I know people just love Christmas, and it goes by so fast in December. But shouldn't the spirit of recognizing God's love be all year round? We are going to celebrate Christmas in July at Liberty Grove UMC this coming Sunday July 24th. at 8 and 10 am.
God has said he wanted to dwell with us and sent his Son Jesus to live among us. His birth in Bethlehem has so many great elements and dimensions of a message, it's hard to keep them all straight when they come rushing by. So why not have another opportunity to reflect on them in the middle of the hot summer. This week in the Washington DC area we are expected to hit 100 degrees a couple of times. "We could use a little Christmas, right this very minute..."
I'm thinking about the Christmas Character, a first person message for this service, and the thought occurred to me it might be King Herod. Now he didn't actually visit Bethlehem himself, he sent the Magi to do that and when they went home a different way, he became really angry and jealous of the new born king and sent his hit squad out to kill all the boys who were two and under in Bethlehem. What weeping and wailing that visit caused.
But we are somewhat like King Herod, in that we don't take rivals very well. He assumed that Jesus was going to become king right away and take away his power and authority. He knew he had to eliminate the competition. Jesus does come to be our Lord and Master and to ask us to give up our power and authority over our lives and give them over to Jesus. We might not think of killing the rival, but we do resist sometimes and ways that might make King Herod appreciate our struggle.
When Jesus as an adult teaches his disciples to leave all behind, take up their cross and follow him, he was asking for a choice for us to make, whether we really let him guide our every action, or pick and chose the parts we like. We do have trouble with that. I know I do. I live in a world that makes the choices for not following Jesus look so good. We are urged to live our lives the way we want to, over and over again. The commercials, the interviews of athletes and stars, and business tycoons all point out that success and accomplishment are very important, and that we too can have all of that by choosing to follow our path to success.
Because God so loved the world, he sent his only Son into the world, not to condemn it but to save it, to save it from our choices and invite us to accept his choices and his leadership. We are asked to let Jesus be King, Lord and Master of our lives, circumstances and situations. That means our way is out, his way is in. We can use reminders of his invitation to come and following him, have the abundant life he offers, and we really want.
Merry Christmas in July. Sing a carol, read the story in Matthew 1: 18-25 and Luke 2: 1-20 and enjoy the gift from God. Then let Jesus grow up and be King and continue to celebrate his presence in your life.
God bless you all, and stay cool
Pastor Jeff
Monday, July 18, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
Dead is Dead
Hello followers of my blog. This Sunday July 3 we continue our journey through a very helpful book on spiritual transformation called Lazarus Life by Stephen Smith. This week we talk about Lazarus is Dead and in the tomb. Dead, Dead.
There are always times when we feel that something died, don't you? Things die. Plans and dreams we have. Just look at the struggle we are having as a nation with the dream our forefathers and mothers had for this land, including those who came here across the ice bridge into Alaska a long long time ago. Looking for something better, for a chance to follow a dream.
God can really help us transform and become new creatures when we admit that it's dead. Until then we think if we do something right, it will all change. We think if we can just push the right button, come up with the correct diagnosis and follow the prescription, or even say the prayers right, we will get back to where we want to be.
The trouble with that plan, is it mostly leaves God's plan out of the picture. God sometimes wants our plan to be dead, so the Creator can make the transformation that will bring us back to real life, God's life plan. Being dead means we finally let go and let God. It's too bad most of us have to get that dead, before we admit we really need God's help to do this right. The Lazarus Life story gives us some ideas when we are that dead, and I hope to explore them in the sermon coming up this weekend.
The hardest part is really using the dead time, to reconnect to our Creator. To admit that we have planned ourselves to death, and we would not want that anymore. God comes in with a gift of love and forgiveness, and with our permission to make changes and to guide our changing, we can come back to life. To have life as it was supposed to be in the first place.
I'm in just as much need of transformation as anyone. I can be as stubborn as a mule, just ask my kids and my wives. (see what stubborn can lead you to!) One at a time, however. There are lots of plans we make, even if we think they are what God would want, that have to be put in the tomb. Tomb time is hard, but important.
May God comfort you through the tomb time. May you give God a moment or two or plenty, to help you transform to be able to come out of the tomb. I'm trying, come and join in. Comment below, it will show up in my inbox.
Pastor Jeff
There are always times when we feel that something died, don't you? Things die. Plans and dreams we have. Just look at the struggle we are having as a nation with the dream our forefathers and mothers had for this land, including those who came here across the ice bridge into Alaska a long long time ago. Looking for something better, for a chance to follow a dream.
God can really help us transform and become new creatures when we admit that it's dead. Until then we think if we do something right, it will all change. We think if we can just push the right button, come up with the correct diagnosis and follow the prescription, or even say the prayers right, we will get back to where we want to be.
The trouble with that plan, is it mostly leaves God's plan out of the picture. God sometimes wants our plan to be dead, so the Creator can make the transformation that will bring us back to real life, God's life plan. Being dead means we finally let go and let God. It's too bad most of us have to get that dead, before we admit we really need God's help to do this right. The Lazarus Life story gives us some ideas when we are that dead, and I hope to explore them in the sermon coming up this weekend.
The hardest part is really using the dead time, to reconnect to our Creator. To admit that we have planned ourselves to death, and we would not want that anymore. God comes in with a gift of love and forgiveness, and with our permission to make changes and to guide our changing, we can come back to life. To have life as it was supposed to be in the first place.
I'm in just as much need of transformation as anyone. I can be as stubborn as a mule, just ask my kids and my wives. (see what stubborn can lead you to!) One at a time, however. There are lots of plans we make, even if we think they are what God would want, that have to be put in the tomb. Tomb time is hard, but important.
May God comfort you through the tomb time. May you give God a moment or two or plenty, to help you transform to be able to come out of the tomb. I'm trying, come and join in. Comment below, it will show up in my inbox.
Pastor Jeff
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