Throughout my childhood I loved the stars and all things space. It’s probably no wonder why I enjoyed the original Star Wars trilogy growing up. Space was and still is truly fascinating! One thing about space that always has thrilled me was the concept that the moon has no light of its own to shine but merely reflects everything the sun gives it.
I’m no scientist or studier of the stars but if this really is true, then we need to be like the moon. The moon is held in orbit by the gravitational forces imposed on it and it only reflects the light that is shined on it. If we were like the moon, then we’d stay in proper orbit around the Son of God and we’d reflect His light into the world in which we live.
There you have it. We’ve been called sheep in the bible and numbered like the stars in the sky and grains of sand on the shore, but now we are also supposed to be like the moon! Reflect away my friends.
As we make our way toward Christmas, we spend lots of time getting things ready. From the lights to the tree to the Christmas meal and all the trimmings of the season there is a lot to do to prepare for Christmas. And that doesn’t have anything to do with the presents that need purchased and boxed and wrapped!
In the same way we have to prepare for Christmas externally with all of the to-do list items needing done, we also need to make sure we’re in the right place spiritually and emotionally for Christmas. This kind of preparation might seem unimportant but honestly getting our heart and mind ready for Christmas is the most important thing we can do.
Whether we’re planning a large family gathering like we have in years past or a smaller more intimate setting in light of the current situation, there will be things that need done to prepare our heart and mind for Christmas. Last week we looked at getting ready by pondering the message of Christmas. Reading the Christmas story or doing your Christmas devotion is a great way to do this.
But moving beyond just reading and thinking about it, this week we focus on praying for the things God promises. The more we know the story, the more we’ll know what it’s all about and why we celebrate to begin with. As we move through this week of Christmas preparation, we spend time in prayer.
What do you need to ask God for? What do you need from him? Take time this season to pray and then watch what God will do in your life.
When I was a kid I hated the dark. I used to run down the hallway and jump into bed because I didn’t like what might be under my bed. My grandpa drove a semi truck and one story he told over and over was the time I was in the sleeper because he and my grandma were in the seats. He asked what I was doing back there and my reply was a pathetic I’m back here all alone in the dark.
Darkness is disturbing and disorienting. It’s filled with unknown things. We know that in a dark room, things can hide in the shadows. They can be good things, bad things and even scary things!
But the longer we sit in the darkness, the more accustomed we become to the lack of light. Our eyes adjust. Our other senses kick in, and we begin to manage our time in the dark much better the longer we stay without light.
This staying in darkness not only pertains to nights when the sun sets earlier and the moon doesn’t shine. We stay in darkness when we fail to give God the place of importance he demands. As a pastor it’s grown obvious through this pandemic that people growing weary. But with what are they weary?
I thought church members were weary with the distance requirements, mask mandates, and capacity issues. But I fear the longer this drags on, the more weary people are growing spiritually. This weariness factor is like the darkness illustration above. The longer we’re in this state of weariness, the more we acclimate to it. And the more ok we become with a lack luster spiritual life.
Isaiah tells his people to rise and shine. The church today need to rise and shine as well. Enough is enough. There is work to be done and the few can’t do it alone anymore. Leaders are tired. People are stressed. We all need to get back to gathering however, whenever, wherever we possibly can. The strength of the church isn’t found in darkness. It’s found in the light of God’s word. It’s found in growing together in our knowledge of who God is and what he’s done for us.
Do me a favor if you could. If you’re a church member of any church, see how you can get involved. Get involved in worship, not just Sunday mornings but whenever it’s offered. Be in bible class and small groups. Call people you haven’t seen in a while to keep community together. Support one another and the leaders of your church because in the same way your life and role has grown more complicated so has your church leaderships’ job.
Arise and Shine for the light of Christ has shined upon you. Now shine that in all you say and do.
Can you believe that it’s almost Christmas? There’s something about this time of year that kind of lifts the spirits a little. I don’t really know exactly what it is. Maybe it’s the lights or the cool decorations? Maybe the tree with all the ornaments perfectly placed around? Whatever the reason, Christmas has a way of filling our minds with unique thoughts.
