Daily Archives: December 14, 2007

Weekly Lectionary Reading

14 Friday Dec 2007

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3rd Sunday of Advent
December 16, 2007

This week’s verses continue to anticipate the coming of the Lord. We are getting closer to Christmas in our Advent journey. I’m reminded as I say that that each day, we are getting closer to the Lord’s return. The passage in James reminds us of that. Matthew reminds us that Jesus is the promised one, just like John the Baptist was the promised one. Messiah is coming and when he does, things will be different. This Sunday we will light the third candle which traditionally has meant joy — that’s why in some traditions the candle is pink. The Psalms and Isaiah passages are joyful passages — they are filled with great expecation and hope that when the Lord comes (both the first time and the second time) there will be great rejoicing for those who have believed in Him. I’ll finish with the writing from the psalmist:
5 But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God. 6 He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever. 7 He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The Lord frees the prisoners. 8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly. 9 The Lord protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked. 10 The Lord will reign forever. He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations. Praise the Lord!

12 Ways to Keep Christ in Christmas

14 Friday Dec 2007

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I happened upon this from the Hayward Wesleyan Church website, where my good friend Mark Wilson is the pastor.

As Christmas swiftly approaches, I encourage you to set apart some time to reflect on the true meaning of this season. So often, we get so busy in the holiday activities that we forget why we’re celebrating. It’s all about Jesus. Allow me to suggest a few simple ways you can keep
Christ at the center of Christmas.

1. Come to Church each Sunday. I’ll be delivering a series of messages on “Christmas Prayers” which will encourage your heart and fill your soul. Invite a friend!
2. Bring a Friend to “The Christmas Offering”, a dramatic musical that will inspire and prepare you for Christmas. This is a good opportunity for you to reach out and bless someone. The musical will be held Fri. Dec. 7 at 7:00 p.m., Sat. Dec. 8 at 7:00 p.m. and Sun. Dec. 9 at 11:00 a.m.
3. Attend One of our Christmas Eve Services. In the candlelight, you can pause and experience the deep peace, joy and beauty of the moment. Services are at 4, 7 and 9 p.m. on December 24th. This is a great time to invite your loved ones.
4. Participate in the Giving Tree. Your family can take a tag from the tree (in our foyer) and buy a gift for a needy child or single mom. This is a beautiful and practical way that you can share the love of Jesus.
5. Go Christmas Caroling. On December 16m at 4:00 p.m. we’re going to go caroling to the nursing homes, as well as to others who are shut-in. It’s a way to bring some real encouragement to those who are suffering. We’ll share chili together after we sing.
6. Ring a Bell for Salvation Army. The contributions help the needy in our community all year long.
7. Attend (or help with) the Christmas Dinner at the church, 1:00 p.m. December 25.
8. Send a Care Package to our Troops.
9. Participate in Toys for Tots and/or Operation Christmas Child.
10. Send a card or bake cookies for someone who is lonely.
11. Donate Blood
12. Before you open presents, read the Christmas Story (Luke 2:1-20).

As our family prepares for this season I can honestly say that we will be keeping most of these ways. #2 is out because our church isn’t having a musical this year, but we are having a Christmas play put on by some of our students. #4 — we don’t have a giving tree, but we did donate toward our local JROTC canned food drive and participated in World Hope’s Christmas Gift Pak program. #7 — sounds like a cool idea to try (maybe next year!) #11 — that one always scares me. All the others we have already completed or by the time Christmas eve rolls around, we will have completed. I think these are excellent suggestions — I should have wrote them myself, but Mark beat me to the punch.

Two Nights in a Row (Again!)

14 Friday Dec 2007

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Tonight’ Ministry Leadership Team was a great followup to yesterday’s Mosaic. As I’ve mentioned before we have unoffically changed the name of the Local Board of Administration to Ministry Leadership Team. God has assembled a team of leaders for our church and tonight we had a great meeting.

One of the things we discussed was how to implement Operation Alive 2008, which is a district wide emphasis to have 12,000 worshipers on Sunday morning throughout the district. What this means is that every church would have to double its normal Sunday morning worship attendance. For us that would mean we need 84. Our team is already thinking about it and they had some great ideas that we will implement. If we have 84 on Easter Sunday morning we will have a full house and may need chairs in the isles (but what a great problem to have!)

Our meeting ended with a good discussion about Mosaic. Gayle who is on the Ministry Leadership Team and one of our Mosaic teachers, shared a story with us.

Several weeks ago a young man from our area was killed in Iraq. Gayle went visiting at the funeral home. The young man had a brother who was at the funeral home and both boys had been part of our youth group when they were in middle school. Today, the young man’s brother came into the bank where Gayle works and as God would have it they struck up a conversation. The young man asked if Gayle still involved in the church and she said yes and told about what we are doing now. Gayle asked what was the best thing about attending and the young man answered, “the cupcakes and snack.” Now, that does not come as a surprise. Our current crop of students love Ms. Mary’s cupcakes, so much so that she is known as The Cupcake Lady and gets the loudest applause when we introduce the Mosaic staff. We all laughed about that. Then the young man asked if the church still helped needy families. Gayle said yes and asked why. The young man had been impressed enough by our church helping his family when they needed it that now that he could afford it, he wanted to pass it on.

Wow! there were tears and goosebumps around the room. This is what missional ministry is all about. It is all about being the hands and feet of Jesus to others who so desperately need it. It helped give perspective to all of us. We see the crazyness and the drama of Mosaic from week to week. It’s not often that we will know the complete story this side of heaven of how we made a difference in the Kingdom — it’s easy to lose perspective and tonight brought it all back. I’m thankful that Gayle told us that story. It’s all about building God’s Kingdom — right where we are. It’s all about finding out what God is doing where we are and then joining His team.

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