ONE THING to take into the New Year

 All this month we have been talking about holy moments and looking at some of those moments in the Christmas story.  I hope you have experienced some holy moments during this Christmas season.  If you haven’t been able to identify a holy moment, don’t worry, maybe it’s still to come, or maybe you have had a holy moment and you just haven’t realized it.  One of the leading authors and great thinkers of our time, Dr. Seuss said, Sometimes you don’t know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.  

In other words, there may have been a holy moment you experienced and you just haven’t realized how profound and holy the moment was.  Holy moments can seem ordinary at first, but the more we reflect on them and remember them, the more we see just how important or life changing that moment was.  Many of the holy moments I have shared during this series were pretty ordinary at first, but the more I remembered them and reflected on them, the more life changing and truly holy they became.  

So let me ask you, what experience do you need to reflect on and remember from this past year that might become for you a holy moment?  What one thing do you need to remember?  

This morning I’m going to ask 5 questions that can help us not only experience holy moments but might make all the difference for us in the new year.  Each question has the potential to lead us to a deeper faith and to a greater trust in God.  As I share each question, if something comes to your mind I encourage you to write it down.  Our next steps have places where you can write down your one thing so you can take them with you into the new year.  

So here is the 1st question: What ONE THING do you need to remember? 

 Looking back over the past year, or the past several years, what is one moment, or one lesson or one truth do you want to remember?  Again, sometimes we don’t know the value of a moment until it is a memory, until we ponder it.  

In the gospel of John we read about Jesus healing a man born blind.  Jesus had healed him on the Sabbath which was against the religious law and it really bothered all the religious leaders.  They repeatedly asked the blind man who had healed him so they could arrest him in front of all the people to make an example of him, but the man kept saying, I don’t know who it was.  The man gets so frustrated by being asked over and over again that he finally says, One thing I know. I was blind but now I see!  John 9:25

There was just one thing he knew and one thing he was going to remember.  He had been blind but now he can see.  That was one thing he was going to remember.  What is the one thing you need to remember?  It might not be as dramatic as having your eyes opened, but maybe it was a moment when the eyes of your heart were opened. Or a moment when you began to understand a life lesson.

About 35 years ago my grandmother had a stroke.  She was one of the most active and vital women I have ever known and in an instant her entire life changed.  While the moment was devastating for me in many ways, the more I reflected on it, the more I learned a valuable life lesson.  Life is short - so make the most of it.  A line from a movie that was in the theaters at this time said it this way, Carpe Diem.  Seize the day.  Remembering that truth, that one thing, led me to leave my job, go to seminary and begin a new chapter in my life.  I am reminded often that life is short and that I need to seize the day so that is one thing I want to remember. What is your one thing? What is one thing you want and need to remember?  

The 2nd question: What ONE THING do you desire from God?  

King David was known as a man after God’s own heart and while he failed many times in life, it didn’t stop him from wanting to always be in the presence of God.  David said, One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4  

The one thing David desired was to be able to know and see and worship God at all times.  I don’t think he wanted to literally be in the Temple his entire life, but he wanted to experience the presence and power of God every moment of his life.  David desired that connection and closeness to God above everything else.  

David’s son didn’t want that closeness with God as much as he wanted wisdom from God.  When Solomon became King after his father David, God said I will give you whatever you want and the one thing Solomon asked for was wisdom.  What Solomon desired most was the wisdom to lead and care for God’s people.  What one thing do you desire from God?

Maybe it is the power to overcome an addiction or a sin that clings so close and never seems to let up.  Maybe what you desire most is healing for a relationship, or a physical healing for you or someone you love.  Maybe what you desire most is the ability to slow down and ponder the things of God because your life just seems too crazy and busy.  It’s important to identify this one thing and share it with God because God wants to give us the desires of our heart.  What one thing do you desire from God?  

The third question is: What ONE THING do you lack?  

A rich young man came to Jesus one day and asked Him what he had to do to inherit eternal life.  Jesus told him he needed to follow all the commandments and honor his parents.  He said he had been doing that all his life.  This rich young man was feeling pretty good about himself and his faithfulness, but he did have a blind spot - he didn’t know what it was he lacked in life.  But Jesus did.  

Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Mark 10:21-22

This was not a general teaching to all people, but a reflection on the one thing this man lacked - he lacked trust in God.  He had been trusting in his own goodness and good works all his life and he trusted in his money to provide and care for him.  Asking him to sell all he had was one way Jesus could point to him the one thing he lacked - trust in God.  What is the one thing you lack?   

Like the rich man, we might also lack real trust in God, or we might lack the courage to take a new step of faith.  Maybe what we lack is a deep relationship with God - a relationship that feeds us and gives us life.  Or maybe we lack meaningful faith-filled friendship with brothers and sisters that can help us be more faithful in our walk with God.  Or maybe what we lack is a relationship or connection with the world around us where we are making a difference for God.  These three relationships, a relationship with God, the church, and the world, are how we talk about living out our faith and it might be that we are lacking in one of these relationships.

One way God can show us what we lack and need in life is by taking the 3 relationship assessment that you can find on our website.  bellefontefaith.com/3r.  The assessment can point out where we might be lacking and provide us with some ideas on how to grow in these areas in the new year.  

The fourth question is: What one thing do you need to let go?  

I don’t know about you, but there is a lot I need to let go as I move forward.  I need to let go of my own sin.  I need to let go of the shame that my sin brings.  I need to let go of holding a grudge against those who sin against me.  All of these things are weights that hold us back and we need to let go of our sin as we move forward.  

We also need to let go of our failures.  If you failed in some way this past year, or disappointed yourself or someone else, let it go and start again.  If you have struggled with fear and find that fear is holding you back, let it go and find the strength to move forward.  

Sometimes what we have to let go is how other people see us.  Too often our identity is shaped by what others say about us and not what God says about us.  At times we need to let go of the harsh words of others and take hold of the inspiring and truth-filled words of God.  God says we are valuable, loved, and precious.  God says we are gifted, strong and courageous.  God says we are forgiven, capable and able to do more than we can possibly imagine.  Can we let go of how others see us and how we might see ourselves so we can take up God’s vision for our lives.  

The Apostle Paul knew that there were things he had to let go. 

ONE THING I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14

Maybe what Paul had to let go was the reminder that he had been the one to give the approval to have Stephen, a follower of Jesus, stoned to death.  Maybe it was that guilt and shame that haunted Paual, we don’t know, but whatever it was, he was working to leave it in the past and press on to all that God had for him in the future.  Too often we can’t move forward without letting go.  What one thing do you need to let go so you can press on into the future God has for you?  

The final question: What ONE PROMISE do you need to claim?  

The Bible is full of promises and God has said that His promises are YES and AMEN.  In other words, we can count on them, we can claim them for ourselves and our future.  So what one promise do you need to claim today?  

I provided just a few of the promises God makes to us so you can think about what one promise you need to claim.  It might be the promise that God will meet every need you have right now. God said, I will supply all your needs according to my riches and glory.  

Maybe the one promise you need is the promise of forgiveness.  Not only does God promise to forgive us but he promises to remove our sin from us - The Bible says, as far as the east is from the west so far will God remove our sin from us.  . 

Maybe the one promise you need is to know that right now God will work out all the craziness of your life and use it all for God.  God doesn’t say he will only give us good things but He promises to work for good in all things.  

Maybe the one promise you need is to know that you are not alone and that God will always be with you.  God will never leave you nor forsake you and God will be with you to help you in times of need.  God will guide you in times of uncertainty and God has promised to walk with us into the House of the Lord forever.  

God has promised to be our strength when we are weak and He has promised to give eternal life to those who believe in Him.  

What is the one promise you need to claim?  

What is the one thing you need to let go?

What is the one thing you lack?

What is the one thing you desire from God?

What is the one thing you want to remember?  

These 5 questions might be the most significant questions you can ask yourself these next few days.  I want to encourage you to take some time to reflect on them.  Ponder them.  Answer them and then take them with you in the new year.  Let this be the focus of your faith in the year to come and discover holy moments that will change your life.  

Holy Moments - A Moment to Ponder - Christmas Eve

This month we have been reflecting on some of the holy moments that make the Christmas story so powerful.  There is the moment the angel Gabriel told Mary that God had chosen her to be the mother of the Messiah and Mary surrendered herself to God's will.  There was the moment Joseph was told by an angel to take Mary as his wife because the child she was carrying was the son of God and that this child would save people from their sin.  Joseph was obedient and took Mary as his wife and he never looked back. 

There was the moment an army of angels appeared to some shepherds while they were working.  Not only were they told that the Messiah had come but that this was a Messiah for them.  Outcast shepherds that no one liked or found worthy were worthy of God’s love and they were included in God’s saving grace.  Salvation was for everyone and the shepherds were told they could find their Savior lying in a manager.  Once they found Him, they spread the news about this Savior to others.  If this was a Savior for them, then he was a savior for all the world.  

