“What’s It All About?”

What’s it all about?  Do you ever get so busy that this one question fills your mind?  What’s it all about?  Well, I don’t know about you, but right here at the beginning of our Christmas Season, I’m already close to asking this question.

So, when it comes to Christmas, what’s it all about?  What’s the answer to this question?

• It’s about a miraculous birth – a virgin conceiving and giving birth to a child.
• It’s about a monumental gift – this little baby was the gift of the Father in heaven for all mankind.
• It’s about a momentous sacrifice – that the very Son of God would come to this earth, live a perfect life, and become that perfect sacrifice for our sins.

What’s it all about?  In one way, it’s all about Jesus.  It’s a celebration of His birthday.  It’s a celebration of the giving of God’s greatest gift.

But in another way, it’s all about us – you and me.  You see, we are the recipients of this precious gift of God.

• Jesus wasn’t just born.  He was born for us.
• Jesus wasn’t just any gift.  He’s our gift from our Heavenly Father.
• Jesus wasn’t just any sacrifice.  He’s our sacrifice.  He took our place on that cross.

Be sure and share this precious gift this year.  Be sure and tell someone about what the Father has given each of us – a baby, born of a virgin, born to be the sacrifice for their sins, born to make us sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father, born to give us eternal life.  Share the gift.  Tell someone what Jesus has done for you.

“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given.” (Isaiah 9:6)

Faith Brings Conflict

Did you know that sometimes faith in God gets you in trouble? It does! Here’s a few Biblical examples of what I’m talking about.
• Daniel 6 tells us of how Daniel’s faith in the One True God caused him to defy the kings command not to pray to his God. Daniel prayed, and he ended up in the lion’s den. But, the lions didn’t lay a paw on him!
• Daniel 3 tells us of Shadrack, Meshack, Abednego. Because of their faith in God, these three guys refused to bow down to the statue of the king, and they ended up in the fiery furnace. But they came out just fine, not even the smell of smoke.
• Matthew 4 tells how John the Baptist refused to keep quiet about Herod’s sin. His faith in God caused him to point out the king’s sin. It cost him his head! Of course, that just sent him straight to glory!
• Acts 7 tells how Stephen wouldn’t quit preaching Jesus Christ. Remember what happened to him? He was stoned to death, and again, that just caused him to go straight on to glory!
• And how ‘bout ole Paul? By faith he wouldn’t quit preaching Jesus, and what happened to him? Church tradition says that he was beheaded with a silver sword. I’m not sure what difference it makes that it was a silver sword – he still lost his head! But, again, that just sent him straight on to glory!

I see a trend here. Each of these heroes of the faith ended up in trouble because of their faith. But, each of them would rather die than deny their faith. I believe that they were confident that God would be with them in their trouble.

We can be just as confident today! Our trouble might not be a lion’s den, or a fiery furnace, or being stoned or beheaded. Our faith may only cause us to be ridiculed or made fun of. But even in that, God is right there with us. I’m convinced that God is especially with us when our faith brings about conflict.

Are you certain of His presence today? I hope so.

“Church Is a Privilege”

I held a funeral last week for one of our older ladies. In visiting with her family, I was told how she believed that attending church was a privilege. All throughout the rest of the week and on into the weekend I thought about what she had taught her children – attending church is a privilege.

I must admit, as a small child it was not a privilege for me. It was a requirement, and one that I often tried to get out of. I had very little use for church then, and it wasn’t until I was well into my teen years that church began to feel like anything more than that. I understand now what a privilege it truly is, but I just didn’t “get it” as a child.

So last week and this, I’ve been wondering how many others don’t “get it” yet. I think that once we really understand the price that was paid so that we can gather together and worship God, it’s only then that we “get it.” Jesus Christ, God Himself in the flesh was falsely accused, beaten, put to death on an old rugged cross, buried in a borrowed tomb and rose again on the third day to grant us this privilege of coming to church; of coming together to worship our Heavenly Father.

Yes, my friends, church is a privilege.

Prayer Meeting Report From Wednesday, October 28

We did something a little different for us during our prayer meeting. The devotion was on how praying did not make Jesus passive. The encouragement was that we don’t stop with prayer, but we put feet and hands to those prayers (when possible) and serve other in the name of Christ.

After the devotion, we prayed. We spent about 30 minutes praying – all of us.

I passed out 2 or 3 3×5 cards to each person present and we put prayer requests on them. Then, we passed them to the person on our right and prayed for that request. As we finished one card , we passed it on and prayed for another. Each of us prayed for every requests on every card.

It was one of the more powerful prayer services we’ve had in quite a while. I’m really looking forward to next Wednesday. God is so good!

This is my first attempt at this blog thing.  I’ll try to update once a week or so – we’ll see what happens.