Silent Night

Over the past several weeks I have heard different people talk about, as well as have seen people post on their social media outlets, what their favorite aspects of Christmas might be.  People have conversed about loving to sit in front of the fireplace, snuggled up in a blanket, watching Christmas movies, and drinking hot chocolate.  Others have spoken of the joys of decorating their homes with Christmas trimmings and lights.  Several have mentioned the wonderful times they have had shopping for the perfect presents while others have loved all of the social gatherings.  Then I have heard much talk about the anticipation of spending some needed time relaxing with family during these holidays.

Let’s transition that from our favorite Christmas activity to our favorite Christmas carol.  Why?   If you were to take one Christmas carol and say this embodies the totality of Christmas what would it be for you?  As I contemplate the essence of Christmas the song which I hold tenderly and which I feel communicates Christmas best would have to be “Silent Night.”  Below are the lyrics for this great and most popular Christmas carol.  Read through these lyrics and look for the Gospel message proclaimed.

Silent night, holy night! All is calm, All is bright round yon Virgin, Mother and Child
Holy Infant so Tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night! Shepherds quake at the sight! Glories stream from heaven afar;
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia! Christ the Savior is born! Christ the Savior is born!

Silent night, Holy night! Son of God, love's pure light radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus Lord at thy birth; Jesus Lord at thy birth.

Silent night, holy night! Wondrous star, lend thy light! With the angels let us sing
Alleluia to our King! Christ the Savior is here, Jesus the Savior is here!

There are several things which leap off the page as I read these lyrics.  First, Christ is holy!  He was God’s child born through a virgin conceived by the Holy Spirit.  He is God in the flesh!  Second would be that because of the birth of the Messiah all creation proclaimed His greatness.  Their song was Christ the Savior of this world is born.  Because of His birth the darkness of this world which necessitated His coming is now being pushed back.  The love of God, the light of God pours out from His face shining forth the grace of redemption which was His sole purpose in coming to earth.  We find in 1 Timothy 1:15 that purpose which states, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…”  He has come to reconcile each of us to a love God.  Then in the closing verse we are invited to sing His praises.  We are beckoned to proclaim the great news that Jesus Christ our King is now here. 

As we draw near to Christmas day let us sing forth the praises of the King of Glory who left heaven to redeem His lost creation.  Let us sing praises to His name of His wondrous light which shines in this dark world.  Regardless of what our enemy the Prince of Darkness might bring our way we must remember the darkness cannot overpower the Light of the World. 

Merry CHRISTmas,

Pastor Ric

 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11

Immanuel--God With Us

Sunday evening Timmy Ray lead our sanctuary choir, musicians, narrator, and A/V staff in a masterful way which helped us worship God through the presentation of the Christmas program “How Many Kings.” The program used some great songs of the faith of days past combined with some new pieces by some of today’s leading songwriters.  As we closed out the time together I challenged us to think about the meaning of Isaiah 7:14 where the prophet gives us the words of God in saying, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.  Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”  (ESV) After sharing the verse I expounded on the meaning of Immanuel which means God with us.  The principle part of that word Immanuel gives us the essence of what God wanted to do for His wayward creation.  He wanted to reconcile or restore His creation to the rightful place in creation, by His side in an intimate relationship with Him.  There were four words which I used to describe His process of reconciliation:  fellowship, feel, fight, and forgive.  I want to expound and expand on that thought for a moment.
 

God remembered His reason for the creation of mankind was in order to have fellowship.  God longed for the fellowship with His creation.  He missed that time of intimacy such as He had in the Garden of Eden.  The fellowship had been broken when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and follow the deception of God’s enemy Satan.  Therefore as God looked down on the state of man He felt for their waywardness and their sinful state.  He knew that mankind could not handle the necessary punishment for their disobedience therefore He initiated a plan to bring about the reconciliation.  That plan included the birth of His Son in human form to become their substitute for the punishment necessary.  However, because Satan recognized God was seeking to restore the severed intimacy with man he decided to mount an “all-out assault” on God’s creation.  He knew his fate was eternal punishment; therefore, he made plans to take as many of God’s chosen creation with him.  God chose to fight for each of us.  He would not let the enemy have His prized possession.  Satan’s “M.O.” is to “steal, kill, and destroy.”  God said I will fight for what is rightfully mine.  To cap off this plan God then turned to mankind offering forgiveness for their disobedience toward Him. 

