Pastor Paul’s Blog

I cried the other day at my son’s “Holiday” concert. I wouldn’t normally be overly concerned about my lack of manly control over my eye spouts, but I cried during that sugar plum fairy song from the Nutcracker. Fortunately I was sitting all alone in the back of the auditorium. Don’t think anyone saw me. I was truly worried there for a while wondering what in the world was the matter with me, but then God began speaking to me. (O.K. not audibly speaking, some of you are probably thinking I’m a real nutcase by now.)

I guess I was having one of those Christmas/holiday moments when you flash back to your childhood and suddenly realize that you’ve grown up and have a wife and three kids, and you’re asking yourself and God, “How did I ever end up here?”. My son, Connor, is 14. I remember when I was his age struggling so much with giving God control of my life. I was so worried that if I really committed everything to Him, my life was going to be so boring and no fun at all.

My life is anything but boring and I would have never dreamed of doing half of the incredible things that I’ve done, or having the opportunities that He has afforded me. I’ll admit there are some things on my “bucket list” that I haven’t been able to do yet, but frankly watching my oldest daughter, Emily, lead a group of children in worship at a youth camp, or hearing my son tell me he loves me, or watching my youngest daughter, Grace, score a soccer goal, tops any of those items on my list.

I could go on and on bragging about my awesome wife, my children, the folks I work for and with, but the bottom line I’m trying to get to here is this; If you’re pondering a decision to let God have complete control of your life, your hopes & dreams, finances . . the whole works, I believe the answer is a no brainer. These scriptures are true my friend; Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”, Proverbs 16:3 “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”, Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” I can’t think of a better time to make that commitment than right here at the beginning of 2010. May God richly bless you and have a very happy new year.

For HIM,
Pastor Paul

December 27, 2009 Pastor Tim Pusey

THE ORIGINAL CHRISTMAS LIGHT
John 1:1-9

It was a Sunday evening in September, somewhere around 15 years ago. We were living in the Cleveland, Ohio area in the community of Bedford. Evidently one or two of the kids were not feeling well that evening, and by some fluke of our nature we gave into letting all three stay home from church that Sunday night. They were just at that age when they didn’t necessarily have to have a babysitter with them, at least for short periods of time. It seems that maybe Cindy and I both had something before or after church because we were gone for a couple of hours.

When we returned home it was already dark outside. I pulled the car into the garage as normal, and we got out of the car. But as we approached the door that went into the house, we saw a sign—a handwritten sign on the door that said, “Don’t turn on any lights! Enjoy the show!” It was obviously one of the kids’ handwriting. We stepped into the house a bit precariously, wondering what our kids were up to!

As we stepped from the kitchen into the living room, we couldn’t believe our eyes! These three kids of ours, one or two of whom were obviously not as sick as we had been led to believe, had fully decorated the house for Christmas—in September! The tree was up and fully lighted, with all the ornaments strung on it. Wall decorations which we generally put out at Christmas were on the walls. Christmas candles glowed in their normal places. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there—but it was September! There were lights strung various places around the room. It looked beautiful—and the kids were giddy with excitement!

I guess our family has always enjoyed Christmas! And I hope I never get to the place where I don’t enjoy the beautiful lights of Christmas! Some of the displays are absolutely beautiful!

There’s a reason for all the lights during the Christmas season. Let me share with you about the original Christmas light. Let’s look at the beginning of John’s Gospel—
[Read John 1:1-9 NIV]

This “Prologue” to John’s Gospel is one of the most crucial passages in the Bible and is, according to some, the definitive exposition of the Person of Christ. Jesus is called the “Word”—translated from the Greek word “Logos.” This unique name for Jesus Christ occurs only four times in the New Testament as a name—and John is the only writer who uses it. Since words reveal the thoughts of one person to another, Christ as the Eternal Word is a revelation of God to man. John declares that the Word, Jesus, is none other than God Himself—not only bringing the Word but incorporating it in His own Person, Life and Being. The Word was completely God—and, as John states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus is the eternal God of the ages who had come in human flesh—truly God and truly man. And the Gospel of John tells the reality of the God-Man living in a sinful world, dying for it, and rising again in resurrected life.

I particularly want us to note what Scripture tells us about Jesus being our Light. John wrote,
In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (John 1:4-5).

Most of us find darkness a pretty unsettling kind of thing, don’t we? Perhaps some of you are staying in someone else’s home for the holiday or maybe you will be during the next few days—but have you ever gotten up in the middle of the night in a strange house and found yourself stumbling around in total darkness? I remember staying in my grandparents’ basement when I was young—and in the little room in the basement that had no window, it was totally black! Not only was it easy to get disoriented, but it was also more than just a little bit unnerving as a kid! Total darkness is not a good thing! We really need some kind of light source to help us make our way through the darkness!

Moral darkness is pretty frightening, too, isn’t it? The darkness of evil and immorality in our world isn’t even a pretty thought to be having just a few days after Christmas! We’re still in Christmas mode—so I’m sure we’d all rather not think about it, but we know that it’s there, don’t we? It troubles us. It sometimes seems like such a heavy thing upon us, particularly if we’re finding ourselves disoriented by that darkness or if someone we love is lost in that darkness.

But it’s amazing what even a little bit of light can do! I was told a few years ago that in pitch darkness you can see a candle three miles away! Perhaps you’ve noticed how light penetrates darkness when you’ve flown at night. I’m always fascinated looking at the lights below, particularly the lights clustering around a city. But it’s amazing that even at the height at which a plane flies, when it’s pitch dark outside, you can spot a single light piercing that darkness on the land below!

In that same way, the light of Jesus broke into the darkness of our world and shattered that darkness. Christ is the Light shining in contrast to the darkness of this sinful world. On that first Christmas night, the glory of God shone through that baby boy—and shepherds on the hillside gathered in to worship Him. The light continued to shine as wise men from afar traveled to worship this new Christ child. The light astounded the people in the temple when Jesus was still a boy. That light became more and more radiant during the years of Jesus’ earthly ministry. And while there were those who thought they could extinguish that light, never did the light of Christ seem to shine brighter than when the crucified Savior appeared as the Risen Lord!

