Sharing Christ Most Christians do not talk about church or the Gospel outside of church for fear of offending someone, so most people don’t know whether their neighbors attend church or not. While many Christians assume their neighbors attend a church somewhere, the fact is that most probably do not. If your neighbors attend church, their church may not provide fellowship and support and they may welcome friendship with other Christians, or their church may be too far away for them to participate in many church activities. If they do not attend church, they may be seeking a church but not know anyone who belongs to one providing an opportunity to invite them. Many of their neighbors have not had any contact with a church and do not have any reason to seek one. Those without Christ often live day to day, their only hope is to survive until tomorrow. They will not know that Christ can made a difference in their life until they see that it has made a difference in your life. As you visit your neighbors, you can witness to them about the benefits of attending church and may even get a chance to tell them about Christ.
Archive for the ‘Christmas Season’ Category
Second Sunday of Epiphany-Jan 15
When we read the Gospels, we often see the teachings and miss what Jesus does. If we read them closely, we will notice that He met needs as He went along. He healed the blind man, the crippled man, and the leper. He also fed the people. He did it primarily because He cared about them, but He also did it because He knew those needs distracted those people from hearing what He had to say. Until He broke down the barrier, they could not concentrate on what He was saying. By meeting the need, He not only broke down the barrier, He also built a bridge to that person. Those people passed many people as they traveled but those people were only nameless faces, soon forgotten. Jesus was someone they would not soon forget. He wasn’t a nameless face, He was the one that healed them or fed them. He was the one who cared when no one else did. We have become accustomed to the government providing all those services, but we forget that Christians met those needs first and only later did the government become involved. Now we have all but given up our ministry to the government and people worship the government instead of God. The prevailing feeling among many Christians today, as well as non-Christians is “The government is my shepherd, I shall not want, It maketh me lie down in a nice house, and It provideth me with good food.” Christ modeled the way we should live, unfortunately, all we like sheep have gone astray.
First Sunday of Epiphany-Feb 8
Reveal the Reason- When my wife and I were young, we would go out before Christmas to see the light displays. They depicted all kinds of things from Manger scenes to Santa Claus scenes and many others. Today, there are far fewer displays, and most are just lights. They are nice to look at but not nearly as interesting. Christmas is an excellent time to put up a display of the manger scene. Liberals have gotten them banned from a lot of public places, so it is up to churches and individual Christians to remind people why we celebrate Christmas. Children are curious. They may ask you, why do you have a display of people in the front yard? It gives you the opportunity to tell the Christmas story of how God sent Jesus to help us. Start planning now to be a witness for Christ next Christmas. Buy a commercial one or build your own. Christmas cards also give an opportunity to remind people why we celebrate. Now is a good time to get them because stores are getting rid of their Christmas stock at sale prices
Second Sunday of Christmastide-Jan 1
Those who feel forgotten. Christmas is a time when we remember that Christ came to His people to reveal the nature of God and to show us a better way to live; a way of peace and love. This should be a time when we should draw together as a family and draw together as a church family. We need to bring some light into their life just as Christ brought light into the world for us. We should seek those around us who will not know the joy of Christmas unless we share it with them We need to take time to reach out to those around us who may be alone, whose families are gone or far away, and have no friends close. By visiting, we remind them that we have not forgotten them and God has not forgotten them either. Some may be able to invite them to share Christmas with their family so they do not have to spend Christmas alone. There are also many who are burdened with heavy cares, or who have lost loved ones, or are shut-in and cannot get out, and let them know they are not forgotten and are not alone. We need to bring some light into their life just as Christ brought light into the world for us. Some will not share the joy of Christmas because of financial needs and cannot afford special gifts. The church can help brighten their Christmas. A growing number of Christians are deciding that instead of giving each other gifts they don’t need, they will put that money into buying gifts for those that might not otherwise receive gifts, or by supporting Christmas programs by organizations in their local area like The Salvation Army, or abroad like Samaritan’s Purse or simply giving gifts to neighbors they know who might not otherwise know the joy of Christmas. Christmas is also a great time to teach your kids the value of giving and the greatest gift they can give is themselves. Volunteer as a family to help a local church, social service agency, day care, hospital, or nursing home. Many have special programs at Christmas that need volunteers.
Video-Christmastide-intro
Since Christmas falls on Sunday this year, it is the first Sunday of Christmastide, as well as the first day of Christmastide.
Third Sunday of Advent-Dec 11
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.
Second Sunday of Advent-Dec 4
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.
Freedom of Religion-D-Y
In recent years, federal, State, and local governments have increasingly sought to remove God from the public square. Manger scenes have been barred from being on government property and the Ten Commandments has been barred from display in schools, and in court and legislative buildings under the pretext that it would appear to indorse religion. They also have tried to ban songs and displays of Christian themes while they allow Muslim and humanist religious songs and displays. They know and fear how much Christ can affect the culture. That doesn’t prevent churches and individual Christians from doing so on their own property or the private property of others, willing to let you use it. Christmas is a wonderful time to tell everyone the God has come in Christ to redeem His people. When I was young, a lot of people put up displays with all kinds of themes from Christian to Santa Claus, to just cartoon displays with a Christmas theme. After I was married, my wife and I used to go around at Christmas time to see them. Such displays are increasingly rare. More people are switching to simple light displays. My wife and I still go out to see them but it isn’t like it used to be. While a lot of people like to see light displays at Christmas, in response to the increasing darkness in our society, it provides only momentary relief. My wife and I have never had much money to spare because you don’t get rich ministering to the poor, but I have tried to have a display whenever possible. It has ranged from a small picture of a manger scene in my window facing the street, like I have now, to a 4×8 foot board out front displaying the manger scene, to a glassed-in porch covered on all three sides with a scene of the manger in front, flanked on one side by a scene of the wisemen, and on the other by a scene of the shepherds, to tell the Christmas story. We didn’t have lights because it would have run up the electric bill, but it was visible during the day. It gets people to wondering. Why have a display of a baby in a stable? What does it mean? It will get them to asking about the meaning of Christmas, and hopefully get them to research it. If you can include a sign or even a limited range radio broadcast like synchronized light displays have that include Christmas carols and an explanation of the Christmas story, it will help let them know that hope is more than a momentary thrill of seeing a nice light display, it resides in the arrival of Christ who has conquered the darkness that lies in men’s souls. Every year for over 14 years, our church has had a display of manger scenes that are donated by local residents. It includes over 500 displays and one year had over 700. People walk through the church and view the displays while hymns tell the Christmas story and church members are available to answer questions. Hundreds of people walk through the church viewing the displays. Many have no church connection but just like to see something interesting and are exposed to the real meaning of Christmas. For those interested in creating a manger scene, I have a booklet with outlines that can be used to make a coloring book for the kids, a picture of the manger scene to decorate the house, or can be used to cut out figures from black paper to cover a window that can be seen from the street, available on request.
First Sunday of Advent-Nov. 27
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.