Sermon Summaries

Okay, so I just spent the last 30 minutes updating my site due to upcoming changes on Wix. A bit frustrating, and definitely unexpected; but here we are on the new page, so welcome!! (Even though it looks exactly the same) ;p I'm starting at 2:45 rather than 2:15, but, oh well... Anyway, another busy month is nearly gone, and I'm posting again for the first time in over 2 weeks. Meanwhile, Mike has been here overnight 2x, and I've been in Brattleboro for several days in between. We've also been to the Court House in Franklin twice. Mike's daughter, Arianna, is struggling to gain full custody of her son, Takoda. As it turns out, she's having to appeal the judge's decision on the ex parte motion she had put up to get him away from his abusive, drug using/dealing male ancestor. The good news is, she had another court date in relation to her criminal record involving the same guy. All that she needs to do for that is pay the fine and not get in trouble for the next year. If that decision had gone sideways, she would be facing 3 yrs in prison, so thank God for that, at least!! Continued prayer for her situation and resettlement. During my time at home this past week, I've been taking a break from all the "stuff", which is why I coulda, shoulda, woulda posted, but didn't. I did, however go up to Andrea's early Wednesday morning ahead of Matt's latest hospital release. I haven't heard any updates, but pray that all is going well with them, at least health-wise. At the same time, there have been construction crews at the edge of the property and she's 99+% sure they are encroaching on her parents' land. So now, along with everything else, she's going to be double-checking the property lines and making some sternly-voiced phone calls if she's right. So, on Saturday the 19th, when Mike and I were coming back from Brattleboro, we stopped at my parents' place to drop off some food from one of the pantries. In the 5 minutes or so we were there, two things happened. One, before Mike followed me inside, my mother hugged him!! I had already gone in the house, so I didn't see it, but Mike said that my father was as shocked as he was!! Now, that being said, we're not entirely sure if she meant it or if, in her failing mind, she somehow thought she was hugging my ex, Rob, with whom she had been so enamored. I know that I overheard my father say, "Good to see you", knowing, even in his mentally failing state, that he was talking to Mike. I can't help but wonder if this is what prompted her to think it was Rob standing there. I mean, they're both big, dark-haired guys, although Mike is mostly bald... IDK... but the second thing I observed was that the people who have been staying with my parents for the past year now, were sleeping in the Living Room. And this was after the conversation from earlier this month, that "Oh, no. They're not still staying here, but still welcome to visit when they have a doctor's appointment or whatever." What the heck!!?? They were supposed to have been out by April 1st according to what I was led to believe. I'm at a loss. My oldest, Carissa, has taken charge of all the "official stuff" for them, and has been talking about calling Elderly Services if those people weren't out already... IDK Just pray that everything will be settled soon. This Message Intro paragraph is going to be another that "borrows" from Pastor Matt's opener again. At least to start with... If you grew up in the 70's-80's like I did, one song you may think of in relation to work is Huey Lewis and the News, "Workin' for a Livin'". Another might be "Summer Time Blues", if you love Alan Jackson. Going back a bit, I think of "Proud Mary" as a "work" song. Or maybe "She Works Hard for the Money", by Donna Summer. I'm sure if I gave myself a minute or two I could think of more (I Want My MTV is another)... LOL The point is, work has a huge place in most of our lives, to the point where there are numerous songs either celebrating it, lamenting it, or if you're into older Country Music, even quitting with some attitude.* Personally, my work history bears a striking resemblance to Swiss Cheese. Essentially, full of holes, both big and small. ;p That being said, I haven't held an official job since 2012. I was diagnosed as High Functioning PDD* in 2006, divorced in 2010, and applied for Disability in 2013 after having moved into a temporary housing situation. Because of this, I haven't always felt like the subject of work, as related to Biblical themes, applied to me anymore. As this series shows, I was wrong... Let's look... Pastor Matt's synopsis of the message series, which he gave following the whole "Workin' for a Livin'" bit, explains why I've been mistaken about work themes not applying to me. It is this - "Work is how we contribute to the world around us; no matter what that looks like." That means that work themes can literally apply to anyone, of any age over 5 yrs old. School-age kids work by going to school, young adults either attend