Advent Express: Rediscovering the first gift of Christmas

Christmas is coming.  Without question it is a special time of year.  Somehow, Christmas waves a magic wand over this world and everything is softer and more beautiful.  It’s a season full of songs, lights and nostalgia.

And while you and your family will experience many gifts this Christmas, sometimes the best gifts are the things that we can’t touch or even see.  

We believe that most of the time the greatest gift we can give is not a present … but our presence.  So with that in mind the Next Generation Staff has been working and dreaming of a way to help you and your family be present together.

Even the word “Advent” is connected to the idea of ‘presence’, signifying the arrival of the most important person in all of human history, Jesus.  So during this Advent Season we would like to provide you and your family a gift and a tool to help you be more present with Him and with each other.

The ‘tool’ is our version of an Advent calendar; it’s called “The Advent Express”.  This gift is a kit that will help you and your family rediscover the first gift of Christmas, with the help of the popular Christmas book and movie, The Polar Express.

For each day of Advent (November 29-December 24) there is an envelope with instructions for a daily activity.  The activities will help you and your family experience the themes of Advent: joy, love, hope and peace, in a whole new way this year.

If you are interested in this year’s Advent Calendar for your family, contact the church office (765-778-2156) for more details.

One Thousand Gifts

We have so much to be thankful and grateful for.Our problem is that all too often we forget that truth.  Too many times what occupies our minds are the things that aren’t going well, the drama that encircles us and the worry that consumes our souls.

But the truth is we all have a lot to be thankful for.

In 2013, I set out to read 100 books cover to cover in a year.  It was a fun project and I really enjoyed it.  During that project I found myself finding new authors and branching out and reading books that I would have normally passed by.

If you asked me to list the 100 books I read that year I would struggle to name many of them, but one that would bubble to the surface of my memory immediately would be Ann Voskamp’s “One Thousand Gifts”.   

At the time Ann was a blogger and stay at home mom and she dared to ask the question, “How do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama, and daily duties?  What does the Christ-life really look like when your days are gritty, long – and sometimes even dark?  How is God even there?”

So Voskamp set out to answer the question by listing out all of the things she was thankful and grateful for each day.  It didn’t matter how little or large the blessings were, she wanted to make sure that she didn’t miss anything that God had sent her way.

I found this book to be extremely convicting and challenging.  It really opened me up to a different way of looking at my word, capturing the beauty of each moment, and little by little letting go of the frustrations and irritations that seemed to drain the life from me.

As we approach this season of Thanksgiving and gift giving, I challenge you to start making a list of all the blessing that God as put in your life.  You might be surprised how little time it could take you to get to ‘one thousand gifts’.

We have a lot to be thankful for and I plan on spending more of my time embracing each gift that God has blessed me with.

I hope and pray that you will be able to count your gifts and see how great God really is, discovering gratitude and thankfulness in every moment.

Beacons in the Night

“Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.”  How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.”-James 4:13-14

Jesus once told a story about a rich man whose land yielded an abundant harvest.  The man so excited about what he had thought to himself, “I have no place to store these crops; I know what I’ll do.  I will build bigger barns to store all of my grain … then I’ll have plenty of grain for years and years and years.”  But little did this man know that that very night his life would be taken from him.

Jesus told this story because he wanted us to know that life is precious and that the life we have is fleeting.  It’s not worth wasting or squandering on things that don’t matter.  It’s like the fog or a mist, here one second but gone the next.  And while Jesus reminds us of this truth, it something that we often forget until we are forced to come face to face with the reality that this life can be all too brief.

This week we have all come once again face to face with that reality.  And while we change our profile pics, hold our children tighter, and #PrayforParis we are reminded once again that we should count our days; because each day counts.