And then there were 3 holy moments that changed the lives of the wisemen.  There was the moment a new star appeared in the sky and they began their search for the new king of Israel.  There was the moment they learned a new truth.  The king wasn’t to be born in the holy city of Jerusalem but the lowly city of Bethlehem, and then there was the moment they found Jesus and worshiped him.  They not only gave Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh but they gave Him their allegiance and their devotion in worship. They gave their hearts and lives to Jesus and refused to return to Herod and tell him where the child was they returned home a different way.  Holy moments changed their lives and they helped save Jesus and his family.  

The Christmas story is filled with holy moments that shaped and changed people’s lives and if we can make these moments part of our lives, they can shape us too.  Like Mary and Joseph, all of us will experience moments when we will have the opportunity to surrender to God and be obedient to His will.  There will be moments when God will ask us to share the love of Jesus, and there will come moments of worship that will change our hearts and send us off in new directions.  That moment could be here and now!

While the Christmas story tells us that our lives can be filled with these kinds of holy moments, too often we miss them because in this season and all throughout our lives, we are too busy to notice.  For holy moments to bring us life, deepen our faith, and fill us with love and joy, we have to take the time to stop and reflect.  We have to slow down so we can look at and listen to all that God is doing.  We know God is calling us to slow down and reflect because we see a holy moment just like that in the Christmas story.

When we hear the Christmas story read, like we did tonight, too often we find ourselves focused on Mary and Joseph having to make a trip to Bethlehem. Or that when they got there there was no room for them so they had to use a manger as a cradle.  Or we celebrate with the shepherds the message of the angels and long for peace on earth and good will for all the people. But tucked in at the very end of this story is one verse we often overlook.  

After a difficult trip to Bethlehem with Mary 9 months pregnant, after giving birth in a stable or a cave and having to place their child in a manger, and after a group of dirty shepherds finally left, Mary and Joseph were alone and it says, Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  Luke 2:19.

Mary treasured everything that had happened that day, and everything that happened in the weeks and months leading up to that day and she thought about it.  She reflected on it.  She didn’t let this holy moment pass her by but took the time to ponder it all.  She weighed it in her mind and thought about what it meant for her and for Joseph and for her people and for the world.  

While we don’t know what Mary pondered, she may have thought about all the promises God had made to her and Joseph.  New parents often think about all that led up to the special moment of their child’s birth so Mary may have thought back to all that God had said to them.  Maybe she thought about the visit of the angel who told her that their child would be great and be called the son of the most high.  Maybe she thought about how Joseph told her that their child would save people from their sin.  Maybe she thought about the name the angel had used when he talked to Joseph.  The child would be called Immanuel, which means God with us.   

Surrounded by animals and with their son in a manger, did Mary ponder whether or not this was actually God with them.  Her cousin Elizabeth had told her that she was carrying the Messiah and the shepherds had just told them that a host of angels proclaimed that this was the Messiah.  So while it wasn’t what she and Joseph might have expected, could it be true.  Was this God in the flesh?  

Tonight, we need to ponder and reflect on the promise that Jesus is Immanuel.  Not God with them but God with us.  Jesus wasn’t just God with Mary and Joseph and the shepherds and the wisemen, He wasn’t just God with them 2,000 years ago, He is God with us - today.  

Ponder what it means that God has promised to be with you.  No matter who you are or what you are going through, God is with you.  In the middle of disease and death and doubt - God is with you.  In the middle of anxiety, uncertainty and fear - God is with you.  In the middle of feeling lost and alone - God is with you.  No matter what you are facing today, or what you have come through this year, or how far from God you may feel, or what you fear the future may hold - God is with you.  God isn’t here to be held in our arms as a baby but for us to be held in His arms. 

Mary did hold Jesus in her arms and she must have found a profound sense of peace because for all of us, there is nothing more powerful and peaceful than holding a child - when it’s asleep.  The moments Mary would have been able to ponder all that had taken place would have been those quiet moments when Jesus was sleeping.  I wonder if some of Mary’s peace came from knowing that God had chosen her and Joseph to raise the Son of God.  

Take a moment and ponder that same truth.  God has chosen you.  God is for you.  God loves you and He loved you first.  He loved you before you ever thought about loving HIm.  1 John 4 says that the only reason we can love God or love others is because God first loved us.  God loved us and chose while we were still sinners.  John 3:16, God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The world didn’t first love God and ask for a Savior, God first loved us and said, you need a Savior so I’m going to come and be your Savior.  At some point Mary pondered that thought and found a peace that goes far beyond the feeling of holding a child.  She was holding the one who loved her and chose her and came to save her.  

Don’t let the busyness of this night, or the days to come, crowd out that peace.  We can experience a peace that passes our understanding, a peace that can hold us no matter what we are going through, a peace that can overcome fear and doubt, and a peace that can assure us of eternal life if we remember that God loves us.  The Bible calls the Messiah the Prince of Peace and tonight we need to hold on to that peace as tightly and as lovingly as we would a child.  

Mary pondered the promises God made in the past, the peace God was giving her in the present and maybe the assurance that God’s power would be there for her in the future.  If God loved them and had chosen them and was with them - then they had the power to face whatever was going to come.  While Mary didn’t know just how much she was going to need that power, we do.  

Mary was going to face the loss of her husband at an early age.  She was going to watch her son enter ministry where he would be ridiculed and taunted and hated by those in power.  

She was going to hear about his miracles and then struggle with her own doubts and fears.  She was going to watch her son be put on trial and beaten.  She was going to stand at the cross and watch him suffer, struggle to breathe, and eventually die.  Mary was going to have her heart pierced by sorrow and pain but she was not going to be defeated because of the power God would give her.  

Tonight, you might need the assurance that God will give you the power you need for your future.  No matter what doubts, fears, problems or pain you are looking at right now, the power of God will be there tomorrow and in every tomorrow to come.  If you don’t feel like you will be strong in the face of problems, don’t worry, sometimes we don’t know the power God can give us until we need it - but if we will trust God - it will be there.  

Mary didn’t know all the ways she was going to have to be strong.  She didn’t know she was going to have to watch her son suffer, and that she would have to stand at the foot of a cross and watch Him die, but she did and she was able to do it because of the power God gave her.   God will give us power for our future.  The Holy Spirit gives us the power to endure and overcome all things. There is even power in death because Jesus overcame sin and death.   

Don’t let this holy moment pass you by.  Stop and ponder all that Jesus means for you.  Think about the promise God has made to be with you at all times and in all places.  Think about the peace that can be yours in knowing that no matter what you have done or where you have been or what you are facing, God has chosen you and loves you and is here for you.  Think about the power that God will give you in the future.  No matter what you will face, the power of God’s love will be with you and will see you through.  

We know all this is true because of another promise God made.  

If God is for us, who can be against us? 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:31, 35, 37-39

Ponder this promise - nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus

and find in this moment God’s peace 

and know the power of God’s love will be there for you - forever.  

Holy Moments - Wisemen

 Life isn’t measured by time but by moments.  When you think about how you got to this moment in your life, you don’t think about every minute of every day, you think about the moments that shaped you and changed you.  The moment you met your spouse and partner changed your life.  The moment God opened a door and you got accepted at college or were offered a new job shaped you.  The moment a door closed and you experienced the loss of a job or the loss of a loved one also shaped you.  All of us are where we are today and who we are today because of moments, holy moments.  

When I look back on my life, there was a single moment that set the direction of my life.  It was a question that came when I was a senior in High School and making college visits to MSU & Purdue.  My visit to MSU was not great.  It was snowing and cold and on top of that I had a cold and wasn’t feeling well.  I had an appointment to meet with the someone from the business school but they didn’t seem prepared for me so that didn’t go well and my audition for the MSU marching band was a disaster. 

A few days later I was visiting Purdue.  It was a beautiful day.  I was over my cold and feeling great.  As we stood on campus looking at a map, several students asked if they could help us.  When I showed up at the business school where I didn’t have an appointment, I was told no one was available to see me, but then a woman walked in and said, I’ll talk with him.  Everyone in the office seemed surprised but I went in and spoke with her about the program and the university.  I found out later she was the dean of the business college who just happened to be walking by.  She was great.  She asked if I had already secured on-campus housing, and I said no.  She said that the dorms were already all full so she would send me information about off campus housing.   

I met my mom outside and she said, what did you think?  I explained the whole thing and how the dean of the college was willing to talk with me and she was great.  I then said, I’m going to MSU.  My mom asked why, if everything was so good.  I said, because I would have to live off campus my first year and I don’t want to do that. A single question and answer sent me to MSU where I didn’t get in the marching band but got involved in a Christian Fellowship.  That fellowship was where my faith grew and set me on a course of full-time ministry in the local church.  

