Christmas Light…

One of the favorite traditions of the Christmas Season is to light up the night with lights. Before we even turn the calendar to December, neighborhoods and businesses, homes and churches all burst in patterns of red, green, and white. Who doesn’t love decorating the Christmas tree, then turning out all the other lights in the room to enjoy the twinkling lights? Even a single candle burns brightly against the backdrop of darkness.

This tradition is well suited to the real celebration of the season. The Bible says that when Jesus Christ was born, light came into the world (John 3:19). In fact, more than 200 times in the Bible, God is described as light. Whenever God appears, light appears. It happened in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, all the way until the end of time when the book of Revelation tells us that in hell there will only be darkness and in heaven there will only be light.

When we celebrate Christmas, we remember the day in history when Jesus stepped from heaven to earth, bringing with Him the light that drives out the darkness in man’s heart. This is amazing news! John 1:4 says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

The Light helps you find your way.

If you feel lost, alone, and trapped… searching but not finding, Jesus Christ is the light.

If you feel cruelly crushed under the wrongs done to you, Jesus Christ is the light.

If you feel overwhelmed by something that you just can’t figure out, Jesus Christ is the light.

Before any of us turned to Jesus, nothing made sense to us either. We couldn’t sort out anything in this mixed up world. But since receiving Jesus as our Savior, we understand what’s going on. Suddenly Christmas is so much more than a stale exchange of gifts and some silly guy in a red suit. At Christmas we celebrate the forgiveness of sin that can only be found in Jesus, the gift of Christmas.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12

The Light exposes your heart.

Think pitch-black… now light a candle. Suddenly darkness is chased away. But it begins by facing the hard reality of who you are: a person in need of God’s grace. Are you willing to see yourself in this new light? When you come to the light, all that is sinful and sour that is in you is exposed.

The darkness of your heart can’t be denied anymore; it can’t be hidden or pushed away. But you can’t have what the light of Jesus Christ offers you until you let it expose who you really are.

We were all born with a sinful, dark heart. That doesn’t change until we first recognize how desperately we need God and how we have broken His law and are under His just condemnation (Romans 3:23). When you choose to come to Jesus, the first thing that happens is that the light exposes your heart.

The Light dispel the darkness.

Now for the good news. When you expose your heart to the light and you see what you really need, the light of Jesus Christ chases away that darkness in your heart.

There is no darkness in any human being that the gospel can’t get to. You may have read this far thinking, Sure, this is all good news for some people, but you don’t know what I’ve done.

There’s no place where you have been that Jesus’ light can not go. There’s no sin that you have fallen into that the light can not overwhelm with grace. No sin is so dark that the light of Christ can not penetrate its depths.

What qualifies Jesus for this transaction? He took on all your sin when He died on the cross in your place. His blood covered the darkness of sin; He paid the complete price. He deserved none of it but He took all of it. The greatest injustice of all would be to continue to live in the darkness from which Jesus suffered and died to set you free.

Sin offers only suffering, sadness, shame, and slavery but Jesus, the light, brings hope, healing, forgiveness, life, love.

Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” …John 12:35-36

It’s your choice. Make today the day that you are saved from the darkness of sin. Don’t put it off. Let the True Light of Jesus light up your life this Christmas Season.

God is the Solution

Before he came home, the Prodigal Son did a little brainstorming in the pig pen he called home. “I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’ ” (Luke 15:18–19, NKJV)

Great plan. He wasn’t returning home with just a problem, he was returning home with a solution to a problem. “Make me like one of your hired men.” I blew the whole son/inheritance thing, that’s broken. What if we fixed it by me being like a hired man?

That was his plan. And it was solid. But when he returns and the father runs to him, embracing him the second he appears on the horizon, what happens? He’s not allowed to say, “Make me like one of your hired men.” He gets the rest out. The repentance, the confession, that spills out of him like marbles down stairs but “make me like one of your hired men” doesn’t.

I think one of the reasons is that the father didn’t need the solution. A well put together plan wasn’t the price of admission to his arms. Maybe, despite what we think sometimes, God cares more about souls than He does solutions.

God doesn’t want our solutions. He is the solution.

God doesn’t ask for our fixes. He is the fix.

God doesn’t need our plans. He is the plan.

God doesn’t want your solution.

He just wants you.

Unknowns…

Stores have been decked out with holiday decorations, heralding the crazed holiday shopping season. Christmas cheer starts knocking on our doors, inviting us to winter festivities and activities. It’s hard to keep calm among all the marketing blasting us. Everything seems to herald the call to action: Go here! Do this! Buy that! There is so much to do in preparation for “the most, wonderful time of the year” …it’s hard not to get the shakes just thinking about it.

But the Christmas story is one of Unknowns and Uncertainties…

The Unknowns force us to wait. They are the problems that can’t be solved, so big that we can’t even out think them and so unwieldy, we have to keep a running tab on the complexities daily.

For some of us, the Christmas experience itself is an unknown. It’s a time that’s happily anticipated, but sometimes overwhelming.

Others of us are facing big events in our lives. Dealing with family conflict, facing crises or dealing with changes that force us to adjust. We try to make plans and wise decisions, but we aren’t guaranteed smooth sailing. Still, we hope for a swift and perfect outcome.

The rest of us face little, everyday hassles that can take their toll. As I reflect on my own list of unknowns… I want so much to know how our family and my story will work out.

It’s human nature to want editorial control of our lives. We itch to make our mark.

God calls me to live a new way. He wants to make His mark and to write His story instead. As I wait for the worst to unravel, God shows up and makes sense out of the stress.

Thank God I don’t need to be stress-free, in order for Him to work in me. Jesus’ birth proves it. Jesus came when the world was messed up, arriving small, under the most unpromising circumstances.

