A Note From Greg

Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year! It is a great time to tell people about Jesus. Everything points to Him. From the evergreen representing Eternal life to Holly representing the crown of thorns and death of Jesus. Even the music playing in the background when you shop, often times is about Jesus. It’s an easy thing to say to someone. “I love that song” It reminds me of…..” It is also a great time to invite people to your church to celebrate the Birth of Christ. This past Sunday night was spectacular. People were asking how it could possibly get any better. Great job Adult, Youth, Children’s choirs and Orchestra. You truly led us into the Christmas spirit. Thank you Keith for your hard work and dedication to pull off a great evangelical worship service through song.

We are thrilled to have Dr. Huff as our interim pastor. His message this past week from Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a son is born, unto us a son is given and the government will be upon His shoulders and His name shall be called WONDERFUL, COUNSELOR, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING FATHER, THE PRINCE OF PEACE.” Although we have read, memorized and sang this song a million times, have we ever really thought to break it down into its basic words? Sure we knew it was WONDERFUL or WONDERFUL COUNSELOR. We may have even prayed those names over people, but have you ever thought, really thought about Jesus being WONDERFUL. Think of some things that we would consider wonderful. All those things combined cannot compare to the Wonder of Jesus. The thought that God came down to earth as a man is mind boggling. The Youth did a skit concerning just that. The skit was about God telling Jesus that He was going to have to go to earth to be a sacrifice so that the sins of  he world could be forgiven. Of course Jesus was compliant and in agreement. Then they switched it up. What if we were asked to leave heavens glory to become just a tiny insignificant human, in an insignificant human on earth to die for all mankind? The person playing the  part of us made all kind of excuses from “I’m comfortable where I am” to “They don’t deserve us helping them.” It was humorous but also eye opening. What excuses do we give for not asking our friends, coworkers and fellow students to church. We have a lot of excuses. If we are hesitant or unwilling to invite lost people to church, then I don’t think we would be willing to die for them or change any of our comfortable ways for them.

My prayer for the rest of this Christmas season and new year is that God will lead people into my path and that I will be brave and bold enough to invite them to church. This Christmas season, make sure you share how the creator of the universe came to earth to save us from our sins.

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FOCUSED

One of the casualties of aging to which I find myself a victim is the dimming of the eyes.  Ecclesiastes 12 counsels the young person to remember God, their Creator, in their youth before the aging process takes over and various faculties, as listed in verses 1-7, are diminished.

Clear eyesight when we are young may be something we take for granted. However, as we age the realization that our vision is not as sharp as it once was takes hold. “Readers” become standard fare for all intricate tasks. Our once keen laser sharp focus is now blurry and in need of help to restore its youthfulness. That restoration is found through glasses or some sort of rejuvenating surgery. Especially in the early stages of this degenerative eye problem we may be able to fake it and get by, but eventually we must relent and do something to correct the problem.

There is a parallel between physical and spiritual vision. “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” was written in the early 20th century. The hymn writer, Helen Lemmel, was strongly influenced by the artist and later little-known missionary, Lilias Trotter. Miss Trotter started off as an aspiring artist but early on felt a call from God to reach the lost. She began her ministry by rescuing prostitutes from the streets of London. Later she went to Africa, without missionary funding, and served for over forty years. While there she penned a poem that would greatly influence the writing of the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”  The poem was entitled “Focused: A Story and Song.” 

The poem centers around focusing one’s attentions fully and completely upon God. She writes that Satan knows that if a person uses all their powers of concentration on being led by God’s Spirit, they will have a great intensity and impact upon those to whom they are called to minister. Lilias Trotter, writing in a more formal use of the English language than we are accustomed, shares some timeless insights which could very easily have been written today but with a different accent. She writes: “Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen good harmless worlds at once—art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the ‘good’ hiding the ‘best’ even more effectually than it could be hidden downright frivolity with its smothered heartache at its own emptiness.”

The “good” hiding the “best” leads us to emptiness.  Could this be true of us today especially as American Christians? Have we sought the “good” while missing the “best”? The chorus of the hymn, which we will be singing in worship this Sunday, says it best.

                Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,                                                                                                                                        And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Keith Pate

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