The famous holiday favorite, Twas The Night Before Christmas includes a line that talks about the things we let rattle around in our minds. The phrase goes while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads. The idea is that when we get ready for Christmas many of us have a tendency to let the spirit of the season take over. Dancing sugar plums? I don’t even really know what a sugar plum is! But the idea of sugar and dancing during the Christmas season brings a little joy to many young faces that’s for sure!
As we near Christmas morning, our minds race to things like getting the perfect gift for that special someone, decorating the house with the lights and pretty colors, and having all of our favorite people over to our homes for those wonderful holiday parties.
What fills your mind this time of year? Not everyone is filled with smiles and happiness as we approach the end of December. Some are missing that loved one for the first time this Christmas. Others are wondering how they’re going to provide for their family since they were let go this year. Still others this year will be either apprehensive, cautious, or even a bit afraid of getting sick with that nasty virus plaguing the world.
But where do you go to find the joy this season? That first Christmas wasn’t really all that joyful, well at least in the preparation stages! Mary was a virgin and she was pregnant. That was a massive NO NO! She wasn’t even married and Joseph was a tad beside himself with the news. The whole situation was just filled with anxiety inducing conditions.
Yet somehow Mary was able to see something pretty spectacular as she prepared for that day. She took all that was promised and she pondered those words. She let the promises of the angel fill her mind. It wasn’t sugar plums dancing but salvation coming to the world that drove her to find joy that first Christmas.
What do you fill your mind with this time of year? I pray this season of preparing for Christmas is full of hope and peace and love and joy.
I’m pretty sure there are times in all of our lives when we get something so engrained into our minds that it’s hard to see it differently. Well this week I had a bit of an Aha moment. The lightbulb really went on for me when I was looking at some things I’ve seen a million times before. So why didn’t I get this one until now?
If you’ve ever heard of these things in the Bible called the 10 Commandments, then I would venture to guess that you’ve probably fallen into the same mindset when you think about them. But I’d like to stretch your mind a little, and help you see them from a little different angle.
Well, this week we were looking at the four remaining commandments in our series when it dawned on me. These all have a similar focus. Admittedly, their topics are not related at all but when you lay them side by side they really all deal with contentment.
Contentment is a tricky monster. It’s so easy to fall into the comparison game. But the danger of comparison is that we lose contentment. Take a few minutes and listen to this week’s message to where you fall on the contentment scale.
In our midweek assemblies at church, we’re digging through the messages found in the gospel account for that Sunday. So this week we took a deeper dive into Matthew 25. It’s the parable of the wise and foolish wedding attendants.
The story is about 10 bridesmaids who were all excited about the wedding that was to happen. In the frenzy of getting ready, half of them really showed how prepared they were while the other half showed a complete lack of understanding of how this whole night was going to go.
I explain in greater detail in the audio attached below but the gist is simple. Five of them had lamps with extra oil to help them navigate from the bride’s home to the groom’s home where the wedding party was to take place. The other five didn’t have enough oil, so they would not have made it all the way without some kind of trouble.
The five unprepared ones, the ones the Bible calls foolish, then tried to borrow oil from the wise ones. At face value it seems to be a reasonable request. But what they failed to understand is that when you take away from the one who has to give to the one doesn’t have then no one has enough. And essentially the system brings all into a deeper state of want. And it’s all because they weren’t prepared.
So the message Jesus teaches here is to be ready. Be ready for His return all the time. Not just some day off in the distance when he might come back, but today, now, in this moment. Are you ready?
But how do you get ready? For that one, you’ll have to give the following a listen.
This world is a hot mess! I don’t really know how else to say it. People are fighting. Accusations are flying all over the place. Everyone things that their way the is the best way. We want things to get better and honestly many think that better is tied to a policy or person. But that’s not what’s going to make things better.
This week we baled on a message series to address the matters in our world. But not quite how you might think. While the issues in our nation are very much politically driven and we’re trying to find the right person to offer the right policy to fix what we feel is wrong, we have a short sighted view of the real problem.
The more time and effort we spend on short term, quick fixes the more short duration fixes we’ll discover – if we discover a fix at all. Specific people and policies are not what this world needs.