Into our dark world which sometimes seems consumed with its own evils, Jesus came to bring the light of God—and with that light came salvation, direction, guidance, personal peace, and the new understanding that God loves us and reaches out to us with His marvelous grace. He reaches out for our hand—so that He can lead us through this dark world and eventually on beyond it to where we can someday see the fullness of His glory! It’s a wonderful thing! “It’s a Wonderful Life!”

Please understand that light doesn’t make all the bad stuff go away. Seeing the Light doesn’t do away with all the darkness in our world! No one can guarantee that it’s going to go away any time soon! But when Christ casts His light upon your life, you can see your way through it and avoid the pitfalls!

In the last church I pastored they had a tradition of doing a Good Friday “Tenebrae” service. The title means “the service of shadows.” Throughout the service, the crowd is increasingly left in more and more darkness to experience the darkness of the night when Christ was crucified. By the end of the service, all light is removed except for the single “Christ candle” which I as pastor would carry out of the sanctuary at the close of the service before the crowd would depart in silence. It generally was very effective, but I remember one year when we had some serious challenges. For one thing, someone had, with good intentions, trimmed the wick of the Christ candle—but they had trimmed it so short that the candle wouldn’t stay lit! I had to blast it several times with a long lighter and even pour off some of the wax as discreetly as one can do when you’re standing front and center before a crowd with most of the light shining where you are!

But there was another problem that arose during that service. There was a miscommunication about when the lights were to go completely out. We had an ensemble of singers on the platform who sang throughout the service, and who sang the very last song—a very somber song regarding the death of Jesus Christ. It was the last thing that would happen before the Christ candle was carried out. All the lights except the lights on their music stands were to go out before they sang the last song, “Even the Heavens Are Weeping.” But to our singers’ dismay, the light technician had misunderstood, and he killed every light—including the lights on their music stands.

I didn’t even know they were in such a panic behind me, because I was sweating over keeping the Christ candle burning. But they were frantic—and had no choice but to keep going! Frankly, they did such a good job of bluffing their way through the song that I didn’t know until after the service what had happened to them. I was told later that the man at the piano was flailing his arm in the air, as if the light tech could see his panicked gesture to turn their music stand lights back on! One guy, who had only sung the music a few times, got out his cell phone and held it up to the music score in a desperate effort for more light! In this very sacred moment in the service, they were frantically desperate for light! Oh how we value light that pierces our darkness!

But we also must acknowledge that Christ’s Light isn’t always shining as brightly in our world as we might like! Occasionally we find it difficult to make our way through the darkness and difficult to know how to step through that darkness, because the light just doesn’t seem adequate at the moment. In recent years, my eyes started playing dirty tricks on me, and I found that some print is just too small or faint to read, especially if there’s not good light shining on it! And so I have to lean into the light, or go to the light source. Perhaps in those times when we are frustrated that the Light shining in our lives doesn’t seem to be adequate, we might picture ourselves holding onto the One who has the light. If you’ve ever walked a dark trail, you know that the one who has the flashlight is the one you want to be near! Sometimes the best we can do is hold onto the One who’s carrying the flashlight—trusting the light to be enough for our steps, even though we may not be able to see our way as clearly as He can.

What Christians throughout the ages have discovered is the same that I have found to be true in my own life: The Light of Christ cannot be snuffed out; His Light just keeps shining! And as long as I walk in fellowship with Him, in close proximity to Him, there is always enough light to make my way through the darkness of our sinful world. It may feel a little like we’re teetering on the edge at times, but His light has always been enough.

In the First Epistle of John—found further back in our New Testaments, we read:
God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
1 John 1:5b-7
Jesus is the Light. Our challenge is to walk in that Light day after day—and it’s not just our challenge…it’s our privilege and it’s our salvation!

Look back with me at one more thing that John’s Gospel tells us in this Prologue. Verses 6 through 8 speak of John the Baptist.
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
John 1:6-8
Jesus also spoke of us shining our lights in this world. In the Sermon on the Mount, He said,
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16
Just as John the Baptist was a witness to the Light of Christ in our world, so are we. As His children—those whom Christ has given the right to become “children of God”—we are most definitely His witnesses in our world. We are to shine His light brightly wherever we are and wherever we go! It’s part of our identity as His children—we embody Christ’s Light to our world!

We’re about to begin a new year—2010! It doesn’t seem possible that ten years have passed since we rolled into the year 2000 amidst all the furor and panic of Y2K. It doesn’t seem possible that we can be wrapping up 2009—but I suppose we say that about every year, don’t we? And with the New Year comes the opportunity for fresh starts. Many of us will start on diets and exercise programs after the first of the year—having thoroughly sabotaged past efforts by all the Christmas goodies we’ve devoured throughout these days!

And as we look toward a new year, I want to challenge the children of God to commit to truly being the Church in the year ahead, truly embodying the Light of Jesus Christ in our sin-darkened world. Let’s search for ways to shine our light where it needs to be shining! Let’s make sure we’re removing all the “bowls” that might cover up this Light of Christ and keep that light from shining brightly where it needs to be shining!

What a wonderful privilege it is to be Christ’s light in our world! Do you realize how significant it is that God would entrust to us such a thing—that we would embody the Light of Jesus Christ in our world today?! It’s the highest of all honors! And so I challenge you once again to be Christ’s Light in your world! Let’s do all we can to put that Light where it’s most needed!

It can all be a bit overwhelming some times, can’t it? And we wonder how the light of our little lives can make much of a difference in all the moral darkness in our world. But I want to leave an impression with you before we conclude—and I might prepare you all for the fact that in a moment, all of the lights in the sanctuary are going to go out. I don’t want anyone panicking and I don’t want anyone thinking that we’ve lost electricity. So if you’re ready…let there be darkness. (All lights go out)

Amazing, isn’t it, how bright our candles seem now in this darkened room. It’s pretty dark—except for the light of these candles. Funny, isn’t it, that we didn’t even notice the light of the candles until the light was diminished. Now they seem very pronounced—just as the Light of our lives is pronounced when we let that Light shine where there is spiritual darkness.

Jesus came into a world of darkness—and He Himself is our Light. And His light shines so brightly! No one can ever snuff out the Light of Christ, though many have tried. Oh how the Light of Jesus Christ does shine in the darkness!—making all the difference in the world! May His Light break through your darkness today—and may we together embody His Light in our world!

