretty ordinary, and that God can’t, or won’t, use us for anything significant, but the light of this story, a light of God that can fill us and changes us tonight, is knowing that God does have a plan for us.

For Joseph, the plan for his life was simple, be the best father you can be.  Watch over Mary and raise Jesus well.  This meant Joseph needed to be a good husband, work hard to provide for his family, and set a good example in life and faith for his children.  In many ways, the plan for all of us is to be focused on our family.  God’s plan is for us to being the best husband, wife, parent, child, grandparent, aunt, or uncle we can be.  Being a parent, and investing in the life, faith and future of children is perhaps the most significant work we can do because we are shaping the future.  If this is God’s plan for you, if you are in a season of life where you are helping care for children, see this as God’s plan for you and embrace it.  Live into it and God will fill you and guide you with all the light and strength you need.

For Mary, however, God’s plan was more personal.  Giving birth to Jesus was something Mary alone had been called to do.  There are times when God’s plan for us involves something unique and personal.  God often has a plan that only we can fulfill, and when we say yes to God, we begin to see the power of God’s light shine on our path and show us the way.  When we say yes to God, we begin to see the power of God’s light shine through us into the world.

Tonight’s offering came about because one person, sitting at a State College Spikes ballgame, heard God say, get to know these players, and it was through those relationship that a way was developed for us to give hope to a community struggling in darkness.  God often has a very specific plan for our lives, and if we learn to listen for God’s voice, and follow where it leads us, God can accomplish great things in us and through us.

Now the sheep in the nativity scene points us to another kind of light and another group of people.   On the night Jesus was born, there were shepherds out in the fields watching over their flocks.  When an angel appeared and told them that the Savior had been born, the light of heaven exploded across the skies.  That light, and the angels’ message, didn’t just proclaim a child’s birth, it also revealed the purpose for this child.  Luke 2:11.  The purpose of Jesus was to save people from their sins.  It wasn’t just a child that was born, it was a savior. 

The purpose of this story hasn’t changed in 2,000 years, God has come to save us.  What we couldn’t do for ourselves, God has done for us.  We can’t live the perfect life, we can’t forgive our sin, and we can’t set ourselves right with God, so God sent Jesus to do all that for us.  John 3:16.  The purpose of Jesus is to save us from our sin, and to give us the gift of a full life here and an eternal life to come.  Christmas isn’t just a nice story about the birth of a baby and a group of shepherds who went to visit him, it is the powerful story about a child whose purpose was to save humanity.

The sheep reminds us that no matter who we are, no matter what we have gone through, no matter how unworthy we might feel right now, the purpose of Jesus is to forgive us, and to set us free from guilt and shame.  Through Jesus, we are set right with God tonight, and forever.  The purpose of Jesus is to shine a light into our lives that assures us that our sin has been forgiven, and that all that tries and hold us down in life can be overcome, and we can experience God’s peace and the power of a new life.

And then there is the camel.  The Wisemen had a long journey, through a dry and desert land, carrying with them all they needed for days and weeks on end, so they most likely would have used camels for their trip.  These camels followed the light of a star – or at least they were guided there by the Wisemen who followed that light.  But the real light they were drawn to wasn’t in the sky, it was the promise of a better life and a better world.

The star that appeared in the sky told the Wismen that a new king had been born in Israel.  This king was so powerful, and his kingdom was going to be so good, that the heaven’s declared his birth.  The light of this star carried with it the promise that the future was going to be better.  The story of Jesus we celebrate tonight continues to shine God’s promise into our lives.   The promise is that through Jesus, our lives and our world can be better.

Life can be better for us because in Jesus, God is with us.  God has come to love us, and save us, and God has come to fill us with a light that shows us how to live a better life.  The baby born in Bethlehem grew up to be a man who showed us how to live according to the principles of God.  He showed us the power of love in relationships, the power of joy lived out in our community, and how God’s peace can change the world.  The life of Jesus shows us how to overcome fear, how to establish new habits, and how to turn our pain into possibility and purpose.  These are some of the game-changers we are going to explore in January, and I want to invite you to join us in the New Year as we keep looking at how the light of God’s promise can make our lives better.