This world needs those who call themselves believers in Jesus to actually live like believers in Jesus. The world needs the church to be the church and or Christians to start living what they are claiming to be true. The world doesn’t need more love or acceptance or tolerance. The world needs forgiveness, healing and some hard truths spoken.
Some won’t like the message. Some will. The point is not to please everyone. The point is what’s needed isn’t always the thing that’s wanted. Sometimes the most needed thing is the least desired thing.
Power. Money. Prestige. These are all things that many people in the world today want. We’ll do what we have to do to gain any of these. As a matter of fact, in the world’s eyes, these are markers of success.
But there is a better way. Not that money or power or positional authority are all bad. There’s just a better way. It’s been said that the greatest enemy of great is good. We see the bigger and the better that can be found in a bigger bank account, a window office, a larger house and a host of other worldly accomplishments.
But these can and will all go away. One day we will lose our job, either by our choice or a choice that is forced upon us. One day we’ll realize that the money in our bank account didn’t buy us time with our children and it won’t go with us when we die. The things we value as the good and successful things on this earth will one day leave us wanting.
In the message below, and in the bible section to which it refers, we will see an alternative way of living. We’ll see how there are better things that will come, but often on the other side of challenging situations.
So in the meantime we need to be ok with mourning, sadness, pain, loss, and emptiness – because on the other side of these things we will find something truly amazing. We’ll find a blessing like we cannot imagine.
There’s one thing I really have a hard time with and that’s hearing someone tell something that’s not true. I don’t care if it’s a big lie or a little white lie, a lie is a lie is a lie and that is just not cool. So for me the idea of truth is pretty important. I grew up as a child with the understanding that a half truth is still a half lie so tell all of the truth all of the time.
Truth in our world, however seems to be in short supply in general. Everyone seems to think they can come up with their own idea of truth. People seem to have a hard time dealing with the concept of absolute truth. But if you absolutely deny absolute truth, then you’ve made an absolute claim about something you believe to be absolutely true. You see there’s no such thing as a lack of absolute truth. The question is, what is the basis for absolute truth?
As we look at truth, it’s easy to think that truth is found in a word or a book or a concept. But throughout the Bible, we find that truth is not found in a book. It’s found in a relationship. Jesus is the truth. The relationship that we have with Jesus comes through worship, bible study, devotion time, prayer, fasting and any other of the spiritual disciplines. Find a way to come close to Christ and rest in the truth of the relationship that he has begun with you.
In the church we’re called to live within two realities. It’s even been called by some living in two kingdoms. If we’re truly honest, we’ll admit that it can be a real struggle trying to balance the promises of the bible with the reality of what this world has to offer.
In the message below we’ll deal with one of the struggles the followers of God had in the Bible. The issue was all about taxes. Is it ok to pay taxes or does this in some way break a commandment? And behind their question rests a deeper truth that we’ll hit on as well.
If you’re not into listening to podcasts or don’t have the 20 minutes it will take to listen, then here’s the quick abbreviated version of the message.
The leaders of the church of Jesus’ day didn’t like that he was so different than what they expected, so they tried everything they could to trap him. The question they posed was is it ok to pay taxes or is that somehow breaking a command of God?
Here’s the deal. Taxes in Jesus’ day were a little different from today. They paid something called a census tax. Basically it was a tax on the living and it equaled a day’s wages. This tax was paid with a special coin that had the image of Caesar stamped on it. And this is where the problem lies.
The Caesar’s of this time knew they were earthly rulers, but they also had this weird idea that they were something more than mere mortal kings. They thought they were in some way to be treated as mini-gods. So when the leaders asked Jesus if it was ok to pay taxes the Jews were wrestling with the idea of taxes somehow being like an offering in church. They thought that by giving taxes they were worshiping the king of Rome as if he was a god.
Jesus answers their question with another question, which is his typical method. Who’s image is on the coin? Now of course he knew but he was getting at a much deeper point. Give back to Caesar what is rightfully his and then give God what is rightfully God’s.
In other words, since Caesar is on the coin, then pay your taxes because it’s Caesar’s anyway. But your life, praise, worship and adoration belongs to God because he’s the giver of every good and perfect gift.
There you have it the short version is pay taxes but don’t worship the government. There’s a whole lot more to this but you can listen to the audio for the rest.
