The sermon podcast for December 26, 2010 is up on Asbury Church’s website. It is entitled “Remember’ and it is a review of what all God has done at Asbury in 2010. The text is Psalm 136. You can listen to it by clicking here, or you can listen to it here on this blog by clicking below. And, as always, you can subscribe to my sermon podcasts through iTunes.
Here is the video review what was part of my sermon:
The sermon podcast for Christmas Eve 2010 is up on Asbury Church’s website. The text is John 1: 1-14. You can listen to it by clicking here, or you can listen to it here on this blog by clicking below. And, as always, you can subscribe to my sermon podcasts through iTunes.
I wanted to wish you each a Merry Christmas.
I’ll be offline most of next week, and blogging will be infrequent through the end of the year. Enjoy Christmas, enjoy your family, enjoy your Church.
And enjoy the birth of our Savior!
We’ll see you in 2011! And remember:
1And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
16And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
17And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
18And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
19But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
21And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS
Sometimes it’s good to remember our place in the universe.
Yes, we are loved. Yes, we are sacred. Yes, we are of great worth to an awesome and amazing God.
Yes, we are priceless beyond compare to Him.
But. . . . .
We are not God. The entire fate of human civilization is not resting on you.
And, if Christmas is not just absolutely perfect, you know what?
It will still be ok.
Life will continue.
God will still be God, the sun will still come up in the east.
Even if Christmas is not perfect.
Listen to the words of Isaiah this morning:
15 Ha! You who hide a plan too deep for the LORD, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, Who sees us? Who knows us? 16 You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay? Shall the thing made say of its maker, He did not make me; or the thing formed say of the one who formed it, He has no understanding
You are not God. You don’t have to live with that pressure to be perfect. You will make mistakes. Things will happen. All will not perfect. Things will go wrong.
And it will be ok. Relax. Breath. And enjoy.
Don’t let all that goes into this season detract the real reason for the season from you. Remember what it’s all about and why we celebrate.
God is good. God is love. And Love Came Down at Christmas.
Never forget.
I’ve always been fascinated with the faith of Mary during this time of year. It really is amazing.
I’ve always like to say that Bible characters weren’t always Bible characters. They were real people like you and me. It’s easy to for us to think that they were not human, that they were supernatural spiritual beings.
When we do that, it makes it easier for us, because it means that there is no way that we can do what they did. We are just ordinary folk. We don’t have super abilities. We are just common people.
There’s no way we can do the things that they did.
But, they weren’t supernatural. They were as we are. Ordinary folk,that God used.
And that means we can be faithful, as they were faithful. We can life lives of faith as they lived lives of faith. We can do great things for God as they did great things for God.
And so, I love Mary. She was given a great honor, but it was going to have a TON of hardship. It was going to change her life. It was going to make everything different for her. Nothing would ever be the same.
It wasn’t the road she’d planned. It was different from the way she thought it would be.
But, when the angel came to her and told her that she would give birth to a son and call him Jesus, this is her response:
38 Then Mary said, Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word. Then the angel departed from her.
She didn’t fight, she didn’t fuss. She had faith. She knew things may be hard. She knew there would be challenges.
But she also knew God was with her.
Her fear was great.
Her faith was greater.
She trusted in God.
Today, may we have that same type of faith. That faith that says, let it be unto me, according to thy word.
The faith that trusts, no matter what.
God has great plans for us today, and each day. Today, may we have faith in what He is doing. As Mary did, may we do. May we have faith.
If you want to really confuse yourself, do a Google search on Revelation.
Go ahead and give it a try. There are literally a million different opinions and thoughts about Revelation out there. I’ve never a big fan of the book for that man reasons. There are as many opinions out there, and they can confuse us, and honestly, make us miss the point of the Faith – to Love God and Love our Neighbor.
I’ve never really understood Revelation. But, in spite of that, I dearly love the book.
And I’ll tell you why. It’s because of verses like this out of Chapter 21:
³See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; 4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more
Man, I love that!
And while, I don’t want to even speculate about the stuff in the book that I don’t understand, I love, love, love that notion found here.
