I had opportunity to spend four days in the nation's capital this past week.  At one point I was with a small group of young men and ladies and with my daughter Olivia as we explored the Smithsonian Museum of American History.  We were amused to see the original Kermit the Frog and the costume of Cat Woman from the Adam West Batman T.V. series. But there was one room that we were really excited to walk into - the Star Spangled Banner exibit. We walked into a darkened alley of history and pictures and made our way to the back of the room which was almost totally dark.

i imagine that for some church-going people, having Christmas on Sunday morn brought some conflict to our hearts. All the tradition of Christmas and Christmas Eve and all the hustle and bustle around on the actual day - my goodness, who has time for church on a Christmas morning.

 

It just so happens every once in a while that our dearly beloved Christmas falls upon a Sunday as it did this year.  I was given the privelege of preaching both the Christmas Eve homily and the Christmas morning sermon.

TIME TICKS ON...

IT IS AMAZING, THIS LIFE OF OURS.

IT IS SO INTRICATE AND YET IN SO MANY WAYS, SO HAPHAZARD.

 

TIME BRINGS THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF EMOTION, SPIRITUAL AWARENESS, AND FRIENDSHIP.

 

WITH EACH EBB AND FLOW OF LIFE, WE MUST LOOK TO THE HEAVENS FOR OUR SOURCE OF STRENGTH AND SUPPORT.

 

WITH EACH EBB AND FLOW WE MUST DIRECT OUR ATTENTIONS INWARDLY TO SENSE WHAT IT IS THAT WE ARE TO LEARN AND WHAT IT IS THAT WE HAVE MISSED AND THEREFORE, MESSED UP

 

THIS IS NOT TO CHASTISE OURSELVES SO MUCH AS IT IS KEEP OUR BEARINGS CORRECTLY POINTED.

THE YEAR OF 2011 IS DRAWING TO A CLOSE SOON. WE HAVE ENTERED THE FINAL QUARTER OF THE YEAR - AND WHAT A YEAR IT HAS BEEN. SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO SAY THAT TO MAKE YOURSELF BETTER; SOMETIMES YOU STATE THAT THINGS ARE GOOD WHEN THEY ARE JUST GETTING BY.

 

BUT THIS YEAR HAS BEEN AND CONTINUES TO BE SPECIAL. WE HAVE LEADERSHIP IN THE VOLUNTEER RANKS THAT ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD.  WE HONESTLY HAVE NEVER HAD LEADERS SO DEVOTED AND CONSISTENT AS THIS.  AND WE CONTINUE TO BUILD AND GROW OUR TEAM.

To truly know Christ is to fall in love with Him.

In following, to truly love Him means your life is different than it was before knowing Him. Let me righ off state that I am not here to suggest I know exactly how you are going to look more like Jesus. I think that to go down that line is to head straight into legalism. But to assume that you can know and love Jesus and not look anything or act anything like Him is too liberal a thought as well.

 

Philippians 1:6 states that the work going on is a progress and continues till we see Him face to face in Heaven.

The concept of meekness is what, I believe, set David apart as the Man after God's own heart.  No other word was used by Jesus to describe himself. It reflects a servant's attitude (Phil. 2) who is willing to forego any position to accomplish what the master desires.  It is a relinquishing of position and rights and is a mandatory character trait if you are going to look for a life like the Master's. Forgiveness flows from meekness. And so does confidence, authority and power.

 

Be God's,

So often as parents we state that we have done as much as we can to bring our children up in the way that they should go. And so, when things go badly with the behavior of our children we feel we have an escape from the responsibility of what our children do. Somehow, the fact that we have tried so hard to bring our children to Christ and to walk in Christ allows us to feel unresponsible for what our children do.  But does that make sense? Let's think this through as spiritual people. Does it make sense that the child or student who has been given to me to raise up and to disciple, is anything more than what I and my spouse have poured into him?

It is typical in today's world to defend your poor choices to the end or to blame them on all kinds of other people around you or to refuse to see that your sin was a sin at all.  We have seen some wonderfully contrite hearts at X2 in recent days. God is greatly at work in the lives of some students who certainly did some bad choosing.  It is not for us to get them to feel badly. For some who knew they were walking down a road that was not right and never spoke up, the responsibility hangs just as heavily.

My dear child, I love to just think about you. I adore you and consider

you as one of the fondest items that flow across my day's thoughts. To say you are special does not go far enough. My life is filled with all these images of how you and I have been together, played together, explored together, seen God in nature and loved life together.

 

Oh, the laughter we share. What glorious moments have filled my days since the moment you were born. I cherish the times you grab my hand unannounced or scratch my head with tenderness.

This week is SnowReach - that fun old time that we bounce into the cold wilderness of Chautauqua Hills and enjoy late evenings (and late mornings) of games and Bible study. A little indoor rugby bball is alway fun and the on-going challenge of signs and mafia is always a wonder to behold.

 

for those who are attending don't forget:

a 2 liter soda

a bag of chips to share

a sleeping bag

pack in a small duffle bag

a flash light would be good

a Bible

a pen and notebook

winter clothes - it is still very much winter up there