Advent #9-The innkeeper

When I was growing up I was part of a Christmas production as a shepherd. In most Christmas productions there is always some sort of innkeeper that tells Mary and Joseph that there is no room in the inn for them to stay. As an adult now I find this character, in our Christmas productions, very interesting. When you read the Christmas story from the book of Luke, there is no character the innkeeper. Luke simply records for us, "she...laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn". See there is no recording of an innkeeper telling Joseph that he has no room in his inn but Joseph can stay in the stable in the back. This has become a 21st century add to make the story more interesting and help us to feel bad about Mary.

But I guarantee there were a bunch of inn keepers in Bethlehem that night, the night that the King of Heaven was born. And I bet these innkeepers were busy guys filled to the full with guest. The decree by Caesar meant that a lot of people were moving around in Judea that day. Many different people would have been coming and going in Bethlehem because they all had to follow Roman rule. Which means that all the inns and places to stay were full of people and very busy. The inn keepers in Bethlehem that day were probably stressed out from all the people. I bet the inn keepers were also happy men as their pockets of money got full from all the guest. These men would have been focused on their jobs, dealing with the stress of the day, and thinking about everything taking place in their inns. And yet, these men were so focused on their work and income that they probably all missed the young pregnant women and her man walking through town. The inn keepers thought about their guest and all the money and missed the extraordinary events happening just down the road in a barn. These men were so focused on their lives and their little worlds that they missed the greatest even to happen up to that point in history. And just like these men, with their inns, are never mentioned in Scripture, they probably missed it all and the events of Jesus coming that day.

But we are just like the inn keepers. We think about our own lives, our jobs, our income, our busy schedules, the stresses of life, and even the people coming and go in our lives. And we, just like the inn keepers, miss Jesus coming into our worlds. We get so self-focused that we miss God working next to us and sometimes even miss God working in us. And we do not even have any excuse. Jesus tells us that He is with us and has give the power of the Spirit to work in us and we still miss it. The inn keepers missed Jesus first coming that night in Bethlehem. God is calling us now, so that we do not become so self-focused that we miss Jesus in our lives every day. Because if we miss seeing Jesus work in our lives every day, will that mean we miss His second coming?

Advent #8-Final Sermon thoughts-Joy

Joy- it is an important character trait or state of being, during this time of year. It seems that most people are either filled with joy during the celebration of Jesus' birth or they are lacking joy completely. So over the last week as I began to prepare for the advent of our Savior I began to formulate some actions that I can do to fight to keep this joy in my life. As lovers of Jesus and His witnesses to the world we need to continually be filled with joy so a fight to keep it in our lives is paramount. So here are some of the actions and mindsets I have come up with that we can put into practice first during this advent season and secondly all year round.

1-Joy is a gift. We need to realize that ultimately joy in our lives is a gift and blessing from God the Father. We cannot have joy in our lives if first Jesus did not come and die in our place. Then we need to realize that in reality that is all the joy we need to sustain us in this life, the joy in Jesus and His death for our freedom. But above all that God then gives us joy in our lives as a gift to carry us through all of life and its moments.

2- Joy tied to faith. Where our faith in God goes so goes our joy. If we rest steadfastly in God and who He is and what he has done then joy will spring from deep within us.

3- Joy is connected to sin. I have come to realize that my level of joy is connected to the sin or level of sin in my life. If I am open to the prodding conviction of the Spirit in my life driving the sin out of my life, He will then allow and guide my level of joy to increase as the sin leaves my being. The more sin in my life and the more confessed and unrepentant sin in my life the less joy I will have.

4- Joy in the Bible. The more we read God's word and mediate on what it says to us the more joy we will have. The deeper I dive into what God is telling about Himself or the plans He has for me the more filled with joy I become. I realize the depth of His love from His words and how much He reveals to me drives the engine of joy.

5- Joy from Prayer. I find and I do not believe it is coincidental that the more I pour out to God the more He gives me joy. When we spend time in prayer to God the level of joy in our lives will increase. The longer we pray and the frequency of our prays will sustain us in the fight to keep our lives filled with joy. The level of joy in our lives goes up and down with the level of praying we do and the closeness we stay with God.

6- Joy in friends. When my level of joy is low and my tank of joy is empty I go to my close friends to get a fill up. When we find that the fight for joy is waning we need to find those in our lives who can fill us up with joy.

7- Joy in generosity. This one is very simple. When we think of others before our own self and when we pour our lives into others around us, especially those around us in need, our level and fight for joy will overflow. The opposite then is true- want to have less joy in your life? Then think only about yourself and be self focused.

8- Joy sustained by health. This is an important one to remember and realize during this time of year as we eat a lot of food, party with family, and struggle to get exercise. The level of joy in our lives can be effected by the diet or amount of food we eat. It can be effected by the rest or lack of it we get. And joy can be effected by the exercise we take. Remember that a fit more healthy body will affect the mind and soul and then our joy in turn.

As lovers of Jesus we need to be filled with joy and during the advent season joy is a huge character trait we must be showing to others.

Advent #7-My greatest earthly gift

The greatest gift I have ever received in my life, Christmas or not, was my beautiful beloved. Today we celebrate 11 years of amazing covenant love. God has truly blessed me beyond words that I can say, by bring me into a relationship with my beloved. Here are some thoughts about us and Christmas and how it all changed forever when I said I do.

Thinking over the last 11 great years of marriage I can say without a doubt my Christmas mindset and understanding changed forever. My wife loves Christmas and has the spirit of the season in her heart all year round. She puts her heart and soul into the celebration of Jesus birth. Since we have been married we have started new traditions as a family and I have watch more Christmas movies and different versions of the carols than I ever knew existed.