Our lives are shaped by moments.  Mary, Joseph, and some shepherds all had their lives changed because of a message of an angel.  Acting on what they heard, they each were able to experience the Son of God.  Some others in the Christmas story also had their lives changed but this time it wasn’t one holy moment but three.  A moment when they saw a new star in the sky, a moment when they heard a new truth, and a moment when they worshipped a new king.  This group was the Wisemen or the Magi.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.   Matthew 2:1-12

Let’s first separate out some facts from fiction.  While we sing about “we 3 kings” and put 3 kings in our nativity scenes, it doesn’t say that there were 3 kings just that there were 3 gifts.  And while we put the wisemen and their camels in our nativity scenes, they don’t show up at a stable when Jesus is an infant, and we don’t know that they rode camels.  When the Wisemen arrived, Jesus wasn't in a manger but a house.  We take the birth stories of Luke and Matthew and mash them together, but they are different.  The wisemen could have come weeks, months or even years after the birth of Jesus.  

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure any of that is really important.  What does matter is that there are 3 moments that changed the course of the wisemen’s lives.  The first moment came when they saw a new star in the sky.  The wisemen were most likely some kind of astrologer who read messages in the stars.  When a new star appeared in the sky, it was a sign that a new king had been born in Israel.  But this wasn’t any new king, this was going to be such a powerful king that his birth was announced in the stars.  A new star was a divine message about a king like no other.  This was a holy moment and the wisemen decided to go and find this new king.  

It’s interesting that God didn’t send an angel to the wisemen to tell them about the new king but placed a star in the sky.  God spoke to these men in a way that they could understand.  God sent them a message in the stars because the stars were  what they read and understood.  God is always willing to meet us where we are and He comes to us in ways we can understand.  A savior for shepherds wasn’t found in a palace or the Temple but in a manger.  He came to a place where they could meet Him. 

God came into the world as a person so that we could see Him and hear Him and experience Him.  This means God is willing to come into our lives in ways that we can see Him and hear Him and experience Him. As busy as this season is, we need to open our eyes and our ears and our hearts to see the light of a star, or hear the song of an angel, or feel the love and grace of a savior.  God has come to meet us – don’t miss that holy moment.

A holy moment when a new star appeared in the sky sent the wisemen on their way.  They knew a king had been born in Israel and since kings are supposed to be born in important and royal cities, they go to Jerusalem.  When they arrived they asked where the great king of Israel was to be born and they were told that the promised Messiah was not to be born in Jerusalem but in Bethlehem.  This response to their question was another holy moment.  This truth sent them to Bethlehem.  

Learning a new truth can be a holy moment that can change the direction of our lives.  A new truth changed my life.  I used to think that the best life would be found in beautiful and exotic places around the world, that’s why I wanted to be a hotel manager.  I wanted to live in a resort - what could be better.  Then I discovered the truth that the best life isn’t found in resorts but in a relationship with Jesus.  As I started reading the message of Jesus and the truth it contained, I heard Jesus give this truth.  I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.  John 10:10

This truth became a life verse for me.  Full life is found only in Jesus.  A life full is a life of purpose, meaning, joy, love, adventure, peace and courage and all that is found when we live in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  That truth shaped my life and sent me off in a new direction.  God’s truth can do that, which is why we encourage people to read God’s truth.  

More important than reading and studying God’s word is to just listen to it.  Let the truth of God’s word wash over you and speak to you.  If we listen, God will speak and God’s truth will guide us.  The wisemen listened and God’s truth sent them in a new direction and to assure them that they had found the truth, the star once again showed them the way.  

The star led them to a house in Bethlehem where they found Mary and the child Jesus. It wasn’t a stable or a cave, so this wasn’t the night Jesus was born, it was sometime later.  We also don’t know how they knew this was the future king of Israel, but they did.  Maybe it was because the star had clearly led them to this place and they found a child inside, or maybe something just clicked in their hearts and minds when they saw Jesus telling them He was the king.  We don’t know how they know this is the king, but they are so sure He is that they bow down to worship Him.  

The wisemen also give Jesus and His family gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Gifts not fit for a child, but certainly fit for a king.  We know this act of worship changed their lives because when they were warned in a dream not to go back to tell Herod about the child, they listened and went home a different way.  Their lives had changed.  Before, their allegiance was to a political king who held power over them, but now they followed a different king.  Their allegiance was now to this child and they were willing to risk everything to keep Him safe.  A holy moment of worship caused them to heed what they heard in a dream and go home a different way.    

Three holy moments shaped the lives of the magi.  They allowed a star to guide their way.  A response to a question gave them a truth that changed their direction, and the worship of a new king changed their allegiance and their lives.  Three holy moments that shaped their way, their truth and their lives.  For these wisemen, Jesus was the way, the truth and the life that changed their lives.  

Jesus said that He is the way and the truth and the life.  The wisemen show us that Jesus can come to us in holy moments that can guide our way, shape our truth, and change our lives.  

As we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth, we can’t forget to allow God to shine into our lives and light our way.  Let the light of God’s grace forgive you.  Let the light of God’s love heal you.  Let the light of Christ shine in and through you to a world that needs it.  Share God’s love so that others can find the way.

Take time to allow God’s word to give you truth that can shape you.  Not just the truth about who Jesus is but the truth about how He lived and how He wants us to live.  Take time this week to read again the stories of Christ's birth and then read the powerful words of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount where He gave the world a truth that can still give us direction today.  

Most of all, take time to worship the newborn king and let that worship change your life.  On Christmas Eve, on Christmas Day as a family, in your own heart as you reflect on all that God has done for us by giving us His son, worship God and give Him the gift of your heart.  Ask yourself, what gift can you give to Jesus today as an act of worship.  What gift do you think God wants from you?  A gift of time?  Obedience?  Faithfulness?  

In the carol, In the Bleak Midwinter, one of the verses says:

What can I give him, poor as I am.

If I were a shepherd, I would give a lamb.

If I were a wiseman, I would do my part, 

But what I have I give him, I give him my heart.  

What will it mean for you to give your heart to Jesus?  What might need to change in your life?  How might you need to change direction?  That change might be the best gift you can give.  

Jesus came to be the way, the truth and the life and in three holy moments, the Magi experienced Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life and their lives were never the same.  This Christmas, in holy moments, allow Jesus to guide your way, be your truth and bring you all the fullness of life.

 

Next Steps

3 Holy Moments for the Wisemen

Read Matthew 2:1-12

The Wisemen experienced at least three holy moments during their search for the new king in Israel.

1. When they saw the light of a new star that would guide their way.

● Why did God choose a star to announce the birth of Jesus?

● How did this speak directly to these individuals?

● Has God ever spoken directly to you?  

● How did He communicate His message?  

How can you be open to the light of God in the new year?

2. When they learned the truth about the coming king.

● How did the Wisemen learn the truth about where the new King of Israel was to be born?  

● Where do you need to turn to find the truth of God?

○ Directly to God’s word?  

○ To God’s people in the church?

○ To more faithful times of prayer?

How can you make learning God’s truth the foundation of your life in the coming year?

3. When they worshiped Jesus.

● How do we know that the worship of Jesus changed the hearts and lives of the Wisemen?

● What changed in them?  

● When has the worship of God changed you?

How can you allow the worship of God to change your heart and life in the coming  year?  

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life.

How can this truth change you in the coming year?

Holy Moments - Shepherds

 

After college I spent a few years living in South Bend, IN.  I was going to a job interview one day but arrived early so went to a nearby McDonalds to get some coffee.  As I was waiting and drinking my coffee, I saw an older man come in, order a hamburger and coffee and sit at a table not far from me.  He looked like he had spent all his money on the meal and he very slowly ate his lunch.  I heard this voice say, Andy, go get him some food, and I’m sure it was God’s nudging and prompting.   

Have you been in a situation like this?  You have a sense you should do something, but you aren’t sure.  You know God is calling you to step up and do something but then you start thinking through the entire situation and then overthinking it.  Here’s what I thought.  What should I get him?  What will he say?  Will he be embarrassed?  Does he want it?  Is he really in need?  It will be awkward.  I’ll do it, no I won’t.  And the talk went on and on…

I knew it was God telling me to help because just a few years earlier I had not helped a woman in NYC who was cold and homeless.  After that situation, I told myself that if I ever felt God calling me to do something - I would do it. This was a moment where I felt God calling me to do something, but I hesitated.  I thought too much about it.  I delayed and justified not doing anything all while I watched the man eat his lunch.  