December 24, 2009 Pastor Tim Pusey

THE ADVENT OF PEACE
Luke 2:8-14
Christmas Eve 2009

[Read Luke 2:8-14, NIV]

Peace on earth sounds so wonderful! We long for it, even though we seem to experience very little of it. Our problem is that our attempts at peace are based purely on our human effort. And the problem with every one of us is that we’re absolutely, involuntarily, irrefutably human! And as humans, we’re rather faulty creatures! And so our attempts at “peace on earth” always, always, always seem to fall short somehow—because they’re based on us—on faulty human beings!

So, it appears that despite great human effort, peace is elusive! Oh, yes, there are those who try their best to find it within themselves. We may quiet ourselves off from the rest of noisy humanity to meditate—which isn’t altogether bad, but the problem is that we still take our selves with us! And so still there’s no peace!

No doubt about it, there’s not much “peace on earth” during this Christmas season. It’s been a rough year for lots of people, and the global prospects of peace are about as remote as ever. And human attempts to find peace or create peace always seem too futile—like trying to nail jello to the wall!

No, you and I can’t create peace, but peace can come to us. It won’t happen by our own efforts, because the coming of peace is definitely a “God-thing.” It’s beyond human potential. Peace comes through the One Who has been called “the Prince of Peace.” And when this Prince of Peace comes to us, we are granted peace with God. We’re given a whole new relationship with God—and that is when we begin to experience the kind of peace that our Heavenly Father has desired for us all along. This is the beauty and the wonder of the Incarnation—God coming to us!
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.

It was Christmas Eve—probably 1987. As a pastor in the small town of Galion, Ohio, I had conducted our annual Christmas Eve Service. But after the service was over, our family of five got into our little car and hit the highway so that we could be at my parents’ home for Christmas that year. It was about a 6-hour drive, and we knew it would be late when we got there—so we got the kids in their warm pajamas (the kind with the feet in them), strapped them into the car seats, and took off—even from the church, I believe.

Our family has always did a fair amount of traveling—and, for the most part, enjoyed doing so. And this night there was the extra excitement of Christmas—and the fun of getting with family and the kids playing with their cousins! The Christmas lights were beautiful outside the houses we passed on the 2-lane state highway for the first 40 miles of the trip. Our journey then took us on the interstate through Columbus, Ohio, and then another two hours to Cincinnati before we’d cross the Ohio River and enter Kentucky and go another hour and a half to Louisville and eventually land in Elizabethtown, where my parents still live in the same house today.

But as we were journeying toward Cincinnati, I began to detect that the lights on the car were growing dim. I think most of you know by now that I’m not the least bit mechanically inclined, so I really didn’t have much of a clue—and, along a dark highway late on Christmas Eve, I couldn’t have done much about it if I had known, I suppose! I didn’t say anything for the longest time, because I knew Cindy would just worry about it—and I’m recalling that by the time we were approaching Cincinnati, most of the family, including Cindy, were sound asleep. But what little bit of car wisdom I had seemed to kick in as we were going through Cincinnati and I told Cindy what was happening and that I feared we might have an alternator problem. By then the lights had grown frighteningly dim. And, of course, we wouldn’t expect that there would be any auto repair shop open late on Christmas Eve—so we were trying to figure out our options.

We crossed the Ohio River on Interstate 71 just past the downtown of Cincinnati—and determined that we’d have to take one of the exits just beyond there where there were some hotels, figuring we’d stay the night and figure out what to do in the morning. The thought of spending Christmas morning in a strange hotel in a strange city was terribly disappointing—especially when we had hoped to be with family. But we knew we couldn’t risk going further—in another 10 miles we’d be out in the middle of nowhere for at least 90 miles, and we just couldn’t risk that on such a cold, cold night with our three little kids. Christmas or no Christmas, we had to abandon our plans!

We stopped at a gas station that happened to be open right off the highway. I went in and talked with the manager—explaining our problem and asking if he knew of anyone who might be able to help us mechanically. By now, it was nearly 11:00 Christmas Eve. To our amazement, he knew of a mechanic just around the corner that happened to still be at his shop. He called, and the man was willing to take a look at it. Amazing!

I still remember staying in our little car, with our three pajama’d kids in their 3 car seats in the back seat, and feeling the car rise up on the hydraulic lift the mechanic used to get underneath the car. What a strange place to be on Christmas Eve—a grimy ol’ auto repair shop! The man informed me that it was indeed the alternator, but that he didn’t have the part and couldn’t get it that night. However, he was pretty confident that he could jerry-rig it so that it would make do for the remainder of our trip—if we went without the defroster, the heater and the radio. We decided to go ahead and take the risk, and called my parents to work out a back-up plan if we didn’t show up by a certain time—for this was before the days of cell phones. We felt we’d be okay as long as someone was coming after us if we broke down along the highway.

So eventually we hit the road again—now as bundled up as we could be because there would be no heater and the windows would have to be opened a little for ventilation! Everyone in the car but me fell asleep quickly, for we were all so exhausted! But there was no radio to listen to and no tapes to listen to, and the windows opened slightly made a steady noise that was almost mesmerizing. I was alone with my thoughts.

I was so tired I could hardly stay awake—though I will admit that the cold air blowing in on me was at least a little invigorating! That trip from Cincinnati to Louisville seemed like an eternity! I don’t remember a trip ever seeming so long! And beyond Louisville was another 45 minutes!

I was so grateful to the Lord for His help that evening—who would ever have expected to find a mechanic on Christmas Eve! But I was also praying constantly that the car would keep running and that the lights wouldn’t grow dim. I remember praying, “Lord, I’m so tired and this trip has already been so long. And while I’m grateful for your protection and your intervention already tonight, I’m ready to just be there. I know you’ve done lots of miracles before, so I know you’re capable of just one more. So Lord, when I blink my eyes, I’d be so grateful if when I opened them again I found that we were pulling into Mom and Dad’s driveway. Do you suppose You could just instantly put us there? Haven’t we had enough tonight? Would you do that for us…please?”

But my rather long, sleepy blinking of the eyes only revealed more stretch of highway. Mile marker by mile marker was as fast as we were going to go. I was ready for the trip to be over and I was ready for the joy of being with family again and I was ready to find a nice, warm bed at my folks’ house…but the trip only went as fast as our little car would take us. The family slept peacefully as I moved along the highway, mile by mile—knowing the Lord was with us and that He had obviously not deserted us that evening! But we weren’t where I wanted to be…yet!

