Christmas: January 4

Old Testament Lesson

Joshua 3:14-4:7

One of the things I love best about the Old Testament is that when God does something amazing, the people are always told to put up and alter or lay some stones some where. And when their children ask, why are there stones in the middle of the road, they can tell them about the mighty things that God has done. We need to remember what great things God has done for us. We re to place stones in our lives that call us to remember. We need to have markers in our lives so that we can remember what God has done for us and we can tell our children and grand children about how awesome God is. We cannot forget. That is why it is important for us to have rituals. One of the things in ministry that gives me the most joy is hearing a child say the Lord’s Prayer or the Apostle’s Creed. Because for that child, they have just built a stone in their life that will call them to remember. They will know that throughout their lives and it will call them to remember how good God is to them. Do you remember today? What to you have in your life that calls you to remember how good God has been to you?

New Testament Lesson

Ephesians 5:1-20

There is a sense of urgency to Paul in this text. We are to wake up! We are to watch! We are to be active, do our part. Christianity is not a passive thing; it is an active one. Faith is not something we have just by sitting a pew. Holiness is not obtained just by wanting it. We have to do our part to be where God wants us to be. Now, God can even use our mistakes, if we will allow. But, we must be active. We must wake up and look around. What sin is there, just below the surface? Get rid of it. Time is of the essence. Every minute we waste is a minute that we could use for God. But, first we have to want to be used by God. And that means truly having faith, truly giving Him control of your life, not just thinking that you’d like to do it one do. Do not confuse you desire to one day have faith with actually faith. Wanting it is not enough. We must awake! Arise! Seek after God.

Gospel Lesson

John 9:1-12; 35-38

The blind man, whose fault was it? Was he blind out of his own sin, or the sin of his parents? Jesus says neither. He was merely blind and Jesus was going to use him to show the glory and power of God. God can use anything. While this man didn’t do anything to cause his own blindness, God will use it. Not everything bad that happens to us is because of our sin. If I’m sitting in my house right now and the roof falls in on me, is that because of my sin? No. But, if I go out, rob a bank, and go to jail, is that because of my sin? Yes. Not everything that happens is because of something that we’ve done either good or bad. But God can use everything that happens to us, good or bad. Everything, God can use. We just have to let him. In Romans 8 it says that all things work to the good of those that love God and are called according to his purpose. All things can be used for God. Even sickness. Even failure. Even tragedy. Even pain. Even loss. All things can work to the good of those that love God. We just have to allow His grace to work in our lives. He cannot work if our hearts are hard. Will you allow Him to work in you today? Will you say yes to His grace in whatever way it is made known to you today? He has something amazing in store for us; we just have to let Him work.

You think he'd call 911?

He's thinking, if you fall over, I will try to eat you.

 

He was really calling out for pizza

Not to say that the media is making things up, but all of us that own a cat know that there is no way this is true.

What Greg will Blog?

I wonder if Greg will post about how this basketball game turned out?

Christmas: December 3

Old Testament Lesson

1 Kings 19: 9-18

Today, we see God speak to Elijah. Elijah had run away, afraid, and today, God speaks to him. God doesn’t speak in the mighty wind or fire, but instead in a still small voice. The only thing about a still small voice is that it is easy to miss. We want God to shout at us. We want God to hit us over the head. Sometimes He will. But a lot of the time, He will not. We have to listen for His whisper. That means we must quiet ourselves. We must be still with Him. We must stop our racing minds and forget about what is next on our schedule and focus on Him. Focus on Him. Take time to listen. When you pray, do you stop talking at all? Do you stop and listen? Remember, prayer is a two way conversation. God will speak to us, but we must listen. If we don’t listen, we won’t hear what He is saying.

God also tells Elijah that he is not the only one that is faithful. In fact, God has 7000 that are faithful that Elijah doesn’t even know about. You are not the last Christian in the world. It may seem like that at times, but God has stuff going on that your mind can’t even realize. One of my professors used to say, “Never think that you’re God’s last hope.” God is bigger than you and me, and His plans are bigger than you me. The great thing is that He wants to use you and me in these plans.

New Testament Lesson

Ephesians 4: 17-32

The people in the text had hardened their hearts to God and once they were hard, they could not feel the truest joy, which comes from God. So, instead, they seek it other places. But, they lost their sensitive hearts and they could not feel joy at all. So, they tried other things to feel what they had lost. They indulged in sin, hoping to remember what it was like to feel alive, but they could not. Their hearts were too hard. Until our hearts are sensitive to God, soft to His touch, we will not be alive. We will not feel anything at all. We will be cold. We will be empty. We may try to receive joy through work, sex, money, lust, hobbies, or whatever feels your time. But, until are hearts are sensitive to God, we will not know true joy or true life.

Paul says we must get rid of the old life; those that steal must steal no longer. As Christians are to be made knew. I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but if we are Christians and we are not different than we used to be, or are not different than the world, what does that say about us. We are a called to be different. We must put aside the ways of the past, the things that we “used” to do, and see God. We must live in the newness of His grace.