college and continue a formal education, join the military, or start working. Those of us who have psychological or physical challenges so that employment doesn't fit well still interact with family members, friends, and neighbors in the community, and retired people have more time for more meaningful connections than just talking to co-workers every work day. Also, in today's world, Social Media and other online connections are important environments for many of us to interact. (I know that's true for me) Another perspective here is that it isn't only our spiritual connections that have value. When we consider our jobs (especially secular ones) as something separate from our spiritual lives, we are missing the point that, in God's eyes, it's all connected. It's important to remember that we're not just Christians on Sunday. (or shouldn't be anyway)* For the first sermon in this series, we start at the Beginning (a very good place to start) LOL -- No, but seriously, turn with me to Genesis chapter 2 -- As Pastor Matt pointed out here, God's redemption is for both our soul and our work. Therefore, we begin with Sabbath -- Genesis 2:1-3 New International Version 2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- God's gift of Sabbath is a sign of His love and a reminder that we are more than what we do. (Personally, it saddens me when I see people retire with no clue as to how to live without a job. This is exactly why hobbies are so important.) We need to be able to introduce ourselves with our INTERESTS, not our JOB TITLES.* Looking at verse 1 of our brief, but very impactful Scripture, we find God resting upon His completion of Creation. I realize that this kinda sounds like we're starting with work because there's work that's already happened here, but bear with me. The first thing to understand here is the Jewish definition of "Creation". To them, the the word "nothingness" means "chaotic". Pastor Matt also mentioned at this point that many of his ideas and material for this message came from two sources he respects highly. One is BEMA podcaster, Marty Solomon, who bring his Jewish background into play with traditional insights from that quarter. The other is Christian author, Peter Scazzaro, who has a book called "Emotionally Healthy Leadership". He recognizes that Pastors and other Church Leaders are still just human beings at the end of the day, and as such, need to live the same kinds of lives as everyone else when it comes to their psychological well-being. Getting back to our Bible passage, we look back at chapter 1 and see the same phrase repeated 6 times. "He saw that it was good". This indicates that, number one, nothing was created by accident; and number two, everything was done to His satisfaction. Pastor Matt pointed out here that, in the Ancient Hebrew, the word "good", as seen here meant essentially, that "all is as it should be". This includes us. We read in Genesis 1:26 that we are made in the image of God. Our goodness, aside from being physically accurate to how He wanted us, lies in our purpose. We may ask ourselves at times, "Does my life matter??". The answer, at least according to the Creator of the Universe, is a resounding YES!! Creation is the image of abundance and flourishing. We see the word "teeming" used in verse 21 in reference to sea creatures. We also see the rhythms of Creation here. God called things into being and then filled them. Light/Dark = Sun, moon, stars. Land = vegetation. Water = fish ++, and then came the animals and people. There's poetry in the patterns. The evening and the morning... yes, you read that right. Did you ever catch on to that before?? The days of Creation STARTED IN THE EVENING. See, even God started with rest before the work of Creation!! (I told you we were starting with Sabbath, didn't I??) ;) Verse 2 of chapter 2 tells us that God stopped Creating. Why?? Because, as we saw above, He had it just the way He wanted it. Pastor Matt brought out the example here of a Master Craftsman. This is a person who knows when to stop carving the wood or chiseling the stone. They know when to stop the pottery wheel or put down the torch. They know when to put the brush in the water and leave it there. Now, I went a bit further with these examples than Pastor Matt did. He focused on the fact that Michelangelo knew when to stop carving the David. The point is that God not only knew when to stop; but that He then proceeded to settle into His finished work. If you've been reading a while, you'll have seen the example of moving used a bit. As we all know, moving requires making a HUGE mess of things before you organize and pack. You then put all your stuff into the truck (or hire out people to do it for you). The new place is ready and waiting. You carry everything to the appropriate room, you unpack it, you put it away, and then what?? You rest. You settle in. You have a new place to live and you begin to relax and enjoy it. That's what God did in our passage above. On Day 7, the rhythm