Dead or Alive

Good, you're sitting down, I have some bad news for you, some of you are dead. Now it's not as bad as it sounds, it might be reversible, if we catch it in time.

The title and theme of our services from now until the middle of February is "Health Check" and our focus will be on our physical and spiritual health, because the two are really interconnected. In 3 John 1:2 the apostle John is writing to his friend Gaius and as part of his greeting he writes Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.

And often we err one of two ways, some folks focus on their physical bodies and ignore the spiritual side. They are concerned with making sure that they eat right, get enough sleep and get regular exercise but they never stop to think about the eternal. All of their energy is focused on the here and now and they miss the there and then. They obviously missed the bumper sticker that says "Eat right and exercise and die anyway". They might give a nod to the eternal and make a token attempt at connecting with God but they can't or won't find time to actually develop a relationship with him. And if they spent half the time and energy on spiritual things as they do on their physical bodies I'm sure the results would be amazing.

Seriously what if we were as committed to finding time for God as we are finding time for the gym, or for walks. What if we were as concerned about our kid's spiritual health as we are about their physical health, if church had the same priority in our lives as sporting events did? How would your children's hockey, soccer, and baseball coaches feel if you treated practices and games the way some people, not you but some people, treat their kids church and youth group attendance?

But on the other side of the spectrum are the folks who get all spiritual and focus all of their energy on their spiritual development and ignore their physical bodies. They view what they have simply as a temporary container, just a vessel to house their soul during the time they are on this earth, and while they may not say it their lives are certainly testimony to their belief that it really doesn't matter how they treat their body. And that belief certainly isn't new as I mentioned last week the Gnostics were riding that pony two thousand years ago. The spirit was good and the body was bad, just a necessary evil to house that which was eternal.

But that belief is at odds with what Paul told the church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 6:18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.
And then he tells them why 1 Corinthians 6:19 Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? So if our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit it sounds like something we should take care of. And some folks use that scripture to explain why they don't smoke or drink but ignore it when it comes to basic maintenance of the temple.

Unfortunately, some Christians don't view their bodies as a temple.

I was at a conference two weeks ago with 1700 of my closest friends and we were driving from the airport to downtown Jacksonville and suddenly my GPS said "Now take exit 334d on the left". On the left? We were in four lanes of traffic and I knew that we were going to have to take exit 334d but who puts an exit on the left, unless you're in Australia. And I looked back and there was a tractor trailer pulling up beside me and one of my passengers yelled "go for it, it's a rental." They were kidding, I think. Well the upside is we got to see a whole lot more of Jacksonville then we had originally planned.

But too many people view their bodies like they would a Budget Rent-A-Car and they see their salvation as the extra insurance you buy. If everything goes well, that's fine but if not, well we paid for the protection. Instead we need to see our bodies not as a rental but as a keeper but it goes beyond that because our bodies are gifts from God. And often how we treat gifts is indicative of how we view the gift giver.

Some folks talk about when they get to heaven and are given a new body, a glorified body, but really if we haven't done that good of a job with the one we have now, if'n I was God, I'm not sure I'd trust us with the upgrade.

In the scripture that was read earlier Paul compares our spiritual state with life and death and tells the Christ followers in Rome that they are either dead or alive, there's no middle ground, and we know that. If you are almost dead you are still alive.

Dead is a word that we don't often use in today's society. The year Angela and I got married I had a summer job at the Sussex health center, and every once and a while you'd hear an airline voice say "Code 10, room 115, code 10 room 115." Now if you worked there you knew that someone had died. Angela worked at the Kiwanis nursing home that same year and you'd think that with all those old people there that the occasional one would die. Uh-huh, not once, what did happen is that "they expired." That's right expired, come on parking meters expire, driver's licenses expire, people die. With one exception, I will probably expire but it will only be because I forgot to mail in my renewal. People don't even pass away anymore they just pass.

People die and it really doesn't matter what we call it or don't call it. But what is death what is dead, well glad you asked. Collins English dictionary death: dying, end of life, end, extinction, annihilation. But there has to be more to it than that.

Alice Thomas Ellis
said
Death is the last enemy: once we've got past that I think everything will be alright. And Robin Williams, wrote "Death is natures way of saying 'You're table is ready'." I think we all share the sentiments of the tombstone that read "I expected this but not yet".

Timothy Leary "How you die is the most important thing you ever do. It's the exit, the final scene of the glorious epic of your life. It's the third act and, you know, everything builds up to the third act." And Elisabeth Kübler-Ross summed it up when she wrote "Dying is something we human beings do continuously, not just at the end of our physical lives on this earth."

The words, death, dead or dying are mention 1238 times in the Bible, I know because I counted them. The question I need to ask today is this, are you dead? I mean really, if you are dead you don't need health you need life!

You say, "don't be foolish preacher, I aint dead." For the most part we understand that. We know that you aren't physically dead. But are you spiritually dead? Are you walking this old earth alive in the body but dead in the spirit?

That's the question, but how do we find the answer? Well here are some hints that you may have passed.

1) Dead People Have no Appetite. When a man is dead, food no longer holds any interest for him. You can have filet mignon wrapped in bacon, stuffed mushroom caps, baked potatoes, sour cream and chives and fresh strawberries and cream and he won't care. Dead men don't have Big Mac attacks. They don't crave for food. Pizza, ice cream, burgers, fries, not even Chinese food interests the dead man. While a man is alive he gets hungry on a regular basis, some of us more regular then others. The dead man though is unmoved by food.

One of the symptoms of the spiritual dead man is a lack of appetite for God. Now lack of appetite for God does not necessarily mean lack of appetite for church. The problem here is that many people get God and church confused. You can have an appetite for church without having an appetite for God. Your church appetite may be because you like the music, or perhaps the preaching, or because it is a social occasion, maybe it adds to your prestige. There can be many reasons why you like church and God may not come into the picture at all. No hunger for God indicates a lack of spiritual appetite, which is usually indicative of spiritual deadness.

One of the easiest ways to diagnose your appetite is by watching what you eat. I love pizza! I could eat pizza seven nights a week, and have the leftovers for breakfast. I have an appetite for pizza, I should have that type of appetite for fruit and vegetables, and even though I like a good crisp slightly tart apple I prefer pizza. Angela on the other hand is a chocoholic, loves chocolate, dark chocolate, light chocolate any type of chocolate. Our son, Stephen on the other hand is into very expensive seafood, lobster and scallops are his favorites, he doesn't eat them because he's a poor starving artist, but his dream is some day to be successful enough that they will be main stays of his diet. It's very easy to tell what we have appetites for if you know us.

It's the same in the intellectual & spiritual level as well, what are you feeding on. Do you have a desire to feed on the things of God? Where do you feed your soul? In front of the idiot box or reading God's word? Now I'm not advocating throwing your television out but it cannot supersede the time you spend with God. When you are reading the bible you are feeding on the things of God, after all he did call it the bread of life.

Some people can't figure out why they don't grow spiritually, there's a good chance that it's because they don't feed on the word of God. Back when computers were still in their infancy there was a term that said, "Garbage in, Garbage out." And that applies to our spiritual lives as well.

If you are only being fed by American Idol, Dr. House and the Big Bang Theory you probably aren't getting the spiritual nutrition that you need. If your view of the world is shaped entirely by McLean's, The Evening News and CNN you probably aren't seeing the world with God's eyes. Do realize that at various times this year we will have a half a dozen different study groups happening at Cornerstone? Catering to virtually every group in the church, they are an opportunity to feed on the things of God. But just as other people can't physically eat for you they can't spiritually eat for you either.

Do you have an appetite for the word of God? Do you seek it out or do you find it boring? Do you feed on what God says or do you have no appetite for the things of God? No appetite means no life and that means that you are dead.

And even though you might fake your appetite God knows what it really is. I've obtained a reputation through the years as being a real coffee hound, someone who drinks a pile of coffee, (can you pile coffee). But I don't really, I might drink two cups of coffee in the run of an average day, don't drink any coffee at home and yet people perceive me to be big coffee drinker. Sometimes we can give the impression that we have an appetite for the things of God but it's just an illusion.

2) Dead People Have no Activity. A strange thing about dead people is that they are usually very still. No matter that they had been quite active previously, when they die they have to stop, I mean they have no choice. That's going to be the hardest thing for me when I die; it will take me three days just to get caught up with the work I have to do.

Dead people used to be normal, active people, but once they died they are become motionless. They are without activity. In the same way the spiritually dead person is usually without activity. Somebody else can lead a small group, work with the teens, help with the children's ministry, work on activities, and serve on the Leadership Team.

