Prepared

The prophet Isaiah writes: "Here is my herald whom I send and he will prepare your way." Prepare the way. Prepare your heart and mind. Let everyone stand silent. Let the stars and moon cease to move. Let the leaves of the trees and the tall browning grass cease to rustle in the wind. With expectant hush, and long awaiting yearning, we herald the coming of the long awaited Christ Child, the coming of the infant to Bethlehem. 

Advent is a Latin word for "Coming." Prepare the way. Prepare the heart to receive. Prepare the way. The Christ is coming. Let us prepare for the advent, the coming of the Christ Child. On this first week of Advent, let us prepare with repentance. Let us prepare with hope. Let us prepare with faith. For the light will come into this world - as God has promised. The Christ Child came in to Bethlehem's stable. He will come into the world again, into every life that waits, and into every hopeful heart. The Messiah comes to bring Christmas to every waiting believer. 

Prepare to receive Him with your heart, mind, body, and soul. Amen?

The Christmas Season

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” ―Abraham Lincoln

I love this quote. It really speaks to us about perspective. As we transition our focus to Christmas may we focus on the positive and not the negative. Let us be known as givers and not takers.

If we are Jesus to the world, then let all our actions, words, and thoughts be His as well.

May this Christmas season be one that we will rejoice that “the Lord has come” and now lives in us. Amen?

Advent Sunday

Today is the first Sunday of Advent which means “coming or arrival”. May we seek God through Jesus Christ over the next four weeks and invite Jesus to come in to our lives in a very real way. He spoke of His arrival and mission in John 3:11-21:

11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 "For 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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

Praise the Lord for His love and truth – found in His Son, Jesus Christ.

May we grow in our knowledge and relationship with Him during this Advent season. Amen?

Cry Out

When it is all said and done what will bring glory to God?

 Psalm 57:2 says, I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.

Here are five things we can do to bring glory to God:

1. Center our lives on God. Live a lifestyle of worship. We were planned for God’s pleasure, and it begins with complete surrender of our lives to Christ

2. Connect with other believers. We need to experience real fellowship that God desires us to have.  We were formed for God’s family. Identify with other believers through the church.

3. Cultivate spiritual maturity and Godly behavior. Quit trying and start training! We were created to become like Christ. Develop habits for intentional growth

4. Contribute something back. Use your talents in ministry, and find a place to serve at church.

5. Communicate God’s love for others. Develop a heart for the world. We were made for a mission - Share your faith in a mission activity.

Always be about God’s purposes. Amen?

Ready and Willing

We have seen in the last few days how in Luke 15 Jesus tells three stories about lost things being found. 

1. The sheep was rescued.
2. The silver coin was redeemed.
3. The son was restored.

All three of these stories have the same ending - rejoicing! Jesus cares about the lost people of this world. As His hands and feet we are to bring those who have separated themselves from God by our sin. Remember listen to their story. Share with them your story of salvation. Give them Jesus story of redemption and God's love.

Accepting Christ's gift of eternal life brings the lost out of darkness in to the light of God's presence.

Always be ready and willing to share God's love with the lost. Amen?

Your Senses

This is the third of three parables that Jesus tells. They are all connected with a central theme of finding things that are lost. We hear the beginning of The Parable of the Lost Son in Luke 15:11-20a: ¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.

The stories so far have been of lost things that someone else had to go find. In this parable we see the phrase, “he came to his senses”. The prodigal son knew he was lost, and had to go home to his Father. It’s true today. When we “come to our senses” we must go back to father God asking forgiveness.

What do you need to go to the Father for today?

May all of us "come to our senses" and get right with God. Amen?

Rejoicing

Today we will look at the second of three parables that Jesus tells as recorded in Luke. They are all connected with a central theme of finding things that are lost. We hear The Parable of the Lost Coin in Luke 15:8-10: ⁸ “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins^] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Just like in the first story Jesus’ audience would have been astounded by this account. No Jewish woman would ever lose a silver coin. Scholars believe the ten coins were her dowry and most likely worn around her neck. There is no way should could of lost one, but she did. The result is the same as the first – there is rejoicing here and in heaven!

Repentance leads to Rejoicing!

Amen?