This is the message for Christmas Day. I don’t really have a title for this message. I talked about Joseph on Christmas Eve. This message focuses in on Mary. Mary was given a difficult burden to bear. But ultimately it was God’s burden. And God help her to bear it. In the end it was a beautiful burden to bear.
The text for this message is Luke 1:26-38.
On Christmas Eve we celebrate the birth of Jesus our Savior. One very important person in the events of Christmas is the often forgotten Joseph. In this message we look at how God used Joseph to carry out his plan of salvation and how he uses us as well. The text for this message is Matthew 1:18-25.
During part of this message there is a video that is shown. You can see the video in my last post.
We apologize for the poor audio in this recording. We will try our best to improve future recordings.
Today is the fourth and final message in our Advent series – “He Will Be Called.” We have been looking at the 4 names given to Jesus is Isaiah 9:6. You can follow the links to previous messages below:
November 27: Wonderful Counselor December 4: Mighty God December 11: Everlasting Father December 18: Prince of Peace
Join us on Christmas Eve at Lord of Life at 5pm or 7pm for a special Christmas message: He Will Be Called Jesus!
For to us a child is born . . . and he will be called Everlasting Father. Isaiah 9:6
God is eternal. He is without beginning or end. He is the Alpha and Omega. The first and the last. He is uncreated before there was time.
Wow! That is amazing. But there is something that is important to realize. While God is eternal, you also were created as an eternal being. You were created for eternity. You were created for more than just this life on this earth.
The time we spend on this earth is so short and minuscule compared to the span of eternity. It is impossible to put into human terms. If eternity were represented by a 24 hour day, in comparison your life on this earth would be represented by less than 1 second. Of course this is an imperfect example because a day has a beginning and an end. Eternity has no such thing.
The point is we are so focused on our life on earth we miss the eternal perspective that God gives to us through Jesus. Because of Jesus we have so very much more to live for. An eternal perspective changes so much.
An eternal perspective will help us endure hardship and difficulty. Psalm 30:5 says, “Weeping may last through the night but joy comes in the morning.” I can much easier face suffering knowing there is an end in sight.
An eternal perspective will help us to order our priorities. It will change the way we spend our time. It will change the lessons we hope to instill in our children. It will change the way we spend our money. What is important to us when don’t see past our life on earth will be very different to what is important to us when we recognize that there is a long eternity ahead. The choices we make today will greatly impact that eternity.
An eternal perspective will help us to worship God. We recognize that the only reason we can talk about an eternity apart from the suffering of hell is because Jesus lived, died, and rose again from the dead. My eternity was changed because of him. He saved more than just my life, he saved my eternity. I have all the reason in the world to honor him with everything I’ve got.
Merry Christmas all! Look forward to seeing you at Christmas Eve Worship at 5pm and 7pm. Christmas Day worship is 9:15am.
Today is the third message in our Advent series – “He Will Be Called.” We will be looking at the 4 names given to Jesus is Isaiah 9:6. You can see the schedule below:
November 27: Wonderful Counselor December 4: Mighty God December 11: Everlasting Father December 18: Prince of Peace
Today is the second message in our Advent message series – He Will Be Called We will be looking at the 4 names given to Jesus is Isaiah 9:6. You can see the schedule below:
November 27: Wonderful Counselor December 4: Mighty God December 11: Everlasting Father December 18: Prince of Peace
Happy Advent! Today we kick off a new message series in preparation for the coming King. the new message series is “He Will Be Called.” We will be looking at the 4 names given to Jesus is Isaiah 9:6. You can see the schedule below:
November 27: Wonderful Counselor December 4: Mighty God December 11: Everlasting Father December 18: Prince of Peace
It has been a great joy to see the wonderful ways in which Lord of Life has reached out to others during this last week. On Saturday we had 100+ volunteers visit the Illinois Youth Center just down the road. We sang Christmas Songs, talked about Jesus, and just spent time together with the boys.
Then on Sunday we heard from the Quilters of the King group that had made 26 quilts for mothers and children in crisis. We also heard how they will begin making dresses for children in Haiti. God has blessed the effort!
If that was not enough, the Lord of Life Executive Committee and Elders hosted our third annual benevolence brunch. The funds raised during the brunch will go to support Lord of Life families in need. More than $4300 was raised. Over the next couple of weeks we want to make sure these funds are distributed. So if you are in need of some financial assistance or you know of a family that is, please let me know, so that we can respond.
Finally, this morning we had a handful of volunteers and myself take the 200 dozen or so left over cookies from the IYC visit to the Elburn and LaFox train stations to distribute to the commuters getting on the train. It was a lot of fun to watch the reactions of the people. They would walk up to the train half asleep in the cold. You would then greet them with Merry Christmas while handing them a bag of cookies. The next thing you would see would be a big smile come across their face.
There was one interaction in particular I remember. There was one lady who was running to the train just as it was about to leave. This was the first time she had ever rode on the train. She did not realize you needed to have exact change for the parking meter. It was only a $1.25, but she did not have any change. She came up to me and asked if they would give her a ticket or if they would tow her car. I told her I didn’t really know and that I did not regularly ride the train myself. In the meantime the train was just about to leave. I told her not to worry. I wished her a Merry Christmas and told her to get on the train. We would take care of her parking meter. I did not know this lady or this story, but I would like to think we were there for such a time as this. That God had put us there at that moment to be a blessing to her.
These are the things that get me excited. Because this is the church in action. Many of us participate in church with the goal of self-improvement. We come with the mindset that if we can take something away from the church service or the sermon, then we are ahead of the game.
But we must recognize our Christian faith is not centered on self. It is centered on Jesus. So many years ago Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but he was not born so the shepherds and the wise men would come worship and adore him. He was born so that he might die on a cross. He was born so that he might fully give of himself. Living as his followers, our Christian faith is not about what we can get out of it, but what we can give from it.
Jesus he is the reason for the season. He is the reason to die to self and live for others. For we are to live, this is the only way to live. Be the blessing! I would challenge you to consider what ways you can reach out to your neighbors over the next few days and weeks and to love them unconditionally without expecting anything in return. Let the Lord be your reward. You be the blessing!