Now it's not that they are totally without activity, it's just that they are just without kingdom activity. They find time for other activities, duties and functions but they never have time to work in the church, strange thing that. There's room in their lives for the Lions Club the School activities and sports, but if you ask them to commit time to ministry, "Well Pastor, family comes first." Well actually if the truth was known family probably comes twelfth after work, play, hobbies, school, sports, television, friends, yard work, the cottage, fishing, crafts and defleaing the dog. But God's work definitely comes after family, regardless of what rank family actually is.

3) Dead People Have No Direction. Now that is really redundant because lack of motion translates so often into lack of direction. Dead people don't have to know what direction to go in cause they aren't moving, they are quite content to head in whatever direction they've been laid in.

Sometimes though we are moving but we're not sure what direction we are supposed to be going. It's like we're all guys who don't want to admit that we don't know the way and we certainly aren't going to ask for directions. But guess what? We have to.

Many people sense a lack of spiritual direction in their life but it's cause they ain't asked the way. If you want to know where God wants you to you gotta ask. And when you talk to God that's called prayer. James 1:5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. A sign of spiritual deadness is a lack of spiritual growth or spiritual direction.

God does not direct the dead. Doesn't have to cause they're not going anywhere.

4) Dead People have No Love at one time those who are dead probably loved all kinds of people their friends, their family, those they worshipped with.

But when they died their love died with them. Dead people can't express their love and neither do dead churches. The spiritual appetite, spiritual activity and spiritual direction, which we have seen is indicative of life, must ultimately produce Love. A love that touches people and communities for the lord Jesus Christ.

How is your love quotient? How do you exhibit your love to the people who surround you? And not only do we have to love people, but we need to tell people that we love them. We need to express our love now because there will come a time that we will be unable to express it.

In the Book of the Revelation, which is the last book of the Bible Jesus spoke to the Church in Ephesus. And He commended them for all they did and then he said this Revelation 2:4 "But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first!

That's not necessarily something I would want said about me or about this church. I truly believe that if we were to try and find a secret weapon for reaching people it would be love. Bill Hybels, the pastor of Willow Creek Community Church just outside of Chicago makes this statement. "If you create a loving community, first time seekers will sniff it and say "I want in." Crusty old veteran believers whose hearts have shut down will warm up again. Arrogant people will have their pride melted."

How do you measure up? Are you dead or alive? If there's no appetite, activity, direction, or love then it's probably time to take a spiritual pulse, and I'd bet dollars to donuts that you won't find a pulse at all.

You have expired, deceased, passed away, you're no longer with us, you've kicked the bucket, you're done dead. You may not think so, but like Christ said in Revelation 3:1 "I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead."

Well then if you're dead then what do you need, well there are some who say all that people need is a good example, and there are those who do their very best to provide that good example for society. But let's face it have you ever tried to be a good example to a dead person, it is really quite hopeless.

Oh no someone says what he really needs is encouragement. Now I think that encouragement is wonderful, enthusiasm is contagious. But you can never encourage a dead man to be anymore then dead. Others say "No, no it's environment" but face it even if a dead man's not in the funeral parlor he's still just as dead. And education isn't the answer, you can't educate the dead, although some of my high school teachers certainly tried. But face it if a person is dead then their most pressing need is life. Very simple, when you are dead what you need more than anything is to be alive. The word life or live is mention 1414 times in the bible, that's almost two hundred more incidence then death.

You say "Fair enough preacher I need life where do I get it from?" Good question and a question that was asked and answered two thousand years ago by Jesus, in John 11:25-26 Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die." And in John 14:6 Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. And again in John 6:48 Yes, I am the bread of life!

Life can only be given by the life giver and that is Christ. He gives life, not in teaspoons but in buckets, in 100-gallon drums. John 10:10 My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

Maybe you are more familiar with it in the King James Version John 10:10 " I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Now Romans 6:23 the wages of sin is death. Now the question is are you dead? We all are or were, that is the wages of sin but that same scripture continues to say Romans 6:23 but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sin is death, God is life, and the choice is yours.

A Healthy Body

So, how do you feel about your body? Strange question isn't it? Most of us would rather not think about our bodies and if we do we probably don't think very complementary things. It's too fat or too skinny, too short or too tall. Bumpy, lumpy or just plain ugly kind of like the guy who was so ugly when he was a kid that his parents took him everywhere they went so they wouldn't have to kiss him good bye. At least that's the way we think about it.

But is that fair? Over the next six weeks I want to focus on our bodies. And you might have assumed that knowing the title of this series is "Health Check" and our focus is 3 John 1:2 Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is.

There are times that we try to separate our bodies and our souls but in John's letter he ties them together, they are both part of the package. It was the heresy of the Gnostics that said the body was evil and simply an imperfect prison for our souls.

Instead we need to view our bodies as a gift from God, that's why Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:27 Now all of you together are Christ's body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.

What a statement. You, you are the Body of Christ.

Pretty awesome isn't it? Look around you; each one of you makes up a part of the body of Christ. As Paul reached out to find a simile to adequately describe the church of Jesus Christ the one he came back to time and time again was the comparison between the church and a body.

 

In Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians and Colossians Paul makes over 30 references to the body of Christ. Those of us who are familiar with the Bible tend to skip over things like that without really taking the time to think about it. We all know what a body is, after all each one of us occupies one every day, but do we really take the time to look at these vessels that we reside in and see where the similarities are between this which is flesh and blood and the church of Christ?

 

The first thing we need to recognize is that the analogy of the body applies to two definitions of the church. Yes it does refer to the church universal. That is the great all encompassing group of Christians throughout the world who call themselves by so many different names. So Cornerstone Wesleyan Church is part of the same body as the Rock Church, Temple Baptist, Emmanuel Bapist, Hills Christian Life Centre in Sydney Australia and Makena Wesleyan Church in Sierra Leone.

 

However, the local church, Cornerstone Wesleyan Church also needs to be viewed as the body of Christ. But why? Why did the Apostle Paul chose to use something as imperfect as our material body to illustrate something as mystical as the church of Jesus Christ?

 

William Barclay sates "There is an "I" a personality which gives unity to the many and varying parts of the body" This is a hand and this is a hand and that's a foot and there's another foot and here's a head and they're all separate, but "I" Denn brings unity to make all of those things part of my body.

 

Barclay goes on to say that what "I" is to the body, what Christ is to the church, it is in Him that all the diverse parts find their unity. Alone you are just a Mike, a Heather, an Angela, a Jim , a Matthew. But add Jesus Christ and you become a body. Christ is no longer in the world, he no longer has a physical body and so if he wants a child taught in Junior Church then he needs someone to teach. If He wants someone touched in compassion then He needs to use our compassion and if he needs to cry then He needs our tears.

 

And so we are His body, but the question remains what is his body? 1 Corinthians 12:12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is with the body of Christ.

1) We have something in common. Each part of your body has something in common and that something is you! Your leg doesn't belong to one person and your arm to somebody else. This is Mike's arm and Jason's leg.

 

Instead each individual part of the body has "you" in common, you are the common denominator that ties everything together. In the same way the church of the body of Christ has a common focal point and that is Jesus Christ. Recognize that the church doesn't belong to everyone here. If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour then you are not a part of the body of Jesus Christ. The very word "Church" in the original Greek was "Ek-Klay-See-Ah" which means "Called out ones". From that point of view we realize that just because you attend a church doesn't make you a part of the Church. Just because you go watch a hockey game doesn't make you a hockey player. Just because you go into a garage doesn't make you a car, go into a big garage become a big car, go into a little garage become a little car. If a cat had kittens in the oven they wouldn't be cookies. Would they?

 

And so in the same breath just because you attend a Christian church doesn't necessarily make you a Christian and only Christians truly belong to the body of Christ. So if it isn't church going that the various parts of the body have in common, and if going to church doesn't necessarily make you part of the body how do we achieve it? Good question.

 

Paul gives us the answer in the opening lines of this letter

1 Corinthians 1:2 I am writing to God's church in Corinth,

(that's the primary address, now he narrows it down a little bit) to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. (which simply means those set apart for holy use) . He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. That is who is part of the body. And the Bible tells us that the path to becoming a Christian is relatively uncomplicated. 1) Confess your sins 2) Repent or say you're sorry 3) Believe in faith that He will forgive your sins.

 

1 Corinthians 12:14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.

2) We are all different. The diversity of the body is something beyond debate. No two parts of the body are identical, not only are your hands and feet different but your left hand and right hand are different. I have a cousin who has one blue eye and one brown eye. And we look at our bodies and we marvel at the God who has created this phenomenal piece of equipment.

