December 23, 2013

We say often that Jesus is the reason for the season. Tomorrow night is Christmas Eve and we have a great opportunity as a church to gather and worship God for His incredible gift. This is actually the main reason for our Christmas Eve service this year. The only gift that we can give that Jesus wants from us is our worship. We have plenty of reason to give Jesus our worship and we will be sharing about three of those reasons.

At 6:00pm our Christmas Eve service will begin. We will worship together through songs, communion, scripture readings, offering and prayer. We are including an offering because we have some families who have been preparing this year to give a Christmas Eve offering. Many of them will be in this service with their families and desire to do it together.

Finally, Christmas Eve is one of the easiest services to invite someone to. If you have a family member, co-worker, neighbor or friend who needs Christmas Hope, make sure you invite them. Why? Because, Luke 19:10 says, "For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost." Once the lost are found, the found find the lost. Finally, Christmas is a good reminder that nothing is impossible, Jesus is with us and He is worthy of our worship.

Check out this video!

Merry Christmas!

Blessings!
Pastor Tom
BELONG - GROW - SERVE

December 13, 2013

I’ve come to believe that Christmas is special to so many because of traditions. There seems to be a normalcy for me around Christmas time. It is one of the few times in the year that I can anticipate a routine, reconnect with the familiar and enjoy traditions.

What are your Christmastime traditions and routines?

For me it is eggnog, Charlie Brown’s Christmas Movie, Christmas Vacation, Christmas music and carols, hot chocolate and apple cider. It is the home baked goods, the smells of trees, wreaths and poinsettias. It is the lights dimmed so the tree lights radiate in our home. It is the candles that are lit in our home. My wife always puts out Christmas scented hand soaps, I like this. It is the attitude of generosity that people seem to have around Christmastime. It is the peppermint everything and everywhere time of year.

As a countdown for Christmas, my wife wraps all the Christmas books we have and our son is allowed to open on every day. I don’t know if this is more exciting for him or for me. Some of the books haven’t changed and I remember having many of them read to me as a kid. In high school choir I actually learned the baritone parts to six different Christmas carols, so when I hear them sung I actually think I can help make them sound good too.

Christmas is familiar, there are routines and a sense of normalcy…until something doesn’t go as planned.

As I’m reflecting on Luke 2 this week in preparation for the weekend message, I’m almost shocked at what seems to be such an unplanned event Jesus’ birth seemed to be. If God ever had an opportunity to “show off” it was at the birth of Jesus. In the birth of John the Baptist in Luke 1, John’s birth is proclaimed and announced in the capital city of Jerusalem, at the temple and in the center of the city hubbub. Jesus, His birth is humblest as He is born in a rural country town. John’s father is a priest and his mother is from the line of Aaron. Jesus’ earthly parents are average, middle class and have an average social status.

What was God doing? Why does the birth seem so unplanned and so chaotic? The first Christmas was not the picture we see in an amazing depiction of a nativity scene. Join us this Sunday as we look at the birth of Jesus, our Savior. Invite someone because I believe they’ll walk out with more HOPE than they walked in with.

Blessings!
Pastor Tom
BELONG - GROW - SERVE

December 6, 2013

I recently read about a man named Father Damien. Father Damien became a Catholic Priest in Hawaii where he served at several parishes on the island of Oahu. Father Damien became aware of the public health crisis in Hawaii and decided he could help. Hawaiians were afflicted with diseases that settlers had brought to the islands such as influenza, syphilis and leprosy.

King Kamehameha IV separated the lepers and moved them to a settlement on the island of Molokai. They were given food and some supplies but nothing to help them with proper healthcare. Father Damien thought they should at least have a priest to assist with the spiritual needs.

In May 1873, Damien went to the settlement where 600 lepers lived. He built a church and established a Parish for lepers. Damien was more than their priest; he was a doctor and dressed their ulcers. He was a builder and helped the lepers build homes, beds and a school. Damien built over 200 coffins and dug their graves so they could be buried with dignity and respect.

Damien made a difference in the colony of lepers. He went to a place where people were deprived, forced to fight to survive and left with little resources and medical supplies. The colony of lepers became a place of civilization with painted houses, farms, construction, renewed faith and value. Damien showed the lepers that they were worth more than the world told them.

Father Damien got too close. He touched the lepers, he embraced them and he loved them. While serving the lepers and striving to make their life better, he contracted leprosy. As he spoke to the lepers one day, it is recorded that he didn't say, "You lepers." He actually said, "We lepers." Damien had become one of them. Damien was not living among them, he was one of them.

I like this story because it reminds me of the message of Christmas. God isn't positioned far off in another land. He isn't asking us to travel far and long to find Him. Instead, God came to us! He lived in our skin. Jesus walked, talked, ate, slept, cried, got angry, was sad, happy and laughed.

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then, with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  Hebrews 4:15-16

This is what Christmas is all about. God, through His Son, came to earth to rub shoulders with us. God wrapped himself in skin and came near to us. Christmas is about Immanuel, God with us!

Our Christmas series is Surprised by Hope. I want you to be here as we celebrate the Christmas season together as a church. I want you to invite people who need this Hope! I believe people will walk out with more Hope than they walked in with; they just need you to ask them to come.

Blessings!
Pastor Tom
BELONG - GROW - SERVE