We are in the throes of the Christmas season. We have made our lists and checked them twice, and now comes the hard part: what can I buy my wife for Christmas? And the even bigger question: what size?! Years ago I used to carry around in my wallet a little piece of paper with sizes for everyone in the family written down. Ring sizes, shoe sizes, dress sizes, sweater sizes, hat sizes, sock sizes, belt sizes: you name it and I probably had a size for it. Then I discovered the sweetest and most life-saving sign in the department stores: “one size fits all!!”
There is a one-size-fits-all mentality to nearly everything on the market today. I’ve seen advertisements for “OSFA” belts, sweatshirts, camping gear, baseball caps, bar-b-cue grills, racing gloves, foot pillows, sunglasses, hiking gear, scuba gear, cat collars and even OSFA resumes for those who are job hunting. But most of us will agree that one size doesn’t fit all! All of us have different sizes and shapes and that’s what makes us unique, special, adorable, awesome.
But when it comes to our spiritual life, one size does fit all. What we want to focus on tonight is the size of Christmas. Yes, it is a huge event each year according to the retailers, and it is a huge event when it is seen in context of redemption’s story. After all, it is a big deal that God came from His throne in heaven and took on the form of a man in order to redeem fallen man; it is a big deal that this Baby was destined to be the Savior of mankind; it is a big deal that God pierced the darkness of this world and brought light, life and hope to the world. But consider for a moment that at Christmas time the one size that fits all is SMALL.
In Micah 5:2 we find a very familiar verse that accompanies the birth of Christ. The prophet Micah foretold that the Messiah would be born in a small town: Bethlehem. This town was so insignificant and unimportant that it needed the extra name, Ephratha, to explain where it was. God doesn’t always use the biggest and the flashiest. He chooses to use small, seemingly insignificant towns to grow up leaders and witnesses for Him.
We are also told in this verse about the virgin who would bear God’s Son. Mary and Joseph were not royalty; they weren’t wealthy; they weren’t influential; they weren’t from the upper crust or among the movers-and-shakers. They were simple, ordinary humble people who yielded themselves to the God of glory in order to accomplish His divine purposes. Humility marked them as distinguished servants. Their egos weren’t big; their agenda wasn’t a priority; their rank wasn’t important. In the eyes of the world these were small people. But God sometimes uses small people to accomplish His greatest works.
A final important fact in Micah’s prophecy was that it told of the birth of a small Child. Yes, this was an extraordinary Child. He would be the Promised One, the Messiah, the Savior of mankind. God chose to come and dwell among us as a Child. He was small, meek, trusting, dependent, obedient and loving. He could have come full-grown. But bearing the likeness of a child He demonstrated for us the faith that is required as we come to Him for salvation: a faith that trusts in His provision rather than our own independence.
As you celebrate Christmas this year, remember One Size Fits All. Your town may seem insignificant, but as you hold out the light of the Gospel of Christ it becomes a beacon of great importance. You may think you are unimportant in the scheme of God’s redemptive plan for man. But every believer has a story to tell. So tell your story and show others the way to the manger. Always point them toward that one small Child who came to redeem them. For, in reality, sin has a “one size fits all” clause, too! As believers, we have the joyous privilege of bearing the Good News to those who need to hear it. That’s why we’re here….

That You May Know

1 John 5:13

We have arrived at the Christmas season once again and once again in the morass of crass commercialism we are trying to “keep Christ in Christmas.” We find ourselves working overtime to keep the spirit of Christmas alive. A lady told me recently that she was glad to see all the decorations and lights, and to hear the music put her in “the Christmas Spirit.” As we ponder Christmas this year, there is a question that keeps coming to my mind: what is the spirit of Christmas? Depending on whom you ask you will get a variety of answers, and some of them actually have little or nothing to do with Christmas.

When you read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol you get the idea that for Scrooge the spirit of Christmas is a ghost. So, we’ll automatically dismiss that notion. The liquor industry certainly has their idea of the spirit of Christmas, to the tune of about $30-50 million in December alone. A young boy determined that the spirit of Christmas is sportsmanship. The idea is that you don’t always get what you want; you don’t always win, as it were. Some feel the spirit of Christmas is spreading cheer, so we’ll pass back and forth some four billion greeting cards. For most people the spirit of Christmas is fellowship and family. They’ll gather together and consume incalculable amounts of turkey, dressing, fruit cake and eggnog. For some the spirit of Christmas is gratitude; we are grateful for all the blessings bestowed upon us by our Creator. G.K. Chesterton once remarked, “When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings with toys at Christmas tide. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?” 

For some this season of Christmas is marked with a spirit of sadness. The year 2020 has been a year like no other before. A pandemic, lock-downs, shuttering of businesses, closed restaurants, theaters and even churches have sent many people into depressions and anxiety. Doctors tell us that sadness and depression are heightened during the Christmas season, and we can only imagine what this year’s season will bring. Especially is this true for those who have lost loved ones during the year and this is their first Christmas celebration without them. 

Perhaps the most common response to the question of the spirit of Christmas is that this season is all about giving. Most have the understanding that giving to others is the highlight of the season. Giving with out expecting anything in return is becoming a fleeting notion, however. A large majority of people give in order to get something back. So we’ll exchange gifts that range from a $6 candy bar to a $600 gold lace Gucci blouse to a $6000 plasma television and everything in between. 

And Christmas is also the time for some to engage in their own spirit of denying the deity of Christ. For them the spirit of Christmas has nothing at all to do with Christ, from Whom the holiday derives its name. They start to crawl out from under their rocks around Thanksgiving and attempt to keep the focus off the Truth.