 

We have ears that hear, eyes that see and feet that walk. And none of us object to that. When was the last time you said, "Boy I wish I could see with my toes, or smell with my ears" Nor do we say, "I wish I was a big foot or a very large eye." Diversity isn't just an accidental attribute of the body it's all part of the divine nature that designed you. And yet all too often we try to make every member of the body of Christ identical.

 

We even get to the point that instead of viewing our local church as the body of Christ we view it as only one member of the body of Christ. If we carry that to the extreme then we end up with churches that instead of being bodies are just collections of the same body part. And so in churches that are very caught up in social concerns we'd see row after row of bleeding hearts. And churches that are focused on evangelism
would be full of beautiful feet. In churches where worship is the primary focus there would be pews full of uplifted hands. And of course if we looked into the churches where the visible gifts are prominent we'd see row upon row of tongues.

 

And that isn't' a body is it? I mean a body isn't made up of a whole bunch of tongues, or feet, or hands, or eyes or ears but instead it's made up of a combination of each of the parts of the body, one of this, a couple of these and some of those. You see even though God insists on unity he complicates the matter by also insisting on diversity.

 

God didn't make us identical at the first birth and I don't think he intended to make us identical at the second birth. To listen to some people all Christians ought to look alike, dress alike, think alike, have the same haircut, read the same translation of the Bible, enjoy the same type of music and raise their children the same way.

 

In other words those people think that all Christians ought to do things one way, and you know what way that is don't you? That's right their way. But let's just stop and think about it for a minute and let's be honest, do you really think that we need another you? We certainly don't need another me. Amen.

 

So then not only are we all the same and not only are we all different, but we are all essential to the well-being of the body. Paul personifies the parts of the body his letter to the Corinthians and all the various parts of the body get together and have a grip session. 1 Corinthians 12:15-17 If the foot says, "I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand," that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, "I am not part of the body because I am not an eye," would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

 

In the church we do the same thing, someone says "Because I can't preach like Denn I'm not a part of the body, and because I can't sing like Jason I'm not part of the body or because I can't play piano like Eileen I'm not part of the body." But we don't just need preachers anymore then we just need soloists. When you think about it we need teachers and we need prayer partners, and we need people with big hearts to love and with long arms to hug.

 

It's kind of interesting to note that the foot compares itself with the hand and not the eye. And so we become prone to envy those who surpass us a little, instead of those who are obviously in another class altogether. And because of that I would be more likely to contrast my preaching to Lennett Anderson then to Billy Graham. And I have found that vocalists usually are envious of another singer in their own local church rather than Taylor Swift or Nelly, who are obviously in a completely different class.

 

Paul is very adamant that each of us in our diversity plays a vital part in the body of Christ. After all if you were just like me, we wouldn't need one of us, would we?

 

1 Corinthians 12:20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.

3) We Need To Be Heading In the Same Direction And so we as face this paradox of being so dramatically different, we see the marvellous problem which confronts the church of Jesus Christ and that is how to preserve our diversity well maintaining our unity.

 

It would be relatively easy for us all to be different; most of us are quite different as is. And I'm sure that if we really wanted to and if we tried really hard that we could be fairly united. But to be different and united at the same time, well that seems to pose a difficulty that we're unable to overcome.

 

But if we look at the original analogy we see that this isn't just possible with our physical bodies but essential. I can be scratching my head with my hand, walking across the floor with my feet, seeing with my eyes, hearing with my ears and smelling with my nose all at the same time. The secret to keeping the Body of Jesus Christ that we know as Cornerstone Wesleyan Church on the right path is that we must be seeking the same goal. And hopefully that goal is to reach people and introduce them to Jesus.

 

If your left foot wanted to go one place and your right foot wanted to go another place you'd be in a real predicament, wouldn't you. But we say I'm going to walk over there and the instructions leave our brain, travel through the central nervous system causing each of the required body parts to work as required to take us on that trip.

 

In the same way the church determines the direction that God wants us to go and each of us as a part of this particular body move in unison toward that goal. Or at least that's how it's supposed to work in theory.

 

The year was 1994, it was the State of Origin, not to be confused with the state of Oregon. The state of Origin is considered to be the best Rugby tournament in the world, each year for a best of three series professional rugby players in Australia return to the state where they began their professional careers. Either New South Wales or Queensland, the score is 12 to 10 for NSW and there is one minute left in the game, the first minute of the video is just for fun, but watch what carefully when the music ends. (Video) I do not know how many times I have watched that play and still marvel at the team work that went into it.

 

If we are going to achieve our goals as a church then we are going to have to play together, and that goal better be to share Christ with a lost community and to reach out and love people with the love of Jesus Christ.

 

1 Corinthians 12:25-26 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

 

4) When One Part Of The Body Hurts, The Whole Body Hurts.

One of the biggest problems in some churches is that they just don't care about one another. May I again draw your attention to the core values of Cornerstone Wesleyan Church, these are those things that during the planning stages of Cornerstone we said these are the non negotiable, 5) Cornerstone Wesleyan Church is committed to showing Christ's love to those who attend in practical and tangible ways. We need to be there for each other people. We need to care about one another. Some are easy, providing meals to a family for a week after a baby is born, that's an easy one, a no brainer. Some are a little tougher, when someone has a terminal illness being there for them and their family. Or when a couple is going through a divorce, how can we be of help then? We'd better figure it out.

 

Sometimes I think that we are so focused on heaven that we lose sight of those around us. When someone stumbles we need to stoop over and help them up not scramble over them in an effort to get to heaven. Sometimes Christians act as if sin is contagious and instead of trying to restore a brother or sister who has fallen in sin we avoid them as if they had the plague. We may not amputate a wounded member of our church family, but if we don't administer first aid and just ignore it, in time it will die and fall off.

 

This is not survivor, we are not supposed to vote people off the island.

 

What happens when a part of your physical body gets hurt? If you hit your thumb with a hammer what happens? Well actually several things happen all at once. Your mind registers pain, tears come to your eyes, you grab said thumb with your other hand and you commence to jump up and down while words rush forth from your mouth. The nature of those words being entirely dependent on your present spiritual condition.

 

What happened? Even though it was just one very small, very insignificant part of your body that was hurt, many other parts of your body became involved in an attempt to lessen the pain. And so when one part of the body of Christ hurts it is each of your responsibility as additional parts of the same body to help lessen the pain.

 

It may be hurt that comes with the death of a loved one, divorce, a lost job, your children or betrayal. It may be that they have given into temptation and need to be loving restored to the body. The responsibility lies not only with the pastor, or with the Leadership Team, or with the person next to you it lies with you.

 

So where you at? so the question has to be what role will you play? What member of the body will you become? What function will you perform? How will you help to make the body what it ought to be?

Well it's 2011, who would have thunk it. And I would suspect that there have been a pile of New Year's resolutions made in the past 2 days and if the truth was known there have probably been a pile of New Year's resolutions broken in the past 2 days.

We have probably all verbally or silently, publicly or privately resolved to do something different this year then we did last year. Some will finally decide to give up the demon tabbacy, other's myself included have decided to do battle with a more acceptable vice and that is food. You ever notice that the Christian argument against smoking and drinking: they are addictive and harm the temple of the Holy Spirit, ie our bodies, don't seem to hold water for gluttony. Interesting.

You say Pastor the reason I'm overweight is that I have a glandular problem. Me too, if you consider the mouth a gland. Actually I decided a long time ago that I'm not overweight I'm under tall so my New Year's Resolution is to get taller in 2011.

So what are your resolutions for 2011? Big, little, practical, impractical, what have you decided to change about your life in the next twelve months? On December 31^st of this year will you be the same person you are now? A better person? Or a worse person? Will you have won a victory over some area of your life or will you have gone down to defeat? I want to go on record right now as saying I believe you can do it. And I know that you are sitting there thinking "But Denn you don't even know what I'm struggling with." You're right, I don't, but I know my God and I know that he can give you victory. Do you believe that? Do you believe that you are a partner in faith with the Almighty God?

Do you remember what Gabriel told Mary in Luke 1:37? That's right, Nothing is Impossible for God. "For nothing is impossible with God." And if no thing is impossible with God then all things will be possible with God.

When Paul wrote his letter to the early believers in Philippi this is what he told them Philippians 4:13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

It doesn't say "I can do some things" or "I can do the easy things" or "I can do certain things." What the word of God says is "I can do everything."

Perhaps as we step into a new year you need to apply those words to your particular situation. Perhaps you need to write down

"I can quit smoking with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need."

