Special Christmas Joys

You may have seen this nativity ornament below in one of my older posts (Click HERE)

Well, at least you may think you've seen this ornament before...and yes,  you would be right, and then again, you could be wrong!  You see, this particular nativity ornament is not the same one at all...but it sure looks like it, doesn't it?

 Here's the story.  This particular Nativity Ornament (well, the other one) always was on my parents' Christmas tree when I was growing up. It was the only ornament that I could honestly say that I remember, because it was so special. It always was front and center, at a height where I could see it as a young child, and every Christmas is would be right there in the same spot. It was very special to me, and to all of us.  When my parents died and we finally settled their estate, my sister became the recipient of this beloved nativity ornament.  Every year since then she has posted a picture of it on her tree, which I have enjoyed seeing on Facebook from a distance. 

My parent's Nativity ornament

This year, the same story. But when I commented on her picture that I wished we could "clone" this ornament so we could both have one, my cousin Becky chimed in with a comment that perhaps I should check on ebay and see if I could find it.  Now, I am not an ebay shopper. I've done very little there and really don't know the routine.  And I didn't know the brand name or anything for particular ornament, so I really wasn't sure if I could find it.  But I thought it was worth a try!  And after I typed in my description of a vintage cardboard Christmas nativity tree ornament...this popped up! It was the exact same one! It even came with the original box! (below)

The price wasn't exorbitant, but I was a little reluctant to order it.  My sister and my cousin encouraged me in their comments, and so I asked my hubby if it would be okay for me to order a totally nostalgic gift for myself for Christmas, and without hesitation he said, "Yes! Order it! And when it comes I'll wrap it up and put it under the tree!"  Well, order it I did, but when it came in the mail today, I showed it to him (he hadn't even looked when I ordered it), and asked if it would be okay if this gift could go right on the tree instead of under it...and he totally agreed.

And so it is there, on the tree, right in the same spot where my parents would have put it.

Can you find it?

And I wanted to point out something else special...Do you see the little garnet jeweled angel on the left, and the greenish colored angel on the right? Well, those two angel ornaments represent my mother (on the left) and my father (on the right), and those are their birthstones.  Also, the little angel above is playing violin, which also represents my mother, as she loved to play the violin and I try to find angel ornaments playing a violin in memory of her.

Let's sing a favorite childhood Christmas carol to go along with this story tonight:

"Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,

The little Lord Jesus, laid down His sweet head;

The stars in the sky looked down where He lay,

The Little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay."

"The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes,

But little Lord Jesus,

No crying He makes.

I love Thee, Lord Jesus, 

look down from the sky,

And stay by my cradle 

till morning is nigh."

 (Sunset tonight and early morning reflections 

beside "Still Waters Pond")

Amen.

The 2nd Sunday of Advent = Peace

Today is the 2nd Sunday of Advent...The Sunday of Peace.

"Our peace is found in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ.  John the Baptist, and all the prophets remind us, that to receive peace we must be prepared for it."

"We light this candle today to remind us that Christ is the Prince of Peace, the One promised from the beginning of the world.  We thank God for the hope He gives us and for the peace He bestows."

Let us pray: 

"O God of Peace, Emmanuel, we pray You to send Your light into our hearts at this time.

Help us to be ready for the day and the hour of Christ's appearing.

Work in our hearts at this time and help us prepare ourselves for the peace that He brings--

the inner peace that tells us that we are united with You and the outer peace, 

which will come when He returns to judge the world.

Bless our worship that it may be pleasing unto You, and bless us that we may prove to be 

Your faithful servants.

Amen."

Then we sang this little chorus to the tune of "Away in the Manger":

"A candle is burning, a candle of peace, 

a candle to signal that conflict must cease;

For Jesus is coming to show us the way;

A message of peace humbly laid in the hay."

"His name shall be called...

Prince of Peace." 

Isaiah 9:6

This evening after our evening worship service we were talking about how amazing and wonderful our God is...and we were looking at the three windows in the back of the sanctuary, because our speaker this evening spoke about the "Trinity", God in the three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  And he mentioned in his message that it was kind of like this window...three in one. And when we looked at the window, we couldn't help but notice that the greenery decorations placed on the window spelled out a special message: WOW.    And that is just how we felt at that moment..."WOW!"  Yes, that is our awesome Heavenly Father...God in Three Persons, Blessed Trinity.  "WOW!"   just "WOW"!!!!

This is what that window looks like in the daytime, withe sunlight shining through. But this picture was taken at another time, before the decorations were on there.  I can still say "WOW"...Just "WOW".

May the Prince of Peace give you peace in your hearts and lives today. Amen.

Let Heaven and Nature Sing!

Today is a good day to sing!

Joy to the World!

The Lord is come! 

Let earth receive her King!

Let every heart prepare Him room!

And heaven and nature sing,

And heaven and nature sing,

and heaven 

and heaven,

and nature sing!

 Joy to the earth!

The Savior reigns.

Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods,

rocks, hills, and plains,

repeat the sounding joy,

repeat the sounding joy,

 Repeat, 

 Repeat the sounding joy!

He rules the earth

with truth and grace,

and makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness

 And wonders of His love,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders, 

And wonders of  His love.

Amen.

I hope you enjoyed singing along with all nature and the carolers as they herald the Savior's Birth!