 

This final step of God’s plan of “Immanuel” leaves the proverbial ball in our court.  God has initiated the step of redemption and reconciliation by offering a plan to us for fellowship again.  This Christmas we will fellowship with family and friends.  Why not fellowship with our Father?  He has provided every opportunity to for us to have that deep, intimate, and abiding fellowship rekindled.  Will you seize the golden opportunity?  Will you make this a time of “Immanuel” where God is with you in a fresh and new way?  Will you deepen the fellowship to a greater magnitude than ever before?  The God who created you and redeemed you longs for just that, a fellowship of deeper proportions than ever before.

You can have that today by simply stopping to offer yourself to God as He has offered forgiveness to each of us.  This Christmas give the gift that will benefit you for eternity, a gift of a renewed relationship with your Creator and Sustainer, Immanuel.  He is waiting for you today.

Merry CHRISTmas,

Pastor Ric,

 

Clothes that Should Never Fit

Over the course of the next several weeks during the CHRISTmas holidays we will find ourselves focusing on many things ranging from how many shopping days are left until CHRISTmas all the way to what are we going to eat!  We will be bombarded with circulars for sales as well as the finest of sweets and treats to eat.  I find myself struggling too often in the latter category, especially in the area of sweets.  While some of my co-workers would find that hard to believe in that I try extremely hard to avoid such weight gaining delicacies, if the truth be known they are my horrible nemesis.  This time of year is especially hard when I know I will be faced with my mother’s homemade fudge, pecan pies, and Martha Washingtons.  In addition, I will have to contend with the pecan balls, no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies, and peanut butter cake which Lisa’s mother makes each year.  These temptations are all the more alluring because I know I will only see them for a brief time while at each of my family’s house.  Therefore, I began to rationalize that I will only have these seasonal treats for a short time and must indulge!  (Sounds like logical thinking!  Right?)  To make matters all the worse, these treats are often left out in the open to be easily seen and accessed during the duration of our visits.  Oh what is a weak man to do as he sees these treats and hears their beaconing call?  I mean I wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by not eating them, especially since they went to all the trouble of cooking them for me!  I wonder what I would look like when the holidays come to a close if I indulged wholeheartedly into these treats and just enjoyed them immensely.  Most likely I would be as large as a whale and as unhealthy as could be.  Much to my dismay I will refrain from going overboard and attempt to continue a running schedule to ward off any additional pounds of weight which would come with the indulgences. 

In the same vein of thinking regarding what we would look like if we indulged in overeating and lack of self-discipline let me pose a few questions for us to ponder.  What would happen if we began to surround ourselves with spiritually healthy and encouraging words, activities, and endeavors?  What would happen if we began to seek to act more like Christ and less like the world?  What would happen if we began to walk in the Spirit instead of the flesh?  The Word of God tells us in Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” (NASB)  Just as there are dangers in having the house full of sweets for us when we are prone to overeating (Guilty as charged am I!) to surround ourselves with the vices of this world and the negativism of immature believers as well as carnality of non-believers is eternally damaging. 

So what are we to do?  First, be sure our spiritual input is sufficient.  By that statement I mean we must do more than hear a sermon or a Sunday School lesson once a week.  We must take time to ingest the Word of God on a daily basis.  How can we overcome the draw of the world if we do not have sufficient ammunition and energy to resist her temptations?  Secondly, we must rid ourselves of anything which will continually lead us into temptation.  Just as an alcoholic must stay away from any place or person which will tempt him to partake of his vice we must rid ourselves of all things contrary to the Word of God.  Thirdly, we must surround ourselves with godly counsel.  Without the encouragement of godly men and women to spur us on to Christ-like behavior we are prone to complacency and failure.  Scripture speaks of how “iron sharpens iron.”  Surround yourself with holy iron to develop your holy character.  Finally, pray and as you do listen for God to reveal great truths and answers you need.  However, be cautious that you discern God’s voice from any voice which might seek to mislead you.  The true test to ascertain if the direction you are hearing is from God is to see how this word you received lines up with the Bible.  God will never lead us in any direction or ask us to do anything contrary to His proven and Holy Scriptures. 

In closing, just as you don’t want to put on undesired weight this holiday season make sure you don’t clothe yourself with ungodly traits or character.  As we see throughout scripture God calls us to “Be holy, for He is holy.”  Therefore clothe yourself with the character of God.

 

Merry CHRISTMAS,

Pastor Ric

1 Peter 1:16