stops. God desired to be with His Creation. Sadly, this idea went sideways in Chapter 3, but that didn't mean He wanted to leave. It just meant that He had to wait until the time was right to send Jesus and initiate a New Plan of Restoration. Eventually, when Jesus comes again, God will establish a New Heaven and New Earth where we will be with Him for eternity, unending, just like Day 7 of Creation. On day 6, humans were created, commissioned, and blessed. For us, we rest only after we have accomplished "enough", but even then, we're not super peaceful about it every time. This is just one of the key differences between us and God. His perfection produces more of the same while our imperfection, as a result of sin, produces only imperfect results; if only in our minds.* Verse 3 of our Scripture above shows us that God set the Sabbath aside as holy and commanded us to follow suit. As Pastor Matt quipped, it even made Moses' and God's "Top 10 list". This established the covenant between God and Israel for all time. We find the 10 Commandments first in Exodus 20. Verses 8-10 are about keeping the Sabbath holy. Pastor Matt made the observation here that this wasn't just about people resting, but animals as well. Sabbath is for everyone. This indicates to us that God sees rest as being equally valuable as work. He said also that Sabbath is "God's good gift to remind us that we are more than our work." (Remember what I said earlier about that??) Something Pastor Matt brought to our attention at this point was that the book of Genesis wasn't written all at the same time. The first 11 chapters were nothing more than Oral Tradition at first, and written down over time. This was material that was shared in the wilderness when they were exiled in Egypt and the only identity they had lay (laid) (lies)??* in their brick making. No one alive at Mt. Sinai, following the Exodus, had been alive to remember life outside of slavery. They were in Egypt for 400 yrs., so... yeah... In closing, we are not what we do, we are who God says we are. Our meaning, our worth, our purpose, our identity, all comes from Him as our Creator. Sabbath was built in by God. Whether we are a "cog" in the wheels of industry, a business owner, a kid with chores and schoolwork, or someone who doesn't get paid for a living, but still has a vital place in the community, we all have our own rhythms of life where rest is important. Some of my older readers may still remember a time when Sunday was a day of rest from every possible thing. You went to Church in the morning as a family, and spent the remainder of the day eating lunch, napping, reading, fishing etc... other than tending to any livestock, you rested. It was/is meant to be a time of refreshing. It's a time to focus on relationships, food, and nature. Psalm 23 talks about the importance of walking with God in order to have peace in our lives, even when there's trouble around. Mark 2:27-28 tells us that Jesus Lord of the Sabbath.* Bottom line, the world won't stop if we take some time to rest. Just trust God by receiving His unconditional love. It's fine. He's got it covered. Take a nap!! (Remember, you can't pour from an empty cup) ;) -- God Bless!! Footnotes: 1. Look up the song, "Take This job and Shove It", by Johnny Paycheck. You won't regret it!! 2. For those who may not know about PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder), it's on the edge of the "Autism Umbrella", like one of the nubs on the ends of the ribs. I'm not entirely neuro-divergent, but I have my quirks. The biggest thing to know about it is that being literal is pretty much my "default setting". That being said, however, the High Functioning bit means that I'm not Amelia Bedilia. (look up the Children's books if you're not familiar) Other aspects include low stress threshold, emotional immaturity, and co-morbid ADD. (Yeah, I'm a treat) LOL Basically, while the "standard level" PDD person is super literal with no sense of humor, I'm here with my sarcasm and a decent comprehension of allegory. The example I like to use is pouring rain. If you were to tell an average PDD person that it was "raining cats and dogs outside", they would look out the window looking for them. I, on the other hand, would look out the window, look back at you, and say, "Yikes!! That would have to hurt!!". Because I understand that it's just and expression. 3. The thing about not only being Christians on Sunday reminds me of a song from the late 70's/early 80's called, "I'm Not Religious, I just love the Lord". I'll include it below. 4. Watch the movie, "Mr. Magorium's Magic Emporium" again... or for the first time. It touches on this idea. 5. The part where I mention how peacefulness about our work is a key difference between us and God is all mine. 6. I may be pretty good with Grammar, but I'm not this good... even a brief google search didn't solve this for me... ;p I think I'll send it to Andrea and edit later if needed... She has a degree in English... or I may get a faster response from my HS English Teacher's wife... hhhmmm... :D (okay, so "lay" was right) 7. Any of you Seventh Day Adventists would do well to review this point. The day of the week doesn't matter because Jesus IS our Sabbath!! (See also Matt. 11:28-30) Music -- Never any rights!