Do Something!
Waiting on the Lord…
Is not an excuse for inaction…
While your perfect situation
Your dream job
Your Dream
Is awaiting heavenly approval
God’s blessing
Do SOMETHING!
Volunteer in the nursery…yes men I mean YOU!
Do SOMETHING!
Only drink water for two weeks and send the money you would have spent on beverages to Living Water International.
Do SOMETHING!
Might God be waiting on us
To just try to be obedient
Loving others and showing compassion
Before our dreams are realized
Or ChAnGeD!
1 John 3:18 “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth.”
Your Adoption Story – The Birth of Jesus the Messiah
All of us, who have been regenerated through Jesus, have been adopted. Paul explains to the Romans, “15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.s Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”” We were chosen not because we deserved to be objects of God’s love but while we were wicked, disobedient, rebellious, and ungrateful brats. Abba chose us by choosing to send his Son…His glorious, wonderful, powerful, humble, gentle, wise, perfect, holy…Son.
The Birth of Jesus
1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire.2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.)3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census.4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee.5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
The Shepherds and Angels
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified,10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished,19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
A Reply To Those People | Shaun Groves
A Reply To Those People | Shaun Groves
A Reply To Those People
I’ve always ignored those people: The ones who get very upset at Target this time of year and decide to e-mail me and the rest of their address book about it. This year, to those people, I would now like to preemptively say Simmer down. And also…
There was a time in American history when Christians could be counted on to get angry about the right stuff – the stuff that seems to have made Jesus angry. In the 1920s, for instance, when Saint Nick became the patron saint of American consumerism, most Christians in this country opposed the holiday because of its inextricable connection to materialism and self-indulgence.
In 1931, the New York Times surveyed Christmas sermons and found that they held to one main theme: “the suggestion that Christmas could not survive if Christ were thrust into the background by materialism.” One sermon called the days leading up to Christmas, commonly called “Advent” by Christians, nothing but a “profit-seeking period.”
Fast forward to 2005. The American Family Association spearheaded a boycott of Target because the retailer wished shoppers a “Happy Holiday” instead of a “Merry Christmas.” The AFA wanted to make sure all our self-indulgence and materialism was being carried out in Jesus’ name.
Bizarre.
Skye Jethani, in his book The Divine Commodity, points out the nuttiness and inconsistency of those people better than I can:
In less than a century, Christians have gone from opposing over-consumption at Christmas to demanding it be done in Christ’s name alone. The explanation may be in the numbers. Two thirds of the U.S. economy is based on consumer spending, and 50-75 percent of most retailers’ annual profits are generated during December. This makes the weeks before Christmas the high holy days of consumerism. If Christians engaged in the Advent season as they did in generations past, by modeling moderation and self-denial or by ignoring the holiday altogether, it would likely destroy the economy. To ensure economic survival, consumers are stirred into a buying frenzy every winter with the goal of making this year’s shopping season more prosperous than the last. Santa Claus has been the mascot of this manipulation since the early twentieth century, but if more Christians have their way the season of shopping will someday be inaugurated by the appearance of Jesus Christ at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Feel free to copy and paste this post as a reply to the angry e-mails you’re sure to receive this month. My gift to you. Merry Christmas.
I couldn’t agree more! You?
