Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

          Christmas is for everyone.

            The joy is for all time because when Jesus brought the joy to a manger-bed filled with hay some two thousand years ago, it permeated all of existence—from creation to last breath. It never wears out.

 

Jesus’ disciples were anything but at peace. They had embarked over a calm sea to get to a restful place, and then a storm came up out of nowhere. Jesus was found to be sleeping in the back of the boat. Rousting Him from His sleep, the disciples begged for help from the Master. With a word (translated “Peace, be still”) Jesus brought calmness back to the lives of His followers.

That is the effect that He has on the hearts of those who believe. When the Angels visited the shepherds in the hill country outside of Bethlehem, they brought the news that the Baby born that night would bring peace on earth and good will for those who found their comfort in Him.

While there may be anything but calm going on around us in the form of a physical storm, economic decay, political unrest, or unbridled crime, Jesus can reach into the storming of our hearts and bring peace. This is the message of Christmas: Peace. The peace on Earth that is spoken of and sung about during this season is the heart work of the Christ of Christmas.

Our hope is in Christ. Our hope is Christ. This is the early message of Christmas. Hope is the first gift of faith. We live in a world that squashes hope at every turn.

In our land of liberty, we have laws that remind us of the things that we cannot do. In school we rise to the level at which we cannot succeed--then  must try again and again and again until we do succeed. But, guess what! We have to move up to the next level, which must be tried again and again and again.

On our jobs, we are rarely brought into the office for the wonderful, matchless work we have done. Instead we are "called on the carpet" for the time we didn't get it right. Even in church we seem to be facing the struggle of our sinful nature, having our shortcomings constantly brought to the surface for us to re-examine and mourn over.

That's what makes faith in Christ so important. Because of the hopefulness, the hope, that is found just there. Perhaps this is tone of the reasons that Christmas and Advent are such a highlight in my own life: the constant reminder of Hope that is in Christ Jesus.

Here is a short thought that I shared with my church in our Christmas Eve service last night:

We are still awaiting word on our adoption process (We're THAT close!). We also know that there are still more costs (travel, adoption services fees, court fees, etc.) And so we wanted to take this time to thank all of you who have been generous to help with this process so far.

That being said, we are still raising funds--the more we raise, the less we have to borrow. And I have an excellent idea if you would like to help. Two of my stories are Christmas related: "Something Special at Leonard's Inn" and "Just a Simple Carpenter". I still have plenty of copies of both of these stories ("Leonard" sells for $7 and "Carpenter" for $10) Either or both would make super Christmas gifts. If you would like to purchase one or more copies of my books, send me an email at LoomandWheel(at)pobox(dot)com and reference this post. Tell me how many of which book you would like to order, you buy the books, I'll pick up the postage (in the continental USA), and all the payment will be applied to our adoption costs.

If you have both of these stories, but would like to participate, let me direct you to my Lulu Store. I will dedicate the proceeds from any purchases of my books listed there during the month of December to the adoption costs (I have no control over shipping costs from Lulu). Please note that my daughter has a book listed there, and I cannot dedicate her royalties (they go to her), and also note that books bought through Lulu net me somewhere between 25 cents and 2 dollars a book (the more you buy, the closer we get to our total cost goal).

• The year started on Sunday, so I spent day one of 2012 in worship with my church family. Even better, I had the privilege of helping my youngest child give the first biggest testimony of her faith in Jesus--Baptism (on Day 1!).  
• We got started in earnest on the process of overseas adoption. Discussions started last Christmas season, and we actually got our applications on the go in early 2012.
• I was able to accompany a group from World Hope Ministries International (World Hope Bible Institute) and Houston Northwest Church on a mission trip to Kenya in June. Over 300 pastors and church leaders were trained in "Old Testament Survey" and "Biblical Faith" and at the end of our two weeks at two separate locations I witnessed a sea of Kenyans making commitments to Christ even though our outdoor venue was a bit soggy from afternoon rains all week.
• Our church experienced some exciting times including our normal Spring Revival, Summer Vacation Bible School, and our annual Christmas Eve Candlelight service. December even saw us pay off our Renovation Loan - we will be celebrating on the first Sunday in January at 6:00 p.m. with a ham & bean dinner accompanied by note burning. You're invited to join us if you're in our area and don't have church commitments of your own.