I finally decided - I’m doing something.  I didn’t want to get him food he would have to eat right then but something he could take home, but what can you get like that at McD.  I went to the counter and got about the only thing I thought might last a while, cookies and milk.  I know, it sounds silly, but it’s what I got, two cartons of milk and 2 boxes of cookies.  I took the bag and went to give it to him, but he had left his table.  I searched the restaurant, but he was gone.  I had missed the opportunity.  I had a holy moment to help someone but hesitated and lost the moment.  

I ran outside and looked up and down the street and finally saw him about a block away.  I caught up with him and said, excuse me, I wanted to give you this.  I gave him a bag with cookies and milk.  He smiled, said thank you, and went on his way.  But it’s not the end of the story.  A few days later I was visiting a church for the first time.  During the service, I began to smell someone who probably hadn’t bathed for quite a while. During one of the songs I looked around I saw a disheveled man sitting a few rows behind me where the smell was coming from.  It was the man from McD.  

All kinds of things went through my mind.  Why had God put this man in my path twice in just a few days.  What should I do?  What could I do?  I didn’t have any money.  I didn’t know any of the resources of the church or community.  I didn’t know what to do.  After the service I watched to see if the church would reach out to him, or if they knew him.  No one did anything.  He walked out alone and I never saw him again.  

I’ve thought about this encounter and that man a lot through the years.  Who was he?  Why did God put him in my path at McD and then at the church? What was the message I was to learn?  And why did I hesitate the first time to help him and then do nothing the second time?  

One thing I learned from this situation is that there are divine appointments all around us where God calls us to be bold and step out to serve and share in ways that might change someone’s life.  When we feel prompted by God, we can’t hesitate, we have to seize that moment and respond with boldness and courage.  I almost lost a moment at McDonalds because I wasn’t willing to act quickly.  And I lost a moment at the church.  The holy moments God gives us to step out and serve and share may not come more than once so when they come, we need to act.  

In the Christmas story, the shepherds took advantage of a holy moment and shared the life changing message of Jesus.  We hear about the shepherds in Luke 2: 8-18.

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. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloth 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.

This is such a familiar story that we might miss the significance of God first sharing the news of Christ's birth with shepherds. While some scholars believe these shepherds were priestly shepherds who were taking care of sheep that were being raised for the Passover, most scholars believe these were just ordinary men who were not trusted or valued in society.  

Shepherds were social outcasts.  Because they were exposed to the bodily fluids of the sheep and the blood of other animals, they were always considered unclean and could not worship in the Temple.  Shepherds were not allowed to buy or sell property because they couldn’t be trusted to make an honest deal.  Their word was not allowed in a court of law because they couldn’t be trusted to tell the truth.  They were despised and untrustworthy people and yet they were the ones God went to on the night Jesus was born.  

Of all the people God could have chosen to be the first to hear about the birth of the Messiah, God chose shepherds.  God chose uneducated, unremarkable, and unclean men who couldn’t be trusted to tell the truth.  That God chose this group of people tells us that the Messiah, the Savior of the world, is for everyone.  There is no one beyond the reach of God. There is no one outside of the love of God.  There is no sin too great for God to forgive. 

This is great news for us.  None of us is beyond the reach of God’s love and grace.  Jesus is for all of us.  No matter how unclean you feel or how far from God you might be or what anyone else thinks of you - you are loved and cared for by God.  No sin, no shame, no past history can keep us from the grace of God.  This is a holy moment of acceptance for the Shepherds and they don’t hesitate to respond to it.  

It says they hurried to Bethlehem to find this savior. Without asking a lot of questions about what they just experienced and why they got this message and what it all meant, they said, let’s go and they hurried off.  How many of us hurried to church today?  Not because you were late but because you couldn’t wait to be here. I wish we all had the urgency we see in the shepherds. They were given a holy moment, a divine opportunity to experience the power of God, and they took it.  

They didn’t think about how they were unclean or that no one would believe them or listen to them, they just went to find the messiah and this was not an easy thing for them to do.  First they had to leave their sheep unprotected, which meant putting them in danger and maybe suffering a financial loss if any of the sheep wandered off or were attacked.  Second, it took courage to go because they knew they might not be welcomed when they showed up.  They knew they were considered unclean.  They knew they were unwanted and despised.  There was a good chance they wouldn’t be welcomed when they found the child, but they went anyway.  

When they found a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger, they knew what the angels said was true.  The savior had come, and this savior wasn’t for the rich and righteous.  He wasn’t for the wealthy and those deemed worthy.  This savior was for shepherds.  The birth of this savior changed everything for them.   They now knew that they were loved and accepted by God.  They had value and worth and dignity.  Their sins would be forgiven. God was for them and if God was for them, then God had come for everyone. And this good news was worth spreading.  Once again, the shepherds don’t hesitate but realize they have another holy moment, a divine opportunity, to share the news about this child so they immediately shared all that they had heard from the angel and seen with their own eyes.  

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.  Luke 2:18

The shepherds knew they had a divine opportunity to change someone’s life.  They could have just returned to the fields and their sheep and celebrated that God had come for them, but they knew they had an opportunity to help change the lives of others.  They took that holy moment to share the good news about the coming of the Savior and changed the lives of those who heard them.  

All around us are divine opportunities to change the lives of others.  It might be by serving them.  We might have an opportunity to give someone cookies and milk, or maybe we give our time or money to help provide a Christmas Dinner to those in our community who are hungry or lonely.  Maybe we give some of our money to help rebuild a home or church in NC destroyed by the wind and floods of a hurricane.  Maybe we change someone’s life by inviting them to join us on Christmas eve in worship.  

A few weeks ago we gave out Christmas Eve worship invitations and Pastor David asked you to think and pray about who you could invite to join you and sit with you in worship.  Have you given it to someone yet?  This is the season when many people are open to attending worship and might just need an invitation.  Many people might be looking for places to go and just need someone to invite them and welcome them.  If you have thought about inviting someone and haven’t done it yet, don’t hesitate.  Don’t let this holy moment pass you by.  It could change their life.  

If you don’t think you have what it takes to serve or share or invite someone, then remember that God used shepherds to first spread the news about the birth of the Savior.  God used people who weren’t trusted to tell the truth and declare that God himself had come into the world.  God used the most unlikely people to do the most extraordinary thing.  God is calling you and me to do something this week that will change someone’s life.  There are holy moments all around us, we can’t hesitate, we have to be bold and courageous and seize the moments.  

This week, may our prayer be:

God, make me bold so that without hesitation I will seize the holy moments you give me.  Help me to share about Jesus and serve those in need around me whether it’s at a McD, or in my school, or my neighborhood, or my church.  Use me in extraordinary ways to do your will in Jesus’ name.  AMEN

Next Steps

Holy Moments - Sharing

Have you ever felt God calling you to say or do something?  

● Did you step out and do it?  

● If you did, what happened?  If not, why not?

Read Luke 2:2-18

● Why were the shepherds such an unlikely group of people to first hear about the birth of the Savior?

● What does God choosing them to first hear this news mean for us?  

● How did the shepherds immediately respond to the Holy moment of the angels’ appearance?

● Once they saw Jesus and knew the message of the angels’ was true, what did they do and why?

● How does their story remind us that God often chooses the most unlikely people to do the most extraordinary things?  

What divine opportunity is God giving you today?

Are you hesitating?  What is holding you back?

Prayer:  God, make me bold so that without hesitation I will seize the holy moment you are giving me.  Help me to share about Jesus and serve those in need around me whether it’s at a McD, or in my school, or my neighborhood, or my church.  Use me in extraordinary ways to do your will.  I ask all this in Jesus’ name.  AMEN 

Some divine opportunities for us all:

1. Invite someone to join you for worship on Christmas Eve.

2. Sign up to help with the Christmas Dinner.

3. Give to the Christmas Dinner or the Hurricane relief (Christmas Eve) offering.

4. Look for someone in need during this season and don’t hesitate to help them.    

Holy Moments - Mary

 

In my first year as the pastor here at Faith Church, there was an opportunity we had but many things involved were out of our control.  I was meeting with a prayer team at the time and I was frustrated because things weren’t going well and there wasn’t anything more I could do.  I thought I knew God’s will and plan, but things weren’t going according to that plan.  One week, when we were praying, someone said, Andy, you really have to let this go and allow God to work in His will and His time.  

Has anyone ever said that to you?  You just need to let this go.  Maybe it was at your job or trying to find a job and you were working like crazy to make things happen but they just weren’t happening.  Or maybe it was in a relationship or your marriage where you were trying to make everything right but nothing was going the right way.  Or maybe right now you are feeling this way about your future.  You are doing all in your power to get everything lined up the way it needs to be and you are driving yourself crazy in the process because nothing is lining up.  Has anyone ever said that you just need to let it go?  Or maybe they said, “let go and let God.”  That sounds nice but it’s hard to hear because God’s way and time are not always the same as ours.