So it is in our spiritual journey. Inherent in our human condition are the struggles we have in life. Pain and grief and stress and uncertainties are all part of life! We can’t escape them! Apart from God there simply isn’t any peace. Even when we’re in a relationship with the Lord and walking in fellowship with Him, we’re not spared the challenges and hurdles of life! Freedom from all those things would be heaven—and we’re not there yet!

I’m afraid sometimes we have tried to paint the picture that if we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and accept the forgiveness He offers and commit to walk with Him in a wonderful new relationship, that all of our problems will be over! Some of the old songs of the church even seem to proclaim it to be so! And the Lord does forgive us and accept us and He wants to cleanse us from sin and empower us for holy living!—and all of this is absolutely marvelous! But this does not mean that we will live without struggles in life!

The difference is that we no longer have to face such challenges alone! Sure, we may find that many of the heartaches and struggles we’ve had in life are self-inflicted and that, when we allow Christ to transform our lives, some of those problems seem to dissipate. But—we still have struggles and heartaches! The difference is that we no longer have to face them alone!
Peace that the Lord gives is not the absence of trouble, but rather the confidence that He is with us as we deal with them.
Peace consists not in the absence of danger but in the Presence of God. And that peace is such a wonderful blessing!—even though we long for the kind of absolute peace that heaven alone promises.

It is in the Advent Season that we remember the first coming of the Lord—when God sent to the earth His Son Jesus as a baby boy. It’s such a beautiful story—and the reality of the first coming of Jesus has changed my life! Through Jesus Christ, I have been invited into a wonderful relationship with the Heavenly Father—and I cherish the reality of being set free from my fears of condemnation; I cherish peace instead of judgment in my relationship with Him; I cherish the peace that comes from trusting Him with every challenge that comes my way in life! Many of you have experienced the same. And it’s a marvelous thing, isn’t it?!

If you’ve never accepted the peace that comes through sins forgiven, I invite you this evening to experience that peace as you welcome Christ Jesus into your heart and into your life. And if you’re walking with Him already but caught up in the bumps and hurdles of life and feeling tossed around a bit—let me remind you that He’s right beside you. He’s never left you. He will see you through this. He loves you so much. And, if we’ll hang on for just a while longer…He will bring ultimate peace into our lives…forever. May His peace come to you this beautiful Christmas Eve.

Pastor Tim’s Blog

CHRISTMAS MUSINGS…

As I write this on the morning of December 23rd, I’m feeling pretty good about being ready for Christmas! Presents are purchased, all our wrapping is done, my messages for Christmas Eve and for the Sunday after Christmas are prepared, and I already did my first grandfatherly task of assembling a gift we’ll be giving our new granddaughter on Christmas morning. I’m ready!

I will confess though to a little melancholy this Christmas, as it’s the first time in many years that we won’t be traveling to spend days with my parents in between Christmas and New Years—and seeing other family members who will gather there. And we won’t be with two of our three kids and their spouses at all over Christmas. (We spent Thanksgiving with our son and his wife and are choosing to wait until the end of January to make a trip to see our daughter and her husband in Ohio when our grandbaby “Katelyn Nicole” is born!) And while we’ll have a great Christmas dinner with our daughter and son-in-law who live nearby, along with our new 4-year-old granddaughter, there’s still something within me that longs for the whole family to be together “like it used to be.”

I’m feeling checked in my complaining though. I recently had cause to reflect on how blessed I am in so many ways. It’s almost not fair that Cindy and I have been so blessed, for I know a lot of really wonderful people who have to struggle in so many ways that are foreign to us. I recently read a couple of facts that poked a hole in my complaints—
• If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.
• If you have money in the bank and in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthiest.
• If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
Wow! So much for my complaining!

So, I’m counting my blessings today, and choosing to approach Christmas in a spirit of joy and peace and gratitude—rejoicing that Jesus our Savior is Immanuel, God With Us! What greater blessing could any of us experience in life than to know God’s love and His grace and His abiding Presence? What else really matters in the long haul?

Joyfully,

Tim Pusey

December 20, 2009 Pastor Tim Pusey

GOD IS WITH US
Matthew 1:18-25

For years now, some people have chosen to dress in the strangest ways at Christmastime!—with clothes that seem to resemble angels and ancient peasants and shepherds and even ancient Middle East kings. In what we have often called the Christmas “pageants,” the old story of the birth of Jesus Christ is dramatized so that we can relive the magnificent event of the birth of Christ.

And, of course, things don’t always go as planned. A few years ago, the church we were pastoring had a Christmas pageant, complete with a live donkey. The only problem was that the donkey acted like a donkey! He’d been out in the cold air long enough that when he got his chance to come inside, he parked himself in the waiting area off from the stage and wasn’t about to budge. Mary and Joseph were ready to make their appearance in the pageant, and despite all their coaxing and nudging and poking, that donkey had made up his mind: he was too comfortable to get up and go anywhere! Phooey on Mary and Joseph! Mary and Joseph had to walk to Bethlehem unaided by the donkey that night!

The funniest part happened when the whole production was all over. One of our teenage girls who was accustomed to dealing with horses had taken on the task of getting the donkey through the foyer of the church and out the front doors to where the other animals in our live nativity were being kept for the night. That donkey stiffened its legs rigid, determined not to be moved! The girl was pulling the donkey by herself across the carpet of the foyer. One of our rather refined women determined that she wasn’t going to stand by and let a donkey get the best of us, so she got behind the donkey and started pushing. The rest of us should have come to their rescue, but they were honestly doing a pretty good job of forcing the donkey toward the outside doors, and, besides that, we were all laughing so hard that we wouldn’t have been much help at that moment anyway!

One of the funniest things I ever heard of happening in a Christmas pageant supposedly took place at a well-known California church. It was quite an elaborate replication of the Christmas story—complete with angels flying high above the holy scene (thanks to carefully engineered guide wires). But at the height of the glory of the Christmas story, one of those guide wires snapped on one end. It was a frightening moment for the poor volunteer who had agreed to being hoisted into the air, depicting one of the angels proclaiming the birth of the Savior. The poor man started spinning around, above those seated at the front of the sanctuary. Those who were watching shrieked with panic for the man, though he was securely connected to the wire.