God wins. In the end, God wins!
So, what do we have to worry about? What do we have to be afraid of? Why do we have to live lives of fear or worry or dread?
We don’t! God wins!
Trust in Him. Rely on Him. And we have nothing to worry about; nothing to fear. For there will be a day when He wipe away every tear.
You don’t have to live a life bound by fear. You can live boldly with confidence. God wins! Why should you fear?
God wins!
Live in that victory; in courage today!
God wins!
Trust, hope, live. God wins!
The Psalms have a way of getting to the heart of what is most important sometimes.
They can ask questions that cut to the chase and hit us with what is really most important. They address the root issue of the problem.
Today, in Psalm 62, the Psalmist talks about who we trust when he writes this:
9 Put your trust in him always, O people, *
pour out your hearts before him, for God is our refuge.
10 Those of high degree are but a fleeting breath, *
even those of low estate cannot be trusted.
11 On the scales they are lighter than a breath, *
all of them together.
Our security comes from God. Our hope comes from God. Our very lives come from God. He is the author of it all, and He is the one that we trust.
In all of our lives.
It is tempting to put our trust in other things, people, power, places. This tempting and easy to do.
But, life is not found there.
And, in the end, security is not found there. One of my favorite Psalms says that only in God do we find safety.
This Psalm echoes that theme today.
Our ultimate safety, strength, hope, peace, joy, all of this, lies not in ourselves, or in others, or anything else.
It lies in God. He is our hope. Safety. Security. Life.
Place your trust in Him today.
Where is your trust today? What do you place it in?
Today, and each day, may we place out faith in the rock that is higher than us. May we be reminded that our life, in the, rests in God.
May we trust Him today, and each day.
The sermon podcast for Sunday, December 12 is up on Asbury Church’s website. This is the third sermon in our Advent 2010 series “All Things New.” This is entitled “A New Joy” and the text is Luke 1: 46-55. You can listen to it by clicking here, or you can listen to it here on this blog by clicking below. And, as always, you can subscribe to my sermon podcasts through iTunes.
I had a conversation with someone this week about our calling to God in hard times.
It seems like, and I believe it to be so, that there are two “types” of walks with God.
Type one is that one that has a good walk when things are good and smooth, but the trouble comes when there are rough seas and things are hard. The tough times try the faith and sometimes they wander away at that moment.
Perhaps that is you. Perhaps the tough time cause you to stray.
The other is actually drawn closer to God during times of trial, but the smooth road is tough to walk upon. The hard times make them cling close to God, but when things are smooth and calm, it’s easy to fall away.
That’s more how I’m wired.
Either way, there are times when we feel far away from God, no matter what is going on. There are times in our lives that are days of trouble.
Listen to the words of Psalm 50 this morning:
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and make good your vows to the Most High.
Call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall honor me.”
No matter when your trouble comes, be it a time of testing, or a time when things are “easy” God is there. God is waiting on you to turn to Him. To come to Him. To rest upon Him.
God is waiting on you today.
In this day, in this moment, God is waiting on you.
Will you turn to Him today, no matter trouble you are facing.
God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. Today, no matter what you weakness is, will you turn to Him?
John the Baptist had one calling in his life. He was called to prepare the way for Jesus.
He was out in the wilderness preaching, teaching, baptizing, and pointing.
He spent his life telling folks about the one that was to come after him.
He was sent to let folks know about Jesus. We see that talked about in Mark’s Gospel today:
2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
3the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,”‘
That was his mission, and honestly, it’s our mission as well.
We have the same calling.
Now, we are not going be going out to the wilderness preaching (I don’t think).
But, we will be preaching. We are all preachers.
Maybe with out lips. But with our lives.
Everyday, we preach the goodness and grace of Jesus Christ.
With way you say, how you live, how you love.
Today, you are like John the Baptist. You are here, pointing to Jesus. With all you do, all you say, all you are.
You are an arrow, pointing to heaven.
Today, with all we do, all we say, all we are, may we point to Jesus.
Today, we are all preachers.
RevAndy.org 