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG6yoghwa9A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAJ7rwJWHZE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EICcFjQ_zBQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc0QVWzCv9k and this one... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8pPn1ywSaY (and just so we're clear, I understand that some people NEED to "go to Church before they go to Jesus", but the point of the song remains valid)

Take 2 -- because I just accidentally closed out of this page while copying and pasting the Scripture for this afternoon's post... and, unlike the blog page, this side of the site doesn't auto save.* ;p ;p What!!?? A second Sermon Summary this week?? Yeah, well stranger things have happened, right?? LOL Not much to report since yesterday except for the fact that I was walking into the grocery store as my mother was walking out earlier. We spoke, she waited for me to shop, (which was about 5 minutes) and then I ended up going home with her. I stayed and visited with my parents for about an hour. As it turned out, my timing to leave was just as good as my timing at the store. The older couple who had been staying with them supposedly had an appointment in town today. From what I can gather, they either stayed over last night ahead of it, or will be staying tonight and going back to my uncle's place in Warner tomorrow. They are just waiting on an apartment here in Concord for a little while. In the meantime, they are "waiting to hear back" from a relative in Laconia so they can stay there until their apartment is ready. Personally, I feel like that's a lie. Who knows?? But, whatever. I got to spend some unexpected time with my parents this afternoon, so it's all good. In reviewing my notes for this post, the expression, "Attitude of gratitude" came to mind as Pastor Matt's opening statement was "I thank God when I think of you...". (Phil. 1:3) At the same time, the old Disney movie, "Pollyanna" popped into my head.* After her accident, she makes a game of finding something positive in every day. That's the kind of life Jesus invites us into. A life of positivity in the midst of trouble. As indicated above, our Scripture is from Philippians 1. Let's look -- Philippians 1:3-11 New International Version Thanksgiving and Prayer 3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul thanked God every time he thought of the Church at Philippi due to their obvious and abundant love for God and generous and effective ministry to those around them. He encourages them by his confidence that the Father will keep them securely in His love until Jesus' Return.* He mentions as well about his prayer is that their love will continue to abound, their wisdom increase, and their righteousness would be proven out in the Gifts of the Spirit displayed in their daily lives. Pastor Matt's insight here into Paul's heart included the fact that, although his body was not always in perfect health, and in spite of the fact that he was in prison much of the time for sharing the Gospel, he was still grateful for the ability to do so. He recognized that, in Christ, his body was just as it needed to be. In his brokenness, he could still celebrate the healing of others, have joy in worship, and appreciate warm hospitality from fellow Believers and friends. This is what can happen when we allow the Holy Spirit to breathe and act in and through us. Paul displayed humble service and the willingness to hearing of weakness in others. It was at this moment that Pastor Matt shared the fact that there was a House Church in the Midwest who were joining us online. He went on to say that we should be open to celebrating each other's God-given uniqueness and quirkiness, as there is beauty in diversity. As Christians, we don't have to worry about taking the charge in this on our own. The Holy Spirit will flow as we allow and move with Him. It is important to remember that love is the mark of growth in God. We are His Ambassadors through time as we mark it while He is beyond time. Grab a small snack as you contemplate this message and commune with God. -- God Bless!! Footnotes: 1. I've put in a request on the Feedback page that they set up the Forum pages to auto save, but no results yet... and that was at least 6 months ago!! 2. Speaking of Pollyanna, I just recently discovered that the girl the story was based on was from Littleton, NH!! How cool is that!!?? (Littleton is one of New Hampshire's smaller cities, located about 2 hrs. north on the highway. It's on the western side of the White Mountains.) 3. Verse 6, speaking of Paul's confidence that God will finish what He started in the heart of the Believer is one of many which support the truth of Eternal Security. I recently finished a blog post on that subject, be sure to look for it on the Reflections page. Music -- Never any rights, I promise!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bOgOBFy9sE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzT26YVEr24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaiQ8KiyM8k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoHrBNTfzIs

I know, it's been a bit, but you know how it is sometimes. Life gets busy. Since I was on last, I've been in Brattleboro for a few days, and back and forth to Franklin, NH twice.* Outside, it's the nicest, albeit coldest day we've had this week. It also happens to be my granddaughter, Brandi's 13th birthday.* So, let me start by telling you why I've been to Franklin. That's where Mike's daughter, Arianna, was living. First with her son's "sperm donor", then with her maternal grandmother. So, a week ago yesterday, March 31st she had a court date that had been moved up from the 4th. Pending the results of that, there would still be another hearing on that date. Long story short, there wasn't. But there should have been. Evidently, much of the Law Enforcement/Court personnel up there are corrupt druggies, much like too many of their private sector residents. Now, like many larger towns and smaller cities, there's a good side of town and a bad side. In some places, these are delineated by railroad tracks. In Franklin, it depends on which side of the Winnipesaukee River you live on.* Essentially, north is good, south is bad. Meanwhile, Mike's grandson Takoda is trapped in a house with a drug-dealing/using, abusive father and neglectful grandparents. He turns 3 next month. Prayers for Arianna's appeal to the Supreme Court to be successful. In other news, my parents celebrated 57 years of marriage on Sunday, April 6*. As usual, I had them over here for lunch. It was a good time of family fellowship, unspoiled by any disagreements or grumblings. (For those of you who've not been following, this is a major feat) My oldest, Carissa, and my ex-husband, Rich, have been putting pressure on me again to spent more time with my parents. I've been resistant until their "extra guests" departed, which they now have. I've also been hesitant to spend more time than absolutely necessary with my mother who, historically, has been the most Toxic person in my life. But Carissa says she's changing. She understands that she may not have a lot of time left, so she may be more open to an honest conversation about our relationship. I'm not sure what to think seeing as how she also said that my mother stays silent about Mike rather than putting him down in front of me. I just knew that I didn't want to risk ruining my parents' anniversary in sensitive subject matter, so I'm letting it lie, for now. Pray for wisdom and timing on this. Good(ish) news from Andrea and Matt, as far as I know from Monday, at least... Matt "should" be home again by now. What I know is that, while I was helping out the other day, Andrea got a call from his hospital nurse or case worker saying that they would be sending him to dialysis on Tuesday and sending him home from there. The "sticky" part is that he needs an operation on his heart, stemming from the episode the other week. The problem is that the surgeon determined that Matt wasn't a good candidate for it, considering all his other health issues. Apparently, he's stable "enough" to live with it. At least for now. Continued prayers for his complete healing. And finally, Jeremy is not in the Philippines as expected, right now. Sharon, (his gf) messaged him on April 1st saying that, "It's not a good time for you to come." He was supposed to have left the 4th and spend 2 weeks there. Initially, he was crushed and thought that this confirmed that she had been scamming him for the last 4 years. He ended up cancelling his ticket and getting 80% of his money back. Since then, however, he's been talking to one of her aunts, who clarified things a bit for him. She was saying that Sharon had been upset at the idea of him taking the bus to her village rather than renting a car because the buses over there are very unreliable and unsafe. He plans to try again at a later date. Meanwhile, Jeremy is struggling with his job situation. His full-time job is fine. But his part-time, under-the-table job is where he's unsure. On the one hand, it's a bar where some customers aren't wearing a lot of clothes. They go around displaying public affection a bit too freely for his comfort. At the same time, if he quits that job and gets another "real" job, he won't qualify for the exemption he's currently getting on his Student Loans. If he has to start paying that off again, he won't be able to save anything to go across town, never mind half way across the world. Pray for wisdom and provision on his part. And so we move on... here it is almost Easter, and I'm just getting around to blogging the Christmas Eve Service from CenterPoint... ;p ;p