The truth is that we all have things in our lives that we need to surrender.  Surrendering isn’t giving up as much as it is a process of letting go - specifically, letting go of our control.  Letting go is hard because most of us want to be in control.  Today we are going to look at some holy moments of surrender in the Christmas story to learn what it might look like for us to surrender to God.  

David shared with us last week that our lives aren’t measured by time but by moments, and surrender is absolutely like that, it is measured in moments.  We don’t surrender once and then we are done, surrender comes through moments.  Some of those moments are small daily choices we make to surrender to God or to those we love, but other moments are holy; they are big and bold and life changing.  

In October of 1982, I had a holy moment of surrender sitting under Beaumont Tower on the campus of MSU where I heard God say, Andy with me there is life and without me there is death.  The choice is yours.  I chose to let go of my life and surrendered to God.  I said, I want life and I want to live for you.  It was a holy moment, but I’ll be honest with you, not every moment for the past 42 years has been fully surrendered to God.  I still struggle every day to let go of control, to walk away from sin, and to have the faith to step completely into the life God has for me.  It’s a struggle, but holy moments of surrender along the way have helped me be more faithful and obedient.  

When I finally let go of saying that I will never go to seminary and went to seminary, it was a holy moment of surrender.  When I followed God’s call and started the process to become a pastor after saying I would never be a pastor, it was a holy moment of surrender.  When God provided a position for me in Altoona and I went, it was a holy moment.  When I gave up what I thought was best for me and followed God’s call to come to Bellefonte, it was a holy moment.  There have been many holy moments of surrender during my life that remind me that surrendering to God is the best way to live life.  I’m not giving up what I want, I’m just letting go of what I think is best to allow God to lead me into what is best.

Mary is the picture of surrender in the Christmas story and her story has a lot to tell us about what it might mean for us to surrender more fully to God.  The story begins in Luke 1.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”  Luke 1: 26-28

There is a lot to unpack in these familiar verses.  First, let’s talk about where Mary was from: Nazareth.  

Today, Nazareth is a small city in Israel, but when the angel visited Mary, it was barely a town.  Some scholars believe it might have only been 9-10 acres in size, which means it would be the size of Beaver Stadium (pic).  Even if we double that and look at the stadium and parking areas, we see that Nazareth was very small.

Nazareth was nothing.  It was unimportant and unknown.  It was so small and insignificant that no one thought anything good would ever come from Nazareth.  That’s what Philip said when he heard that Jesus came from Nazareth.  He said, Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?  For 400 years, God had not spoken to His people or called anyone to be a prophet or a leader.  God broke His silence when he came to an unknown girl in an insignificant town and called her to be part of His plan.  

That God called Mary from Nazareth is good news for us because it means God will call us in Nazareth.  In many ways we might feel like we are living in our own Nazareth.  In the larger scheme of things, I’m nobody.  Like Mary, I’m insignificant.  We feel like we are too unimportant to be called or used by God.  I can’t imagine God being silent for 400 years and then deciding to come and speak to me and then ask me to help bring the Messiah into the world.  No way would God do that.  When all we can see is the Nazareth we live in, it’s hard to believe God has a purpose for us and that can make it difficult to surrender to God.

While Mary wondered why the angel came to her, she didn’t dismiss him and tell him to go find someone more important.  Mary could have said no at the very beginning, but she didn’t.  She didn’t let her background hold her back, and we can’t let our background hold us back.  God calls us when we feel uncallable.  God calls us when we feel insignificant and think that we don’t have what it takes to do or be anything.  The first thing we might need to surrender is our past or how we look at our lives.  Each and every one of us has something of value to offer God, which is why God comes to each of us and says, Greetings, you who are highly favored, the Lord is with you.  

This greeting was confusing to Mary.  Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  Luke 1:29

Mary was troubled by what the angel meant because Mary did not see herself as favored.  She was ordinary, maybe less than ordinary.  She was insignificant.  She had a hard time believing that God even knew who she was let alone that God favored her.  Let’s be honest, if an angel came and said this to us we might think the same thing?  Who me?  Favored?  I don’t think so.  God doesn’t even know me, and if He did know me, He wouldn’t call me favored.  I’m too ordinary, too broken, too sinful.  

This was another moment of surrender for Mary.  She allowed the word of God to wash over her.  She didn’t dismiss the angel and the greeting he brought, instead she thought about what it meant.  What does it mean for us to be favored by God?  Have we allowed that thought to wash over us?  Have we surrendered to it and trusted it and allowed God’s favor to move us forward?  

One of the things we might need to surrender is the idea that we can’t be favored by God.  Maybe we need to surrender to the idea that we are deeply loved by God and that God calls us when we feel uncallable.  God sees us as worthy when we feel unworthy.  God sees purpose in us when we don’t see anything of value.  God calls us to great things when we don’t feel like we have anything.  Part of surrender is letting go of the idea that God doesn’t love us or want us or want to use us.  He does.  We need to surrender to the idea that we are favored and loved and called by God to be part of His plan.  And God certainly had a plan for Mary.  

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 

Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.  Luke 1:30-38

God is calling Mary to be the mother of the Messiah, the one who will save all of humanity.  It’s interesting that in the OT, the first person called by God was Noah, and what was Noah called to do?  Noah was called to save the world by building an ark.  And now Mary, one of the first people called by God in the NT, is being called to save the world by bringing forth the Son of God.  

The first call of God in the Old and New Testament is to ask someone to help save the world.  Does the call of God in our lives always involve a little bit of saving the world?  When God calls us to love someone, care for someone, help someone, or share our faith with someone, are we helping save them?  How might God be calling you, or us as a church, to be part of His plan of salvation.  In different ways, every call of God leads to salvation, our salvation and the salvation of others.    

Mary doesn’t say not to this, but she does ask how it can happen because she is a virgin.  In reply, the angel doesn’t give specific answers but instead says, the Holy Spirit will overshadow you.  In other words, God will do it.  When God asks us to do those things that seem impossible, God might not give us step by step plans on how it’s going to happen, He might just say, the power of the Holy Spirit will overshadow you.  If you surrender, if you let go, I’ll take care of it.  

I don’t know about you, but I want details.  I want the step by step instructions to be printed out in triplicate.  I want more than just a general, the Holy Spirit will overshadow you, but that was all Mary got.  No details, no instructions, just the promise that God will do this.  

What the angel does give Mary is the news that her cousin Elizabeth, the one who was old and barren and no one thought would ever have a child, was now pregnant.  This was a sign to Mary that with God, all things are possible.  God can bring life into impossible situations.  With only this assurance, Mary surrendered to God.  May your word to me be fulfilled.  

This is a true holy moment of surrender.  With incredible faith and trust, Mary gives herself fully to God, but this moment would never have happened if Mary hadn’t been willing to first surrender and listen to the angel who said that a girl from Nazareth could be the mother of the Messiah.  This holy moment was built on others and it wasn’t going to be the last, in fact, maybe the most important holy moment of surrender for Mary is still to come.  

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”  Luke 1:39-45

Mary hurried off to see Elizabeth.  We don’t know how long she waited.  I see her leaving almost immediately, which means that she was only a few days or weeks pregnant when she met Elizabeth.  Mary hasn’t told anyone what is going on and she might not even know for sure if she’s actually pregnant.  

I asked some women how soon they knew they were pregnant.  Some of them said because of how they felt they knew very early on, others say they didn’t know for several weeks.  Mary being so young and never having had a child before may not have known for sure that there was a baby growing in her.  But when Mary arrived at Elizabeth’s home, Elizabeth said that just the sound of her voice made the baby in her womb leap.  And Elizabeth said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!  

Mary hadn’t told Elizabeth that an angel came to her or that she might be pregnant, but Elizabeth knew.  And now Mary knows that God is doing a miracle in her life and that what the angel said is actually true.  She is going to be the mother of the Messiah.  This was the first confirmation for Mary that what she had surrendered to has in fact happened.  She is carrying the Lord, the son of God.  

As holy as the moment was when Mary was first visited by the angel and surrendered herself to the will of God, this moment might have been even more holy and profound because what Mary had just believed would happen - she now knew was happening.  God was doing this in her life.  God was going to use a nobody girl from a nowhere town to bring the Savior into the world.  This confirmation of Elizabeth, this holy moment, led to another moment of surrender for Mary, a moment so holy and profound that it caused Mary to speak these words.

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.

