Scripture for Jan 1st: Jonah 1:1-5

Sermon Title: Six Signs We Need To Return To God

“The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD. Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.”

Sin is bad news. That’s one of the main messages from the book of Jonah. Most people remember this book because of the story about how Jonah got himself stuck inside the belly of the whale. But most don’t remember why he was there – it was because he disobeyed God. Dr. David Jeremiah writes the following about sin (disobedience to God) and its consequences:

“When we walk away from the revealed will of God, there’s always a price to pay, “for the wages of sin is death …” (Romans 6:23). Wages aren’t paid in one lump sum; they are paid in little increments throughout our lives and then we get the final payment at death. Sin pays, all right, and its wages are not what the sinner would want.”

There are consequences for disobeying God and Jonah suffered those consequences. But for whatever reason, we often think that those consequences don’t apply to us - we deceive ourselves into believing that we can do whatever we want and it will be okay. We tell ourselves that nothing will happen. The story of Jonah reminds us that sin always has consequences and ultimately we will experience them.

On Sunday, we will talk more about the consequences of sin as we begin a new sermon series entitled, “Returning to God: Lessons From Jonah.” What a better way to start the new year than in church? Hope to see you there!

Scripture for Dec 25th: Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon Title: Christ Has Come!

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.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Who did Christ come for? The easy answer is that He came for all of us. John 3:16 makes it clear that “God so loved the world” that He sent Christ to be our Savior. The “world” is offered salvation through Christ. However, we also know that not all the world receives Christ, and some outright reject Him. Because of this, some theologians say that Christ came just for the “elected” or those who actually receive Christ as Savior.

But we can also say that Christ came for each of us individually and personally. He left the heavens and took the form of a human for “me.” It was an act of grace and love that is extended to each person, individually, and not just corporately.

This is the true message of Christmas – that God loves each of us so much that He came. For us. Each of us, individually. Yes, He came for me. And for you. And because of this, we can truly say “Merry Christmas”! I hope you will take time in your busy holiday schedule to worship with us this coming Sunday and celebrate true message of Christmas!

Scripture for Dec 11th: Luke 2:1-7

Sermon Title: Christmas Time Is For Hope

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Pastor Lloyd Ogilvie writes the following about the story of Christ’s birth: “John Lennon once said of the Beatles, the phenomenal group of musicians of the sixties and seventies of which he was a part, that they were more popular than Jesus. That may have been so, but they were not and are not better-known. Hundreds of millions of people, even those in non-Christian lands, know the events and details of Jesus’ life and death and Resurrection. The details are universal.”

We will talk about this universally known story that has been retold countless of times over the centuries on Sunday, focusing on the hope that it provides our world and, in particular, our own personal lives, as we continue our sermon series, “Good Times.” Hope to see you then!

Scripture for Dec 4th: Luke 1:59-66

Sermon Title: Christmas is For Giving

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

I like receiving Christmas presents. I especially like receiving presents from Nancy, my wife, because she seems to get me exactly what I need, though I don’t always realize it. For example, one year she got me a new extra large coffee mug because I was complaining how small our coffee cups were. Now that’s something I would have never thought about getting for myself, but Nancy knew that it was something I would use and appreciate.

God’s gifts are like that. We may not know exactly what we need from God, but He always gives to us we really need from Him. In fact, we often don’t even know what to pray for. Romans 8:26 tells us, “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Our God knows us better than we know ourselves – He gives us what we need, when we need it.

Christmas reminds us of this. It tells us that God had a plan to save humanity and that plan worked through the affairs of humans through the centuries and eventually through the lives of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Christmas also reminds us that God not only knows us, but He also loved us so much that He gave His only Son to become human, so that through His perfect life and death we could have the forgiveness of our sins and a relationship with God the Father. This is the greatest gift we could be provided and offered. This coming Sunday we will talk about receiving this gift as we continue the sermon series, “Good Times.” Hope to see you then!

Nov. 23rd: What I Am Excited About!

Today the local Girard elementary school day ended at 11:15 a.m. In an effort to provide kids a hot lunch and something to do, we offered a free lunch and movie. 25 of them came! The food was great and the movie was very exciting (Cars 2). Many of the parents expressed great appreciation for this event. We hope to offer more of these lunches and movies on early school days as the resources and volunteers allow us to do it.

Scripture for Nov 27th: Luke 1:39-45

Sermon Title: Christmas Is A Time For Family

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

So the Christmas season is once again upon us and I am sure that it will pass very quickly. With all the family activities, special parties, gatherings, and assorted "busyness," Christmas will be here and gone quicker than most of us realize. And with it are the opportunities to spend quality time with our loved ones. Notice that the text above tells us that Elizabeth and Mary spent time together and they blessed each other because of it. It was through being together that they were able to declare God's truth and worship God in a powerful way. They could have experienced God apart from each other, but by coming together God was met in such a manner that it blessed generations after them. God can also impact our families in such a way as we meet with them. And the truth is our families are more blessed by the time we can give them than the presents we buy them. Thus, Christmas is more than giving presents to our loved ones - it is the giving of our time. And through that gift, we can express the love of God that transforms lives.

This coming Sunday we will talk more about how our families are benefited by the time we spend with them as we begin a new sermon series for the Christmas season, "Good Times." I hope to see you then!

Week of Nov. 14th: What I Am Excited About!

Our children's ministry, TeamKID, collect supplies to fill 23 shoeboxes for the ministry, Operation Christmas Child. These shoeboxes filled with hygiene items and gifts will be going to needy children overseas. Over $100 was also raised to pay for shipping. The TeamKID ministry had lots of help from some super adults who gave of their resources and time to make this happen. Pray for the shoeboxes, that God will use each of them to bless each child who receives one, and that many will come to know Christ as Savior through this ministry of love.

Scripture for Nov. 20th: Psalm 100:4,5

Sermon Title: Appreciating God

1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. 5 For the LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

There are some things that irritate me to no end – traffic; looking for a trash bag and realizing that there are no more; waiting for the NBA season to start and still waiting…(there should be a law that prevents millionaire basketball players from striking!). I also have a short fuse with people who commit to doing things and then don’t show up. I often wonder, why do people volunteer and then don’t follow through? Wouldn’t be better to NOT say that you are going to do something instead of having no follow-thru? I guess why this bothers me so much is because I have a bad habit of doing the same thing. I have the best of intentions when I volunteer, but often circumstances get in the way and then I don’t carry out my own commitments. As I get older, I’m breaking this habit, but I’m still not always faithful to carry out my commitments (or to remember them!).

God doesn’t have this problem. The psalmist reminds us of this, as he says, “His faithfulness continues to all generations.” God doesn’t forget us; He doesn’t work for us one day and then against us another day. There is no “falling out of love” with God; He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His grace and mercy continues to be extended to us every day of our lives. Of all the things that I am so very thankful for, I am most thankful for God’s faithfulness – He won’t leave me, He won’t so loving me and He won’t become “unfaithful.” Maybe that is what the writer of this hymn was thinking when he wrote this song:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God, my Father; There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest no; Thy compassions, they fail not. As Thou has been Thou forever wilt be. Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

This coming Sunday we will talk about what we see when we are in fellowship with God – we see His desire to give us joy, His love that never changes, and His great faithfulness. As we see God for Who He really is, we can be truly thankful – in spite of whatever our circumstance may be. Hope to see you Sunday!

His compassions never fail. They are new every morning.
Lamentations 3:22-23