Month: December 2017

Great Heart of Jesus Christ

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men Philippians 2:6-7 ESV

One year we had a Muslim exchange student in our home from Kosovo. At Christmas his mother and younger brother came for a visit and we had the honor of telling them the Christmas story. Sitting by the Christmas tree I curiously asked, “Do you know why we put a star on the top of our tree?” Looking at their blank stares I realized they didn’t, so I said, “That was the star which guided the wise men to Jesus.” Then I asked, “Do you know why we give gifts at Christmas?” This they also had no idea of, so I excitedly explained, “They are like the gifts that the wise men brought.” I was suddenly realized that for the first time in my life I was getting to tell the Christmas story to someone who had never heard it!

Imagine the day before Jesus’ came while He was still in heaven with His father. We are accustomed to hear of Jesus being God’s gift for the world. But on Christmas He was not just sent to Bethlehem, Jesus freely chose to come. Unlike the gold frankincense and myrrh, Jesus’ journey to Bethlehem was His own desire. He looked down and decided, “How wonderful it will be to live out this Christmas story for people who have never heard it before!” The great gift of Christmas was not just a tiny baby in a manger but the great heart of Jesus Christ on the night He chose to come to our world!

20171130_054411.jpg

All is Bright?

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5

Silent night Holy night / All is calm all is bright      Josef Mohr 1818

I am not sure of the exact inspiration for Josef Mohr when He wrote the words for Silent Night. What strange word are these? What Silent night? What holiness could be seen? From the braying donkey carrying Mary to Bethlehem to her cries piercing the night as she gave birth; there was no silence or holy place given her. ” All is calm all is bright.” Yet it would be hard to imagine Joseph being calm when there was no better place for Mary than a stable or cleaner spot to lay her child than a feeding trough for the cows! Yet the oddest of all these lines is “All is bright.”  All is bright? I have memories of milking our cow at 4:45 a.m. in a barn without electricity. My only light was a candle stub which I placed on a beam. There was nothing at all especially bright about those cold early mornings in the barn.

And yet by faith we sense the deeper reality of the silence of angels, stooping low to see the Savior. We recognize the holiness of the child conceived by God’s Holy Spirit. We feel the calm assurance of Mary and Joseph’s hearts as everything happen

KIMG1495

ed just as the angel had foretold. We see the brightness as the first flicker of God’s light in our dark and waiting world. From that first Christmas till now, the darkness has never put it out!

The Shepherds

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

I love this little scene. It reminds me a bit of that super low budget nevertheless beautifully done film called “The Encounter” Blessings

mitchteemley's avatarMitch Teemley

I wondered what the Christmas story would look like in a contemporary setting, so I wrote a collection of modern scenes for churches, inspired by the New Testament records, the first being about a harried family called “The Shepherds.”

Dan and Trish Shepherd drag their clan, two teens and three little ones, “the meemies,” into a diner called Whoopees. The meemies run amuck.

“Hey! Hey!” Mom shouts.

Dad comes to the rescue: “No grass until the sheep get in their pen!”

The meemies dive into their chairs, giggling and ‘bah-bah’-ing.Presentation1“Who wants a hamburger?”

“Me! Me! Me! Me!” they scream.

Painfully insecure middle-schooler Nikki asks how long before they get to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

Mom tells her not to whine.

“I’m not whining,” she whines, “and I refuse to sit with the meemies; they’re all sticky and gross!”

Big brother Colin says, “Come on, Picky Nikki, you can sit…

View original post 477 more words