So how do we respond to a world where there is such pain and hurt and brokenness?  What do we do about a pregnant Pastor’s wife who is murdered during a home invasion?  How do we cope with the suicide of student inside the walls of our schools?  How do we respond to the family who has lost their mother years too early to yet another battle with breast cancer?  What can we say to bring comfort to those who have lost loved ones to terror?  How can we continue in the middle of all this darkness?

Honestly, I’m not sure I have a great answer.  Its times like these that I am at a loss for words.  It’s times like these that I believe, as scripture teaches, God’s Spirit cries out on our behalf.  Because when we come face to face with the darkness that is present in our world the only thing that makes any sense is the groaning of the soul.

And yet as Christians, if we have learned anything about our God it is that even in the darkest hour there is still hope; that even in the midst of great injustice and tragedy that our God is still at work; that even in the darkness there is light.

It was in the beginning while the earth was formless and void, while chaos ruled, and while darkness reigned that God first brought light into the world.  And it’s no different today.  He still is looking to bring light into this dark world.

So how do we respond to this incredible darkness that we face?  How do we overcome all of the pain?   How can we make sense of any of these tragedies?

We become the light that God has called us to be.  We become “beacons in the night”.

Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.  A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see … your Father in heaven.”

We were made to be light.

God first spoke light into existence, bringing order to chaos and pushing away the darkness.  Then he created humans and put his eternal light in us.  He created us to be beacons in the night, a refuge for those who are hurting, a pillar to remain constant in the storm. 

So how can you respond to this darkness ?  It’s simple really.

Be the light.

Wherever you can.  However you can.  Push back the darkness.   Become a beacon in the night.

The Struggle is Real

Genesis 32:22-28

²² During the night Jacob got up and took his family and his servants and crossed the Jabbok River with them. ²³ After taking them to the other side, he also sent over all his possessions, and then returned to camp.  ²⁴ This left Jacob all alone, late into the night a man snuck into the camp and wrestled with Jacob until the dawn began to break. ²⁵ When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷ “What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.” ²⁸ “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with men and have won.”

Whenever you read in the scriptures that someone’s name changes … it signifies something huge.  It’s like God is waving a giant flag saying … pay attention – this is important – something big is happening here.

Before his name was Israel – before he struggled with God – his name was Jacob.  And his name meant deceiver … and that’s exactly what he was.  If you trace back Jacob’s story – deception was a huge part of how his life played out. 

But in Genesis 32, as God is about to bring Jacob back and restore him – as He is preparing Jacob to be the leader of a nation – of God’s people – redeeming and keeping the promise He made to Abraham – there is one thing that is left to do and that is to change Jacob’s name.

He no longer will be known as the deceiver … now he will be known as “the struggler”

The Struggler ISRAEL

As God was renaming Jacob he was also giving a name for His people – they would be known as the ISRAELITES – or the people who struggle with God.

And while that’s name you probably wouldn’t choose for yourself – it is a fitting name.  The people who struggle with God.

The people who struggle to know God – the people who struggle to find God – the people who wrestle and ebb and flow in their relationship with God.

The Struggler ISRAEL

The Struggle is real.

Things are never as easy as we want and rarely as easy as we expect.  It would be great if life were easier, but the reality is that many times life is a struggle.

Through our struggles -without even realizing it, we end up fighting battles we were never meant to fight ... battles we can never win.

What if there were a better battle for us to fight?  What if instead of fighting against, we learned to fight for? The Struggle is real, but there is always a better way.

Our hope and prayer today is that as you dig into the scriptures you will find a God who is not disappointed in the struggle – but a God who is willing to walk with you every step of the way through the struggle.

And that in the middle of your struggle you will seek out a better fight - that you will find a better way.

But the best news about the struggle ... is that the battle is already won.  Jesus has defeated death and sin and has overcome any struggle that we wrestle with.  

You don't have to keep fighting the same old battles ... instead of putting your trust and hope in yourself and your ability to make it through the struggle, try today to turn to God and place your trust in him.  Because the struggle is real and you don't have to deal with it alone.