"I can lose weight with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need."

"I can stop being negative with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need."

"I can learn to love the unlovable with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need."

"I can become a stronger Christian with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need."

You know there are a lot of things in life that are impossible, there are a lot of things in this life that you will never be able to accomplish by yourself, but when God is your partner nothing is impossible.

Each year we resolve to be better parents, better spouses, to give up this and start that but how about making a commitment to walking deeper with God? To becoming better and stronger Christians?

Perhaps by December 2011 it could be said of you as Paul said of the believers in the city of Corinth in 2 Corinthians 8:7 Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.

You understand that when we read the section of the Bible called the epistles, which means letters that we are in fact reading other people's mail. This section begins with the book of Romans and continues through to the book of Jude. It's made up of twenty one books and represents at least five writers; I say at least five because there is some debate over whether Paul wrote the book of Hebrews.

And so Paul begins this statement with these words: You excel in so many ways: Paul is writing to the believers in the city of Corinth, which if we bring up a map we discover was located in what we now know as Greece, which is funny because back then it was Known as Greece. And even though the letter was written specifically to the believers in that church 2000 years ago because God in his infinite wisdom included it in what we now call the New Testament it applies to us as well.

Paul has just finished a litany of praise for the churches in Macedonia which were just north of Corinth. He talks about how even though they were going through some tough times they were still joyful, that even though they were poor that they were very generous. He tells about what great people and terrific Christians they were. And I'm sure that those reading the letter were yeah, yeah, yeah. Macedonians this and Macedonians that. Have you ever been in a situation like that? Standing and listening to how great somebody else is. Feels great doesn't it?

It's probably a character flaw of mine, because as much as I like to hear positive things about people when it drags on and on inside I'm thinking "Yeah whatever." And here's Paul laying it on with a trowel about how good the churches in Macedonia are. "Wow guys you would really like them they are a great bunch of Christians, you couldn't help but love these Macedonians." And probably the Corinthians are thinking, "yeah, right I'm sure."

It was in 1988, I had just performed a funeral for a church member the day before and I was out for coffee and ran into a friend of mine from the church, he sat down and ordered a coffee and said "You did a good job yesterday on the funeral" I thanked him and then he added, "Let me tell you about the best funeral sermon I ever heard." And before he starts he realizes what he just said and quickly adds "you probably don't want to hear about it." He was right.

Well it would appear that Paul suddenly realizes that he's been going on and on and he switches gears and says: You excel in so many ways. What a compliment, the word that Paul uses here in the original language literally means to super excel or to excel to the point of flowing over. We're not talking about almost enough or even barely enough or a bare minimum instead Paul is talking about having so much that you are unable to contain it and it runs over the top.

When Christ promised the believers in John 10:10 that we would have life and have it abundantly he used the same root word that Paul uses for excel. Here were Christians who didn't want just enough to get by, they wanted it all and they more than excelled in what they had. Is your Christian walk one of fullness or do you feel like your spiritual gas tank is permanently on empty?

One of my bad habits is running my car on empty. I think it's a throw back to my student days when it was a necessity, "yeah put in 2 bucks and check the oil would you." Can any of you actually remember seriously buying two dollars' worth of gas let alone having someone else pump it for you? And all the time my gas gauge is on empty I wonder: "Am I going to make it or will I run out of gas? Just one more errand and then I'll go get gas, if I can make it."

But when you are running on empty you're never really comfortable, never really sure that you will have enough to last you. When your spiritually gas tank is on empty you never really have the joy you are supposed to have as a Christian. You are never really convinced that you are where you are supposed to be spiritually.

But after the car has been tanked up and I've given a little bit of my thirty dollars to the service station owner, and a little bit of my thirty dollars to Ultramar and a little bit of my thirty dollars to some prince in the middle east or Alberta. and a whole lot of my thirty dollars to Mr. Harper and Mr. Dexter I don't have to be concerned about running out of gas because my tank is full. Now the neat thing about filling your spiritual tank is that God comes to you. And so in 2011 my aim is to excel, no to super excel in spiritual qualities. I want so much of the Lord that I'm like the old lady who said "I can't hold much but I can overflow plenty."

2 Corinthians 8:7 Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.

In 2011 I want to Excel in My Faith

The first thing that Paul said the believers in Corinth excelled in was their Faith. Now in the New Testament faith is used to mean one of two things. The faith that I most often preach about is faith the way that it's defined in Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

And I love to preach on a seeing faith, of a believing faith of dreaming God given dreams and believing in faith that no matter how big those dreams might be that they can be accomplished through our God.

That is the first type of faith that is commonly mentioned in the New Testament, but that isn't how Paul was using the word faith here. Instead Paul was using the Greek word Pistis which referred to a conviction of religious truth. It is simply the depth of belief that you have in what you believe. Paul was saying "You excel in the belief of your salvation and the truth of the Gospel." We would say that these people were well grounded in their faith. When I was a teenager my parents made sure that I was well grounded several times, but that has nothing to do with what we are talking about here. We Need to Excel in our Faith.

After I graduated from Bible College Angela and I moved to New York and one morning after a major windstorm we looked out our back window and there was a great big spruce tree laying across our back yard. Now when that tree was standing it was tall, strong and majestic. It looked like nothing could knock it down. But when it had fallen down you could see that the roots were only about six inches under the surface in a sandy soil. The tree hadn't been grounded well and the only reason it had stood so long was that the wind had never hit it from that direction before. But the day the wind blew hard enough and blew in the right direction down came the tree.

Christians aren't always grounded deep enough, some people put their faith in the good things that happen to them as a Christian. "Why since I have been a Christian everything has been just peachy keen. My marriage has improved, I got promoted, my children always behave and never talk back and we have more money then we'll ever need and Jesus is a wonderful God because he has made our life wonderful."

And then one of your children arrives home and informs you that you're going to be a grammy or grampy and you haven't even gotten used to being a daddy or mommy yet and another kid winds up in jail, you lose your job and end up in the hospital and now things aren't wonderful anymore and you start to question the reality of God.

Or you have your roots set in Jesus Christ because Denn Guptill preaches that you should and you have the utmost faith in Denn Guptill and what he says. And then he runs off with all the money in the building fund and buys himself a motorcycle, a really used motorcycle there's not much in the building fund right now, and your faith is shattered.

It bugs me when a scandal happens with a major church figure and someone says "My faith has been destroyed." If that's all it took to destroy your faith then you didn't have that much to destroy. You ever talk to backsliders, you know someone who used to serve God but doesn't now. And they usually can pinpoint at what moment they walked away from God, and often it's because a Christian disappointed them in some way.

That big old tree stood in our back yard for a lot of years before the wind blew just hard enough from the right direction. If you roots are shallow then Satan knows how the wind needs to blow to bring your faith crashing down. The old hymn says "My faith is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand."

Apparently some people have a belief in God but not the faith to back it up. R. Buckminister (Bucky) Fuller said "Faith is much better than belief. Belief is when someone else does the thinking."

The second thing that Paul commends the Corinthians for excelling in is in their speech
Now there's one thing most of us don't lack in and that's words. But that isn't what Paul is talking about here, and he's not saying they have good preachers. What Paul is talking about here is not the quantity of speech it is their purity of speech. It is a speech that builds up and doesn't tear down, it is a speech that is full of love and encouragement, not jealousy or maliciousness. 2 Corinthians 8:7 Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. In 2011 I want to Excel in My Speech

Controlling our tongues is probably one of the most difficult things that most of us endeavour to do, and it is probably a commendable resolution for 2011. Listen to what James the brother of Christ writes in his letter James 3:2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

How many people here have ever said something they later regretted? I have and there are people in this world that I will never be able to minister to because of something I've said. And I will be held accountable for that. James goes on to write James 3:10-11 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?

You can't stand and sing "Praise God from whom all blessings flow" and then go home and talk about what a dummy the preacher is. You can't testify to the wonderful love of Jesus in your life and go home and run your spouse or children down. We need to heed the advice of Mark Twain who said "Keep your words sweet because you never know when you might have to eat them."

The scriptures tell us that everything should be done in love, it could very well say let everything be said in love. As a matter of fact it does in Ephesians 4:15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

When you excel in speech does it make people better or bitter? Do your words draw people closer to God or push them further from God? It's your choice.

2 Corinthians 8:7 Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. The third thing that Paul commends these believers for was their knowledge. The knowledge that Paul speaks of here is head knowledge, something acquired something learnt. These people were knowledgeable about their faith.

