living for eternity today
Why do we celebrate Christmas? Why do we gather around a tree with our family and give each other gifts? Why is it ok for a large man in a red suit to invite children to sit on his lap and no one finds that wrong? Why is it that we tend to fill our churches on Christmas more than on the Sunday after Christmas? This week in our Adventually series we address the idea of love by asking the question why.
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As children we focused on getting presents! And it really was all about the presents and the bows and the stockings and the fun new toys. But as I got older, I started to act like Christmas was still about the presents. Just in a little different way. I started to treat Christmas like it was all about how much I could give to my family and friends at Christmas time. But that’s not the point either.
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This week we take on another one of those old favorites for our Music Monday. Sung in churches around the world is the hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The focus of our song this week is to help us see the waiting that takes place inside all of us as Christmas draws ever closer.
Continue readingThis year as we journey toward Christmas we are looking at Christmas from different angles. Our theme is It’s all about the presence. Yes I know. It’s a fun play on words. But it should get us thinking a bit. We live in a world that thinks Christmas is all about the presents when in actuality they’re just a few letters off! So if Christmas is all about the presence, can we have Christmas without all of the normal stuff?
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In the start of the Gospel of John, we read a peculiar little account. But before we dig into the meaning of the first few verses of this book, let’s take a quick glance at why this book exists in the first place. In the New Testament of the Bible there are four letters known as Gospels. These four books account for the life of Jesus from different perspectives. They certainly say the same thing just with different thrusts. Matthew is writing to Jewish people who were expecting a king so he writes mostly about what Jesus said. Mark is writing to Roman people who saw Jesus do some pretty amazing things, so he’ll focus on what Jesus did. Luke writes to a guy named Theophilus, and he’ll spend his account focusing on what Jesus felt. And not to be left out, John writes to anyone and everyone, and he’ll focus on who Jesus was.
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It’s that time of year again! We can’t stop it if we try, so we may as well jump on the Christmas preparation train and see where it leads. This week for our Music Monday time we’ll pick up an old familiar hymn. This hymn was first written as a poem and later put into song form about fourteen years later. The poem turned song was intended to help the Christian to understand teh power of the reality of Christmas. It demonstrates one of the core truths of the Christian faith – the incarnation.
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This has been called the most wonderful time of the year. It’s the season of light and life and all things great! People are more loving and kind. People go out of their way to make others feel more loved. It’s the season of giving. It’s the season of generosity. But before we celebrate all of those thing, give a moment and pause to remind yourself what this day is really all about.
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This week’s Music Monday is coming a bit late. I guess that’s the problem of being a blogger, pastor during the week before Christmas! But this week’s song is a great one! I’ve been searching for powerful Christmas songs that are different, yet speak the same prominent message of grace and peace at Christmastime. Hearts Waiting is a new song with an old spin. The hearts of humanity waited for centuries for a King to rescue them from evil. What they got wasn’t exactly what they were seeking. He was so much more!
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In the days leading up to Christmas it’s a great time to discover the old and the new of this amazing holiday! This season is filled with good old favorites like snickerdoodles and spiral hams and favorite hymns and family times. But it’s also a great time to journey into the new expressions of this beautiful time of year. This week’s Music Monday is all about cherishing the tradition of Christmas past with a new twist.
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It’s here! The official start of the pre-Christmas season that we in church world call Advent. The word basically means preparing for something big. It’s the idea of anticipation and excitement. So as we prepare for Christmas throughout this Advent season, we’re going to look at different Christmas songs and talk about our Christmas traditions. In an effort to do this we’ll start this week with a Music Monday titled Little Merry Christmas that shows how our traditions should all point to one important truth. Continue reading
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