[by the miracle of modern technology, I can prepare this post, and set it to publish on Christmas Day]


Finally, we have arrived on Christmas Morning. What better way to celebrate than to welcome the Christ-child into our thoughts, our hearts, our homes, our world . . .



(This song has been covered by big-name artists such as Michael W. Smith (a personal favorite rendition), and Amy Grant. Today, I thought it would be appropriate to post a version recorded by the author of the song, Chris Rice.)

Travel with me if you would back to the 1980s. A time of loud music, loud clothes, and synthesizers. Today we will enjoy the song based on Isaiah's names for the Christ, especially the name that means "God with Us" which is what Christmas is about. Here's a very young Michael W. Smith (Smitty as he was known then) rocking out in this Christmas song:

Then we were blessed with a song that pointed out how human this baby was, even though He was God in the flesh:

In the last several years there have been any number of new Nativity songs that call our attention to the Savior who was born in a stable and laid in a manger to be greeted by shepherds on that first night. This one is a prayer through the voice of the Virgin who was chosen to carry this baby:

Our society has a fascination with angels. Books have been written, television shows and movies have been produced to tell all sorts of tales about how angels interact with human beings. At Christmas there are any number of songs about angels.

The Christmas story is filled with angels. An angel visits the old priest Zechariah to tell him that he will father the forerunner to the Christ - John the Baptist. So vivid and dramatic (some might even say traumatic) was this visitation that the old man was rendered speechless (literally) until the baby was born and named "John".

An angel visited Mary to instruct her to be the mother of Messiah. Her betrothed husband, Joseph, was also visited by an angel to encourage him to go through with the marriage to Mary, even though she was already expecting a child.

And probably most famously, an angel visited a band of shepherds outside of Bethlehem instructing them in how to find the Christ that very night. This angel was then joined by a sky-full of the heavenly beings who filled the night air with announcements of "Peace on Earth! Glory to God in the highest!" It may have even sounded much like today's video:

A few years ago, the Christian vocal group 4Him presented us with another new song to consider the Christmas story. This new song approached the message of the Nativity from the viewpoint of Joseph--the man chosen to be the earthly father of Jesus. The questions that are posed in the song are natural for a man in his position: Why me? Why him? Why here? Why her?

This little touching song reminds us that we don't fully understand why God does things the way He does. But the truth of the matter is that He does what He does the way that He does because He does. And this Christmas as we ponder the imponderable whys, it is just a comfort that He does what He does the way that He does because it's His way of expressing His love to His world. Perhaps it is a strange way to save the world, but it is also His way.

This week we will turn to the songs that actually draw our attention to the message of Christmas. I'd like to start with one of the most moving songs that turn our hearts toward Mary and her part in the Christmas story. Asking the questions that many of us would like to have answered by the chosen Virgin who carried the Savior of all the world. I thought it might be fitting to use this version presented by the writers - words by Mark Lowry, music Buddy Greene:

One of the prominent decorations around Christmas is the bell. We hear about church bells ringing reminding devout worshipers that Christmas has come. We note the "Carol of the Bells." And then the decorations on the trees and houses around town begin to shape themselves into bells--even the trees themselves seem to be bell-shaped. As with other Christmas tunes, this one has inspired one of those teary-eyed touches on the small screen that find their way into our homes each Christmas. This touching Yuletide song calls us to engage our aural senses to keep Christmas in mind. So, as you are about your Christmassing, give a listen and maybe you'll hear those Silver Bells: