Especially this year, we are all waiting for things to change, to get BETTER – right? Pandemic and social upheaval, uncertainty and shadows, hurt and heartache, violence and hatred, sickness and death, emptiness, despair, and hopelessness. It has been quite a year! Not one of us has been left unscathed. And yes, we all long for change!
But what if the change has already come? …And it somehow transcends everything that is wrong and broken? What if it is a gift placed right in front of us by God Himself to live in everyday?
What if this transcendent change came 2000 years ago? What if it came in a baby? Wouldn’t it be amazing if something that brings such change to our everyday lives - a baby - would be used by God to bring foundational, transformational, and transcending change to us all? This is what we will focus on throughout December as we prepare to celebrate Christmas. Christmas changes everything! Maybe the idea of the baby is that God doesn’t want us to miss it.
Sunday, November 29th “Not Ever Alone” (Praise His Name!)
“One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.” Can you relate to these words? They were sung by the band “Three Dog Night.” There are countless ways to experience loneliness – physically, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually. But at the root of all of them is the feeling that you are utterly alone. Christmas means it’s not true. It means that we are not ever alone. Today, God whispers this truth anew into our hearts.
Sunday, December 6th “God is Here (It Makes a Difference)
We all long for things to be different, even as we hope to be difference makers. How about you? Jesus came to make a difference not just by what He did but through what He would do in each of us. Christmas is meant to make a difference both in you and through you. This is our focus today.
Sunday, December 13th “No Doubts” And Living Like It!)
When I was a coach, you could always pick out the kids who were certain they wanted to be there. Being certain gave them focus, energy, drive, and purpose. Have you ever been in that place where you are unsure of your direction or what you should be doing? …where doubts are eating away at you, sapping your focus, energy, drive, and purpose? Are you perhaps carrying some doubt with you right now about God and your life in Him? Christmas means that we can be rid of these doubts. And Christmas means that we can live like it.
Sunday, December 20th “It’s Personal” (What Will You Do?)
We tend to live impersonal lives. We can go weeks never setting foot in the neighborhood as we go from garage to car and back to garage again - and even more so with the COVID 19 reality. We listen to or watch or read the News about struggles of people all around us, but we rarely connect personally with their struggles – am I right? At times we are even surrounded by people in close proximity, yet we carefully keep our distance on a personal level. After all they might want something from us. Do you think maybe, just out of habit, we do this with God as well? Perhaps this is why we can feel so disconnected to Him. Christmas means that in spite of us, God comes to us personally. His love is personal! And our lives lived out in Him are meant to be the same!