Tonight isn’t just about celebrating an event that took place 2000 years ago, it’s about coming to the light of God found in Jesus.  It is this light that reminds us God has a plan for us, that tells us God’s purpose of Jesus is to save us from our sin, and where we can stand firm on the promise that through Jesus, our lives and our world can be better and brighter.  A donkey, a sheep, and a camel – they help lead us to the light of God and the love of Jesus.

The Star - PEACE

Together we have been on a journey this Advent and Christmas season following a star.  Not an actual star in the sky like the Wisemen followed, but the light of God that we can find in Jesus.  The light we have followed has shown us that with Jesus as part of our lives, we have the hope that our lives and our world can be better.  In Jesus, we find more than enough love for our own lives, which means we have God’s love to share, and we have also found that when we find Jesus, we find a joy that gives us the fuel we need to keep going, even when things aren’t going our way. 

Today we will see how following Jesus can give us the most elusive gift God offers, the gift of peace.  On the night Jesus was born, the angels sang about this peace when they said, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward all.  The sad reality, however, is that our world has never known peace.  While we sing about it, pray for it, and long to experience it in our live and world, finding and creating this peace is elusive, but it is possible. 

Let’s go back to the night Jesus was born and think about the scene around the manger.  Because of the census that has drawn Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, the city is crowded.  It is so full of people that there was no place for Mary and Joseph to stay in any home or inn, so they made their way to a stable, a place that would have been filled with all kinds of animals that had come to the city with the people.  Goats, sheep, chickens, donkeys, cattle, oxen, camels and many other animals would have made the stable a very chaotic and noisy place. 

Mary gives birth in this midst of this chaos, which I’m sure, just added to the confusion, and then, out of nowhere, a group of shepherds arrive.  Now, I have never given birth, obviously – that would be the true Christmas Miracle – but I did a very unofficial poll of women who have given birth, and they all agreed that the last thing they would want to see after giving birth, would be a group of shepherds wandering into their room asking questions about their baby.  But here they come, fresh from the fields, and all worked up because of the fear of seeing a heavenly host of angels and the excitement in finding a baby that just might be the Savior of the world.  This is hardly a peaceful scene, especially for Mary, but then it says this in Luke 2:19, Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  In the midst of the confusion, chaos, and crowds, we have a picture of Mary at peace.  She is sitting quietly, pondering in her heart all that is going on. 

It is this picture that needs to help us define peace.  Peace is not the absence of war, it is not the absence of confusion, chaos, and conflict.  Peace is being able to experience the presence of God in the midst of it all.  Peace, for Mary, was quietly looking at her son, who she, more than anyone, knew was Immanuel, God in the flesh, the Savior of the world.  It was in holding Jesus that she realized everything was going to be ok.  No matter what was going on around her, she knew God was with her.  No matter what was going on around her, she knew God was for her.  No matter what was going on around her, she knew God loved her and that he had come to share that love and grace and power with all the world.

So while we think that our world has never known peace because we have never known a time when there has not been conflict and violence, the truth is that peace has been present every day because peace is God’s presence with us – and God is present with us every day.  While God has always been present in the world, in Jesus we see the presence of God in a very unique way.  In Jesus, God came as one of us to not only walk with us but to show us how we can live in a way that will allow us to experience peace. 

When we look at the life of Jesus, we see is that the secret to experiencing peace is to stay focused on God.  There is only one story we have of Jesus as a child, and in that story Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem when his family returned to Nazareth.  When asked why he did that, Jesus replied, I had to be in my father’s house.  As a boy, Jesus was focused on God.  All through his ministry, Jesus would seek out time alone to pray so he could keep his focus on God. 
When Peter said he didn’t want Jesus to take up a cross and die, Jesus said to him get behind me Satan for you do not have your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. Jesus always kept his heart and mind turned to God which allowed him to always be at peace.  Even when Jesus was arrested, tried, beaten, and led away to be crucified, he remained amazingly peaceful, and it was because he kept his focus on God.  That is the key to finding peace - keeping our hearts and minds focused on God. Isaiah 26:3 God will keep us in perfect peace when our minds are steadfast and fixed on God. 