His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.  He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.  He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”  Luke 1:46-55

When we think of Mary surrendering to God, we think of the holy moment when the angel Gabriel came to her and she said yes to God’s plan, but maybe the holy moment Mary needed was this one, a moment when Mary had confirmation that she was pregnant and carrying the Son of God.  This holy moment assured Mary that God was doing a mighty work in her life and it gave her the strength she needed to surrender to God for the next 250 days of her pregnancy.  

To surrender to God, we all need holy moments of God’s calling AND holy moments when that call of God is affirmed.  In 1984, I left MSU thinking God had other plans for my life.  Through a lot of searching and listening, I felt strongly that God was calling me to return to MSU and not only finish my degree but work with IVCF, the Christian Fellowship that had been so important in my surrendering to God in the first place.  To help guide me in this decision, God literally spoke a verse to me in a dream. 

The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.  2 Timothy 2:2

I took from this that God was calling me back to MSU and to IV so I could share with them all that I had seen and heard from my time there earlier.  When I arrived on campus, one of my first meetings was with the IV leader who had also returned to MSU to help lead the group.  Denny said to me, Andy, I am so glad you returned because we need someone who knows what IV was like a few years ago and can share that vision with our new leaders.  

Denny had just confirmed God’s call in my life.  I returned to MSU and IV because 2 Timothy 2:2 told me to entrust to reliable people what I had seen and heard.  And here was Denny saying, I need you to entrust to new leaders what you have seen and heard.  That was the holy moment I needed.  I had surrendered and returned to MSU, but this was the moment that helped me do all that God was calling me to do.  From that moment on, I never looked back or questioned God’s call in my life.

Mary shows us that surrender doesn’t take place once but over and over again.  Her story shows us that some moments of surrender require a lot of faith and others come when God gives us a lot of assurance, but every moment is important.

This Christmas, we all have something we need to surrender.  It might be a job, or a relationship, or our finances, or a child that is making poor decisions, or a future that suddenly looks very different than what we had planned. We all have something we need to let go of, and from May we learn that 

surrender doesn’t happen in one moment of time, 

it happens in moments all the time.  

Today, how is God calling you to surrender?  

What assurance has God given you that can help you surrender again today?  

Who is the Elizabeth you can go to for strength and help and how can they help you surrender more of yourself to God?  

And here is something powerful to think about and ponder - like Mary did - how can your surrender help bring salvation into the world?  How can it help save you and then how can it save others?    

This Christmas, perhaps the best gift we can give to ourselves, to God, to others, and to the world is to take this holy moment and surrender.

 

Next Steps

Holy Moments - Surrender

When have you struggled to surrender something to God?  Why was it hard and what was the outcome?

How is God calling you to surrender today?

What did it mean that Mary came from Nazareth?

● What is the “Nazareth” that holds you back?  

● What problems and limitations of your past (and present) do you need to let go of so you can move forward?

How do you think Mary felt when the angel said, Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you?

● How would you feel if an angel said that to you?

● Why do we have a hard time seeing ourselves as “highly favored”?  

● What does it mean for us to surrender to God’s love?

God called Mary to bring forth the Savior of the world.  

● When has God used you to help “save” others?

● What do you need to surrender today to make God’s plan of salvation possible?

After the angel’s visit, Mary hurried off to see Elizabeth.  

● Why might Mary have needed or wanted to see Elizabeth at that moment?  \\

● How did that meeting turn into another holy moment of surrender for Mary?  

● Who might be able to help affirm God’s call in your life?  How can you hurry to see them this Christmas Season?  

Who might need you to be the affirmation of God’s call in their life?  Be open to the power of the Holy Spirit moving in both you and others in this Holy Season.  

More Than Enough - Generosity

 

I want you to think for a moment about what you are good at when it comes to your money.  I’ll give you a few options… are you good at spending your money?  Let’s be honest, there are some people who are really good at spending money.  They excel at shopping, they know the UPS driver’s name and entire life history because they come to the house with packages every day.  You are the ones who know how to navigate all the online shopping sites and have one click shopping set up on Amazon.  

Or are you a good bargain hunter and always able to save a few dollars?  My grandmother had a box of coupons and I remember cutting them out of the paper and going through them with her.  She was very good at finding sales.  I learned from my grandmother a little bit about bargain shopping, for example, if an item is buy one get two free - it’s always a good deal.  That’s why I have a few pork loins in my freezer.  Do I cook and eat pork loin a lot, no, but when they are buy 1 get 2 free, you buy them.  If it’s not coupons, then maybe it’s thrift store shopping or yard sales.  I’ve seen people whose homes look like something from a magazine and they decorated it all from thrift stores and yard sales.  They are good at finding bargains.  

Or maybe you are good at saving.  My family and friends would probably say this about me.  I had a friend in seminary talk to me about one of those personality tests you can take and she said, I would call you miserly.  It was one of the categories.  Miserly.  I was kind of hurt but then she said, Andy, you never go out with us, you never spend your money.  I’m not miserly, I’m just naturally good at saving.  

So are you good at spending?  Bargain shopping?  Saving?  It might surprise you, but there is no teaching in the Bible on how to be good at spending or bargain shopping or even saving.  Now saving money is a good thing, but the Bible doesn’t encourage us to store up treasure on earth, in fact, the exact opposite is true.  Jesus said that we should not store up treasure on earth where moths and rust can destroy.

What the Bible is full of, however, is teaching and instruction on giving. We are in a series talking about how it is more blessed to GIVE than to RECEIVE and we are looking at Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth.  Last week we heard Paul encourage the people of Corinth to give the way that the people in Macedonia had given.  If you weren’t here last week, let me share just part of that encouragement because Paul’s words are just amazing.

They gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.  Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all: to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.  

2 Corinthians 8: 3-5

Paul is trying to encourage the people of Corinth to give because they had planned to give to an offering Paul was collecting to help people in need, but for some reason they had stopped.  They had good intentions and wanted to give but then didn’t follow through.  Sound familiar?  We plan to give, we want to give but then for some reason, we don’t follow through.  So Paul sent one of his companions, Titus, to go to Corinth with this letter of encouragement to remind the people to follow through and give.  

So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving. Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.  

2 Corinthians 8:6-7 (NLT)

Paul reminds them that they wanted to give and that they excel in many other ways when it comes to their faith so they should think about excelling in the ministry of giving.  I love Paul’s description of giving as a ministry.  It’s easy to think about praying as ministry or leading a Bible study, or singing in the choir, or working with children, youth, and older adults, or visiting those in prisons, or going on mission trips.  We see all those things and more as ministry but forget that giving is also ministry.  In Romans 12 there is a list of spiritual gifts given to the church and one of those gifts is the gift of giving.   If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously.  Romans 12:8

If we want to grow spiritually, we have to talk about how to become generous because becoming a generous giver won’t just happen.  We will never wake up one morning and suddenly find ourselves outrageously generous, in fact, most of us can probably think about a time we wanted to give, felt called and maybe compelled to give, but then didn’t follow through.  

I’ve shared this before. One year when I was a student at MSU, I went home for the Christmas holidays and a friend went with me to visit some family he had in New England.  On our trip we stopped in New York City for a few hours and were walking down the street when I saw a woman wearing a maroon windbreaker huddled in the crack between two buildings.  She was homeless and sitting on grocery bags filled with all her possessions.  I remember her so clearly because the maroon windbreaker she had on was exactly like one I had at home and there was no way it would have been able to keep her warm.  

At that moment, I felt something tell me to give her my coat.  It was a warm fleece lined brown corduroy coat that I loved, and I didn’t give it to her.  I made all kinds of excuses why not to give, and that decision has haunted me ever since.  While I still feel bad about that, I am thankful for the memory because that moment taught me a lot about how I can give and be generous.  

The truth is that we are not naturally generous people.  Take a toy away from a 2 year old and at first they might laugh or give it to you, but in time they are going to want it back or you will hear about it.  If that doesn’t convince you that we are naturally selfish and self-centered, let me ask you this.  When you look at a group photo, who is the first person you look for?  You look for yourself - right?  And if you don’t look good, then the picture is bad.  Even if everyone else is looking great, if your eyes are half closed or your mouth is hanging open you will say, that’s a horrible picture.  We don’t need to learn how to be selfish, we need to learn how to be generous.  To get better at anything takes time and intentionality and practice.

To play the organ/piano/guitar it takes practice.  No one ever wakes up one day being able to play like Carol/David.  None of us will become outrageously generous without being intentional and learning how to give.  Generosity comes when we plan to give and then stand firm in our giving, or following through.  This is how God tells us to become generous people.   

Generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity.  Isaiah 32:8 (NLT)

Generous people make plans to give and then follow through and give.  Like learning how to do anything, we start by making a plan.  We figure out what we need to do and then we have to actually do it, we have to follow through.  The same is true with giving.  While there might be times when we give spontaneously, I guarantee you that those times won’t come until we make giving and generosity an ongoing part of our lives.  So let’s consider 3 qualities of generous people and how we can plan and stand firm in these areas.

