Saturday, December 25, 2010

Why Was Jesus Born?

The sound and the fury of the Christmas holiday is mostly over where I live. The cold rains fall slowly outside; the paper from the few gifts we bought has been collected and placed into a bag. Music about Christmas (some carols, some not) caresses the sound waves in the background, muffled by hair dryers as my ladies prepare for our next event--a brunch with family.

With all the activities around us, it is so easy to forget what Christmas is truly about; why exactly Jesus was born. He came to put a stop to things like the murder-suicide just north of us. When Jesus rules, insane acts like this one are dispelled. But it is more than that....

2,000 years ago, about ten miles from Jerusalem, in the tiny town of Bethlehem, a baby was born that would change the world. He was given two names: one was Jesus, meaning Jehovah Saves; the other, Emmanuel, meaning God with us. Both names bring great news and great promise.


God is with us in all of life. He is with us today. He is with us in the hard times; he is with us in the good times.

God is with us in the beginning, in the middle, and in the end of our lives. God with us.

That, neighbor, is what this season is all about.

That is why Jesus was born.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Faith Giving

This one is to the point: we set a missions offering goal in our church of 13 thousand dollars. We surpassed that goal by more than 3 thousand today.

Do you think God will not bless this group for their generous spirit? I tell you that he will give back so much more that they won't know what to do with the blessings!

How Great Is Our God!

I challenge you to give, as well. Give of those blessings so that others may hear. We are not yet where we need to be in sharing the gospel. God is calling out men and women to go; but many cannot because we have not given to our potential.

Be generous today.