It's Friday! It's TGIF--Thank God I'm Forgiven--Day. It's Advent! Christmas and Jesus are coming! Rejoice! What are you thankful for regarding your salvation? Your life in Christ? The Christmas Season? Begin your day with thanksgiving, praise and worship, even if you don't feel like it. Just start there as you turn off the noise and chaos or drown it out making a joyful noise unto the Lord. Offer a sacrifice of praise that is pleasing to God! Yes REJOICE! Then be still and know that He is God as He inhabits your praise and you still yourself in His Loving Presence.
Reports are coming in already of how God is blessing us as we bless others through our Christmas Giving Challenge. Every Sunday and Christmas Eve during worship we will make space for you to share your stories. You can write them down and hand to Sarah or me or share them verbally. How has God blessed you for being a blessing and how has God used you to be a blessing? He has great plans for you, us and some others!
Earlier this week our volunteers had their Christmas Party luncheon and last evening so did our Vision Team. It's always good to celebrate together and fellowship with fellow servants. Thank God for blessing us with so many servants! We are very blessed to have so many willing, loving, caring servants that allow God to use them! Thank you all! And as a result God is moving and using us! PTL!
****Remember to update your directory entry or enter new ones at the back of the sanctuary on Sunday. There are only a few more weeks to do so.
Tomorrow is our last Clothing Closet for the year from 10-1.
Pastor Don and Karen will begin vacation after worship on Sunday as they celebrate their 20th anniversary. If you have any needs next week, please contact Sarah. Pastor Don has begun scheduling homebound communion visits for the week he returns.
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Good Morning Children! Well we all are children and children of God as well! What fond memories do you have of Christmases past? Maybe some of us have been visited by the ghost of Christmas past as we mourn what was or regret some past choices. STOP! Be still! Release that to the God who forgives all our sins and helps us to repent and move forward. Focus on God and what He is doing today! We've often talked about the line from the Chosen, "I was one way but now another and the thing that happened in-between was Him [Jesus]". Yes PTL for your salvation, forgiveness and closeness to you Creator and Savior. He made you for such a time as this, knows you, forgives you and is calling you by name to draw close and shelter under His wings of protection and compassion. We are able to draw so close that we can feel His heartbeat and hear His whispers of love over us. PTL! So today, release it all, breathe it out. Then take a fresh breath of the Spirit as you humble yourself and draw close to the God who is standing right beside you with open arms. Lean on Him, you weary. Rejoice with Him you joyful. Know Him for He is Your God! He really loves you and is right beside you and wanting to help and walk with you from the dark valley to the green pastures and still waters as He calms and restores your soul. He refreshes you even in the presence of your enemies and will be with you always! Amen! Yes be still and know. Reload and go live and love like Jesus today.
Check out our devos below as they flow from God's heart to your soul as He wants to refresh and encourage you. He knows, cares, loves and is with you! Amen! Dwell in His Love today! I've been praying for you and us and God is speaking and helping you to refocus to Him from the noise, chaos, and hard things. He really does know you and love you and is working all things together for good and to lead you to His best. Yes, rejoice! Seek Him with all you heart and don't lean on your own understanding. Allow Him to encourage you and inform your prayers and steps today. He does have great plans! Shalom! Go bless! Amen!
ODB:
At a Christmas dinner held at our church to celebrate the cultures of the international guests, I joyfully clapped along to the sound of the darbuka (a type of drum) and the oud (a guitar-like instrument) as a band played the traditional Middle Eastern carol, “Laylat Al-Milad.” The band’s singer explained the title means “Nativity Night.” The lyrics remind hearers that the spirit of Christmas is found in serving others, in ways like offering a thirsty person water or comforting someone weeping.
This carol likely draws from a parable where Jesus commends His followers for deeds they’d done for Him: providing food when He was hungry, drink when He was thirsty, and companionship and care when He was sick and alone (Matthew 25:34-36). Instead of simply accepting Jesus’ commendation, the people in the parable are surprised—thinking they hadn’t actually done these things for Christ. He responded, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (v. 40).
During the holiday season, the encouragement to get in the Christmas spirit is often a nudge toward expressing a festive attitude. “Laylat Al-Milad” reminds us that we can put into practice the true Christmas spirit by caring for others. And amazingly, when we do, we not only serve others but Jesus too.
By Lisa M. Samra
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How have you understood the Christmas spirit? How might you serve others this season?
Dear Jesus, please help me reflect the spirit of Christmas You modeled by coming to earth not to be served but to serve.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Matthew’s gospel was written to a primarily Jewish Christian audience to present Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah of Israel, a king descended from the line of David. Matthew (Levi) frequently uses messianic language (such as “Son of David”) and Old Testament references to point to Christ as the Messiah.
Matthew 25:1-46 contains three parables detailing what it means to be ready for Jesus’ second coming: the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the bags of gold, and the parable of the sheep and goats. Some commentators believe that although the story of the sheep and goats contains elements resembling a parable, it’s better viewed as a symbolic representation of the final judgment. Its message is that one day Christ will return to judge the nations (all people). Until then, we’re to serve Him by caring for others.
Alyson Kieda |
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UR: Sleepless Nights
Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches. - Psalm 149:5 (NRSVUE)
Neither my wife nor I sleep well these days. While she usually remains in bed on restless nights, I go to the other room and sit on the couch with a book or a game of solitaire until sleep overtakes me. Those nights are full of frustration and anxiety. I have to avoid looking at a clock so I don’t count the hours until my alarm goes off. My thoughts are filled with worries from the previous day and the one ahead.
Psalm 149 doesn’t seem like an obvious source of comfort. It is filled with commands that seem directed at the listener — imperatives to praise and be joyful. For the longest time this made me feel worse. Singing for joy is the most distant thing from my mind during my sleepless hours.
But I’ve begun to wonder if this exhortation could perhaps be directed to the Holy One. Let these faithful ones rejoice and be joyful can also be a prayer, a request, a plea to the Divine for those who are struggling to rejoice. Perhaps it could even be a prayer for those of us who, in the wee hours of the morning, feel anything but joy.
Today's Prayer
Dear Jesus, be with us when our minds are filled with worries. With the grace of your joy, comfort those who lie awake in the night. Amen.
Charles Stanley
Joyce Meyer
Sarah Young
Harvest
- Praise God as the one who speaks “in your language.”
- Give thanks for God’s ongoing communication with you through his Word.
- Confess the fact that sometimes God speaks, but you disobediently choose not to listen.
- Commit yourself to the active obedience of young Samuel, who said, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Sam. 3:10).
- Ask God to give you ears to hear his message.
- Pray that those close to you will also have the desire to listen to God and to obey his Word.
Prayer Pointer
“An hour of prayer at the beginning of the [council] meeting actually shortens the overall meeting time by bringing a greater spirit of unity, by emphasizing spiritual priorities, and by opening people’s hearts to the Spirit’s guidance.” —Anonymous
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