So peace is not found in a specific time or place, or when the circumstances of the world are just right, peace is found in a person, the Prince of Peace.  In the Old Testament, the Messiah was often talked about with images that projected a peace on earth. 
Isaiah 9:6-7a.  Isaiah 11:1-2, 6-9.   Isaiah 2:3-4. 

The peace God offers isn’t found outside of the Messiah but only in him, so peace in our lives is not going to be found in the circumstances around us, and it isn’t going to be found by achieving some kind of meditative spirit inside us, peace is only found when we are able to turn our hearts and lives toward the prince of peace – Jesus.  When we fix our eyes on him, and when we follow his way of living and loving, we begin to find a peace that truly surpasses our understanding and endures through all things.  When we are fixed and focused on Jesus, some of what seems to upset us, leads us into arguments, or creates chaos and confusion in our lives and in our world, simply falls away. 

So while peace seems elusive in our world, and fleeting in our lives, we can experience it every moment of every day if we will fully focus on Jesus and that happens when we fully surrender to him.  This is what Mary did.  Mary fully surrendered herself to Jesus.  Mary gave her life and future to Jesus when she said yes to God’s plan, but God’s peace didn’t come in the first moment of that surrender.  Mary faced some very difficult days.  She had to work through the relationship with Joseph, make a long trip to Bethlehem in her ninth month, and deliver a child alone in a stable, but each day she surrendered to God she found more and more peace.  Are we willing to take that same journey?  Are we willing to surrender to God day after day in order to find peace?

Like Mary, surrendering to God means giving God our plans.  Mary thought she knew what her life was going to look like.  Get married, settle down, have a child, and be a good wife, but God turned that around when he invited Mary on a journey to be the mother of the Messiah. God’s plan was going to be different and more difficult.  God’s plan put her relationship with Joseph in danger, it changed their plans and their future, and she had to trust that God would work out the details and help her.  Surrendering to God often means letting go of our plans and accepting God’s plan for us, but God’s plan is not always easy. 

Surrendering to God also means letting go of our pride, and nowhere is this more difficult than when we need to forgive and extend grace to others.  When we have been deeply hurt by others, it is not easy to let go of that feeling of being offended.  We are living in a world where people seem to love being offended.  People like it so much that they go looking for it.  This year we have heard of people being offended by the lyrics to old Christmas Songs, and even classic Christmas TV specials.  It is pride that tells us we need to hold on to being offended and demand apologies.  It is pride that keeps us from forgiving those around us.  Surrendering our lives to God means opening our hearts to forgive. 

Forgiveness doesn’t mean we minimize the pain others have caused in our lives, and it doesn’t excuse the hurtful words and actions, but it does mean we let go of the offense and we stop looking for revenge or restitution.  Peace comes when we set aside our right to be offended and offer forgiveness.

Surrender also means using our lives for God’s glory.  Surrender means looking at all the opportunities we have been given and finding ways we can use them for God’s will and purpose.  It means looking at our talents, our abilities, our interests, and our resources and asking God to show us how to use them for his benefit and not ours.  This is where the journey of following the star gets messy, because it may lead us in a new direction. 

Following Jesus means that while we save up for a family vacation, we might also start saving up to serve God on a mission trip.  It means while we set aside money for the eventual new car we are going to need, we also set aside money for people who are hungry now, both here and in places like Venezuela.  Surrender means I don’t just think about what is good for me and my family, I start asking how my life and family can be a blessing to others.  When we fix our eyes on Jesus in every area of life, we begin to find peace, but as Mary said, it is not an easy road.  Jesus also said that the road to life is a narrow road – but it is the road to peace. 

The peace that comes with Jesus is not just for us, however, it is also for the world.  That’s what the angels said 200 years ago and that message still stands.  Jesus, the prince of peace, brings peace on earth.  When the Wisemen saw a star in the sky, they knew it announced the birth of a great leader whose reign would bring peace on earth.  Jesus was that king, and the peace he offers is possible for the world if we, the body of Christ, can live in that peace and model that peace for the world. 