In 2011 I want to Excel in My Knowledge Our greatest failing as evangelicals is a lack of sound biblical knowledge. If I was giving a course in Remedial Nuclear and Molecular Physics and you only came to half the lectures and never opened the text outside of class what type of mark do you think you would get? You would fail.

Most of us will be in serious trouble if God pops a surprise Biblical Knowledge quiz on us when we get to heaven. And I know that some of you are thinking, "But Denn Bible study comes hard for me." I've got news for you; Bible study comes hard for me too and if the rest of this bunch was honest you'd find out that it comes hard for most people. And I'm pretty sure that anyone who has an education especially a post-secondary education would concur that there is very little in this life that we don't have to work at learning.

I went to college with a fellow who was asked to leave Bethany in his second term because of his grade point average. At college a 4.0 was an A, a 3.0 was a B, a 2.0 was a C. Just to stay you needed a 2.0 and in the ministerial program you needed at least 3.0 in your major courses This fellow was from Louisiana and I asked a friend of his where'd Vance go, and this was his response. "Vance, Vance, Vance's grade point average couldn't have got him arrested for drunken driving." I said "So what's he doing now?" and he replied "He's a fuel injection for Exxon" "Really" "Yeah he's pumping gas"

Now Vance wasn't a dummy but he wasn't willing to do the work to get the knowledge. I saw some talented young men and women leave college because they thought that if God had called them to the ministry then he should unscrew the top of their heads, pour the knowledge in, screw it back on and turn them loose on the world. Well God called me into the ministry and there were times that I was wading around waist deep in Systematic theology that I wished he had called me to be a fuel injection specialist. Gaining knowledge may not be easy but it is essential. Nobody can learn for you except you. God doesn't expect you to have a doctorate in theology and biblical knowledge but he does expect you to learn to the very best of your abilities and talents.

It's unfortunate that Christians are like everyone else in the world 5% think, 15% think they think and 80% would rather die than think. In 2011 let's make every effort to excel in knowledge.

2 Corinthians 8:7 Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. The next thing that Paul talks about is Their Enthusiasm
In some translations the word that is used is diligence and earnestness and they probably capture better the intent of the original language. Christianity was not a game to these believers, they didn't go to church because it was the right thing to do or they were afraid of what people would think if they didn't. By embracing the claims of Christianity the early believers were forfeiting their right to worldly happiness. Their work, their homes, their belongings, even their families and lives could be demanded of them by the Roman Authorities because of their alliance to Christ. In 2011 I want to Excel in My Diligence

Maybe the reason we sometimes fail to be as diligent as we ought to be in our Christian life is that our faith cost so little. If we could no longer claim what we give to the church as a tax deduction we'd cry persecution but there are still countries in the world where believers lose their freedom and their lives just for being Christians. In 2011 let us be resolved to become more earnest in our faith.

And finally Paul thanks the Corinthians for their love.
The word that Paul uses here for love is the Greek word Agape which means an unconditional love. 2 Corinthians 8:7 Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. In 2011 I want to Excel in My Love God doesn't want us to love people because they deserve it he just wants us to love them.

If God had waited until we deserved his love before he sent His Son, we'd still be waiting. And the scriptures are filled with admonitions for us to love .

John 15:12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.

John 15:17 This is my command: Love each other.

1 Corinthians 13:13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

1 John 2:9-10 If anyone claims, "I am living in the light," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.

So in 2011 let us resolve to overflow with Faith, pure speech, knowledge, diligence and love.

 

The Other Gifts of Christmas

When I say Christmas, what do you think? The birth of Christ, Joy to the world, peace on earth and good will to men? Poppycock, when I say Christmas you think: presents, gifts, goodies. For all of the noble and pure motives that we claim we'd be awful disappointed if there wasn't anything under the tree on Christmas morning. And hopefully you had a gift or two under the tree yesterday.

Gift giving has been a part of Christmas for as long as we've had Christmas. Now we all know that it has gotten a little out of hand, gone are the days when a child would be happy with a hand carved toy and a big orange. Although if the truth was known that type of Christmas was well before my time and perhaps well beyond your time as well.

I kind of agree with Eleanor Roosevelt who said, "People say that Christmas is too commercialized. But I have never found it that way. If you spend money to give people joy, you are not being commercial. It is only when you feel obliged to do something about Christmas that the spirit is ruined."

We started this series the first of December with the gang from the Big Bang Theory when Sheldon explains to Penny that the Foundation of gift giving is reciprocity. And whether we want to admit it or not that is true in most of our lives. We give gifts to people whom we receive gifts from. Or as a thank you for some service they have performed for us.

And while we have talked about the gift that was given that first Christmas from God it wasn't the only gift given.

Mary: We all know the story of Mary. Here is a teen girl engaged to be married and into her tidy little life arrives a heavenly messenger with the news that she has been chosen to carry the Messiah, she will be the mother of the Christ. Now I don't know about you but I'm sure that I would have been a little sceptical. And I don't think Mary was any different, as a matter of fact when the angel first appeared I love how Mary's response is described, Luke 1:29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.

After all when someone arrives unexpectedly and starts off the conversation with the words Luke 1:28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, "Greetings, favoured woman! The Lord is with you!"

You have to figure that they want something. And she was right, the angel wanted her life. What the angel suggested would change the way that Mary would be seen by her parents, her friends and her fiancé. And even when they accepted that just maybe she was telling the truth they would always look at here wondering: why her?

She would spend the rest of her life thinking about her response on that night. For the next thirty three years whenever she looked at her son she would remember the conversation that she had with the Angel Gabriel.

The angel, laid out the entire proposition to Mary and her response is found in Luke 1:38 Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." And then the angel left her. The first gift that was given on that first Christmas morning was actually given nine months before and it was the Mary's Gift of Obedience.

Now understand that this was not blind unquestioning obedience. The angel said that Mary would become a mother, Mary wanted to know how. I really don't think that God expects us to check our brains at the door when we become believers, after all if he hadn't of wanted us to use our brains he wouldn't have given us brains to use. Which would explain some of us.

However, here's where the rubber meets the road, sometimes even after we've asked the question we might not have all the answers and yet we still have to be ready to obey. Listen to the conversation Luke 1:34-35 Mary asked the angel, "But how can this happen? I am a virgin." The angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

And here's the clincher the angel finishes by stating in Luke 1:37 which by the way is one of my favorite verses in the Bible Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossible with God."

I think that if Mary had of said, "I don't think so." That would have been the end of the story, I don't think that she would not have been forced into doing it. That's not the way God operates.

Can you offer Christ the gift of obedience this Christmas? What is it that God is asking you to do? Maybe it doesn't make sense, at least any more sense than a teenage virgin being the mother of the Son of God. What is he asking us as a church to do as we move into 2011, maybe it isn't all laid out for us but are we willing to say Luke 1:38 Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." And then the angel left her.

Why don't you covenant to make that your prayer this Christmas?

Mary could conceive that child alone with just the help of the Holy Spirit but in that culture she couldn't raise Jesus without a father, the stigma that he would have carried with him would have been almost insurmountable. Christmas needed a Mary but it also needed a Joseph. Now I personally think that Joseph gets forgotten in all the excitement around Christmas. I have a lot of respect for Joseph, you see Mary had something that Joseph didn't have. They both had visits from angels, but Mary knew without a doubt that she was a virgin. I don't know when people first figured out what it was they did that made babies but they knew 2000 years ago. When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant he knew exactly how that was supposed to happen and he knew that he didn't have a part in it.

The bible tells us that even though Joseph could have disgraced Mary publicly that he chose to just quietly break off the engagement. Listen to what the Bible tells us in Matthew 1:18-21 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

Now listen to what happened in Matthew 1:24-25 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Now a little aside here, in our tradition we don't believe that Mary remained a virgin forever. I believe that when the bible says that she remained a virgin until her son was born, that it means that after Christ was born that she didn't remain a virgin and that she and Joseph interacted as husband and wife, how was that for a euphemism? And had more children.

And so the gift that Joseph gave that first Christmas was Joseph's Gift of Faith. Even though the New Testament had yet to be written it would seem that Joseph had embraced the reality of Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

There was absolutely no way that Mary would be able to prove to Joseph's satisfaction that the child she carried was the Holy Spirits. He had to believe, and he did that through faith, it was nothing he could touch see or hold. Faith will never ask less or more then that you believe. Can you believe God for the impossible, can you close your eyes and see things that have never been seen?

When we talk about eventually expanding at Cornerstone and a new worship centre out back that will seat 700 can you reach out in faith and touch it. Can you visualize lives being touched, eternities being impacted and people being changed? All through faith? Some of you can. In 2004 we celebrated Christmas eve at the Lion's Den in Bedford and had 68 people there and the dream of something bigger, two nights ago on Christmas eve we had 635 people worship with us.

We are told that traditionally when a child was born in that time and place that the family would have musicians sent to the home to help the parents celebrate. But what happens when you are a poor family and are far away from home? You don't really believe that God would allow His Son to be born without some form of acknowledgment do you?

And so we have a choir sent, one of the enduring symbols of Christmas are the Angels, they adorn the top of our trees, grace our Christmas cards and are front and centre in the children's Christmas pageants. Now personally I think some people have taken the entire angel thing too far and we have seen an entire angel cult developed where people are literally worshipping angels. And if the angels were going to speak today they would say Stop it! Angels are angels, they are not divine they are created beings and they were created to serve God, they are his messengers.

And so on this particular occasion we see angels appearing in the sky surrounding Bethlehem. Now I don't know if they got overtime for working the Christmas weekend or not but we do know what happened. First One angel appears to the shepherds probably figured that one angel would be less scary then an gazillion angels. But he obviously didn't play it right, listen to what happens, Luke 2:9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified,

I can hear the angel now, "Darn, I always forget to turn off the radiance of the Lord, you might as well come on out guys I've already scared the poor shepherds half to death." And then we read in Luke 2:13-14 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, "Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."

And so the next gift given that day was The Angel's Gift of Praise. Very simply according to Collins English Dictionary praise means to commend the worth of something. As a matter of fact the word praise comes from the Latin pretium which of course is also the root word for premium and it means worth. When you praise someone you are telling them how much they are worth to you, when you praise God you are telling how valuable he is to you. When we sing songs of praise we are exalting God and telling how much he means to us. When we verbalize and give God the glory we are praising him.

It was interesting who the angels sang for on that first Christmas night. Out of all the people who the Angels could have appeared to and told about the birth of Christ they chose shepherds watching their sheep in the field. They could have appeared to King Herod, or to the Roman Governor, they could have shown up and sang for the high priest of the temple or the religious leaders of the country. But no they show up to Shepherds, it's almost like they got lost and arrived at the wrong address.

Couple of interesting things about the shepherds. Because of their job they weren't able to keep all of the requirements of the law and so they were considered to be religiously inferior by the religious leaders. So that's neat, they needed to hear the good news to discover that it wouldn't be a matter of keeping the law anymore that the price would be paid for them.

The second interesting thing here is that tradition tells us that the sheep that were tended in the fields outside of Bethlehem were the lambs that were used in the temple sacrifice. And so to those who took care of the sacrificial lambs came the news of the one who would provide the ultimate sacrifice for each of us, the one who would be known as the Lamb of God.

And so what gift did the Shepherds bring? Listen to Luke 2:17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.

The Shepherd's Gift of Evangelism.

They didn't take a course or hand out tracks instead they simple told people what had happened to them. You see evangelism simply means telling people about the gospel and gospel originally meant good news. So in its simplest sense evangelism means to tell people the good news. Have you ever made a discovery that you wanted to tell other's about? Maybe a great new restaurant, or perhaps a super sale. I remember a few years ago I discovered a great Boxing Day sale where you could buy a computer for $300.00 I tracked a friend of mine down who was on vacation in NB because I knew they were looking for a computer too and I wanted to tell them the news.

The shepherds were so excited; they had seen the one who had come to save them from their sins. The had personally met the king of the universe and they wanted to tell everybody they met about it. How excited are we about meeting the king of the universe and having our sins forgiven? Excited enough to tell other people about it? Are we really convinced that people need Jesus?

What a great Christmas gift that would be to give this Christmas. It is a gift to Jesus when you tell someone about Him and then it's a gift to that person when you tell them the good news. Two gifts for the price of one.

When we think of gifts on that first Christmas we invariably think of the Wise men: We call them the Three Kings, but we were never told they were kings or that there were three of them. In the original language they are referred to as Magi, and tradition tells us that they probably came from Persia. And in the scriptures we are told that they brought 3 gifts, which is probably why we always think there were three of them. You've probably all heard what would have happened if it had of been three wise women instead right,

Asked directions

Arrived on time

Helped deliver the baby

Cleaned the stable

Made a casserole

Brought practical gifts.

 

And we know what gifts the wise men brought right? Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. But those aren't the gift I want to focus on this morning.

The account of their visit is given in Matthew 2:1-2 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him."

You see the wise men gave the most valuable gift of all they gave The Magi Gave the Gift of Time. In an era where travel was measured in months not moments these men were willing to give up their time and travel across the deserts of the Middle East in order to worship the Christ child.

Time is still one of the most expensive things we can give to Christ and most of us would rather give our money than our time, after all we can always make more money but when time is gone it's gone forever. I've harped on this before right, you want to show me where your commitments are then show me your cheque book and more importantly show me you calendar, where you spend your time.

We talk about tithing our money but what if we talked about giving God a tenth of our time, that would mean that each day we would need to give him 2.4 hours. That really isn't fair is it? After all 8 of our 24 hours is spent sleeping, so perhaps he only wants 1.6 hours of our day, you know just to spend with Him in prayer and bible study. That's still a bit much isn't it? After all our employer gets 8 hours as well and so we shouldn't have to tithe that time. That means that our tenth is .8 of an hour or 48 minutes a day to spend with the one who gave up so much for us.

But really most Christians are willing to give God one hour a week and then only if it doesn't conflict with the kids sports or a trip to the beach or sleeping in or taking a trip. And I know it's tough to make the time for God, but the reality is you can't make time, you can only find time.

Isn't that the truth, we find the time to do what we want to do.

So what gifts will you put under the tree for Jesus this year?

The Gift Received, Christmas Eve

Well tomorrow is the big day. I guess it's too late to ask if you are ready. Do you have all your gifts bought and wrapped, the tree decorated, the baking done? Hey don't give me dirty looks, I'm just asking. More than at any other time of the year people are thinkin about gifts. Either the gifts that you want for yourself or the gifts that you need to buy for the ones you love. And gifts aren't bad, in the book of Matthew Jesus was talking to the crowds that had gathered to hear him preach and this is what he told them about gifts, Matthew 7:11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

And so in that one thought Jesus confirms that we are a gift giving people and that God is a gift giving God.

Over the past couple of Sundays I've been speaking on "The Gift of Christmas" and we been getting help from the gang from The Big Bang Theory. If you haven't been there then I will bring you up to speed. In week one Penny reveals that she has bought gifts for Sheldon and Leonard. And Sheldon gets a little upset, he tells her, "Don't you know the foundation of gift giving is reciprocity?' And he goes on to say "Penny, you haven't given me a gift you've given me an obligation."

Last week we looked in on the group Sheldon had dragged Raj and Howard to a bath shop looking for the perfect gift for Penny. But not knowing what Penny hasn't gotten him confounds Sheldon until he hits on the perfect solution. He buys a variety of baskets and his plan is to open Penny's gift first and then rush out feigning digestive distress, look up Penny's gift online and select the basket closest to that value give it to her and return the rest for a full refund.

And so let's see how the plan works out. (Video Clip from Big Bang)

If we could look at your Christmas lists what you want and what you want to give we would probably see a wide range of gifts covered, from the practical to the provocative. Most of us know what would make us smile if we found it under the tree on Christmas morning. Some people will be surprised, others haven't taken any chances and they have already taken care of their own gifts. But what about God's gifts to you? The ones that won't be under the tree.

Acts 28:28 So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it." The first and most important thing we need to unwrap is 1) The Grace of
God

This is probably the most important gift that you will ever receive. This is the eternal gift. The gift that not only gives you eternal life, but gives you eternal life in the presence of God. Sometimes we get the impression if you are a Christian then you are going to live forever, and if you're not a Christian, then you're just going to die. And yet according to the word of God everybody's going to live forever, the good the bad and the indifferent. The only difference will be the address. You see if the Christian lives forever in the presence of God the non-believer will live forever in the absence of God. In the absence of God and in the absence good, in the absence of light and in the absence love.

And so there are two things that you need to realize today the first is that without Jesus Christ there is no salvation. Jesus said in John 14:6 Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Jesus is the way, not a way, but the way. If there were other ways to God other then the sacrifice that Jesus made, then he didn't have to make it. And Jesus reiterated that time and time again John 3:3 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God."