Stay tuned for more songs as Christmas day approaches!

In the meantime,

"God rest ye merry gentlemen!"

Advent Rest - Revisited Again!

This is another repeat Advent message, written in 2017 (and repeated last year too). I will leave it just the way it was written...it is still very much applicable today. I still need to learn about "rest"...  I hope you will enjoy this message and be blessed by it.

Original Message:

In preparation for the beginning of the Advent season we read in our devotions the following passage from Ezekiel 34:11-16:

Ezekiel 34:11-16(NKJV)

God, the True Shepherd

11 ‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 

12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. 

13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. 

14 I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 

15 I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord God. 

16 “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.”

After reading this I couldn't help but think about this following passage in Isaiah 40:11, followed by Christ speaking to us in Matthew 11:28-29.  I have inserted a video excerpt from Handel's Messiah with this beautiful message.  

Isaiah 40:11(NKJV)

11 

He will feed His flock like a shepherd;

He will gather the lambs with His arm,

And carry them in His bosom,

And gently lead those who are with young.

Matthew 11:28-29 (NKJV)

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Listening to this helps me to calm my spirit and prepare my heart for the Advent of our Lord...yes, as a babe in the manger at Christmas...but also as we look forward to His soon return to redeem His beloved sheep..., for "WE are His people, and the sheep of His pasture"...

Psalm 100 (NKJV)

A Song of Praise for the Lord’s Faithfulness to His People

1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

2 

Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

3 

Know that the Lord, He is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4 

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.5 

For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.

As we approach this Christmas season, let us pause to reflect on the true mission of that babe in the manger...it was not to give us a reason to go out and buy expensive gifts and shop til we drop and do all kinds of crazy things in the name of Christmas...but to celebrate the One who came to seek His sheep as the True Shepherd, Who came to "seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick;", and to "feed His flock like a shepherd;

He will gather the lambs with His arm,

And carry them in His bosom,

And gently lead those who are with young." 

and to "give you rest."

As we approach the end of this year it is fitting that I should be reminded of the One Who came to give me REST...Yes, rest for my body, my mind, and my soul...

If you recall, my "One Word" for 2017 was "REST"... and I am not too sure that I followed that admonition too well all year long...but I have learned that when I am weary Jesus is always there to give me rest...I just need to allow Him into my busy-ness...and take His yoke upon me, and learn from Him.

My prayer for you and for myself as we enter this busiest of all seasons of the year, is that we will indeed let Jesus give us "REST" in the midst of our celebrations and joyous activities with loved ones and friends. Take time out to spend time alone with Him, reading His Word, meditating upon Him, and enjoying all the beauty and wonders of the season around us.

Have a blessed, peaceful, restful Advent Season!  

The First Sunday of Advent 2019-What does that mean?

So wonderful that today is the first Sunday of Advent! What does that mean to you? To me, it is the beginning of the anticipation, preparation, excitement, and reality setting in that Christmas is coming very soon! More than that... the reality that Jesus came to us as a tiny baby, God in human flesh, came to us to live among us, teach us all about the true meaning of life, and prepare us for eternity...and sacrifice His own life on the cross so that we could one day live with Him in heaven...
Here is a beautiful expression of what that was like:  From the Cradle to the Cross...

(I was particularly pleased to see this lovely display in our church narthex, 

as my son was honored to build the old rugged cross especially for this time.)

This wonderful display greeted us as we entered our Sanctuary this morning...the empty cradle at the foot of the lovely Christmas tree, adorned with golden crowns,  angels...under a beautiful Star of Bethlehem, but leaning against an old rugged cross...kind of in the shadows...the cradle in the shadow of the cross.  A very poignant reminder of the life that Christ would live here on earth for us...always in the shadow of that cross.  But without that cross...where would we be? Without HOPE, that is where we would be. 

Today being the first Sunday of Advent, we had our traditional lighting of the first Advent Candle:
The candle of HOPE. 

"This morning we light the first candle, the candle of hope.  This candle reminds us that God's promises give us reason to be filled with hope~hope for unity in a world of division, hope for healing in a world of pain, and hope for peace in a world filled with anger and strife.  We remember that Christ is our light and the source of our hope." 

Instead of the traditional prophetic verses from Isaiah 7:14, or Isaiah 9:2-7, about the first Advent of the Messiah, our pastor read today from Luke 21:25-36, which is about Christ's second Advent to the earth.  We are warned about the things that are to take place prior to His return, and in verses 27-28, after many signs and wonders have taken place in the heavens and on the earth:

  

27."Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 

28.  Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."

Whether or not this takes place at the end of the tribulation, or just prior to, or whenever...no man really knows...but we are to be ready...to keep watching and know the signs of the times so that we are not caught unprepared for that moment.  Christ could return at any moment to catch His Bride, the Church, away from the earth.  I know I want to be ready and not be left behind.

So Advent is a time to, yes, prepare our hearts anew for the coming of the Babe in the Manger and to remember why He came in the first place...but even more for us as believers, it is a time to prepare our hearts for His second coming...to be watching and waiting...and serving Him now with our talents, time, and offerings...and sharing this Good News of the Gospel with as many as we can while there is yet time. That's what this first Sunday of Advent means to me.

(Our nativity scene is now set up in our home)