Picture what the world would look like if everyone who said they believed that Jesus was the prince of peace took seriously the call to fix our eyes on Jesus, surrendered fully to God, and lived in the peace that Christ makes available.  There would be more love in families and more care for people in communities.  There would be more sharing of resources in our world so that no one would be hungry, thirsty, or in need.  If we were willing to forgive and put the needs and desires of others before our own, then the community of the church would be so engaging and powerful that people would want to be part of it and the life and faith we share would spread like wildfire and our world would change. 

While it is living in peace that helps spread peace across the world, there is one more thing we can do to help establish God’s peace on earth and that is to pray.  We need to passionately, persistently, and personally pray for the peace of Christ to be known by all.  God invites us to pray for peace in Psalm 122:5-9.  When we pray for peace, the world might not change right away, in fact we might not see any change at all, but if we will continue to pray for peace, we will change.  We will experience peace within our walls - in our family and among our friends.  When we pray for peace we will also see those dark places where peace is needed and as we surrender to God, we will go to those places to allow God’s peace to be known. 

Our journey following the star does not end on Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day, or New Year’s Eve, or New Year’s Day.  Following the Star, following Jesus, is the journey of our lives.  We start right where we are, in the darkness of fear, loneliness, and sin,  but the star leads us to Jesus who offers us hope, love, joy, peace - peace with God and peace with one another.  Let us stay committed to this journey with Jesus for days and weeks and years to come so that out of the abundance of our lives - hope, love, joy and peace may overflow into our world, for that is the real gift of Christmas.  That is what the angels proclaimed. 

Behold, 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.  Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth, good will toward all. 



Next Steps
The Star – PEACE

1. Focus on these scriptures which tell us that peace came into the world with Jesus the Messiah.
Isaiah 2:3-4 - Isaiah 9:5-7 - Isaiah 11:1-2, 6-9

2. Peace comes when we fix our minds and hearts on God. Begin each day by reading Isaiah 26:3-4

3. Peace grows as we surrender to God, like Mary.
• What plans do you have that need to be surrendered to God?
• What pride can you identify that needs to be surrendered to God?

4. Read Psalm 122:5-9.  Daily pray this week for the peace you need and for peace to share.

The Star - JOY

This Christmas Season we have all been on a journey following the star, not an actual star, but the light that God sent into the world when he sent Jesus.  As we allow the life of Jesus to shape our lives, and as we allow the unconditional love of God to fill us, we find hope that our lives and our world can be a better place.  What is also amazing about God’s love is that it is always MORE than enough for what we need, which means that we have love to share, and love to give. 

The light of Jesus, and the love of God, not only lead us to hope and love, but they also lead us to places where we can experience great joy.  Not just some joy, not a little joy, but great joy, because that is what the angels said.  On the night Jesus was born the angels said, Behold I bring you good news of great joy.  But let’s be clear about what joy is and what it isn’t.  Joy is not the absence of pain. Joy is not a place where we experience no problems or hardships.  The truth is that joy and pain often go hand in hand.  Joy doesn’t come to us when we are experiencing the fullness of light; joy often comes to us when we are in the dark.  That is what happened with the Shepherds.  Luke 2:8-12.

So the shepherds were in the dark when the angels appeared, and it doesn’t say they were filled with joy, in fact, the appearance of the angels brought fear.  The explosion of the heavens and the appearance of a host of angels scared the shepherds, and shepherds were not men who were scared easily.  Shepherds were rough and hardy men who knew how to fight and stand strong in the face danger.  That was their life.  Shepherds had to fight off wild animals.  They had to take on people who might want to steal the sheep, and they always had to be on their guard at night when these dangers would be more likely to appear.  Shepherds did not scare easily, but this event filled them with such a great fear that they were literally in pain and afraid for their lives.  It was into this pain and fear, into this darkness, that the angels told these men that they could experience great joy, but that joy didn’t come by staying where they were, they had to make a journey to Bethlehem to find the baby that had just been born. 

