Are You Coming?

"Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Saviour has just been born in David's town, a Saviour who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a Baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger." (Luke 2:10-12, The Message)
The angels were excited. The Messiah was now here and they were entrusted with proclaiming the news. I wonder why the birth was first to a group of shepherds, the lowest of the low, since the message was for everyone. Maybe they were the only ones listening. The shepherds discussed this news and ran to find the Christ child. They were the first to visit the new baby but they were not the last.
The next recorded visitors were the magi from the east. The ancient astronomers were convinced that the heavenly sky held the key to the coming of the king. They followed the star and stopped at the palace in anticipation of finding the King but He was not there. The religious leaders searched the Scriptures and saw Bethlehem named as the home of the Messiah. So they followed the star to the house were He lived. The wise men found Jesus, came close and bowed down and worshipped the Child. Their expensive gifts were just a token expression of their heartfelt worship.
Others may have come to see the Child but many did not. There were probably shepherds who chose to ignore the message or were off attending to other things and missed it. There were other wise men in the east who chose not to make the hazardous journey to search for a new king.
The insecure Herod was so terrified of the Baby dethroning him and taking his power, he remained aloof, distant and dangerous. Instead of worshipping the child, Herod chose to rid the landscape of the baby that could truly bring him peace.
Why may others not have come?
Maybe the merchants were too busy fleecing the travellers. Income profited from the census was chosen over coming close to God.
The inn keepers may have been too busy changing beds and feeding their customers than realizing the greatest patron was lying snuggled in strips of cloth in an animal feeding trough. They would rather rub shoulders with the paying clients than to come close and wait on the Son of God.
If a poll had been taken in Bethlehem about why others did not come to the manger and worship the Christ, the answers would vary as much as the people who made them up. “Too busy.” “Too many guests.” “I didn’t know the family.”  “Didn’t know what to wear.” “Didn’t have anything to bring.”  “I was up too late and slept in.”  “Wasn’t interested as it didn’t concern me.”
Interesting, if the poll were taken today, some 2000 years since Jesus was laid in that manger, people would use the same excuses. They would rather huddle together shivering and miserable than come to the warmth of God’s love and find  peace and good will towards all people.
May this Christmas season find us desiring and making the effort to come close to the Baby that changed everything.  Jesus, God with us, gives us an incredible gift through a promise, if we draw close to God, He will draw close to us. 
Our prayer for you is taken from a song that Evie Tournquist made popular.
Move me closer, Move me closer  
Move me closer to the Child.
Let me see Him, Let me hold His hand, 
Move me closer to the Child.”

From our home to yours we wish you a Blessed and Happy Christmas and may this up and coming new year be filled with the glory of God as you move closer to Him.

Pastor Joel & Mary

What's Your Christmas Wish List

“Do you hear what I hear?” Christmas carols are playing on the radio and in the malls. For some it is the most wonderful time of the year. Maybe you felt you were run over by a reindeer only the decorated Bambi is driving a Mac truck. Some of you are waiting for jolly old St Nicholas to grant to you your three page wish list. Still others are trying to climb out from under the hippopotamus that surprised them last year.
Whatever your feeling this yuletide, there are certain longings that well up inside you and return each year as regularly as Old Faithful. These desires may be as simple as wanting your two front teeth or they can empty the bank account as you fanaticize over jewelry from Tiffany’s. You may want to be home for Christmas, but the thought of uncle Harry getting drunk and mother lying in a snowbank because of too much holiday cheer, sends cold chills up your back and the thought of such a family gathering gives you a wintery frosty feeling that shows in the icicles dripping from your nose. 
Some desires are wrapped with a bow. Others may take several trips of Santa coming to town to deliver the elaborate gift you are sure you deserve because you have been a good little boy (or girl).
You may find yourself huddling in pain. For you, this season comes way too often and you long for it to be gone. You tighten your fist as the Salvation Army collectors jingle bells and your heart tightens as you try to make sense of your unemployment.
December 24’s silent night has been preceded by weeks of noiselessness as you sit alone in isolation. Divorce, death or tragic loss is amplified as the songs tell you to gather around a festive table. Instead reality beats upon you like the Grinch that stole Christmas. You would rather drown your sorrows in a bottle of cheap Christmas cheer than to tell the inquisitive aunts you are okay when you are not.
I enjoy Christmas and my desires may be different than what you experience. I would rather have my family gathered around me than to have a multitude of presents. I love watching joy spread across their faces as my children and grandchildren unwrap their gifts from us.
For our family we usually push away from the table feeling very much like our late dearly departed turkey, STUFFED. Yet the food is not what ties us together for we would rather have peanut butter sandwiches eaten with joy than to gorge ourselves on a lavish abundant feast if the conversation was filled with bitterness and strife.
I long for the day when across our planet all the yellow ribbons could come down as our troops would all be home for Christmas with peace and good will reigning on earth. No more war, no more suffering, no more pain.
I desire for the true meaning of Christmas to be celebrated in every home. Instead of commercial lights and festive decorations, I wish for each home to celebrate Jesus, the Christ. Immanuel, God with us, came as a baby and was laid away in a manger. The birth of this Baby changed everything and now we can be reconciled to God through His forgiveness.
I hunger for people to experience the wonderful life that comes with our sins and selfish ambitions forgiven because of the great sacrificial gift Jesus gave. He willingly paid the ultimate price, His voluntary death, so we could be forgiven and adopted by an almighty, loving God.
There is a burning in my spirit for all of mankind to know how vast, high and great God’s love is towards them. This burning desire that stirs my heart is for this to not just be a head knowledge but a reality as we embrace God. The God who sent His One and only Son to the humblest of Jewish peasants. The Son who made His grand entrance in a barn, wrapped in strips of ragged cloth and placed in a feeding trough as a cradle. Jesus came as the humblest so He could reach ALL of the human race. He came for me ... and you.
No matter what is under the tree, on the table, or who you are snuggling up beside I hope this Christmas is when your true longings are fulfilled in Jesus.
Have a Blessed and Wonderful Christmas.