Now I don’t know about you, but when I spin around too many times, it does something terrible to my stomach. That’s why I can’t go on amusement park rides that spin around too much. And this poor angel must have had the same problem, because he quickly became nauseated and his nausea quickly escalated to the point where he could no longer contain himself (if you know what I mean). And it might have been all right, except for the fact that he was still spinning above the crowd when he could no longer contain himself—and a wide circle of the crowd below him began to shriek for more than just fear for the man spinning above them! I guess it gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, “the sights and sounds of Christmas”!

But we do love the sights and sounds of Christmas, don’t we? The nativity scenes—or “crèches,” as they’re often called—that grace many of our homes are wonderful reminders for us too (and a whole lot less risky than big productions!) My parents still display in their home the little nativity set that they’ve had since I was a child. Early in our marriage, Cindy’s mother gave to Cindy and me a beautiful ceramic nativity scene that every year finds a prominent place in our home—with beautiful little figurines—and someone made a larger nativity set for us just a few years ago that we love, too.

I love the tremendous display of nativity scenes we see at Christmas every year. And I’m especially fascinated with the larger-scale ones that show the details on the faces of Mary and Joseph and the other personalities we envision being there on that holy night. But I suppose that all too often those faces look a little too perfect compared to the faces we see in our mirrors every day. (I still wonder from time to time where the old face in my mirror came from!) Their faces and the scene look perhaps too serene and perfect—not at all like my life or yours! It’s hard to discern much stress and heartache in the lives of those perfect figurines sitting so still before us! And the contrast might seem so great that we could sense an unintended disconnect with the people of this scene—that Christ came into a perfect world of perfect people. And not one of us can relate to such people—and if God only relates to perfect people and perfect scenes, then I guess that counts us all out!

But what Christ Jesus came down to the earth to say to every person who might sense a disconnect with perfect figurines is that God knows all about our pain and trouble. Christ did not come to a perfect little spot on the earth or to perfect people. Jesus was born in a dirty little stable intended for animals. His parents weren’t perfect people—and those who surrounded Him after His birth were typical shepherds who spent most of their lives out of doors watching sheep. This was not a refined scene! Christ came down to live among raw humanity in an imperfect and sometimes frightening world! Christ came to people just like you and me; He came to share with us, to bear the burdens of life with us, to suffer terrible things in our behalf—because we’re not perfect people and because we needed a Savior! Christ is not separated from the pain and the loneliness and the heartbreak that so many people feel in their lives! He has been here: He knows, He understands, He cares.

Listen now to part of the wonderful Christmas story as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew—
[Read Matthew 1:18-25, NLT]

The reality that God would come to us is the most wonderful demonstration of His love for us! One of the most beautiful names attributed to Christ, reflecting His love for us, is the name “Immanuel”—“God with us.” The beauty and the wonder of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ is that God came to be with us.

I was talking with a friend one day and he told me that he had a new boss. When I inquired about this new boss, he simply said, “Let me just say that all he cares about is making money.” And so, unlike the former boss that understood some of the unique circumstances in my friend’s life, this boss just cares about the bottom line—making money.

I wouldn’t want to have a new boss who started off our working relationship saying, “Now let’s get one thing straight right now. I don’t care about you. I’m not interested in your family. I’m not interested at all in your personal life or in any of the circumstances of your life. All I’m interested in are the results. All I’m interested in is how much money you can make for me!”

But God is just the opposite of that, isn’t He? God is interested in my home and my family. God is interested in my wife and my children. God does care about me personally—about my health and well-being, physically, emotionally and spiritually! He is interested in all of the circumstances of my life! He is God with us!

The birth of this Immanuel—God with us—came about in a supernatural way—often called “the virgin birth.” The truth is that not one of us can adequately explain the virgin birth of Christ—though people have been trying to explain it for centuries! But scripture declares clearly that Christ was born to a virgin—that the child she delivered was conceived through divine means. It was part of the Old Testament prophecies that looked toward the coming of the Messiah. The virgin birth of Jesus was one of the Old Testament prophecies that Matthew’s Gospel declares Jesus fulfilled.

I suppose essentially it means that Jesus came from God. He is God’s Son. The scriptural emphasis of the virgin birth is not primarily on Mary, but on the creative life-giving power of Almighty God, who sent His Son to be with us.
Jesus is not the product of evolution, the highest achievement of the human race; he is the product of the intervention of a transcendent God into human history. (John Thomas Randolph)

And God intervened in human history because He loves us; He cares about us. And this love caused Him to send His Son to us in order that we might be saved from the destruction of our own sins. That’s even what Jesus’ name declares! The meaning behind names in the ancient world was extremely important. The angel of the Lord who appeared to Joseph in a dream told him that he was to name this newborn child “Jesus”—which is exactly what Mary had been told by the angel Gabriel.

What’s so significant about Jesus’ name? The name “Jesus” means, “the Lord saves.” The angel of the Lord went on to tell Joseph that this child would “save the people from their sins”—offering forgiveness and new life to all who came to the Father through Him. Jesus would Himself be the doorway to God the Father—by paying the penalty for the sins we committed! Jesus, by His very nature, is the Savior!

There had been a great Jewish expectation of a Messiah who would “redeem” Israel from Roman tyranny, but there was little expectation that this Davidic “King” would give His own life as a ransom to save His people from their sins. From the very beginning of the narrative about the birth of Christ and the ministry He would have among the people, Matthew helps us focus on what is central: being saved from our sins—the greatest need of humanity. This passage of Scripture orients us to the essential nature and mission of King Jesus—saving people from their sins. And that’s where we as a church find our essential mission as well—helping others find the Savior! As a church, that is our reason for being!

C.S. Lewis once wrote—
The Son of God became a man to enable men to become the sons of God (C.S. Lewis).
The reality that God would come to us is the most wonderful demonstration of His love for us—and the most marvelous message we have to share with our world! And God’s coming to us was in order to save us from our sins—to bring forgiveness and new life to us and to free us from the bondage under which our sins inevitably put us. God has come to us! God is with us!