The second thing we need to realize about the salvation of God is that it's a gift, it can't be earned, it can't be bought, it can only be received as a gift. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

And Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

And so the first gift we receive from God is the gift of Grace. And I'll go out on a limb here and guess that most of you folks have received that gift. And if you haven't then I want to ask you right now, "How come?" Do you not believe? Or are you unwilling to surrender? It has to be one of the other. Now because the rest of the message is for those who have received the gift of grace the rest of you can use this time to mull over the fact that all you have to do is tell God that you are sorry for your sins, and that you want him to forgive you and to help you to live for him. It's that simple that is the gift of God.

Nehemiah 8:10 And Nehemiah continued, . . . "Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!" The second gift that we receive is 2) The Joy of God

Believers do you remember the day that you surrendered your life to God? Can you remember the burden that was lifted, and the joy you received in knowing that you were right with God? Now I know what you are thinking, "People can't be happy all the time." You're right of course. But there is a difference between happy and joy. Happy is tied to external, you're having a great day, the birds are singing, things are going well, the entire blue bird on your window sill type of day. I love happy days, days when I want to sing, not that that would make others happy. It's tough to find fault with happy. But we can come to the place that our entire life becomes a pursuit of "happy". And we set "happy" up as our God, Alexander Solzhenitsyn said "One should never direct people towards happiness, because happiness too is an idol of the market-place" And so anything we value more then we value our relationship with God is an idol, Jesus said you can't serve God and money, you also can't serve God and happy. Because sometimes the things which you perceive as making you happy are in direct violation to God's will for your life. Unless of course you simplify what happy is. Daniel Boone said "All you need for happiness is a good gun, a good horse, and a good wife." Presumably in that order?

Joy on the other hand runs deeper. Where does it come from Luke 10:21 At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit

In John 17 part of Jesus last prayer was that John 17:13 "Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy.

And that joy comes from knowing that we are where we are supposed to be and that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing. It's internal not necessarily external, which means that we can have a no good, horrible day and still feel an inner joy even though we don't feel like smiling. Dr. Melba Colgrove said "Joy is the feeling of grinning on the inside."

When the apostle Paul was writing to the Christians in the early church he made this statement in Philippians 4:4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!

Now that sounds like a command. And I have discovered that if God requires us to do something then he equips us to do it as well. He's not going to ask us to do the impossible. Part of the responsibility is His, that's the joy of the Lord that the Bible talks about. But the other part of the responsibility is ours. We need to want that joy, and to do our part to obtain it. If you always go through life looking on the dark side then you will sabotage God's effort to give you joy. God gives it we need to accept it. Here's some advice from the great American Philosopher Charlie Brown. "This is my depressed stance. When you're depressed, it makes a lot of difference how you stand. The worst thing you can do is straighten up and hold your head high because then you'll start to feel better. If you're going to get any joy out of being depressed, you've got to stand like this."

So, claim the promise and straighten up.

So God gives us salvation, and he gives us joy, then we have
Philippians 4:6-7 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 3) Peace of God shortly after Paul tells the Church in Philippi to "rejoice always" he tells them to not worry about anything.

Here is a choice that each one of us has to make, we can choose to worry and fret about everything that can happen to us, or might happen to us or we can give it over to God and accept his peace about it. Most of what we worry about will never ever happen. Winston Churchill said "When I look back on all the worries I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened."

Are you worrying about things that will never happen?

The gift that God gives then is the peace of knowing that he has everything in control. It bothers me when a tragedy strikes a Christian and some well-meaning Saint offers up Romans 8:28 as words of comfort. You know the scripture it says: Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

I believe that, I truly do, but I think it's something we need to know before the tragedy happens and I'm not sure that it is what we need trotted out when something terrible has just happened. We need to know as believers that whatever happens God is still in control.

You ever sleep in a car on a long trip? I'm a champion car sleeper, when somebody else is driving of course. I'm convinced that I have ADD, and boredom is my enemy. And so when I'm a passenger in the car I'm bored stiff, add to that the fact that if I read in the car I puke in the car and it only leaves me with one thing to do as a passenger, sleep. If I trust the driver I can sleep like a log, but if I'm the least bit concerned about my safety I don't sleep nearly as well.

If God is doing the driving in your life here's a news flash, he can be trusted. The bible has never promised that as a believer that you won't have problems or even tragedy, but here is something it does promise. Peter was writing to the early church at the height of the Roman Persecutions and this is what he told those believers: 1 Peter 4:19 So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.

And here is your promise for today, Isaiah 26:4 Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock.

So what have we unwrapped so far, Grace, Joy and Peace, the fourth gift we receive is 4) The Direction of God If we go back into the Old Testament we find a period of time that the people of Israel wandered far from God's teachings, they embraced foreign gods and false idols. The way this is described in the Bible is found in the book of Judges where it says in chapter Judges 17:6 In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

The people were living in a moral vacuum where the philosophy was, if it feels good, do it. Much like today, as a matter of fact if you were to question ordinary people about morality they would probably echo the words of Ernest Hemingway who said "What is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after." What a crock. At some point there has to be more than simply feeling good or not feeling good that determines if something is right or wrong. If not where does it stop? If you were to ask Paul Bernardo, or Russell Williams or any other killer whether or not it felt good to take another person's life I wonder what their answer would be?

And if it felt good for them would that make it moral? Of course not.

So how do we determine what is wrong and what isn't wrong. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said "Morality without religion is only a kind of dead reckoning -- an endeavor to find our place on a cloudy sea by measuring the distance we have run, but without any observation of the heavenly bodies."

The bible tells us in Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

This has to be our guide, and yes we have wavered from it both in the world and in the church. And we need to confess that and get back to what is right and what is wrong. God has not set us adrift in this life without direction he has given us the rule book and it's up to us to follow it.

Those are some of the gifts that God offers this Christmas. Grace, joy, peace and direction. Have you received them? If not now is the time.

The Gift of Christmas 2 Preparing the Gift

The quest for the perfect gift. Some of you know what I mean and others, you haven't got a clue. There are some folks who every gift is a challenge, to get not just a gift but to get the right gift. The gift that says just the right thing at just the right price. Those folks are buying gifts all year round and you will hear them say "that would be the perfect gift for Aunt Mabel, that would be my mother's sister's husband's great aunt." They put a lot of thought and love into their gifts, for the rest of us there are always gift cards.

And others are looking for the right gift but for the wrong reason. Do you remember where we left with Big Bang two weeks ago, Penny was going to buy Sheldon and Leonard gifts and Sheldon lectures her on the fact that the foundation of Gift Giving was reciprocity and that she wasn't giving him a gift she was giving him an obligation. Let's pick up the story with that thought. (clip two from Big Bang Christmas Special).

What a clever idea. Hmmmm, I wonder? Nope better not go there and it's probably too late for this year anyway.

Christmas is a celebration of the greatest gift ever given. The gift of God! And it wasn't a gift that was given without thought and planning. As a matter of fact John tells us at the beginning of his Gospel John 1:1-2 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God.

Here is a gift that has existed before time itself existed. And it was prepared and delivered in a perfect manner, at the perfect time. You ever wonder about the timing of Christmas? Not whether it happened in December or September in AD 5 or 3 BC but why it happened at that particular point in history. We have approximately 5,000 years of recorded history, so why right then. Was it just a good time? Or was it the best time?

Listen to what Paul wrote in Galatians 4:4-5 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

Did you catch that? But when the right time came. Not just any time the right time. I am a big believer in context, the power that is of the right thing happening at the right time. If you are a reader check out Malcolm Gladwell's two books "The Tipping Point" and "The Outliers."

That was free.

God could have chosen any time in the scope of history for his Son to come to earth and for the church to be born, and yet he chose a specific spot on the time line of history. Why? Why at that particular point in time?

 

According to historians there was no better time for the church to flourish than the two hundred year juncture of history known as The Pax Romana. E. J. Goodspeed notes: "This was the pax Romana. The provincial under Roman sway found himself in a position to conduct his business, provide for his family, send his letters, and make his journeys in security, thanks to the strong hand of Rome."

The Roman Peace had spread across the known world, providing one of the few windows of opportunities for the land and sea to be travelled safely without the threat of warring factions. For the first time roadways connected points across the known world. But it went beyond simple transportation and incorporated communication as well. Instead of having to learn a multitude of languages and dialects it was only necessary to know one. Greek was the common language, a reminder of Alexander's conquests, allowing the written word to be sent to encourage and correct the growing churches in diverse cultures.

It was not a coincidence that the Creator chose this point in time to interrupt history William Barclay writes in the Daily Study Bible: "It was no accident that Christianity came when it did. It came in God's own time; all history had been a preparation for it; and the circumstances were such that the way was open for the tide to spread."

But there were certain things that had to be prepared and made ready.