Indeed, there are a lot of things that distract us at Christmastime. All of these suggestions concerning the spirit of Christmas have been posited by untold millions of people. And there are probably a host of other things that could be offered as the true spirit of Christmas. But all of them come at Christmas from the wrong direction. They are man-focused, man-centered, selfish motivations for the Christmas spirit. Even the well-intentioned and noble offerings of love, joy, peace and goodwill toward men miss the mark. Some of these suggestions are bad, some are good but all are wrong. I suggest to you that the true spirit of Christmas is worship.

We find this to be the most dominant attitude of all the major participants in the first Christmas ever. From Elizabeth to Zachariah to the angel & heavenly host, the shepherds, the wise men and even the hypocrite Herod we see the main spirit that permeated them was worship. Best of all is Mary, the mother of Jesus. Her song, known as the Magnificat, is recorded in Luke 1:46-55. It is a song of adoring worship for the birth of the Savior. Christ came to “save His people from their sins.”

So, this Christmas remember to worship. Don’t let the hustle and bustle of Christmas interfere with your heart’s rejoicing. Don’t let true worship get lost in the fake message sent by so many at this time of year. Look beyond the light, the garland, the tree and the gifts to remember the greatest Gift, and turn to Him with genuine worship from your heart. Keeping the true spirit of Christmas. And if you don’t know Him Who is the inspiration of Christmas, contact us and we’ll help you. That’s why we’re hear……

That You May Know.

1 John 5:13

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 

These words from the pen of the apostle Paul stand as a clarion call to all believers to stand firmly in the truth and to demolish every thing that offers itself as a pretense against the truth of God.

Leave it to Satan to empower a little-known author whose modest book sales thrust him to national prominence. Philip Pullman wrote a trilogy of books entitled His Dark Materials. The first of these books was made into a major motion picture called “The Golden Compass.” 

Pullman, a self-proclaimed “agnostic and atheist,” said of his books, “My books are about killing God; trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief.”
He has taken what some describe as the “least offensive “ of the three books and produced it as a movie in an effort to indoctrinate children to atheism. The thought is that if parents can see a simple entertaining movie with their children maybe they won’t be offended by the overt anti-Christian message.

Satan works as an angel of light and lures people into his trap. But Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:12 that “we are not unaware of his schemes.” Don’t play with Satan—or you’ll get burned. Knowing the truth of God’s Word will prepare you to defend your faith, and a strong defense of the truth of Scripture will protect your family and loved ones. Only through God’s Word can we recognize Satan’s schemes.  That is why God wrote His Word, so we could be alert to Satan’s attacks against truth. That’s why this we’re here…..

That You May Know

1 John 5:13

11/24/2020: Diminished expectations lead to ingratitude. Without a doubt, Americans are the most abundantly blessed people on the planet. Yet our expectations often hinder our attitude of gratitude. Though flooded with blessings from the hand of our gracious God, we often expect too little from Him by doubting His promises, and are thus blind to the abundance He pours upon us. Our expectations are often misguided; expecting Him to answer our prayers according to our wishes rather than seeking His will and glory. When He attempts to shape us for His glory we complain with callous hearts. Each of these responses is inappropriate among God’s people. We, above all people, should understand the need for a proper appreciation of the bountiful gifts bestowed by our Father.

Many people will express thanks this week for numerous benefits they enjoy. People will tell you they are thankful for their family, their health, their house. And they may even begrudgingly express thanks for their job. But there is a big question to ask when people start expressing thanks: thankful to whom? Who is worthy of our gratitude for all these treasures we hold dear? Are we to credit blind chance, fate, karma, circumstances or coincidence for all our blessings? Many will thank their parents or their spouse, their teacher or their boss, their neighbors and friends. It is a classic characteristic of unregenerate people to demonstrate ingratitude, or to give thanks to some ambiguous or innocuous force for their blessings. Romans 1:21 reminds us clearly that fallen unregenerate sinners are without excuse when they deny the existence of God, and that even though they have abundant evidence of His existence and beneficence, “they neither glorified God nor gave thanks to him.”  Believers, on the other hand, know the One from Whom all blessings flow. We readily acknowledge the providential hand of God as the source of our existence and sustenance. We unashamedly declare that “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, Who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).

Because of our intimate knowledge of Jehovah, the Great I AM, we understand the tremendous privilege that is ours to gather together in thanksgiving before Him.We find an interesting call to worship in Psalm 107:1-3. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say this— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.Friends, if you have been delivered today you have reason to rejoice and give thanks. Your wandering is ended, your shackles have been torn asunder, your sickness has been healed and your storms have been stilled. If you are still wandering in sin, pining away in a self-imposed prison, reeling from the rebellion that brings sickness to your soul and sinking in the storms of life there is hope! There is a Savior who listens to the pleas of those whose hearts are humbled and repentant. Isaiah 55:6-7 says, “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.”We want you to know Christ Jesus as Savior so you can be a part of the chorus of the redeemed! That’s why this we’re here…… Mike

That You May Know (1 John 5:13)

“Obedience and the Government”: Romans 13:1-7 – for full video click here.

We learn from Scripture that God has ordained human governments and He has stated the purpose for which they exist. You can easily settle the argument over the government’s basic purpose by looking into Scripture. The government exists to restrain evil, to promote good and to punish evil-doers.

Click this link for the full video of the message.

Click this link for the video of the full message

Click this link for the video of the full message.