The shepherds made the journey.  In their pain, fear, and almost certain doubt about what they just heard, they travel to Bethlehem, found the baby, and realized that what the angels had said was true.  It was then that they are filled with joy.  Not just a little joy, but great joy because it says they returned to the hills praising God for all that they had seen and heard.  Think about that journey back to the hills and fields and sheep.  It was still dark.  It was still dangerous.  The situation around them had not changed.  Their circumstances did not immediately get better, but their hearts were filled with joy so they could keep going.  So we see here that joy doesn’t mean everything will go well, and it doesn’t mean everything will immediately get better.  Joy comes into darkness and while it doesn’t always remove our pain, doubt, or fear, it does give us what we need to keep going. 

We have all seen the images of children receiving OCC boxes and the joy on their faces.  The joy in receiving that gift did not remove the hardships that they faced.  They still battle hunger, sickness, and violence.  Their lives are still difficult and painful, but in the midst of it, they have found a joy that helps them keep going.  For these children, and the shepherds, joy is simply the reminder that we are not alone and that we are not forgotten.  Joy comes is in knowing that God is with us. 

When the shepherds made their journey to Bethlehem, they found a baby, and while they didn’t know exactly who, that child was, they did know that the message they heard from the angels had been confirmed.  God had sent a savior and God shared that news with them.  They had not been forgotten.  In a world where shepherds were often overlooked and forgotten, God had not only remembered them, but included them in the event.  The joy they found in the baby is the joy of knowing that God is with us, and that God is working in us, and in the world around us.  This is what helped them keep going in the darkness. 


The more we are able to hear God’s word speaking to our lives, the more we walk with Jesus and see the power of God moving in our lives, and the more we are able to see God at work in the world around us, the more we find joy, because like the shepherds, we realize that we have not been forgotten.  God is with us.  God is speaking to us.  God is working in us.  God is using us in the world.  It is in knowing that we are not alone, and that we are not forgotten, that fills us with joy.  The God of the universe has come for us, for you and for me.  This joy doesn’t always take our problems away, but it brings a light that helps us through them.   

Joy comes in knowing we are not alone and forgotten by God, but joy also comes when we come together in community.  Part of the joy the shepherds experienced came when they gathered with Mary and Joseph.  They were able to see the people God was using to bring the savior into the world, and what an encouragement it must have been for them to see two ordinary people.  They were in a stable, not a home or an Inn where the shepherds would not have been welcome.  While coming together gave the shepherds joy, think of what it must have done for Mary and Joseph. 

Up until this point, Mary and Joseph had been alone in their journey.  They knew what was going on and what God was doing, but other than a few family members, no one else did.  I have to believe that there were days during those long 9 months when they must have doubted that God’s message was true.  I’m sure they must have struggled to believe what they had heard so long ago.  Alone in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph were filled with doubts and fears about their child and life, but when the shepherds suddenly appeared and told them what the angels had said, it was confirmation that what God was doing was real.  The presence of the shepherds must have given Mary and Joseph great joy. 

Joy is experienced most powerfully when we come together, which is why it is so important for us to gather together during this holiday season and make sure we invite others to join us.  For many people, the holidays are not joyful times.  The pain of loss, the grief of broken families, the financial struggles people face, and the reality of loneliness, is all magnified during this season, and the antidote to all of this is the joy we can experience when we come together.  When we reach out to people in any way, we are sharing joy because we are reminding them that they are not alone.  Sending a note, sharing a plate of cookies, giving a simple gift to someone who might be feeling forgotten, is a powerful gift of joy, because it tells people they are not alone and they are not forgotten. 

My very first Christmas as a pastor was spent in Altoona, and my closest family was in Lancaster.  Christmas Eve that year was on a Friday, which meant Christmas was on Saturday and I had to be in town for worship on Sunday, so I wasn’t able to celebrate Christmas until Monday.  Christmas Day I was prepared to be alone.  I was really ok with it, and not feeling too sorry for myself, when my neighbors called me and said, come to our house for dinner and we will not take no for an answer.  So I walked over and experienced a deep sense of joy because I wasn’t alone.

