Scripture for Sunday, Dec 5th: Matthew 1:18-21

Sermon Title: Christmas Gifts That Won't Break - the Gift of Hope

"This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the Name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins."

Dr David Jeremiah writes the following concerning this passage: "None of us are good all the time. We make mistakes, we say and do dumb things. We hurt others, ourselves. That fact points to the reality of sin in our lives. All of us have sinned and sinned repeatedly, against God, against others, against ourselves. God has said in the Bible that our sin is our greatest problem in life. It fills us with regret, guilt and shame. It robs us of hope, peace and joy. And it separates us from God; we're alienated from our Creator, Who made us to enjoy a love relationship with Him. But instead of love, there's now hatred between us - all because of our sin. You're familiar with the Christmas card that says, 'If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, He would have sent an entertainer. But our greatest need was to be saved from our sins, and so God sent us a Savior.' The name Jesus tells us the reason He came to earth. 'Jesus' is the Greek form of the Hebrew name 'Jeshua' or 'Joshua' and it literally means, 'Yahweh (or God) is salvation.' And so the angel's announcement to Joseph, 'You are to give Him the Name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins' (verse 21). Isn't it incredible? The Son of God comes into the world, and His point of first contact with His people is not what's best about us, it's what's worst about us. When Jesus comes to us He doesn't meet us in our goodness, but in our badness, not in our strength, but in our weakness, not in our beauty, but in our ugliness, not in our riches, but in our poverty and need. He connects with us first at the point of our sin, which the holy God hates. That's the mercy, the grace, the love of God. That's incredible!"

We will discuss this passage further Sunday, as we see how the angel's announcement brought hope to the world and to each of us individually. Hope to see you then!

Scripture for Sunday, Nov. 21st: Philippians 4:5-7

Sermon: When We Are Thankful

"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

The word, "gentleness," is translated as "moderation" in other Bible versions. It means "reasonableness" or "yieldingness" when dealing with matters of personal rights. Thus, this verse says, "Let your willingness to be reasonable be part of your reputation." Or, as the Living Bible translates it: "Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do." The reason for such an attitude is found in the last part of the verse: "The Lord is near." As Christians, we don't need to make sure our "rights" are always respected - "the Lord is near" and because He is, there is a greater calling placed on our lives. That is a calling to bless others, sometimes at the expense of our own personal rights (see Matthew 5:43-48). "The Lord is near" and the time that we have before He comes we should use to the best of our ability to bless others in our lives.

During the Thanksgiving season, may you remember to be "reasonable" when dealing with your family and friends, and make blessing them a priority during this season. Love and care for others because "the Lord is near" and the time we have with them is truly short and fleeting.

This coming Sunday I will be speaking about what happens when we as Christians are thankful. I hope to see you then!

Scripture for Sunday, Nov. 14th: Luke 17:11-19

Sermon Title: Why We Should Be a Thankful People

"Now on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As He was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met Him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, 'Jesus, Master, have pity on us!' When He saw them, He said, 'Go, show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when He saw He was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, 'Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?' Then He said to him, ' Rise and go; your faith has made you well.'"

A Samaritan was what was often considered a half Hebrew. This was a person who was a descendant of a group of people who were not taken into captivity by the Assyrians and Babylonians. In fact, they helped to erect the temple when Zerubbabel led a group of captives back to Jerusalem to rebuild it (Ezra 4:2). By the time Jesus lived, the Samaritans were considered by other Israelites to be people to be shunned, and they attempted little to no association with them. This was primarily because the Samaritans did not accept the writings of the prophets and only believed the Torah (the Law) had spiritual authority. The Samaritans were also considered not to have "pure" Hebrew blood and thus their worship was thought to be contaminated.

So why would someone like this be the only one out of ten (the rest were probably Hebrews) to come back to thank Jesus for his healing? Perhaps it is because he felt he was even more undeserving of healing than the other nine. Though in truth none of the ten "deserved" to be healed and were healed by the grace of God, the Samaritan may have understood just how undeserving he was of this, and he was overflowing with gratitude (note verse 15, "he threw himself at Jesus' feet").

We, too, are much like the Samaritan - we are undeserving of God's grace and His work in our lives, and yet we receive it on a daily basis. And we, too, should respond with the same type of overflowing gratitude towards our Lord. This coming Sunday I will further discuss why we should be a thankful people as Christians. I hope to see you then!

Scripture for Sunday, Nov. 7th: Joshua 24:11-15

Sermon Title: What We Should Be Thankful For

"When you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I handed them over to you. I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove out before you the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards that you did not plant. Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Many of the Israelites believed that they were at the Promise Land because of their superior abilities or knowledge. Joshua reminds them that it was because of God and only God alone that they were able to overthrow their enemies and possess the Promise Land. Who were the enemies of the Israelites? They were the principal tribes of the region who ruled various areas of the Promise Land (Mesopotamia), usually with brute force. The tribes represent those areas of our lives which remain unconquered for God and under the influence of sin. We, like the Israelites, must decide whether we are going to allow sin to dominate our lives, trust in our own abilities to conquer sin or "serve the Lord" (v. 15). Read Deuteronomy 8:1-20 and I Corinthians 10:1-13 for further study.

This coming Sunday I will remind us that we should be thankful for what God has done for us, for what God has given us and our ability to believe. Sunday is also our Re-Commitment Sunday and Annual Business Meeting. And we will have a pot-luck dinner after the worship service with more of Dan Walk's beans! Hope to see you at this special time in the life of our church.