Reflections: December 13, 2009

This week's "Reflection" by Gary Keith, Executive & Teaching Pastor


This week we looked at Christmas through the eyes of the wise men. This part of the Christmas story is simply intriguing - why would highly intelligent men travel around 1,000 miles across the desert to visit a child king who was not even part of their ethnicity? What interest did they have in visiting this newborn "King of the Jews," when they were not Jewish?

 

What do you think? Why did the wise men travel all that distance to see a child who did not live a palace, but in a little town of Bethlehem, who didn't even look like or live like a king? Pretty interesting story if you ask me!

 

Christmas through the eyes of the wise men is a story of giving and worship. What gift will you bring to the Son of God this Christmas? How will you worship Jesus this Christmas? I found this story not only intriguing, but also challenging to my personal journey of knowing and loving God - How about you?

This Weekend's Message: Thoughts on Gift-Giving

Christmas shopping - by now most of us have been involved in some way with buying Christmas gifts. But what do you buy for the person who has everything? What do you do about gift- giving if you are out of work? Why does gift-giving have to be such a big deal at Christmas? While most people in America say they like the Christmas holiday, only a small percentage say they like the shopping. For most, shopping is a stress producer. Why is that?

 

Gift-giving is one of the things we will talk about this week. The wise men and their journey is one of the most mysterious and intriguing parts of the Christmas story. This week we will look through their eyes and see what we can learn from them as we celebrate Christmas 2009.

 

Just for fun, let me ask you two questions that we will answer on Sunday: How many wise men were there and when did they arrive in Bethlehem to see Jesus? We'll answer those plus other questions this Sunday.  By the way, our adult choir is singing this Sunday and next - it should be a wonderful time of rejoicing in the birth of our Savior, Jesus.

 

See you Sunday. I can't wait!

 

Gary

Reflections: December 6, 2009

This week's "Reflection" by Gary Keith, Executive & Teaching Pastor

This week we looked at Christmas through the eyes of the shepherds. Two key things come out of the story of the announcement to the shepherds. The first is humility. God gives grace to the humble, but opposes the proud. We know that, but what does humility before God look like to you? How do you know when you are walking in humility with God? Let's learn about that together.

 

The second is witness. A witness just simply tells what they know. So let me ask, "If someone asked you to be a witness to the things of Christ in your life, what would you say?" And if you are like the shepherds, you don't even wait to be asked - you just talk about Jesus in your life - you talk about what you have seen and heard.

 

This Christmas let's apply the lessons we've learned so far. Last week it was trust. In what areas do I need to trust God even if it seems outlandish? This week it is humility and witness. My prayer for each of us this Christmas season is that we might not just look at Christmas through their eyes, but we might live Christmas the way they lived Christmas.

 

God Bless you this week.

Reflections: November 29, 2009

Once you read the Christmas story in either Matthew or Luke and compare that with our own celebration, you are quick to notice that the two experiences are very different. Today we explored Christmas through the eyes of Mary and Joseph, and found that their story is a story of trust. Mary had to trust God, Joseph had to trust Mary, Mary had to trust Joseph, and Joseph had to trust God.

 

Trust - I believe trust is a major theme of the story of Mary and Joseph. The challenge today was to look at our own lives and ask the question: Where in my life is God asking me to trust Him? Is God asking you to change something in your life? But are you uncomfortable doing that or you don’t understand why He would ask you to change? Where in your life do you need to trust God? Does it seem impossible? Are there outlandish things that God is asking of you? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject of trust when it comes to a relationship with God.