The Preparation of the Gift We touched on this a couple of weeks ago. God didn't choose just anyone to parent his son, he chose Mary and Joseph. We are reminded over and over again of the baggage that people carry with them from their childhood as a result of parents who were abusive, either physically or verbally, parents who were neglectful or just didn't care.

God chose not to simply come as a man but to experience humanity from conception to death. He would grow up as a child, experiencing all there was of childhood, from runny noses to scraped knees from the wonder of a rainbow to the first blush of puppy love. And God needed to have an exceptional pair to guide his son through those times. And so he chose a young girl from a small village called Nazareth and her fiancé.

But the only requirement wasn't simply that they would be good parents. The expectancy of the people of Israel was that the Messiah who had been promised would be a descendant of David the greatest king that Israel ever had. You remember David? He was the shepherd kid who killed the giant Goliath, he was the poet who wrote the psalms and he was the King who led Israel to some of her greatest victories. And he was the ancestor of both Mary and Joseph.

That one wasn't all that tough, the Jews kept genealogical records that would put the Mormons to shame and people were very aware of their lineage, especially when it included David. Kind of like folks to the south who know their kin came over on the Mayflower or Australians who brag about their ancestors arriving with the first fleet.

The second requirement was a little more difficult. Remember the prophecy we looked at two weeks ago from the book of Isaiah? Isaiah 7:14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means 'God is with us').

Mary was a special young lady with a special past and what would become a very special future. The Catholics refer to Mary as "Mary the Mother of God." And I think Protestants get a little uncomfortable with that statement but it is what it is. Mary was a virgin and she was being asked to be the mother of God's son, Jesus, who we believe to be God incarnate. A very special birth that would begin with a very special conception, as God stepped outside of the very boundaries he put in place.

As you can well imagine there had to be some advance planning on that one. And that came in the form of a heavenly messenger who appeared to Mary to outline the entire plan. We all know the story; if you don't you can find it in the book of Luke. But it all comes down to three verses at the end of Luke 1.

The Angel has told Mary that she is going to have a son and that she will name him Jesus. Mary responds by saying in Luke 1:34 Mary asked the angel, "But how can this happen? I am a virgin." The angel says "No worries" actually if the Angel had of been an Australian he would have said "no worries" instead what he said was Luke 1:35 & 37 The angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. For nothing is impossible with God."

And you gotta love Mary's response. Luke 1:38 Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." And then the angel left her.

But that was only half the story. Remember that Mary was engaged and there was a pretty good possibility that her fiancé would notice that she was pregnant. I'm sure he would be able to put two and two together. Even back then people knew that it took two to tango and he hadn't even been invited to the dance. So he was a little upset, even today in a culture that prides itself on having very few morals nobody would blame someone in Joseph situation if he decided to not go through with the wedding.

It tells us a little bit about Joseph's character that he didn't want to make a big scene and so we are told in Matthew 1:19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. So, again with the angel. The story continues with Matthew 1:20-21 As he (Joseph) considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

The angel continues to fill in some details but the bottom line comes in Matthew 1:24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.

If you are part of a family that is spread all over you know that getting the gift is usually only the first part of the mission. Now you have to get the gift to those who it is for. When we lived overseas the cheapest way to get parcels from there to here was surface mail and officially, if you asked at the post office it would take 6 to 8 weeks for your package to arrive, in theory. So we had to mail them around the middle of October. Even now we are always trying to figure out how to get my parent's and sister's gifts to Saint John.

The Gift of the Messiah was to arrive in a certain place as well. Earlier I had told you that Mary was from Nazareth, but that isn't where Jesus was born.

So that lead us to The Preparation of the Place Remember there were no accidents that first Christmas. We are told in Matthew 2:1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. Which if you just want the basics of the story is kind of cool. Kind of Like "Denn was born in Chatham when Diefenbaker was King." But really that doesn't tell you the whole story does it? Why Chatham? Mom and Dad weren't from the Miramachi, they didn't stay there very long and I didn't go back for almost forty years.

Matthew answers the "where" and when rather nicely Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. But there are a lot of questions that he leaves unanswered. And some of those questions are answered in Luke's account and other's we have to dig for. The most obvious question is "Why Bethlehem?" If we pull down one of our trusty maps we discover that Nazareth, where Mary and Joseph lived is up here, twenty four kms from the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee and thirty kms inland from the Mediterranean Sea, a small village that was obviously the family home to both Mary and Joseph. And Bethlehem is way down here, about 120 kms away. For us that isn't an insurmountable distance depending on how you drive and what the roads are like it would take you between an hour and two hours to make the trip. When I was in Sierra Leone I made a trip of eighty kms going from Makeni to Kamakwie hospital in four and a half hours but this trip was worse than that.

Mary was not just pregnant Luke tells us about the trip in Luke 2:4-5 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant. Obviously pregnant. Hmm, love what it says in the KJV it says she was great with Child. And you know what I mean; there are some women who are obviously pregnant and others who are great with Child.

But why? Why did they have to go to Bethlehem. Well the short answer is that the Roman Government commanded it, a census was going on and People were required to register in the ancestral homes, which for Joseph and his family happened to be Bethlehem. But more than that if we go back into the Old Testament we find that God has spoken through his prophet Micah and said Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past.

Bethlehem was the Birthplace of King David and it was decreed that it would be the birth place of the Messiah. Again He wasn't just to be born any place but in a special place, even if it would require the might of the Roman Empire to see it happen.

And you have to assume that the census didn't just happen on a whim. Long before the angel appeared to Mary and Joseph plans were being put in place to make sure the baby would be born in Bethlehem.

But while Mary and Joseph and their newborn son were far from home and their immediate family, they weren't alone. It wouldn't have been right for the Son of God, Prince of Peace not to be welcomed to this world.

The Preparation of the Welcome When we stop and think about that first Christmas we envision a stable under a starlit sky with the holy family surrounded by small barnyard animals standing in harmonious awe along with a group of shepherds and Three Wise Men while the little drummer boy played a solo in the back ground.

You know the story; the shepherds were tending their flocks around the town of Bethlehem when suddenly their lives are interrupted by a whole flock of angels. I guess flock isn't the proper word, a whole host of angels. And the angels' message is recorded in
Luke 2:9-12 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

And the shepherds followed the angels' direction and we are told they went to Bethlehem and found the Christ child in the stable and worshipped him.

But the shepherds weren't the only ones who came to visit the new born Matthew 2:1-2 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him."

It doesn't seem like anyone has any problems with the Shepherds, you mention shepherds and everyone nods and smiles. But boy, you mention the wise men and someone inevitably jumps up and informs you "You know the wise men weren't at the stable and probably didn't arrive for two years."

Boy I don't know who started that but they should be slapped. Their rational? They refer to where the Bible says that they went to the house where the baby was, so obviously they couldn't have been at the stable. But does that mean it happened two years later? Maybe a room opened in the inn the day after Jesus was born, maybe the innkeepers wife found out that he made them sleep in the stable and on night two maybe he was in the stable and they were in his room.

Then the revisionists talk about how it would have taken the magi two years to make the trip, although the same trip was made on Camels a few years back in 3 months, check out this website. But regardless of how long it might have taken them to get there, if God could put a star in the sky to guide the wise men he could have put it there so they arrived on time. And finally the proponents of this new tradition point to the fact that Herod ordered the death of all male children under the age of 2. So what? The man was a kook. When he was on his death bed he ordered that some of the most distinguished people in Jerusalem be arrested and killed at the moment of his death so some tears would be shed. I want to know why Mary and Joseph and Jesus would have hung around Bethlehem for two years after the census was finished, inquiring minds want to know.

Not to mention that if we read the account it says Matthew 2:1-2 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him." About that time? About what time? About the time Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

And so those who greeted the Christ child at his birth not only included shepherds from the hills surrounding Bethlehem but also an undeterminable number of magi who had travelled hundreds of miles across the desert to bring gifts that would define who this child would grow up to be.

But through all the preparations there was a common thread that wove them together, a thread that has stretched down 2000 years to continue and link those who are prepared to accept the Christ child. Did you catch it?

Luke 1:38 Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." And then the angel left her.

Matthew 1:24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.

Luke 2:4-5 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

Luke 2:15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem! Let's see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

Matthew 2:1-2 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him."

Did you catch it? They were listening to God but more than that they were obedient to God. And that is still critical today Jesus told his disciples in John 14:15 "If you love me, obey my commandments. And that Jesus reiterates that thought in John 15:10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father's commandments and remain in his love.

So where you at today? A gift has been prepared for you, but the question is "Have you are prepared for the gift?"