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Archive for the ‘Advent’ Category

Fourth Sunday of Advent-Dec 24

21 Dec

Protect-(Ezekiel 34:15-16, 22-28, & II Kings 6:15-18) The good shepherd will watch over His flock and protect them. He will drive the wild beasts from among them so the sheep may dwell in peace and not be afraid. In the same way, God promised to drive the evil ones from among His people so they might live in peace. More important, His love will drive the hatred and bitterness from our hearts, which create divisions among us. While not all hatred and bitterness will be wiped out until Christ comes, it should not exist within the church if we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. There should be no  strife and bitterness among brothers and sisters in Christ who are filled with the love of Christ. Christmas should be a time when the church gathers to celebrate Christ’s love for us. As the result, the world will see the love we have for one another and desire that love. Unfortunately, few churches today exhibit that love openly.

 

 
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Third Sunday of Advent-Dec 17

13 Dec

Lead-(Psalm 23:3b)The Lord will lead us in the path of righteousness. He came to show us the way to live in peace with each other and will lead us like a shepherd leads his sheep. The good shepherd does not drive the sheep in front of Him but goes before them and they follow because they know His voice. In the same way, the Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of the believer  and Christ speaks through the Spirit. . If we allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us,  He will lead us in the way that Christ would have us go and we will follow because we recognize His voice.  Before Christ came, God sent the Prophets and the Scripture writers to show people how to live but man could not understand because he did not understand what love was, so Christ came to earth as a man to show us the way to live. By the same token, if  we follow Christ, others will see His love in us  and desire that love. You cannot force people to love each other but you can gently lead them and show them the way.

 

 
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Second Sunday of Advent-Dec 10

06 Dec

Feed-(Ezekial34:13-14, Matt. 14:13-21) God will gather His sheep on the mountains and feed them on the rich pastures. Everyone likes to eat, and it is a good time to fellowship but there are many who do not have the food they need. When 5000 people gathered on the mountainside to hear Jesus, He saw that they were hungry and had compassion on them and fed them. By the same token, there are many hungry among us. Christmas is a good time to provide food for them that they too might be able to enjoy the holiday, but we should not forget them when the holiday is over because hunger for many is a way of life which lasts all year long. Many communities have food banks that supply food to those in need and they need regular donations to be able to supply the need. Things like potatoes are sometimes on sale, buy one get one free. You might not be able to use the other bag before it spoils. Pick it up and donate it to the food bank, or someone you know struggling to make ends meet. Churches can have regular collections to donate. In addition, we should not just provide food but work to help them to provide for their own needs through employment counseling and job referrals. However, the Bible says “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. We should not only provide food, but the Good News of the Gospel as well.

 
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First Sunday of Advent-Dec 3

29 Nov

The Lord, Our Shepherd Gathers-(Isaiah 66:18) God refers to His people as sheep who have been scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. He said He would gather His people. Even if 99 out of 100 are safe, He will seek out the one that is lost until He finds it and brings it safely home. Christmas is a time when family and friends gather to celebrate the holiday. Those who do not know Christ celebrate Christmas because it is a time to get together as a family and get gifts and everyone likes to get gifts but those who know Christ have more reason to celebrate Christmas. It is a time when we remember that people, like sheep had gone astray. Christ came to gather His people and break down the barriers that divide us and prevent us from coming into Christ’s presence.  It is celebrated on the darkest day of the year to remind us that the Light has come into the midst of our darkness and we should seek opportunities to tell those who are still lost and wandering in darkness so that we  can help them return to God.

 

 
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Video-Intro to Advent

29 Nov

Christmas reminds us that Christ has come to redeem the World. Once a believer recognizes Christ as their Savior, they begin their journey to becoming a disciple. Advent begins the Christian calendar and should begin the church’s teaching that should lead them on that  journey.  Follow me through the seasons as we cover the major teachings of the church.