Oh well... Have you ever had an experience where everyone around you is super excited about a new movie that's coming out but you know almost nothing about it?? People are talking about it everywhere you go, and you're just standing around like, "What's the big deal, anyway??". Maybe it's some years later before you actually get to see it for yourself. Then you understand what all the hype was about. You start talking about it as well, even though it happened so long ago that people aren't as enthusiastic anymore. Other movies have come and gone while you were walking around ignorant of the full story. This was my personal experience with the Twilight series. It had been about 10 years after it came out before I finally got around to watch. At first, I wasn't interested because it was a "young adult" thing and I was in my 40's. Sometime later, however, I started seeing posts about how some people thought that Edward's and Bella's relationship was abusive. These people clearly hadn't seen the movies for themselves. The truth was/is, that he was trying to protect her from other vampires who wanted to hunt her down and kill her. The Christmas Eve message at CenterPoint opened with the question, "Why was/is Jesus' Birth such a big deal??" The truth is found in the Bible when we read it as a cohesive narrative of God's love and protection towards us.* Just like Edward loved and sought to protect Bella, God invites us into His loving protection from sin and spiritual death. Turn with me, if you will, to our core passage for this series, Mark 1 -- our focus today is on just 2 verses Jesus Announces the Good News 14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As indicated above, Pastor Matt's message on Christmas Eve opened with the following question -- "Why is Jesus' Birth such a big deal??" Verse 15 of Mark 1 gives us our answer, directly from Jesus' mouth. "The time has come... The kingdom of God has come near..." This was the fruition of God's Promise to rescue and redeem His People.* Verse 14 tells us the timing of Jesus' announcement. "After John (the Baptist) was put in prison..." As finite human beings, we tend to think of time as a linear thing. We keep track of it on clocks and calendars. Moments pass by pretty quickly, the older we get, years seem to pass faster than they used to. But Jesus wasn't talking about moments, or even hours, or years... He was talking about a New Era in the history of mankind.* The long-awaited fulfillment of God's promise of Redemption was at hand!! Or at least it had started. The fullness will come later, at the 2nd Coming. The Era Jesus was referring to will not end like the hours on our clocks or the days, months, and years on our calendars. It will take us into Eternity. Now, you may be sitting there asking yourself, "What, exactly is meant by 'the kingdom of God'??" The most basic answer is this, the kingdom of God is present anywhere and any time God is allowed to reign in this world. Since the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, God's perfect Creation of Earth has been tainted by rebellion. As a result, we only glimpse moments of beauty or perfection. Those moments come and go as life continues on in turmoil and strife. We see the adorable faces of our newborn babies and experience a moment or 2 of awe. Some of you may be hikers (not me) and see amazing views from mountain tops. You get a few moments of "wow". Then you head back down and go home. Meanwhile, this crazy world outside our windows continues to bring sickness, drama, and war. We observe this and think, "Someone needs to fix this". Well, I have great news for you. Someone HAS!! His name is Jesus.* Over the last 3 posts here, we've seen that God has given us "Good Gifts" -- • Kingdom Promise - God's promise of redemption started back in Genesis 3 when He cursed Satan saying, "There will be enmity between you and the woman and her offspring and yours... although He will crush your head, you will nick His heel..." vs. 15 • Kingdom People - God's plans are accomplished by His People. When God is getting ready to move, He always gathers a people to make the way and lead things forward. • Kingdom Power - God sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to empower us in our Christian walk and increase our faith. • Kingdom Purpose - We see in Jesus the embodiment of God's promises and the catalyst to bring His purposes into our lives by the love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness offered in Salvation through His Son. For many of us, the overwhelming issues of sickness, poverty, war, and death in the world feel like the most powerful things in life. Jesus brings healing, wholeness, and joy to our lives. While the human expectations of "kingdom" bring thoughts of fancy, imperial power, riches, and entourage; God's kingdom came quietly. Turn now to the Christmas narrative we all know and love -- Luke 2 Luke 2 New International Version The Birth of Jesus 2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first thing we notice here is that the "powers that be", (aka Caesar), has demanded a Census. He didn't simply want to know how many people he was ruling, or their occupations. He was counting in order to build his armies and determine taxes.