Since Christmas falls on Sunday this year, it is the first Sunday of Christmastide, as well as the first day of Christmastide.
Posts Tagged ‘Christmas Season’
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.
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.
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.
Freedom of Religion-D-Y
04
Dec
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
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.
Video-study course-Christian Celebrations-promo
22
Jun
I have a course on Basic Christian Beliefs for new Christians and as a refresher for long-time Christians, which is posted on Udemy.
It is available by posting the following link in your browser.
https://www.udemy.com/course/christian-celebrations/?referralCode=D706C0B4E96819B18699
Third Sunday of Epiphany-B
20
Jan
With the current epidemic, many schools are going to online teaching, but many students lack adequate technology to work from home and may not have an environment conducive to learning if there are pre-school children in the home or other barriers to studying. In addition, they may not have parental support. Many kids need a place to study, adequate technology, and supportive supervision, which churches can supply. Schools can sometimes help by printing off lessons, as well as helping with equipment for students to work on online classes. In addition, some children may not be able to attend school because of illness or disability and need tutoring in their home. Often subjects are elementary level and require only a high school education. Others in high school and college may need college level education in the subject. Some schools have paid tutoring positions open.
Third Sunday of Epiphany-Jan 23-A
20
Jan
Tutoring-A- Many of our public schools have a poor record of teaching and many students are failing. While there are many dedicated Christian teachers in the public schools, they are often hampered by class size and administrative demands. Teachers rarely have time to spend helping students who are struggling. Many kids also fall behind in school because their parents may not be able to help them because their schools failed to help them when they fell behind. In addition, immigrants entering the U.S. may have only a minor grasp of English. Many students have learning disabilities, but far more are merely poorly motivated due to their home situation and lack of encouragement at school. Sterile public classrooms often teach by memorization and fail to encourage students to explore the wonders and majesty of God’s creation. All need assistance to help them. While many schools offer tutoring, many of them are not adequate. Volunteer tutors are needed for tutoring programs that can provide one-on-one assistance that teachers don’t have time for. Volunteers can also show that someone cares and can share a love of learning. Christian school students are often well ahead of public school students and many failing public school students tutored by caring Christian tutors often surpass their classmates. Tutoring can take place at school, after school, or in local churches.