1. Generous people give willingly.  

This is what Paul tells the church in Corinth.  They started out to be generous because they wanted to give, they were willing to give.  

Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.  2 Corinthians 8:10-11

Is it our desire to give?  Does our heart truly want to give?  Are we willing to give?  Most of the time God doesn’t care about the amount we give, He cares about our willingness to give.  Is our heart in it when we give.  If we are giving out a sense of duty or obligation, it doesn’t honor God because God doesn’t look at the gift but the heart.  Let’s look at a story about Jesus that teaches us not only about giving but about our attitude and willingness to give.   

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.  But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.  Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” 

Mark 12:41-44

Maybe the first thing we should stop and think about is that Jesus was sitting there watching people give.  We need to remember that God watches our giving and the reason He watches is that He wants us to live and love like He does and He wants to bless us when we give.  But when God watches our giving, He is looking at our heart.  

As Jesus watched all the rich people give, He could see that some were giving out of a sense of duty or obligation.  Others were giving to get noticed.  Their offerings would have been all coins and they were being placed in large metal boxes so the sound of giving a large offering would have drawn the attention of the people.  Those giving a lot loved that people were watching them.  While they gave a lot, their hearts were not right.  

The woman who put in her two coins was recognized by Jesus because she was willing to give.  She didn’t have to give, and she didn’t have to give that much, but she wanted to.  She was willing to give and Jesus saw that desire and willingness in her heart and honored her.  What does Jesus see in our hearts when we give?  Does He see us giving grudgingly because we feel like we have to or does He see us giving willingly.  The Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver because a cheerful giver is one who wants to give.  

If our heart isn’t right in giving, we need to ask why we aren’t willing or wanting to give.  What is the fear, or resentment that might be holding us back?  How can we change our heart so that it becomes our desire to give?

2. Generous people give proportionally.  

Again, we hear Paul say this to the people in Corinth when he encourages them to be generous.  2 Corinthians 8:10-11

Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.

We give according to what we have.  If we have a lot we should give a lot.  If we have a little, we should give a little.  Our giving needs to be in proportion to what we have been given.  In the Old Testament there are two concepts of planned and proportional giving that we read about over and over again.  We talked about it last week and that is giving our first-fruits and a tithe.

God called the people to literally give to the priests some of the first fruits of their harvest.  Giving first is important because we have to sit down and actually plan our giving.  We aren’t giving as an afterthought or what we have left over, first fruits means making a plan to give at the beginning.  We will not grow in our giving without a plan.  We don’t wake up one day and just find ourselves giving more, we have to plan to give so we can learn how to be generous.  

We have to plan to give and we have to think about giving proportionally.  Trust me, no one gives a tithe without sitting down to think about it and planning on how to make that happen because 1/10 is a lot of money.  I remember writing my first tithe check when I became a pastor.  I had never tithed before and when I sat down and figured out what 10% was, I realized it was a lot.  I had to figure out how much I then had left and how I was going to use that to meet all my other bills.  

Not only does the Old Testament talk about planned and proportional giving, but Paul did too, and he encouraged the people in Corinth to do just that.  

On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 1 Corinthians 16:2

Paul encourages the people to sit down at the beginning and set aside a portion to give.  Set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income.  If you have a little, set aside a little.  If you have a lot, set aside a lot.  Planned and proportional giving was going to help them be generous and learn how to give the way they wanted to give.  I would encourage you to do the same.  If you aren’t tithing, sit down and plan to set aside a portion of your income or resources to give.  It is a necessary step in becoming generous people.

3. Generous people give sacrificially.  

Ok, this is where giving gets hard.  Sacrificial giving is giving in a way that we actually feel its impact on our lives.  To be honest, when we get to a place where we give 10% each year, we can grow comfortable.  It’s not that it’s easy, but we grow accustomed to it so it doesn’t really stretch us.  For someone who is naturally good at saving money, I got pretty comfortable with giving 10% of my income and saving all the rest - storing up treasure on earth.  

But then I asked myself one day, what is my income?  Is it just my salary?  One of the blessings of being a pastor is that I live in a parsonage.  Am I giving to God in return for that gift?  I challenged myself to see if I could tithe on my full benefits package.  And then I wondered about giving more than 10%.  I had thought of the tithe as the goal of giving instead of the beginning, so I started to give more and while I don’t have an amazing story about how God blessed me in a profound way each time I gave more and grew in giving, I have never been in need.  God has faithfully and quietly provided the more I give.  I am more blessed when I give.  

I continue to ask myself what it looks like to give sacrificially. Sometimes it looks like giving up something and taking that money to give to something special like hurricane relief or OCC.  Sometimes I challenge myself to give to someone when I feel God asking me to give.  I still remember that woman in NYC and tell myself, if I feel God calling me to give, I need to give and I need to give now because the moment might be gone tomorrow.  

Sacrificial giving is what Jesus also commends in the widow’s offering.  While she only gave 2 small coins, Jesus said it was all she had to live on.  No one else that day gave sacrificially.  No one else gave in such a way that they had to sit down and reprioritize all their spending and saving.  

When was the last time you gave a gift that was really difficult for you financially?  When was the last time you gave up something in order to give?  When was the last time you gave in a way that pushed you outside of what was comfortable and easy financially?    I’m not suggesting we give that way every day, but we will never become generous people without at times pushing ourselves to give sacrificially.  

What does sacrificial giving look like for you and your family?  What does proportional giving look like for you and your family?  What does a willingness to give, a growing desire to give, look like for you and your family?  If we can find ways to grow in these three areas, we will become more generous people.  Generosity doesn’t just happen, we have to plan to be generous and then follow through on it.  

You will hear a lot of messages these next 6 weeks about how you should spend your money.  You will feel compelled to spend on family and friends at Christmas, you will look for bargains and maybe think about not spending too much so you can store up for the future.  You will also hear about ways to give to God and others and God just might show you someone that you need to give to.  I encourage you to listen to God.  

Consider how He is calling you to plan your giving and how you can give proportionally and sacrificially.  Listen for God’s voice when He says to you, here is where I want you to give.  It might be a woman on a street in a windbreaker, a server in a restaurant, a family you see in church, a neighbor you know is going through difficult time, or a single mom or dad who will struggle to provide a holiday for the children,   Make a plan now to give when God calls you to give - and then stand firm - follow through.  

More Than Enough - Love Gives

 We are entering a season of the year where we begin to focus on giving thanks and giving gifts.  Because of this, it’s a great time to reset our priorities and remember that it is always more blessed to GIVE than to RECEIVE.  We often say this, but do we believe it?  I mean, do we believe it to the point where we have ordered our life according to this principle?  Do we prioritize giving?  Do we look for ways to give our time, energy, faith, and money.  

While we know it’s better to give than receive, we also know it’s pretty nice to receive.  We enjoy getting gifts and having people care for us and provide for us.  It's a nice feeling, but we tell ourselves that it is better and more blessed to give, but why?  Have you ever stopped and asked why it is more blessed to give?  Is it just that the good feeling we get when we give is better than the good feeling we get when we receive, or is there something more.  

One reason we might believe this principle and strive to follow it is because Jesus said it.  In  the book of Acts, Paul quotes Jesus by saying, we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  Acts 20:35

That alone should be reason enough for us to follow this teaching and trust that the blessing of giving is better than the blessing of receiving, but beyond the words of Jesus and the truth He brings, there is a more compelling reason why it is more blessed to give.  When we give, we embody and reflect the heart of God and what could be better than being a reflection of God and His love.    

In John 3:16 it says, God so LOVED the world that He GAVE.  So God, who the Bible tells us is love, loved the world, and because He loved, He gave.  And when God gave, He didn’t just give a little, He gave a lot.  In fact, God gave all He had.  God gave His one and only son.  So God, who is love, gives, which means that love gives.  So if we want to love God and love others, we have to GIVE.  In fact, if we don’t give, we don’t love.  

The disciple John, who Pastor David pointed out a few weeks ago always called himself the beloved disciple, not because he thought Jesus loved Him more than the others but because John just knew how much Jesus loved him, said,  

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.  1 John 3:17-18

So the love of God is not in us, it is not part of us, it is not reflected in u0,s if we do not give.  When we do give, the love of God is not only in us but we reflect that love to the world.  But to be truly blessed when we give, we need to give like God did, that means we don’t just give a little, or grudgingly, or by force, we give joyfully, freely, generously and sacrificially.  

