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Showing posts from 2011

A Time for New Beginnings

'Twas the week after Christmas, and all through my room, nothing would fit me, not even fruit of the loom. The cookies I'd nibble, the eggnog I'd taste, all the holiday parties had gone to my waist. When I got on the scales, there arose such a number! When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber). I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared; the gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared. The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese and the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please." As I dressed myself in my old cardinal’s shirt and prepared once again to battle the dirt. I said to myself, as I only can, "You can't spend a winter dressed like a fan!" So away with the last of the sour cream dip, get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip. Every last bit of food that I like must be banished, until all the additional ounces have vanished. I won't have a cookie, not even a lick. I'll want only to chew on a lon

The Advent of Christ: Then & Now-The Return of the King

The Advent of Christ Sermon Series has been about looking at what the arrival of Christ meant to the Hebrews and what the 2nd arrival of Christ means to you and me now. As we began to connect last night, when Christ came to Earth, he brought with him numerous gifts to mankind; hope, peace, joy, love and many others. The greatest gift of all though, was Him. His humanity and deity, all wrapped up into one, given into the world only to be taken out of it by a sacrifice. The little baby who came in innocent as a lamb, left innocent as a lamb, blood shed and body broken for us. Now, we await The Return of the King. Our King, who ascended into heaven two millennia ago, will come again in the future to usher in an era of peace. The first time the Christ came as a child; an innocent tiny baby in the humblest of circumstances. When he left, he had been scorned, abandoned, shamed, crucified, died, yet still innocent. Claiming his victory over death, he rose again and then ascended into heave

The Advent of Christ: Then & Now - True Love

By now, I pray that you are beginning to see how all of these themes tie together. Not one is independent of another. They are mutually dependent upon the relationship of the others. Love is the response of having something to hope in, by which we have peace and joy. Love however, contrary to popular belief, is not a feeling. Love is an action…it’s a verb. All the time on TV and movies we hear the phrase, “Oh I think I am falling in love!” As we define it today, they are correct. A word better suited for that however is ‘infatuation’. Like this, most people think that the opposite of Love is Hate. Again, hate is not the opposite of Love; Apathy is the opposite of Love. Apathy is simply a lack of interest. You would just not care either way. Probably the most famous set of verses on Love is 1 Corinthians 13. It spells out what love truly is. As I read verses 4-7, keep this idea of Love is an action in mind. 3 And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body t

The Advent of Christ: Then & Now-Joy Comes from the Lord

This time of year it’s hard to go anywhere without hearing Christmas music. One particular song I hear is Joy to the World. When I hear that song sung, it always reminds me of Three Dog Night’s version of that song. Jeremiah was a bullfrog…was a good friend of mine…there’s just something about that song that’s catchy. I had never really thought about the words to the song very much until I got curious a year or two ago. So, I looked up the lyrics. When I did, I was a little surprised to say the least when I read what they were actually saying. Let’s just say they weren’t talking about anything that the Christmas song says. It’s highly inappropriate. However, the song is still catchy and it’s a fun tune to sing. But more than that, it speaks volumes to what we take in on a daily basis…what we allow our eyes and ears to witness. The type of joy that Three Dog Night talks about is the type of joy of the world. Today, obviously, we are talking about Joy. Sometimes the joy we think we nee

The Advent of Christ: Then & Now-Peace Promised, Given and Yet to Come.

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Today we continue our trek on the Advent train with peace. In my own personal opinion, peace is so very hard to achieve. The reason it is so hard to achieve is because we always have some form of chaos in our lives. It seems that when one thing goes wrong, they all do! Chaos can come in many different forms: job, government, family, vehicles, pets, friends, schools…you name it, it can be chaotic. But in the midst of the chaos, we can have peace. But what is peace? Why is it important? How do we achieve it? Webster’s defines peace as “a state of tranquility or quiet.” However, it can also mean “freedom from civil disturbances, a state of security, freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions or even harmony in personal relations.” Peace is truly all of these. But it still leaves the question…what is peace? I mean true, real, lasting peace? This time of year, we talk about “Peace on Earth, good will toward men.” The word peace or the root of the word peace appears in the

The Advent of Christ: Then & Now-The Hope of the Savior (1 of 6)

What did the coming of the Savior mean to the Israelites? Moreover, what did the hope of the Savior mean? Isaiah had a lot to say about the coming Savior. Unfortunately, it proves only that you can study Scripture until you’re blue in the face…but you must know what they say. Looking back now, we can see obviously that Isaiah (among other) prophecies talk about the coming of the Savior and that they plainly spell out what happened. Unfortunately, the Israelites mistook what the Scriptures said…and it cost them dearly; especially the Pharisees. We have two Scriptures for today, the first is from Isaiah 42:1-9. If you would, turn there and we’ll read this portion. 1 "This is My Servant; I strengthen Him, [this is] My Chosen One; I delight in Him. I have put My Spirit on Him; He will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry out or shout or make His voice heard in the streets. 3 He will not break a bruised reed, and He will not put out a

