The Ten Dollar Bill at Christmas

“Love the Lord our God with all our mind, soul, and strength; and to love our neighbor as ourselves” (Luke 10:27).

This Christmas season our phones at the church have been busy with requests for Christmas assistance, as we can we have been trying to assist whether it is directly or indirectly.  As we get closer and closer to Christmas day, our avenues to assist those in need are narrowing as time continues on.

Each time the church phone rings, the thought runs through my head that it may be somebody needing Christmas assistance. Well, this week the phone rang and this call changed my mood as well as my spirit.

The man on the other end of the phone line stated that he was looking for a church to make a cash donation, and would I be in my office. A few minutes later a man stopped by the office and told me about his recent baptism and coming into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The man had recently overcome struggle with addiction and was feeling God’s call to pay back, in word and in deed. As we talked, the man placed a $10.00 bill on my desk. With this a true feeling of God’s Christmas gift came over me.

Beloved, it is not the amount that we give, it is the fact that we give out of love and in appreciation for what God has done for us. The gift of our Messiah Jesus Christ is God’s true gift to His creation that was given out of love. 

The true meaning of Christmas giving is as Jesus said: "Jesus when he summed up the whole law said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and strength and then love your neighbor, even real little ones. 

Beloved, my prayer for you this Christmas is that your joy in giving of yourselves to others will outweigh the feeling of receiving from others. When we give of ourselves, we truly remember the sacrificial giving that this baby would one day take upon himself on the cross for us.

Merry Christmas and Give Until it Joy’s

Pastor Tim.

Tim's Topics: You Are Forgiven!

Tim's Topics: You Are Forgiven!: Ephesians 4:32   ESV Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. I recently w...

You Are Forgiven!

Ephesians 4:32 ESV

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

I recently was reading a news article about a family, and I scrolled down to the replies and observed some readers not willing to forgive this family, or family member.

Likewise I recently read a social media post in which the person asked for forgiveness. It was refreshing to see the number of loving replies to that person, it was awesome to see love and forgiveness in such a great supply.

Today as we celebrate the first day of Advent, the hope in the coming of the Messiah is what we focus our strength and God’s guidance on today and this week. In this hope of the Messiah to come, we will see that His life, His ministry, and His story revolve around our hope in the promise of forgiveness and salvation.

Beloved, our call for today is to forgive others and to love others as Christ loves us. Our Creator God was hurt by our turning from him, as well as the way that we treated His Son. But as Christ hung on the cross, he said to His Father: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”.  Yes, God continues to forgive us in this broken and fractured world, likewise the call is more present than ever for us to forgive others as well.

The Hope of Christmas is in the hope that a baby born in a simple manger will bring to us, a world that truly needs to know what true love is about. My prayer is that this Christmas season you will feel God’s call to a new sense of hope and a new call to forgive someone that is hard to forgive. The forgiveness that you feel for somebody strengthens you as much as it strengthens the one asking for forgiveness.

Christ forgives you and I forgive you.  Go this week and forgive others.

Pastor Tim. 

Being Thankful for God's Grace and Forgiveness.

Matthew 7:1-3 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Judging Others

7 “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. ² For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. ³ Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s^[a] eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?

In my fifty-two years on this earth, I have witnessed many elections. With each new election you begin to see society state that there is no way that you can be a Christian, if you vote for a certain candidate.

This is not exclusive to just one party, and again it shows society wanting to judge others. When we judge others, when we attempt to deem who is worthy for God’s grace and the kingdom of heaven, we attempt to take the place of God in the “who is worthy business.”

The most important topic that all followers of the cross must follow is this: Are you worthy, are you in right relationship with God? What steps have you taken to share the good news, rather than to condemn with it?

What is the cause that you are using to justify another’s unworthiness to be a follower of God? Are you making an earthly cause override God’s heavenly need for relationship, as well as His Son’s death on the cross for our unworthiness?

As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, let us be thankful for Christ’s act of forgiveness on the cross, and let us be thankful that God is in charge of who is and isn’t worthy. Let us make our pledge this Thanksgiving and upcoming Advent season, to become a people that forgives more and accuses and judges less.

Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the Bounty and Blessing of God.

Pastor Tim.

Crossing Lines and Loving "ALL"

Mark 2:13-17 New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats with Sinners

¹³ Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. ¹⁴ As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Since the election, we have seen different political sides continuing to take shots at one another. We see Christians telling other Christians that they are not worthy to be called a follower of Christ, because of who they voted for.

Likewise we find it hard to associate with others that have different political and religious views, than ours. Beloved, I have lived in small towns before in which I have heard “Preacher you may not want to be seen with me, I’m unpopular around here.”

The question that I pose in today’s blog is this? As followers of Christ, should we not associate with those that society deems unworthy? The text from Mark 2, shows us that Jesus fully understood that it is the sick that need physicians, not the healthy. Likewise, we as followers of the cross of Christ, are tasked with bringing the good news of Christ to all, and not just the “Cool Kids”.

Beloved, Jesus is here for the rich and the poor, the gay and the straight, the honest person and the criminal. Jesus is here for the citizen as well as the undocumented alien.

Does this mean that I side with a certain personality or lifestyle? No, it means that I side with Christ that tells me this to do. John 13:34-35. He said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

My friends, being a Christian does not mean that we must take sides, but it does mean that we must not separate ourselves because of our differences. Who are you embarrassed to be with that needs to hear the good news? 

Whether the rich or whether the drug addicted in the street, whether the criminal, whether the most honest. Jesus died on the cross for them, the least we can do is have a meal with them and give of ourselves. 

Do not let a political election remove the love from your hearts, and instead of doing what the world says is right, do what Jesus Christ says it right.

This is the word of Jesus Christ for today and every day.

Pastor Tim.

Tim's Topics: God Has A Plan: Follow It And Free Yourselves From...

Tim's Topics: God Has A Plan: Follow It And Free Yourselves From...: Isaiah 58:6-12  English Standard Version (ESV) 6  “Is not this the fast that I choose:   to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo ...

God Has A Plan: Follow It And Free Yourselves From Bondage.

Isaiah 58:6-12 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁶ “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed^[a] go free, and to break every yoke? ⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? ⁸ Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. ⁹ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, ¹⁰ if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. ¹¹ And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. ¹² And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.

As I sat at my desk this morning, I began to think about the election, as well as all the questions that people have asked me about the coming election. I have even been asked about certain people making prophetic statements as to the outcome of the election.

As I went to scripture this morning, the text from Isaiah leaped off the page and into my eyes. The key theme in everything that God does and continues to do is out of relationship. Relationship with us and our relationship with others.

Beloved, what Isaiah is telling us is that true relationship and true witness involves Justice and Mercy for All!

God not only wants but demands compassionate behavior, not only because it is the right thing to do, but in the fact that it is pleasing to God. Whatever comes of this election, whatever comes of this world, Isaiah states that God will be our rear guard. 

There is a new exodus and a new age coming, with every action and event to represent God’s plan and will for His creation. Just as he laid out the plan to free the Israelite's from the Babylonians, he will free his people from whatever or whomever holds them captive.

Let us seek God out in prayer, while we remove oppression from the oppressed. Beloved, God still has plans for us that only He knows. Isaiah tells us the fulfillment of unfulfilled hopes and unfulfilled dreams.

Do not worry about what the world does, stay true to your faith, stay true to your God and continue on with the work that he has given each and every one of us.

God has our backs during the election tomorrow and he has our back through eternity, through his Son, our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. 

So fast, pray, be in Sabbath, and let God do what God does.

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Pastor Tim.