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Posts Tagged ‘holidays’

Meaning of Eastertide-video

11 Apr

 

Easter Sunday-April 9

05 Apr

Easter Sunday Color is White symbolizing the purity of Christ and the new believer, washed in the blood of Christ. Easter was an important time for baptism in the early church because it celebrates the death and resurrection of Christ and reenacts the new believer’s death and resurrection in Christ. It is a new beginning, washed in the blood of Christ, but it is not the end. That new life does not come full blown and complete. We must begin to grow into what Christ wants for us, just as a child grows to maturity.

 

 

Holy Week-intro video

28 Mar

Holy week begins Sunday April 2 with Palm Sunday.

 

Fourth Sunday of Lent-Mar 19

16 Mar

Matt. 6: 19-21- True Treasure- The Scriptures say, “Don’t lay up treasures for yourself on earth where moth and rust consume and thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves can not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also. Why lay up treasures that won’t last (material goods), when you can stockpile treasures that will last forever (souls saved). Our society measures people by the size of their bank account, which may disappear in an instant but God measures us by our devotion to serving Him. Many Christians will find themselves paupers in heaven because they did not lay up treasures for eternity. You can not take what you gather on earth with you when you go, but you can send treasure ahead for when you get there.

 

 

First Sunday of Lent-Feb 26

22 Feb

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God

 

 
 

Lent Intro-Video-Feb 22

17 Feb

Ash Wednesday is this coming Wednesday and will kick off Lent.

 

Third Sunday of Epiphany-Feb 22

19 Jan

Luke 10:29-37 Get To Know Our Neighbors-One of the greatest problems to spreading the Gospel in America is the lack of contact between Christians and non-Christians. Even in settled neighborhoods where people own their homes, there is often little contact beyond polite waves over the fence and unfortunately, Christians are caught up in it as well. The best way to start is have members visit their neighbors to get to know them. Visiting one a week is not taxing but in five weeks will enable them to get to know the five families around them. We need to make deliberate efforts to spend time with our neighbors and get to know them. Visit them and take them cookies or a cake or invite them over for a backyard Bar B Q to allow time to get to know them. Do they go to church, if so where? Do they have family nearby to help in times of need? Are there needs the church family can help with? We will not know unless we get to know them. Others may have needs and not know who to turn to. Establishing contact enables you to help them find solutions to their needs. Many may not have needs when you visit, but as you maintain contact with the neighbors through periodic visits, the neighbors may experience situations they cannot handle and may turn to you for help. Since many families are isolated today and have no family nearby, a sickness, loss of job, or even death may require more resources than they can muster and provide an opportunity for the church to show Christ’s love. As Christ points out, our neighbors include more than just those who live around us.  They are people we interact with every day at school, at work, and as we shop. We often see them but rarely take the time to get to know them.

 

 

Second Sunday of Epiphany-Jan 15

11 Jan

 

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

04 Jan

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

 

 

Meaning of Epiphany-Video-Jan 6

04 Jan