Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: Eternal Epiphany

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: Eternal Epiphany: Well we have reached the 12th day of Christmas and we have started to take down the trees and all the decorations that visualize the bi...

Eternal Epiphany

Well we have reached the 12th day of Christmas and we have started to take down the trees and all the decorations that visualize the birth of Christ to the world. We have celebrated and entered a New Year in which we embrace new possibilities as we interact with the world. So as we enter this last day of Christmas, is it the end of the season called Christmas? 

This 12th day of Christmas, January 6th is called Epiphany and it is all about God's manifestation in the form of human flesh through Jesus Christ.  The word epiphany means manifestation or revelation and is linked to the visit of the Magi to the Christ child in which earthly kings bow before and worship the Heavenly King Eternal.

This day of Epiphany is when God was made known in human form to the gentiles as to begin God's plan for the world through His Son Jesus Christ. This day was not the end, but rather just the beginning, and the same goes for us in the fact of presence and not presents.

No Christmas is not over, it is the beginning in the fact that we as the Body of Christ are the true witnesses and standard bearers of God made flesh and revealed to the world. We as witnesses are called to show how Jesus Christ has manifested in our personal relationship with Him and with others. 

My prayer for you this day is that you make it a day of beginnings and not endings, in the fact that Jesus Christ is not just a gift but rather a way of life for those that profess to belong to him. Yes, you and I are the standard bearers for the Kingdom of God as well as the truth tellers about God's being made flesh as the eternal gift for God's creation. 

May you make Christmas last all year long and constantly travel back to the manger and let God reveal His revelation to you in the form of a baby born to save the world, His Son, Jesus Christ.

This is the day that the Lord has made.
Pastor Tim

Slowing Into the New Year...

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. – Psalm 37:7

Having just returned from a trip up north and venturing through an ice storm that left several vehicles off the road in ditches, I come to you this morning with a message for our daily lives and especially our lives as we approach a new year. 

As I drove through this ice storm and witnessed what happened to those that were in a hurry, my focus began on "Slowing Down". As I idled down the interstate and as Lynne prayed and white knuckled the door handle, I began to think about how we all enter every new year.

At this time of the year, we rush into making New Years resolutions in haste and we beat ourselves up when we fail to live up to our resolution expectations, or when we see others succeed where we have failed. Beloved, my prayer for you this day is that you pray and slow down before God before considering plans for your life and the new year. 

Just as those drivers that went into the ditch when driving to fast in an ice storm, we to can enter a spiritual ditch when we move to fast without slowing down to take God along with us. God has a plan for all of our lives and each plan may be different for different people, may you be still and wait for God's word and call for your own life direction. By doing this you will stay on the road of life and faith, while others venture to places without God and ask themselves: "Why"? 

Beloved, slow down, breath and pray and take the Lord into the new year with you. You will be glad that you did.

Blessings and Peace

Pastor Tim.

Attitude Is A Gift From God!

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: A Shining Light in the Darkness

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: A Shining Light in the Darkness: John 1:4 New International Version (NIV) 4  In him was life,  and that life was the light  of all mankind. It was the height ...

A Shining Light in the Darkness

John 1:4

New International Version (NIV)

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

It was the height of World War II in the Pacific and a group of internees (American and British) captured by the Japanese army were being transferred by ship to a starvation camp on Christmas Eve. The last thing that the prisoners heard from their Japanese captives as they locked them inside a ships hold was: "American submarines are thick in these waters and you will probably be torpedoed".

With this all that the captives could gather was darkness and isolation in their tomb that was the hold of a cargo ship. Those gathered could only hear weeping and cries for help, when out of the darkness a ladies voice singing Silent Night Holy Night was heard. It was said that when the ladies voice was heard, the weeping slowed and came to a stop.

Instead of fear, the light of hope entered the ships hold as others began to sing along with the lady. With this the dark space became a church as prayers and praise filled the darkness with the shining light of the Messiah come two thousand years ago as well as that night in a dark ship hold.
(Source: Taking the High Ground by Colonel Jeff O'Leary)

Brothers and Sisters as you approach this Christmas go forward in the understanding and the hope that nothing is so dark that the light of Jesus Christ cannot shine through it. Turn your face to the light and its glow will be eternal.This is the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love that God sent to a suffering world in the form of a baby boy named Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas
Pastor Tim Polley

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: The Christmas Legacy

Pastor Tim's Benton Blog: The Christmas Legacy