My guess is that many of us do give this way.  I saw that huge pile of shoeboxes almost disappear last week and I watched families walk out with multiple boxes.  I have seen the offerings pour in for Western North Carolina and know that we aren’t done giving to support the rebuilding of people’s lives in that region.  I know we want to give and give all the ways God does, but I also know it can be a struggle for us to think about this kind of giving and then to actually give.  

Too often we think that our struggle to give is a problem of resources.  We don’t have enough time to serve in more ways and help others.  We don’t have the money to give more because we’re already behind on our bills.  We think we have a resource issue, but it’s not a money problem, it’s a mindset problem.  We are living with a mindset of scarcity instead of abundance. 

As we talk about the blessing of giving, let’s look at an amazing example of what giving looks like when we give like God.  The example comes from a group of churches we hear about in the New Testament.  

In Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth, he wanted to encourage the people to give so he talked about the giving he saw from a group of churches in Macedonia.  These churches were in Philippi and Thessalonica and they were not wealthy.  Paul says that out of their poverty, they begged him to let them give to those  in need.  

And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.  For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.  2 Corinthians 8:1-5

We aren’t told why the people of Macedonia faced extreme poverty, many scholars think that the political instability they faced over time, and being ruled and governed by several different nations, kept them from building any kind of wealth.  But their poverty didn’t keep them from giving and giving generously.  Look at how Paul described their giving.  

Rich generosity, they gave beyond their ability.  They gave freely, urgently pleading with Paul to let them give.  They exceeded Paul’s expectations.  They gave first to God and then to Paul and the people.  What was it that moved them to give this way?  They didn’t have a surplus of money, so it wasn’t a money issue, they gave because they were of the mind to give and they knew they had more than enough to give.  They didn’t approach this situation, or life in general, from a mindset of scarcity, but a mindset  of abundance.  With God they knew they had more than enough to give and give generously.  

In the Bible we find two different mindsets that can determine how we give.  The first one is a BAG mindset. We hear about this from the  prophet Haggai who said to God’s people: 

You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a BAG with holes in it.

Does this sound familiar?  You work hard but never seem to get ahead.  You think you have to get another job to pay off your bills or to be able to finance the new car you know you need.  Too often this is how we look at our life.  We just don’t have enough.  What we have doesn’t meet our needs  We are putting our money in a bag that has a hole in it because we never have enough.  With this mindset, we will never give, and we will never give generously.  

The problem with this mindset is that we think it is a money issue so we tell ourselves, when I have more money, I’ll give.  The problem is that when we have more money, we still won’t give because we still won’t think we have enough.  Money doesn’t make us more generous, money will just magnify what is already in our heart.  

Studies show that the more money people have, the less they often give. The total dollar amount they give might be more, but the percentage of their income that they give is often less.  While we tell ourselves we will give more when we get more, when we get more, we never end up giving more.  Giving and generosity is never a financial issue, it is a faith issue. If we aren’t faithful and generous now, more money will not make us faithful and generous.  

A Bag mindset puts us into a cycle that looks like this:

God provides

We spend what we get and if we get more we spend more

We don’t have enough

We live in fear, always asking God to provide more.

The second mindset we hear about in the Bible is a BARN mindset and there are few places we hear about it:  

Proverbs 3:9-10.  Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your BARNS will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.  

What changes a bag mindset to a barn mindset is the act of giving.  Instead of consuming what God gives us first, and then feeling like we don’t have enough, we give to God first which activates our faith, which tells us we have more than enough to not only give and give generously but to care for all our needs as well.  The act of giving also reflects the heart of God because God so loved the world that He gave.  

The Bible also tells us that when we give to God first, God will bless us and we will never run out of what we need.  In other words, our barns will be blessed and always full.  God makes this promise to us through the prophet Malachi.

Bring the whole tithe into the BARN, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty .Malachi 3:10-11

This is the only passage in scripture where God says that it is ok to test Him.  God wants us to give so that He can give back to us.  The way that God has ordered His world is that when we give first and faithfully, God will give to us.  We will be blessed.  In fact, God wants to bless us so much that He is almost begging us here to give.  Test me, he says, try me, see if I’m being honest with you..  I will open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing on you that you won’t be able to contain if you will just give me the tithe.  

It’s more blessed to give because giving reflects the heart of God, and it opens up the floodgates of heaven so God can keep giving to us.  

So let’s talk about the tithe for a moment.  Some Christians don’t like the idea of a tithe because it seems to be tied to the Old Testament law and in Christ we are free from law and live by faith.  I agree, we are definitely saved by grace through faith alone, but the idea or principle of a tithe actually predates the law.

A tithe is simply an offering or gift of 10%.  That’s actually what the word means, one tenth.  We first hear about a tithe when the King of Salem, which was located in the area that today is Jerusalem, went out and blessed Abraham.  Abraham was so thankful for this blessing that he gave the King, Melchizedek, a tenth of everything he had.   In time, giving God a tithe as an offering was set up and different tithes were built into the law.

While we are set from the law and aren’t under any compulsion to give a tithe, we might want to consider it as a measure of our giving because Jesus not only talked about the tithe but he encouraged people to give it.  

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.  Matthew 23:23

Jesus was being critical of the religious leaders who were giving the tithe exactly as they were told to, but then they weren’t being generous in other ways.  They were giving the tithe but then not being generous and caring for those in need around them.  Jesus said, you need to be merciful AND give the tithe.  So Jesus doesn’t wipe out the tithe, He honors it.  So while we aren't under any compulsion to give a tithe, we might want to use it as a Biblical principle that can help us keep a faithful mindset.

The other thing I would say about the tithe is that it is just the beginning of giving, not the end.  Maybe it needs to be a goal you work towards, but if you ever get to a place where 10% goes to God, don’t stop there - keep going. I would say the tithe is where we start giving but the example of giving we have from God is that He gave ALL.  God so loved that He gave His one and only Son so our giving needs to be generous and sacrificial.  

Whether giving is 10%, less than 10% or more than 10% isn’t as important as just giving.  The only thing that breaks the cycle of a BAG mindset is to give, so  find a way to give now.  Don’t wait until you have more money, don’t wait until the end of the year and see what surplus you have, don’t wait until you make out your Christmas shopping lists and see what you have left over.  The longer we wait, the harder it will be to give.  And if we think more money will help us give, it won’t.  It’s faith that helps us give and when we give, God is thrilled and gives us more.   God may not give more money, God may give us those things that money can’t buy.  

The blessing that comes when we give might be better mental health and improved relationships.  If you give as a couple, God might bless your marriage.  If you talk about giving as a family and different ways you can give together, God might bless your family in ways you never thought possible.  As you give, God might show up and show off in your life in ways that will increase your faith.  When God says He will open the floodgates of heaven and pour out  so much blessing that you won’t have room enough to store them, the blessing might be those things that money can’t buy.  

Giving is what breaks the bag mindset and starts a new mindset where God provides – we give –God multiples and we have more than enough – and this leads to a stronger faith.  Why is it more blessed to give?  Because giving not only reflects the love of God but it leads to us having more of what God wants us to have AND a stronger faith.  

Learning to give might require us to sit down and reprioritize our entire lives so that God is first, and loving others is first.   Isn’t that actually the point?  

Aren’t we supposed to put God first in all things?  Doesn’t the Bible say to love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and soul and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself?  If we are going to love with all we have, we have to also give with all we have because love gives.  

Let me close with some final words of Paul to the church in Corinth.  He was trying to encourage them to give so that they could experience the blessing of God. 

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  

2 Corinthians 9:6-8

We are blessed when we give.  We are blessed abundantly when we give.  It is more blessed to give.  

 

Next Steps November 20, 2024

More Blessed

What memorable gift have you received?  Given?

How did giving and receiving make you feel?  

Which felt better?  Why?

Why is it more blessed to give?  See John 3:16.

There are two mindsets when it comes to giving:

Summarize each mindset  

The BAG - see Haggai 1:6

1. _______________________________________

2. _______________________________________

3. _______________________________________

4. _______________________________________

The BARN - see Proverbs 3:9-10 and Malachi 3:10-11

1. _______________________________________

2. _______________________________________

3. _______________________________________

4. _______________________________________

Which mindset do you find yourself in today?

Giving is what breaks the cycle of the bag mindset.  

How and where can you give now?  

How can you give not only money but time, faith, and love?

Find one new way to give in this Thanksgiving and Christmas season.   

Read what Paul says about the Macedonians’ giving.  

2 Corinthians 8:1-5.  

Is your desire to give as strong as theirs?  

What step can you take today to begin to develop this kind of passion and commitment to giving?  

For further study:  

Consider the principle of tithing.  

See Genesis 14:19-20, Malachi 3:10-11, Matthew 23:23.

Why might tithing be a good principle to follow?

What benefits are there to tithing?

Do you think tithing is the beginning of giving or the end goal of giving?