 

 
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Preparing For Christmas

13 Nov

Children are beginning to think about Christmas as stores are ramping up their Christmas advertising. Yet Christmas is more than getting presents. It is a celebration of when God gave us the greatest gift of all.  Advent is a time when we begin to prepare our hearts for celebrating when Christ came to save us and begins on December 3rd this year. I have an Advent booklet available to help parents teach their children about Christmas. It has a short Scripture for each day of Advent which helps to remind us of what Christmas is about and includes pictures that go with the daily Scriptures that the kids can color, cut out, and glue to construction paper. It provides a time the family can get together and learn from God’s Word and hopefully will become a regular family practice all year round. The pictures can be hung on the Christmas tree or on cords strung around the room. It is an electronic file that I would be glad to E-mail to you free and can be printed off. E-mail me at neighborhoodministriesnwoh@gmail.com and use heading “Advent booklet”.

 
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Fourth Sunday of Advent-Dec 18

15 Dec

Hope For Our Community-  Because Christ lives, there is hope for our community. While liberal proponents complain that churches provide no benefit to the community and merely take up valuable space that could be used by tax paying businesses, churches provide a valuable resource for the community. While many liberal churches now support abortion and Gay privileges, Bible believing churches continue to uphold the value of life, the value of the rule of law, the value of the family, and the value of the individual. Bible-believing parents often have stable marriages which provide consistent training to their children in moral living which would not exist if the churches did not exist, since there are no other organizations in our society that promotes those values on the scale that the church and other religious based organizations do. Churches provide support for non-government social service agencies which provide invaluable help to those struggling which goes far beyond the sterile monetary support they get from government agencies. We are seeing the effects of the loss of Christian values in our society as killing increases, lawlessness increases, families crumble, and suicide increases. As churches are increasingly silenced, it will only get worse.

 
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Third Sunday of Advent-Dec 11

08 Dec

Hope for Our Family-Because Christ lives there is hope for our families. Liberal policies discourage long term commitments, especially marriage. As a result, many people never marry and many marriages end in divorce. Those who are divorced or don’t marry will often float from one relationship to another. As a result, many children grow up with unstable parenting. They may have a series of fathers, a series of mothers, or a series of both. As a result, they are subjected to a variety of values and training leaving them confused about what is right and wrong. It also leaves them subject to neglect and abuse by adult figures who don’t care about the children because they don’t plan on staying very long. In addition, with no incentive to work out problems, the adults quarrel frequently and the children are often used as pawns in their quarrels which is very destructive. On the other hand, two parents, transformed by the love of God will be committed to the marriage for the long run providing consistent training guided by Biblical principles and will be determined to raise their children to care about each other and to respect each other.

 
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Second Sunday of Advent-Dec 4

05 Dec

 Hope for Ourself-Because Christ lives, there is hope for us. Since Christ is interceding for us, we can have hope of eventual relief from our trials and receive eternal rest. Since we also have the Holy Spirit within us to teach us and guide us, we do not have to face our trials and temptations alone and can rise above them. In addition, Christ has created the church to encourage us and help us as we go through trials. While God is with us, it is sometimes hard to feel His presence and we need to see His presence in the flesh to let us know that we are not alone.

 

 
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First Sunday of Advent-Nov. 27

29 Nov

First Sunday- God With Us-Christmas reminds us that Jesus left heaven and came to earth to save us. (He didn’t have to, He did it for us) We have hope because He knows our trials. He lived among us and experienced all the temptations we faced, but did not sin. He suffered and died for our sins, setting us free from the power of sin and death so that we can break free of our sin. He rose from the grave and returned to heaven to intercede on our behalf. While we do have to suffer the consequences of our sin, we do not have to continue to suffer for our sins. Afterward, He did not leave us alone, He sent the Holy Spirit to teach us, to guide us, and to strengthen us. God is not somebody far away who doesn’t know what we face. He came down from heaven and dwells with us, an ever-present help in time of need.

 
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