This is the Hope of Christmas… No matter how wrapped up we are in the unknown, God knows the way.

Without Jesus, we are left to only hope that things will change for the better. With God, we have Hope that He can make us better.

Any patches of unknown waiting on your holiday path?

God knows you and He knows the way.

Pray for Your Pastor…

I received an email from someone at Tabernacle that encouraged me and sparked this post. Here are several areas where you can be praying for your pastor…

Pray For His Walk With God… Pray that His relationship with Jesus will be fresh and that he will be filled with vision and passion like never before.

Pray For His Integrity… It takes YEARS to establish integrity…and it can be destroyed in seconds.  Pray for your pastor to keep his heart and eyes on Jesus and off of anything that might lead him astray!!!

Pray For His Marriage… Pray that your pastor doesn’t just preach about a healthy marriage… but lives it out. I promise you the enemy comes strong after his marriage… and his kids!!!  Lift up his wife and children by name as well!!!

Pray For His Sanity… He deals with critics, he deals with unrealistic expectations, he deals with accusations, he deals with pressure that is intense. Pray that he will keep his sanity. I recently heard of a survey that said only 10% of the men entering the ministry actually retire…the others either get disqualified OR drop out!  That is a 90% failure rate!!!  THE STAKES ARE HIGH!!!

Pray For His Health… Good health is so vital for ministry… and I can promise you that physical, emotional and spiritual health do not just “happen!”  Do not assume that just because your pastor is “young” that he is healthy… lift him up.

Cover your pastor with prayer… and pray that Jesus will speak to him and through him in ways that he has never experienced.

Thanksgiving…

Thanksgiving week has finally arrived here in America. Turkeys are waiting to get picked up, and families are preparing for rest, family and food. It’s an important day. Early in our nation’s history, a group of pilgrims who sought freedom to worship God passed through a winter that could have spelled death. These pilgrims struck out from life as they knew it, in order to find something better.

Those of us who are following the way of the cross are also on a pilgrimage. We leave the familiar behind …self-direction and self-fulfillment …to experience something greater… God-directed and God-filled lives. And as pilgrims of faith, we also encounter our winters. Winters of …Waiting …Worry …Fear …Stress.

We have all walked through winters along our faith pilgrimage… each experience different. We may find a torn friendship or family relationship, the strain of financial burdens or failing health, or, the discouragement of unfulfilled hopes and dreams.

Through it all, God is faithful. God is good and He will not abandon us. And, His goodness will not waver with our shortcomings. It’s His greatest triumph when He does His work through our weakness. And it’s then that Jesus draws near to us, when no one else even notices.

Jesus Himself chose to celebrate a thanksgiving …right before facing His longest winter on the cross. Jesus broke bread and gave thanks with His Disciples. We can face our winters because Christ has lived through our winters on the cross.

And for that, we are thankful.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. Psalm 100:4-5

Spring comes… and there is “joy in the morning.”

For Better, For Worse

For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: Hebrews 10:36
As a pastor, I’ve had an up-close-and-personal view of more than a few weddings. I could tell you all kinds of stories about them, from silly to touching. The one thing they have in common is the promise the bride and groom make to each other, their vows. In their own words and ways, weddings are about promises:
“For better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.”
To the young, these vows are voiced with doe-eyed infatuation, and sound so noble and grand. Ask anyone married for more than a month and they’ll tell you that these promises are downright hard to keep. You want to be true to them, but you honestly hope you won’t ever be tested.
…You promise, for better or for worse, but you hope for better.
…You promise, for richer or poorer, but you hope for richer.
…You promise, in sickness and in health, but you say, “Well, I hope you’re not going to be sick, but if it comes to that, I’ll be there for you.”
You don’t want it to come to any of these tests, but if it does, you’re ready.
That’s where we’re different from God. He wants it to come to that hard place. He wants you to be at a crossroads where you have to lean on Him, where you have to rest on His promises. God flat out wants you to test His promises.
Not only does God want you to test His promises, but He is ordering the circumstances of your life in such a way so that you will have to test Him. Every single person who knows and loves the Lord will experience circumstances when they have no other option but to put God’s promises to the test. Malachi 3:10 says, “try Me now in this.”
I don’t love the fact that I get to test His promises so much as I love the fact that God wants me to test Him. He’s so sure and confident in His commitment to me that He invites it every time. And every time I do test Him, God proves Himself true!
What difficult circumstance in your life is forcing you to put God’s promises to the test? What promise of God are you putting your full weight on?
Or are you not trusting Him for anything right now? How do you need to change your focus?

Pastor Jerry

Four Things…

Four things I wish someone would have told me a long time ago…

1 Dream Big…and NEVER apologize for doing so.  

Seriously…get alone, ask Jesus to set you on fire, to allow you to see His church as He sees it…to see her beauty and POTENTIAL in our community.  And…don’t EVER limit what you believe God can do!!!  EVER!!!

2 Stop Thinking Your Are Normal.  

You’re not…if you were God would have left you alone!  Quit trying to be who people want you to be…  Be who God called you to be.  You have GOT to be the NEW YOU CREATED in CHRIST!!!

3 Stop Trying To Do It By Yourself. 

You can’t!  You need Jesus… in fact you can’t do anything without Him… John 15. And you need the Body of Christ Jesus planted you in… we need each other… 1 Corinthians 12.

4 Acts Chapter Two Was Intended To Be The Starting Block…NOT THE FINISH LINE!

This is something that has hit me lately…Acts 2 was where God began…and His desire was for the church to grow from there.  But today churches talk about how to get back there.  I think God wants to do more!  I think Acts 2 was God saying to us, “I can do this…and SO MUCH MORE…if you will be the church!”