* The second is the angel who brought "Good News of great joy..."* We observe in this that a newborn baby is hardly fitting to our ideas of what "kingdom" is meant to look like, right?? (I mean, honestly, they weren't even in a 5 star hotel, for pity sake...) Pastor Matt commented here about how much deeper Jesus' invitation was of repentance and belief than what we may have learned in Sunday School. In Jesus' words, we find repentance is about more than turning around and going the opposite direction. It's about encouraging us to build our own "kingdom of God" in our hearts and lives. (as well as helping to increase His kingdom in the world) Likewise, belief is more than a basic "mental assent" that what He's said is true. It's about fully embodying trust in God and living a life of repentance from our own plans and purposes.* God's power restores, redeems, and brings flourishing into our lives. The truth of the story is that Jesus' Birth is a 'universe-shakingly' Big Deal. The only question left is whether or not we believe it. Finally, Pastor Matt closed the message by observing the 2 responses found further on in our Luke 2 passage. While Mary sat quietly and "pondered these things in her heart" (vs 19), the shepherds got excited and spread the news all around town. (vs 20) Now, he didn't say this, but I feel that both reactions are appropriate in their turn, Amen?? -- God Bless!! (and belated Merry Christmas!!) Footnotes: 1. Franklin is New Hampshire's smallest city. It's about 25 minutes up the road, by either 93 or Route 3. 2. View Brandi's card and gifts on my Card, Jewelry, and Stamps page. 3. I had to specify which river, as there are 3 up there. The Winnipesaukee comes down from the NE, out of the Lake and comes through town on an east-west trajectory. Secondly, the Pemigewasset comes down the west side of town. Both of these join forces to create the Merrimack River, which comes down through Concord and Manchester, eventually flowing out to the Atlantic Ocean at Plum Island, Newburyport, Mass. Both the north and west sides of town are decent. It's the downtown area that's bad. 4. To keep track I add one year to the age I'm going to be each time. They were married in April of 1968. I was born in July of 1969. :) 5. The current series at CP is called "The Big Story". It takes the Bible as a unified story that points to Jesus. 6. As to the idea of God gathering "His People", I realize that there may be some of you who are aware of the question of Predestination. I'm planning a Reflections post on this in the near future, so be sure to watch for it. 7. On the point of time in terms of clocks/calendars vs eras, I was actually surprised Pastor Matt didn't mention the difference here. While the Greek word "Chronos" speaks of the first kind, the word "kairos" is about the right timing for something to happen. 8. To clarify, Jesus brought the kingdom of God to us, but we have to choose to participate. The Bible tells us in John 12:31, among other places, that Satan is the god of this world, or has power over the world, etc... But as we allow Jesus to rule in our lives, God is in control of us, personally. Eventually, He will take over forever, but for now, we just have a taste. 9. I actually worked on Census 2000 for a few months. In thinking about it now, the reasons are pretty similar today as they were then. (For those of you who see it as an invasion of your privacy, just keep in mind the Revolutionary mantra, "No taxation without representation!!" Part of the purpose of the Census is to determine how many representatives each region should have, both locally and nationally. This in turn, determines our tax rates. Don't ignore it, it's important!! 10. The end of verse 14 is controversial. The phrase, "peace to those on whom His favor rests" as opposed to "goodwill toward men" brings a question of authenticity as to which is the more accurate. The fact is, as I have just discovered, both are accurate to their respective sources. This article explains in full, if you're interested in a "deeper dive". https://carm.org/about-bible-verses/does-luke-214-say-goodwill-toward-men-or-among-men-with-whom-he-is-pleased/ 11. Pastor Matt pointed out that true repentance is not a "one and done" act at the moment of Salvation, but really, an ongoing struggle we all face to live in God's love each day. (The long-term word for this can also be Sanctification. That being said, I recently completed a Reflections post on Eternal Security and being Saved by Grace. Be sure to check it out!! Music -- No rights, ever!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH7asSGxAxA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17kiIIxSdC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7jYvmY6Gfk