Immanuel - God with us!

Merry Christmas

Immanuel!

John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

In a house of worship – Immanuel.

By the tree – Immanuel.

Shopping – Immanuel.

Heart broken – Immanuel.

Lonely – Immanuel.

With family – Immanuel.

Opening gifts – Immanuel.

Praying – Immanuel.

On Facebook – Immanuel.

At work – Immanuel.

Eating – Immanuel.

Preparing food – Immanuel.

At home – Immanuel.

At play – Immanuel.

Have a secret – Immanuel.

With friends – Immanuel.

On the road – Immanuel.

Flying somewhere – Immanuel.

Talking on the phone – Immanuel.

Have a label -  Immanuel.

Texting – Immanuel.

Taking pictures – Immanuel.

Caught in sin -  Immanuel.

Need a Savior – Immanuel.

At peace – Immanuel.

Looking for a new life – Immanuel.

No matter where you are or what you are doing – Immanuel.

Immanuel – God with us!  This is the message of Christmas.  Matthew 1:23²³ “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[d]—which means, “God with us.”

God bless you with his presence this Christmas and always!

Pastor Bill and Family

Reading the Bible is a process

Reading the Bible

Have you ever noticed how we can read a chapter in a good book that is like 17 pages but it is hard to read a chapter in the Good Book (Bible) that is like 17 verses?  I have.

Another thing I have noticed in the last couple of months, I can read a few chapters of the bible at a time but there is so much there that it is hard to remember it all just seconds after I read it.  Oh, there were plenty of “that’s cool,” and “only God,” times.  And maybe that’s it.  Maybe we need to read the Bible less in quantity and more in quality.

Try this on for size, “The Seven Minute Devotion.”  Pray for two minutes asking that God would open your heart and your mind and your life to his life giving word that you are about to read.  Then spend five minutes today reading just one chapter of the Bible, like 1 Peter 1.  And then tomorrow do the same thing.  And then the next day do the same thing. 

I think you will be surprised at how much this adds to your life.  You don’t have to feel guilty about not reading a large portion of scripture.  You don’t have to have feel guilty because you can’t remember everything you read. 

Reading the Bible is process not a destination.  It is encountering God not just words on a page.  So take your time and enjoy your Savior God!

Fast Forward

Fast Forward

I don’t know about you but I am on fast forward today.  I started making lists recently and this has enabled me to get a lot of things done in a short amount of time.

My mind is buzzing.  I have this to do and that to do.  I have already done this and that too.: )

But in this hyper speed of activity, I have yet to “be still.”  I prayed to God.  I have memorized a verse or two.  But I did it all on the run (literally).  I sat down to read God’s Word but I gave it up after a chapter because I realized I was just reading words and not really paying attention.

I need to slow down and remember it is all about God!  Here are some examples of what I am talking about:  If I focus on my abilities, I will always feel overwhelmed and inadequate…if I focus on WHO God is and WHAT He has done, I will feel confident and secure.?  If I focus on what others say about me, I will feel either pride or pain…if I focus on what God says about me, I will feel appreciative and thankful. 

I need to slow down and remember it is all about God.  I need to settle down and hear what God has to say in His Word about life and His plan of salvation.   How about you?

As for me, I’m going to take a few minutes and relax with a good book, The Good Book, actually!

God bless you much!

Pastor Bill

Reaching a breaking point?

Reaching a breaking point?

It’s that time of year again, isn’t it?  Mid-terms.  And on top of mid terms life, life the way it is and life the way we want it to be.

Have you ever been stressed out?  Have you ever been fidgety, anxious? 

I have, in fact, this afternoon was “such a time as this.”  So here is what I did.  I went to Biblegateway.com and listened and read a few chapters from Isaiah.  There I heard and read about our gracious God coming to me with his love and peace in the middle of confusion, bad choices, sin, fear, worry, stress, etc.,

What a relief!  I found rest for my soul.

Here are a couple of passages that you could take to heart as well when your mind and/or spirit is in a knot:

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Psalm 46 ¹ God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.
                         Selah

 ⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
   God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
   he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

 ⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.
                         Selah

 ⁸ Come and see the works of the LORD,
   the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
   he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
   he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God;
   I will be exalted among the nations,
   I will be exalted in the earth.”

 ¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.
                         Selah

If you ever need to talk, let's get together!

God bless you much!

Pastor Bill

Christmas Eve

Is life a paradox or what?

For example: The smells of Christmas 2010. Peppermint, Cinnamon, Chocolate, Evergreen, Perfumes. But then there are the smells of the first Christmas. Hay, Animals, Animal waste, and a Baby Boy.

For example: Exchanging gifts. A lot of companies and even churches have gift exchanges. Usually there is a price limit on these gift exchanges so that it is not a burden to anyone. Looking for the right ones. Maybe the surprising ones? There is joy in the children (both you and old) as we open gifts. But what do we get Jesus? He already has everything including our sin! In the midst of the holly and the jolly, and the worship and the praise we drop by the manger and humbly give ourselves: our idolatry, adultery, foul mouth and hearts, things we have stolen, bad attitudes like selfishness and pride, all of our sin. That is really costly because for a lot of us it is the only way we have known. When we drop these “gifts” off we God gladly exchanges them with purity, perfection, holiness, love, harmony, peace, a forgiving heart, calm, peace and . . . That is a pretty cool gift exchange! At our staff meeting on the 22^nd we talked about “healthy tension.” I guess that is kinda like the embarrassment of showing up at the manger with our sucky gifts and getting quite literally the greatest gift of all.

For example: One of our greatest days of joy - Christmas! But Jesus didn’t not come for a vacation or change of scenery. But to live and to die and to live again. Cool, sad, amazing!

Life is a paradox. Let me rephrase it - earthly life is a paradox. We mix the good with the bad. Jesus came to take away the paradox of life so that life would be filled only with God’s glory! True this won’t come to its final completion until we get to heaven. But it is also true that when we give him our “gifts,” our sins, God is glorified and our “present” life takes on a new shape and meaning!

It is my prayer for all of us this Christmas as we stare into the Christmas lights and hear the message of Christ’s birth that we all Love Jesus More!

In Him, Love Him, For Him,

Bill