The great people of faith have always claimed the promise that God is with us! Just think about it.
• Moses, when caught between the Pharaoh of Egypt and the deep Red Sea in a seemingly hopeless situation, believed that God was with him and Moses went forward and trusted God to open a way. And God did!
• Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego went into the fiery furnace, a seemingly hopeless situation. They trusted God to be with them—and He was!
• Young David stood before Goliath. What chance did a young boy with a slingshot have against this giant of a warrior that was terrorizing the people? But David believed God was with him and God gave young David the victory that day!

Now it’s interesting to note that when the writer of Matthew’s Gospel wanted to capture the meaning of Christ’s birth, he recorded for us Isaiah’s prophecy, calling the Messiah “Immanuel”—which means “God with us.” That’s what Jesus is all about—God with us! That’s the promise and the hope of Christmas—that God is with us! When we accept that, such a promise can absolutely change our lives!
• We are never alone…God is with us.
• In our most frightening times…God is with us.
• In the heartbreaking circumstances of life…God is with us.
Such love and grace provides help and enduring strength in our lives! God is with us!

It took place on Christmas Eve, several decades ago, just outside a small town in the Midwest. A man’s wife and children were getting ready to go to the Christmas Eve service at their church. But the man wasn’t going—as usual. “I just can’t understand what Christmas is all about,” he’d told his wife once again. “I just don’t get this claim that God became man.”

It had been snowing all day and it was beginning to snow even harder as the man’s family drove off to church without him. He moved his chair closer to the fireplace and started to read his newspaper.

A little later there was a sudden “thud” at the kitchen window—and then another, and another. When he went to investigate, he found a flock of birds out in the back yard. They had been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, were trying to fly through the kitchen window.

Now this man was really a kind man by nature, and he was concerned about the plight of these birds. He tried thinking of something he could do so the birds wouldn’t freeze in the storm that was coming in that evening. And then it hit him—“The barn!” That would provide a wonderful shelter!

He put on his coat and boots and tramped through the deepening snow to the barn and opened the doors wide and turned on the light—welcoming the little creatures to come in. But the birds didn’t go into the barn.

“Food will bring them in,” he thought, so he hurried back to the house for bread crumbs which he sprinkled on the snow to make a trail into the barn. But the birds ignored the bread crumbs and continued to fly in circles through the blowing snow.

He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around waving his arms frantically. They scattered in every direction—except into the warm, lighted barn.

He thought to himself, “I suppose they find me a pretty strange and terrifying creature, and I can’t seem to think of any way to let them know that they can trust me.” Puzzled and dismayed, he thought, “If only I could be a bird myself for the moment, maybe then I could lead them to safety.”

About that time he heard the church bells ringing, proclaiming on Christmas Eve that Christ was born. And the man stood silently for a minute, recalling his words, “If only I could be a bird myself…maybe then I could lead them to safety.” And in a humble bow of his head, the truth settled in over him. “Now I understand. Now I see, God, why You had to come. Now I understand why You had to become a man.”

There is no greater blessing than for God to dwell with His people. Jesus is the One called “God with us”—and He is. He is with us today. He stands with us in our imperfect world. He understands the stresses of human life. He knows what it’s like to be tempted. He understands the grief of loss. He knows what it’s like to experience rejection and disappointment. He came into this world and walked among us and lived among us—and He truly understands our very human struggles.

Because He loves us so much, He came to us. We couldn’t have reached out to where He was, so He reached out to us. And He is today Immanuel—God with us. He is to our confused and baffled world “God with us.” It’s the great news that changes our lives and has the potential of changing the lives of those around us: God is with us—because He truly loves us!

This morning I want you to close your eyes with me for a moment. And, with your eyes closed, I want you to try to envision God with you…sitting right beside you on the pew. I want you to envision Him extending to you some gesture of genuine love and concern. For some of you it might be that He is putting His arm around you. For some of you it might be that He reaches out and holds your hand. For some it might simply be that He places His Hand on your shoulder or maybe even on the top of your head in a sort of blessing. Perhaps some of you would sense the hug of God this morning. God is with you—because God really loves you. The coming of Jesus brought such marvelous love into our day-by-day lives—because God is with us. And He is with you right now. Let’s talk with Him.

Pastor Tyler’s Blog

A Walk in a Winter Wonderland

It’s the time of year when lights decorate houses, gifts are being wrapped, and a building of excitement for Christmas. It’s the time of year when we’re supposed to be filled with joy, peace, and thankfulness for God’s promises and faithfulness. It’s the time of year when a movie on a foggy night, with hot tea and a blanket make you feel right at home. It’s the time of year when snow begins to fall and winter feels more like winter.

As I look back on 2009, it wasn’t always easy to hear “those sleigh bells ringing.” I started this year with no job, and no income. It started by following the Lord in faith to a new state and new city, and a hope for a new job. “Bluebirds” weren’t exactly singing as I questioned God about what He was doing in my life. I knew I needed to move, but moving to Colorado with no money, no job, and no place to live, isn’t exactly the “beautiful sight” you want to behold.

I moved on faith, prayed for help, and God was indeed faithful. I spent the first few months of the year in the mountains as God provided me a job at a Christian campground. There were no “meadows for snowmen,” but plenty of snow to shovel and plow. There were quiet times on that mountain where I would “dream and conspire, pray that we could face unafraid the plans the He was making, as I walked through an unfamiliar wonderland.”

Wedding bells rang, and we were listening. We were listening to hear God show us and guide us to the next step. He moved us to Idaho; He removed some of the trials we had faced. He moved us to a new land. He removed us from a wonderland. He’s helped us to sing a new song. He’s helped us remember some old ones. Here’s my point:

2009 has been a year where trial and hardship took on new meaning. Many families have had their faith tested and their resolve shaken.

Sleigh bells don’t ring as loud, it’s harder to listen for them, and the beautiful sight just doesn’t look as beautiful. Happiness maybe hasn’t been felt in a long time. And for the first time it feels like you’re walking directly in a winter wonderland.

Be encouraged. Psalm 16:7-8 says, “I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.” And then in verse 11, “You will show me the way of life, granting me the JOY of your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever.”

Living in a place of wonder is not always easy. “I WONDER where the next house payment will come from.” “I WONDER why God hasn’t answered my prayer.” I WONDER when things will turn around.” “I WONDER if we should move to find a new job.” “I WONDER if it’s even worth it.” Again I say, be encouraged.