In so many ways, this is the power of our Christmas Dinner.  While many people might think the gift of that day is the food (and the pies all of you will make!), the real gift of the day is the joy we are able to share by simply reminding people they are not alone.  The people who deliver the meals often tell us that the people who receive them say, you are the first person I have talked to today.  The gift isn’t the meal, it is the joy that person feels in knowing that they are not forgotten and alone.  Many of the people who eat with us in the dining room don’t have any other place to go, so the gift isn’t the food, it is the joy they find because they are not alone. 

If you have never volunteered for the Christmas Dinner, I want to invite you to be part of it this year.  Take an hour or two out of your day to share the real gift of Jesus, which is the joy that we can share with others.  You can give just a few hours of your day, just about any time during the afternoon or evening, and the gift you receive will be greater than the gift you give because you will also find joy.  Joy is expanded and experienced when we come together. 

The last thing we learn about joy from the Shepherds is that the only appropriate response to joy, beyond sharing it, is to worship.  Everyone in the Christmas story who was filled with joy ended up worshipping God.  It said that the shepherds glorified and praised God for all they had experienced.  They found great joy when they found Jesus, and their response was to worship God.  When the Wisemen arrived, and found Jesus, they also worshipped, it says they bowed downed and worshipped the New Born King. 

Corporate worship, when we come together to sing our praises to God, is important because it is an opportunity for us to not only worship, but also share our hope and love and joy with one another.  We are working hard to make sure that every person who comes to worship here on Christmas Eve experiences great joy.  From donkeys and sheep, to special music, to simple songs and candles, we want everyone in our community to feel the hope, love, and joy of Jesus.  We need your help to share this joy, which is why we provided you a card last week to invite someone to worship with you.  We have more cards, or a generic invitation card available in the lobby.  Joy leads to worshipping together, and we need to invite others to join us. 

The second part of worship that we cannot forget is personal, it is humbling ourselves before Jesus, like the Wisemen who bowed before Jesus and offered him gifts.  The worship God desires isn’t always joyful songs of praise, and it isn’t always large gatherings where we proclaim our love, and it is not always the gifts we give like gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Many times the worship God wants is the silent, personal moments when we reflect on God’s love for us seen in Jesus, and give him the gift of our hearts. 

There is a beautiful Christmas carol called, in the bleak mid-winter and one of the verses says it best.
What can I give him, poor as I am?  
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb. 
If I were a Wiseman, I would do my part.  
Yet what I can I give him, give my heart.  
That is what God ultimately wants when we come to worship him, our heart.  A simple turning of our hearts to God. 
In the middle of all that, people who came to worship Jesus as a baby-sat Mary.  It says she watched it all and pondered these things in her heart.  She silently reflected on all she had seen and heard.  This too is worship.  Can we find moments when we can be silent before God and ponder what the story of Jesus’ birth is all about, and what it means for our lives?  Can we reflect on how the love of God, given in Jesus, is always more than enough to forgive us and set us free?  Can we give thanks that this story tells us that we are not forgotten, we are not alone, and that we are loved unconditionally, so there is always hope for our future? 

Joy is a gift that doesn’t always take away our pain, it doesn’t always solve our problems, and it doesn’t always fill our emptiness, but it does give us what we need to keep going.  Joy is a light that shines into our darkness and helps us keep walking through it.  Our response to this joy is to humble ourselves and worship God, and it is to share this joy with others. 


Next Steps
A Journey Toward Joy
1.  Read the words to these Christmas carols and identify the source of joy and our appropriate response. 
• Away in a Manger
• Little Town of Bethlehem
• In the Bleak Mid-winter

2. How can you share this joy with someone who is feeling alone or forgotten? 

3. Joy is experienced in community.  Identify which Christmas Eve service you will attend and invite someone to sit with you. 

4. Share the joy of Jesus on Christmas Day by signing up to volunteer at our Christmas Day Dinner.