Gospel Lesson

John 6: 15-27

Once again the crowd follows Jesus not because of the spiritual, but because of the physical. They had been fed, and when they could not find him the next day, they went looking for him. But, He calls them on it. He tells them to seek after that which is eternal, not that which is perishable. How much time do we spend seeking the things of God? How much time we spend seeking the things of this world? Where are our priorities? We will not know the mind of God until we seek it. We will not know the full extent of God’s love for us until we seek it. We will not know the command and mission from God until we seek it. You can’t swim until you get in the deep. We have to wade out deep with God to know God fully. We can’t stay in the shallow the entire time and think that we are swimming. For us to know God, we have to really seek Him. Wanting to is not enough. We must really do it: spend time in the Word, spend time in prayer, spend time with God’s children. Why do we seek Him today, or do we even seek Him at all?

Tony Dungy and Faith

We have in the past two weeks have seen a man's soul exposed to the world in a way that I hope none of us ever have to go through. Tony Dungy is the coach of the Colts and is a Christian, and in the grief of losing a son to suicide has managed to give witness to his faith. In this article, Peter King talks about why Dungy was coaching this past week:

"He said that if he was to be a man of his convictions -- and his convictions are those of a man of God, he could not wallow in his sorrow; he needed to get back to work. If, as he believes, his son is in heaven with his God, then that is something to be celebrated, and Tony wouldn't be doing his duty as a Christian to remain house-bound, mourning. "I had to make a statement as a Christian,'' Dungy said.”As tough as it is, and I discussed it with my wife, I've got to be able to move on.''"

Later in the same article is talking about how he can stay so positive while in the midst of this:

"The Lord's giving me an opportunity to show what my life is about,'' he said. "If I can only show my best foot forward in the good times, then I'm not a very good man.''

That is the most amazing thing I have read after the death of a loved one. We all believe that. We may even think it, and we preachers preach it. But, to hear someone say this, and truly believe it, in the midst of their grief is world changing.

That is what Christianity offers. It is not a bed of roses. It will be hard. As the Lord said, we do not grieve as those who have no hope. This is the kind of faith that can heal the broken. This is the kind of faith that can restore and bring life. This is the kind of faith that can change our world. This is the kind of faith that God offers and we need.

And if we believe in God, really believe in God, we can change our world. This kind of faith can't be contained. Life springs forth, life from death, laughter from tears, salvation.

Do we believe like this? Wow, what grace the Lord longs to give us.

Christmas: December 3

Old Testament Lesson

1 Kings 19: 1-9

I love Elijah. He is my favorite person (besides Jesus) in all the Bible. Why do I like him? I relate to him better than any one in the Bible. He will do something great for God, and then he will run like a scared dog. He will be afraid. He will be worried, he will fall. Yet, God uses him. God uses him in some might ways, in spite of his failings. In the text for today, he runs because Jezebel has just threatened his life. In passage before this, he faces down hundreds of false prophets by himself, and through the power of God, he wins. 1 against 400, and through God he wins. How awesome is that? And now, one person says, I’ll kill you, and he runs. He goes from totally trusting in God to in a matter of minutes doubting and running. How many of us have moments of great confidence in God, moments where we see God so clearly, moments where God uses us in amazing ways, and then 2 seconds later we doubt and we run. That is what Elijah would do. And God used him. God spoke to him. He was among the greatest of the prophets. God’s grace was stronger than his weakness. So is it for us today. God’s grace is stronger than your weakness, you frailty, and even your sin. If you will just give Him control and let Him use you. His grace can do amazing things.

New Testament Lesson

Ephesians 4: 1-16

For Paul, we matter, we are important, we have gifts and graces. But the most important thing that these gifts and grace are for is for the building up of the body of Christ. He tells us to be humble and bear one another in peace. We are to as the body of Christ give strength to each other, but so often we do not. I’ve heard it put this way; the Christian army is the only army that shoots its wounded. Do we bind of each other’s wounds, or do we judge and look down on each other?

In the text it says that God has given us each grace and gifts. We don’t all have the same gifts or the same calling. Being a preacher is not the only way to serve God. I think in many ways, lay folk have more impact than we preachers do, because you are such an example in your workplace, or you can be, if you will allow God to work through you. What gifts has He given you? What ability has He given you? What calling has He given you? For, He has given you and everyone a calling and gifts. Are you using yours today?

Gospel Lesson

John 6: 1-14

Two things stuck out to me in this text. First, the people only followed because Jesus was doing miracles. They didn’t follow out of love or devotion; they followed because He was doing cool things. Why do we follow? Do we follow out of devotion, or do we follow because if we think if we are good enough, God will do what we want Him to? If I just pray, then God will “grant my wish.” The crowd followed because he was doing miracles. The disciples followed because they loved him. There were always two groups that followed Jesus, the crowds and the disciples. Which group are we in today? Do we follow for miracles, or do we follow because we love him.

The second thing that stuck out to me was Andrew speaking up. This was a huge crowd, and they had no way to feed them. It would take 8 months pay to feed them all. But, Andrew said, I’ve got a little bit, will that help? He didn’t offer enough to solve the problem, he offered enough to help. But, he offered it to Jesus. He was faithful. All Jesus asks of you and me is that we be faithful. We can’t solve all the world’s problems. All we can do is offer what we have. And then Jesus will bless it and do great things. Andrew offered some loaves and fish and Jesus feed a huge crowd. Will you offer to Him what you have today? If you do, if you offer him all that you are, no matter how little you may think that is, He will do great things.