This year should be a reminder to all of us, on our own we can do nothing, but through Christ all things are possible, even living through tough times and making hard sacrifices. He has not abandoned you. Better yet, He wants to come near you. And as we celebrate Christmas this year, may you be reminded that Christ was born, in order for Him to come NEAR to us. To walk with us. To WONDER with us. He walks with us in our winter seasons of life. Those times when we think nothing is happening, nothing is growing, everything is dead. He walks with us telling us to hold on for spring. So be joyful this Christmas, that God himself has given You the most important gift of all. Himself.

So may you hear the bells on Christmas day, may the snow glisten in the lane a little brighter. May it be a beautiful sight, the reminder of Christ, as you walk through a new and beautiful WONDERland!

December 13, 2009 Pastor Tim Pusey

HIS NAME IS JESUS
Matthew 1:18-21, esp. 21

Like so many of you, I love the Christmas story! However the Christmas story gets told, it’s always amazing. And it’s so cool when children are part of telling it because the story belonged to a Child—that precious Christ-child born 2000 years ago.

I was blessed to be raised in a Christian home—a home in which my mom and dad made special effort to keep the main thing the main thing at Christmas. I’m not sure I always appreciated at the time our family tradition of reading through the Christmas story before we dove into our presents—I was too anxious to get to “the good stuff”! But I have fond memories of that, looking back. I really don’t remember many of my presents from those early years—a race track, the “vacuform,” and silly putty in my stocking are a few of the strange things I do recall! But I remember well our family hearing again the Christmas story from Luke’s Gospel, often singing some carols together, and even praying together on Christmas Eve.

You know, the most amazing thing about the Christmas story is its relevance. It is at home in every age and fits into every mode of life. It is not simply a lovely tale once told, but it is eternally contemporary! It is the voice crying out in every wilderness. It’s as meaningful in our time as on that long-ago night when shepherds heard the angels singing and were directed to find the newborn king lying in a manger in a stable in Bethlehem. It’s as meaningful now because this Christ-child has changed our lives…and He continues to change lives. And, as our kids reminded us this morning, He brings hope into our world…into our little corners of the world.

This morning, I want to read a slice of the Christmas story from Matthew’s Gospel—which centered more around the family line of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, than upon Mary’s journey. Matthew appears to be motivated to prove to the Jewish people that Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one from the family line of King David—which was accomplished through Joseph. Turn with me to Matthew 1, and let’s begin reading at verse 18—
[Read Matthew 1:18-21, NIV]

In our Advent series, I’ve been focusing on the question, “What Shall We Call Him?” Last week we looked at a few of the titles given to Jesus—even long before He was born. And for these few moments this morning, I want us to look at His given name—His proper name, if you will—the name “Jesus.”

In the passage we just read, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream and reassured him that Mary had not been unfaithful to him—that the child she was carrying was conceived through supernatural means. God had a plan in all of this, and Joseph’s role was to marry this young woman as he had already planned to do, and to accept this child as his own. And, in doing so, Joseph was to give this child a name—and the angel said that the name was to be “Jesus”—which means, “the Lord saves!”

It actually was a fairly common name in that day. It was common in the Old Testament times, too, but in its Hebrew form, which is “Joshua.” “Jesus” is the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Joshua.” The name Joshua is still popular today! If our twin daughters had both been boys, one of them would have been named Joshua—and, as it is, both ended up marrying young men with the name Joshua. Biblically, we know the name Joshua most by the man who was the successor to Moses, who actually led the Israelite people into the Promised Land after Moses had died. There’s a book in the Old Testament which bears his name.

But this Joshua, this Jesus, was like no other. He would embody the meaning of the name—“the Lord saves!”—like no other ever had or ever would, for this Jesus was coming to save people from their sins—the ultimate salvation God was offering to all people.

Jesus came to save us from our sins. This was His big mission—nothing less, nothing else. Earlier this morning our children reminded us of the words found in Luke’s Gospel—when the angels proclaimed to the shepherds out on the hillside near Bethlehem:
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)
Jesus is the Savior. He came to save us from our sins. It’s Who He is. It’s what He’s about.

Christ came to save His people from their sins. He came to purchase for us, not a liberty to sin, but a liberty from sin and to redeem us from all the penalty of sin. To save us from our sin was His great business in this world—the great errand on which He was sent. He came to pay the penalty for our sin, thus delivering us from all the power, guilt, shame and pollution of sin—and that deliverance is the priceless privilege of every believer in Christ Jesus.

To think of Jesus’ purpose in terms of anything less that this would be a misrepresentation of the Gospel, and thus of Him. He did not come to prove His toleration of sin, but His intolerance for it—and to lovingly and graciously provide the way by which we could escape the dreadful curse of sin. He came to set us free from the grip of sin upon our lives!

This forgiveness of sins summarizes the concept of salvation found in both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. It means more than just the pardoning of individual wrongs; it means that the barrier between God and each one of us has been lifted. While our sin separates us from Holy God, Christ’s salvation removes the barrier, and is, in essence, our bridge to relationship with our Heavenly Father. Jesus came to do that for us. He is our Savior! He came to rescue us from the ramifications of our own sins. That was His great purpose! The angel said to Joseph, “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Don’t let anyone convince you of a lesser purpose in Christ’s coming! Christmas is more than a sentimental season of lights and gifts and treats. The beauty and the kindness and the generosity which is promoted at Christmas is merely to be reminders to us of the beauty and the kindness and the wonder of our Heavenly Father, our Creator God, seeing our need for a Savior, and sending His Son to us in the humble form of a human being entering this world, as every other human being does, as a baby.

Christ came to Earth for one reason: to reconcile God and humanity, to renew the covenant, to make amends. His birth we celebrate this season is only the beginning of His mission. He came so that we might have life and have it abundantly. But the whole story isn’t all such a pretty story, because this salvation was possible only through His sacrificial death on the Cross and His glorious Resurrection from the grave. We praise the Lord for His birth, but without Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, it would have been only that—a birth. Forgiveness would have been impossible. But because Jesus came to save us from our sins, the significance of Jesus to us goes far beyond His miraculous birth.