 Christmas changed because I never realized the joy that my kids would bring to the season. Watching them open their gifts and the joy in their faces as we sit around as a family and celebrate the season is a treasure that I will never forget. Staying up all night on Christmas eve building their gifts.  Even watching them as babies play with the boxes rather than the gift is wonderful and a blessing to me.

But I will never forget my first Christmas with the love of my life. It started to snow on Christmas eve to the point where I ran over a stop sign with her car on the way back to her parents house from a party. Then my car got stuck in her parents driveway and we had to drive her car to my parents house. That night while sleeping in my sleeping bag in front of the fire a spark flew out and burned right threw my bag and into my leg, waking me up.  Then on Christmas day I spent at least 2 hours in the car with my sister-in-law to be and her husband listening to Christmas in the Caribbean because it had snowed so much we could not drive my beloved's  car. But through all of that I realized from that year on how my Christmas season would never be the same.

And the biggest thing I realized is that my Christmas season would never be the same because of others in my life. That is the reason for the season, others and bringing joy and blessings into their season. Jesus came to bring us joy and blessings with His life and that season I realized that that is what my Christmas season should be about from then on. Do for others what Jesus did for me. Make others more important than myself and bless others through my life. So honey, turn on the next Christmas movie and lets cozy up and watch it together because you have changed my Christmas ideas, traditions, and thoughts forever.

Advent #5-The Baby Ruler

With the advent season now almost a week in, I have been thinking a lot about Jesus and what His birth actually means. During the Christmas season we tend to think most of the time about Jesus in the manger and the story around His physical birth. Some others of us will realize that Jesus physical birth to Mary happened so that He might then 33 years later have a physical death to save His people from their sins. Some others will even contemplate about the fact that His physical birth in the manager sets the stage for His physical 2nd coming on the white horse with His people mentioned in Revelation 19. But I have been reminded of an amazing truth that I seem to forget about Jesus and a verse from Hebrews that goes along with it.

Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.

I forgot an important truth that this verse points out. Jesus is one person with two natures, divine and human, such that He upheld the world by the word of His power while living in His mother's womb. The baby born in the manger with the physical blood and screams of a new born was at the same time caring for and loving them, in His powerful sovereign way, the women and man present as His birth. The baby being born was at the same moment in supreme control of those events. Wow. The incarnation of Jesus is an amazing mystery that we should be praising God for everyday, because without those divine truths we are all hopeless. The baby that was born those many years ago, was the same being that whispered the stars into existence. The Creator of the universe chose in all humility to come through the birth of a women. Christ and His two natures was in full effect from the moment of conception. Praise be all glory to the King of the universe in that manger.

Advent #4-Greatest Christmas thought

Today I would like to share my favorite quote on the advent from C.S. Lewis. C.S. Lewis, who I consider the most influential theologian of the 20th Century, had many good things to say and reminds us of during this important time of year. This quote is what I believe to be the most powerful and important thought on the celebration of of the coming of God into the flesh.

"In the Christian story God descends to reascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity; down further still, if embryologists are right, to recapitulate into the womb ancient and pre-human phases of life; down to the very roots and seabed of the Nature He has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world with Him. One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden. He must stoop in order to lift, he must almost disappear under the load before he incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders". 

I pray that we never forget why Jesus actually came into that manger so long ago. Without the manger we would not be able to have the cross.

Advent #3-Mary did you know?

It is the Christmas season. Which means in my house and in the car with my family, it is Christmas music all the time and all the time there is Christmas music. Which then leads to the songs being stuck in my head. Well today I have one stuck in my head to the point I can not stop singing it. As you probably can tell from the title, what the song is. I find this song interesting and thought provoking. First, what did Mary actually know? The angel told her who the baby was, but did she know enough of her Bible to realize the depth or width of this child's life? Did Mary realize and rejoice like Eve did when Eve had her first child after the fall? We know that at some point Mary must have forgotten something because she is found later in the story tracking down Jesus with her other sons, thinking he is mad or crazy or something that He is actually not. So at what point did Mary know? So read over the lyrics to the song and realize that on the night of the babies birth, Mary, with the little knowledge she did have, was hold God in the flesh.

Mary did you know?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will make a blind man see?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the mute will speak, the praises of the lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am.

Advent #2-Family Time

With the holiday season upon on, we are probably going to spend some time with our family. Spending time with my family has got my mind pondering my faith family also. My faith or church family has become very important to me over the last few months and I have discovered that sometimes my faith family is even closer and more important to me than my real family. The New Testament is full of commands and words for the faith family. Jesus and the New Testament writers tell the members of the church to act and do many things for the other members of the church. These commands are sometimes called the "one another" passages. I want to take a look at some of these commands to remind myself as family times happen during this season there is also actions I need to be doing for my faith family.

care for one another- 1 Cor. 10:16
love one another- John 13:34-35
host one another-1 Peter 4:9
receive one another- Romans 15:7
honor one another-Romans 12:10
serve one another-Gal. 5:13
instruct one another- Romans 15:14
forgive one another-Col. 3:13
motivate one another- Hebrews 10:24
build up one another- 1 Thes. 5:13
encourage one another- 1 Thes. 5:11
comfort one another- 2 Cor. 1:3-7
pray for one another- James 5:16
confess sin to one another- James 5:16
esteem one another- Philippians 2:3
edify one another- Romans 14:19
teach one another- Col. 3:16
show kindness to one another- Eph. 4:32
give to one another- Acts 2:45
rejoice with one another- 1 Cor. 12:27
weep with one another- Romans 12:15
hurt with one another- Romans 12:15
restore one another- Galatians 6:1-5

Listing all of these commands out in a list has made me realize I have a long way to go until I am truly fulfilling my duty and role in my faith family. I pray that as we spend time with our family and our faith family during this coming time of celebration of Jesus' birth, that we will remember the importance of our actions to one another as a faith family.