The Same Old Thanksgiving

(Read Psalm 136 as a responsive reading as it was originally intended when written.) Every year at this time, we gather with family, we eat a meal that’s bigger every year, with a family that continues to grow over the years, eat, watch football, play games, eat again, catch up with people we don’t see very often, eat again…eating is a theme for this holiday isn’t it!? But for what purpose? To give thanks, of course! But what are we giving thanks for? We all know that it’s always the fourth Thursday in November that we designate as the Thanksgiving Holiday. Did you know that Thanksgiving wasn’t an official holiday until Abraham Lincoln made it so in October of 1863? Did you know that Benjamin Franklin wanted the national bird to be the Turkey? We all know that it was the Pilgrims who had the first Thanksgiving after sailing across the Atlantic on the Mayflower in 1621. But, did you know that mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, popcorn, milk, corn on the cob, and cranberries were no

No Right to be Angry

Anger is an emotion that we feel when we think something has been done that wronged us. Let me say that again. Anger is an emotion that we feel when we think something has been done that wronged us. 9 times out of 10, anger is about the self. It’s about me. Usually, it’s when something crosses our paths that get in the way of what we want. Anger is an inward emotion. There are exceptions, like when Jesus upset the carts at the temple. He was righteously indignant. However, many times in our world today, we describe our anger as ‘righteously indignant’ when we actually have no right to be angry at all. Anger, whether good or bad, is a treacherous emotion. This past week, there was an incident at a NASCAR event involving Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday. Kyle and Ron and a third car were going through the corner and all ended up getting together and trading some paint. The caution flag waived and Kyle Busch was mad that he got pushed into the wall, so he came back and decided to take matter

How Long Have You Been a Christian?

I want to start this morning by posing a question: How do you feel when a long time opposer to Christ comes and makes a deathbed confession, knowing that they will receive the same payment that you do for a lifetime of work? Does it make you jealous? Angry? Happy? Sad? Rejoiceful? I want you to think about that for a moment. Think about how that makes you feel. You don’t have to share it with anyone, just think about it; someone who has spent their entire life partying away, doing drugs, alcohol, and maybe committing crimes. That person, because of their confession late in life, will get the same reward of eternal life that we get. Regardless of time spent working for Christ, we are the recipients of the great gift of salvation. Our subject today poses the question: How long have you been a Christian? We are going to tackle this today in Matthew 20:1-16. If you would turn there and we will read. 1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning

Freedom in Christ

You can’t just pick and choose what parts of the Bible you want to believe; it’s either all or nothing! How many times have you heard that saying? This week, I was on Facebook and ran across something on someone’s wall. Actually…multiple somethings on their wall. Seeing this led me to an actual web page on Facebook called “Religion Poison’s Everything”. On this page was a picture of someone holding up a sign quoting Scripture. (show photo) By the way, this is being held up at a protest wanting to allow gay marriage. What they are trying to do is use Scripture to point out things that we are apparently ‘cherry picking’ to quote what we believe. When we look at Scripture, we can’t ‘cherry pick’ them to prove what we want. We must look into the context and be sure of the true meaning behind what we are studying. If we do it correctly, the Truth comes out. Anyone can make any Scripture say what they want. Getting the Truth however, takes time. Today, our Scripture is going to be Galati

Children of the Light

Before you kiddo’s disappear to Children’s Church, I have a question for you. How many of you are scared of the dark? It’s ok to raise your hand, I know two that should go up immediately. I was terrified of the dark as a kid. Still am. Just for kicks, how many adults are willing to admit they are scared of the dark? What is it about the dark that kids are scared of? What makes you scared of the dark? What is it about the light that is comforting? One of the replies I’ve heard is that you can see what’s going on. Do you ever have the feeling that something is watching you or following you? It’s a creepy feeling. That’s what I feel when I am walking in the dark…outside or inside…more prominently inside. That is the best way for me to explain to you what I feel in the dark. I feel like someone or something is following me. It’s just eerie. Today in our Scripture, Paul talks about being sons of the day vs. sons of the night or darkness. It’s going to be 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. If you w

The Higher Road

“Take the Moral High Road.” How many times in life have you heard that saying? Well in my family, we hear it a lot. Just take the moral high road. If you respond to them, you’ll only lower yourself to their standards. Believe it or not, when I was a kid, I got teased a lot. I was constantly being made fun of for one thing or another. In grade school, it was how I was dressed and the grades I got. In middle school I had braces and just gotten glasses. In high school, I was on the golf team and in the band, which in my town was considered nerdy. I was constantly being razzed, ripped on and ridiculed. On the other hand, I had lots of friends too. I quickly became accustomed to hearing my parents say the words, “Ryan, just take the moral high road. Don’t give in, don’t be mean back because you’ll only lower yourself to their level.” As a kid, it’s not what you want to hear. I mean, I didn’t even fully understand what that meant. All I knew was that I wanted to retaliate. But better judgmen