This assumes, by the way, the reality of sin in our lives. It is the common plight of all humanity. There’s no point in denying it. It’s been the case for people throughout the ages. Scripture says it clearly—“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

And the fact that Jesus came to save us from our sins assumes that we have need for deliverance from sin—that we are incapable of delivering ourselves, of pulling ourselves up from our bootstraps and making ourselves good enough to be accepted by God. But God has seen our plight—and He has come to our rescue! Jesus is our Savior!—our Hero, our Deliverer!

And that brings us back to the essence of our Hope—Jesus. The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk, inspired by the Heavenly Father, looked ahead to the day when Jesus would come, and prayed, with faith, “I will be joyful in God my Savior!” (Hab 3:18). We need a Savior! Sin separates us from God. Besides that, sin wrecks lives—it always has and always will…you will be no exception to the rule!

But every one of us can find and experience forgiveness of sin and deliverance from it in Jesus—“He will save his people from their sins.” No one else could do that. But now that it’s done, no one else needs to do that.

Therefore, friends, we have hope! We have hope in Jesus our Savior! There is joy in that deliverance, and that joy nurtures an abiding sense of hope in our lives! As long as there are people on the earth, there will be no “peace on earth” as such—but when Christ rules in our hearts, He brings peace to our souls, despite whatever else is going on around us.

Jack London wrote a short story about a hundred years ago called “Love of Life.” It was based on a real-life person names Charles Bunn and an ordeal that changed his life. Bunn was a prospector during the Yukon gold rush of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. One winter he and his partner ventured far up into the Artic regions. As they began running low on food and other supplies, Bunn’s partner took their provision and deserted Bunn after Bunn broke his ankle and could no longer walk.

Finding himself alone in the Arctic without food, matches, or weapons, Bunn began to crawl southwestward over barren snow and ice. He drank brackish water whenever he could find a break in the ice. He scooped out little minnows and swallowed them raw. He ate whatever he could find to eat. After 8 days and nights, Bunn came across some Eskimos hunting polar bear. The Eskimos bundled him in animal skins and furs, gave him food, and let him sleep inside one of their tents. In time, he regained enough strength to sit on a dog sled and be taken to the nearest city where he received medical attention.

A year later, Bunn was fully recovered and back to his desk job in Skagway, Alaska. However, his coworkers noticed some quirky things about him. He never went anywhere without a full box of matches, some simple foods and a small flask of water—nowhere! They laughed about it at first, but came to realize that it had become an obsession to him. His whole ordeal had so horrified him that he promised himself he would never again be anywhere without basic supplies.

Now, consider this: if the human body can crave food so desperately that it takes them to the edge of insanity, how much more so must the very core of a person’s being—our soul—feel desperation if there is no hope in life? And the truth is that, without God, we are trapped and ensnared in our sinful condition. We can’t change that.

But when Jesus, the Savior, was born that first Christmas, Jesus rescued humanity from such desperation. The shepherds knelt before their King. The angels sang praises to earth’s Redeemer. At last the desperate need for a Savior was met—and for the first time, their hope was secure.

So it is for us in this Advent season of 2009. We celebrate that our Savior has come—and therefore, my friends, we can have hope. My prayer for each of you is that the hope of the Savior will be yours this Christmas and forevermore.

Dr Kratzer’s Blog

THE SECRET OF CONTENTMENT

Asked what he had learned from drifting about with his companions in life rafts for 21 days while lost in the Pacific Ocean, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker replied, “The biggest lesson I learned from that experience was that if you have all the fresh water you want to drink and all the food you want to eat, you ought never complain about anything.” Still there are many Christians with plenty of food and water who are chronic complainers.

While the Apostle Paul was never content with his spiritual attainment, he had learned the secret of contentment in daily living . Note his words from his prison experience in his letter to the Philippians: “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (Philippians 4:11-12)

Contentment comes from appreciating what we have rather than longing for what we do not have. There has never been a generation of Christians on this earth that has had so much and appreciated it so little as the ones living in America.

We need more Christian role models who have learned to live with less and invested more in the things that have eternal value. My parents modeled this concept, early in my life, when they had to live on the bare necessities of life during the depression. You would have never thought they were deprived. They were content with the basics of life which God had promised. There was joy and a positive atmosphere in our home.

Conditions were far from ideal in Paul’s prison experience. Tomorrow was uncertain and the present was painful. With his back bruised and bleeding from the recent scourging and his feet locked in stocks, one might wonder how he could be content. I like how Roger Campbell in his book, Staying Positive in a Negative World, puts it: “He focused on what he had rather than on what he lacked.”

There are lots of negative things going on all around us and we can choose to be contented Christians or complaining ones.

During this season and every season Jesus is the reason we can find contentment. He promises to be with us in every circumstance of life. Paul found it so, I trust you will too.

Pastor Casey’s Blog

Patience:

After going on my hunting trip to Montana, I have concluded that patience played a big part in shooting my buck. Our first day out in the hills, I saw a buck that looked like he was worth going after. I took a shot as he ran around the corner of a hill over 200 yards away; no luck. The following two days I kept telling myself I would find something, but I kept coming back in the evening without any meat to hang up. My patience began wearing thin as we came home for lunch on our last day of hunting with only a few hours left to hunt till it was time to pack and clean everything up. I had driven all that way and was not going to be bringing any antlers home. I sat in a blind with my friend for an hour and a half waiting to see if we would end up being in the right place at the right time. With thirty minutes left of daylight, the only deer to come into the open was a 4×3 buck, which is now currently located in my freezer. He was worth the wait. Any non-hunters out there who cannot relate to this kind of patience? How about this then:

I have always liked Christmas music. I have one cd that reminds me of Christmas growing up. For fear of being made fun of, I will not say what cd it is, but if you ask me later on…I will tell you. I bought this cd in college and every year I bring it out mid November and start looking forward to going home for Christmas. I had heard that you are not supposed to listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving, but that never stopped me. I decided to wait a little longer this year and now that Thanksgiving is over, I am so glad I was able to patiently wait for it to be the right time. Whether we are patient for a deer, Christmas music, our children, the one day sale, or the next holiday, patience is not something that comes easy; just ask anyone that went shopping the morning after Thanksgiving…yikes.

And yet, Jesus patiently waits for us to turn back to Him, to give ourselves to Him, to grow closer to Him. He is patient to see if you will choose Him this season. He loves us and wants to be with us, but He will not force us to love Him back. How patient are you?