Going Out On a Limb ~ An Advent Devotional - recycled again

Happy Advent morning...I originally wrote this in 2015, just after retiring. Then I reposted it in 2016.  Well, after reading it again this morning, I thought to myself, I must have written this to a future me in 2018, because I needed to be reminded of these truths again today.  

We are again at a kind of crossroads in this journey of our lives.  As most of you know, we are trying to sell our home and make a move to a little community about thirty miles north of our present location.  We believe, by faith, that this is how the Lord is leading us as we make these plans.  However, we have been a little discouraged as there has not been much interest in our house yet...and then last night I learned that the house we were "keeping our eye on" in the new community now has a pending sale on it. We were not able to tie it up in any way without a contract on our present home...so we have to watch that house go away to someone else.  I know that God is in control...and the first thought (after my initial shock and meltdown that the house was sold) was that He must have a much better house waiting for us when the time is right.  And so today I wake up with renewed vision and faith in the God Who will not forsake those who seek Him!  I can't wait to see what He has in store for us!

Perhaps this message below will be an encouragement for you today to be willing to "go out on a limb" with Jesus.  After all, "that's where the fruit is!"

Here is the original post from 2015 (and repeated in 2016):

Mark Twain was quoted as saying:

"Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is."

I love what Sarah Young wrote in "Jesus Calling" for December 9th:  (I'm recycling this post from 2015 on that date...yes, I know today is really Dec. 13th...don't panic! )

"Be willing to go out on a limb with Me. (Jesus).  If that is where I am leading you, it is the safest place to be.  Your desire to live a risk-free life is a form of unbelief.  Your longing to live close to Me is at odds with your attempts to minimize risk.  

You are approaching a crossroads in your journey.  In order to follow Me wholeheartedly, you must relinquish your tendency to play it safe.  

Let Me lead you step by step through this day.  

If your primary focus is on Me, you can walk along perilous paths without being afraid.  Eventually, you will learn to relax and enjoy the adventure of our journey together. 

 As long as you stay close to Me, My sovereign Presence protects you wherever you go."  

I particularly like this verse that she references at the end: 

Psalm 9:10 

"And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; 

For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You."

Taking the step to retire (last year) was definitely one of these steps for me...going out on a limb...and certainly no longer playing it safe.  But I do know that the Lord is with me, and therefore I am daily learning to "relax and enjoy the adventure of our journey together".  Lord, help me to stay close to You so that Your Sovereign Presence will protect me wherever I go..  Amen.

Perhaps you may also be at a crossroads in your life today.  As we approach the end of another year, we are often faced with decisions about our future, and wonder what the New Year may hold in store for us.  I was reading in another place this morning about the seasons of our lives, and how sometimes it may feel like we are in an endless winter. We all have these "seasons" of difficult issues; financial problems, illness, career changes, or retirement, family/relationship concerns.  But when we place our trust in the One Who is able to guide us through these turbulent times...when we allow ourselves to let go of our own sense of security...the trunk of the tree...and step out on that limb and focus our eyes on Jesus, the Source of our true security and hope, we find that truly that IS where the fruit is...the fruit of peace, joy, and renewed strength.

Read what the prophet Isaiah says in chapter 40, verses 27-31~

"Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel;

'My way is hidden from the Lord, 

and my just claim is passed over by my God?'

Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The Everlasting God, the Lord,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Neither faints nor is weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the weak,

and to those who have no might He increases strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

and the young men shall utterly fall,

But those who wait on the Lord

shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint."

As we continue in this time of waiting the Advent of our Lord...not just for Christmas, but for His return for us, His chosen Bride...let us focus our eyes on Him who is able to renew our strength and ask that He give us the courage to stretch our faith as we step out on those proverbial limbs of life. He will be there to catch us should we start to fall...and He will lift us back up onto His wings and carry us on to reach that fruit He has promised us if we just put our trust in Him.  

What wonderful hope is this? Amen!!

Open the Advent Window to Let Others See Jesus in You! - Revisited

Open the Advent Window...

My sister, our cousin, and myself

This is a rerun from three years ago (2015).  It's interesting that this picture popped up today in my "Facebook Memories" from 3 years ago. I had forgotten that I had written this post from that special day. After re-reading it tonight, I wondered about that lady I met that day...and I was prompted by the Lord to pray for her and her family again.  And tonight I just learned of the passing of a dear younger sister to my precious friend Sharon...(Sharon is the one we've been praying for who has cancer...and now her sister has passed away very unexpectedly). I can't get to my friend right now to give her a hug, but I've sent my love to her in a phone call as soon as I heard the sad news. 

You know, when you've lost someone you love, three years really doesn't erase that grief.  I know this from experience. After four and 1/2 years there are moments when we still need that extra hug from someone who understands what it feels like to say goodbye to a dear child or other loved one...so note to self: Remember what this feels like and reach out to others during this season and let others see Jesus in You!


Original Post 12/11/2015:
Yesterday my sister, my hubby and I had the pleasure of visiting with a dear cousin and his wife from afar...meaning we live many states apart and rarely have the opportunity to get together. So this was truly special. After a delightful lunch we went out onto the porch of the restaurant to chat further and to take some family pictures.  We were having such a wonderful time together, laughing and snapping pictures of each other and carrying on like what we were...a group of people happy to be together.

We realized that we didn't have anyone to take a picture of our entire group, so we asked  the next people who came out of the door of the restaurant if anyone would mind snapping a picture for us. A lady volunteered, and so we posed and she very kindly took our picture.

Here we all are, smiling and feeling thankful for a stranger's kindness.

We thanked her as she started to leave, and she turned and said that they were on their way to another state for the funeral of her nephew, who had been tragically killed in an auto accident that week.  I could see that she was about to cry.  Suddenly I felt guilty for our giddiness in the face of her sorrow, but of course, we did not know.  The Holy Spirit prompted me to embrace her, and to tell her that we would pray for her. As I wrapped my arms around her, I could feel her holding on to me with such emotion...she truly needed that hug...and she thanked me for the promise of the prayers. It was as if there was a transference of energy between us in that moment of time...a Holy Transfer...and as we separated I was almost overcome with emotion myself.  I realized that I needed that hug as well...it was as if I could feel her pain and sorrow...and then it dawned on me.  It wasn't all that long ago that my own precious son left this earth for heaven and there have been many occasions that I truly needed a hug, and others were there for me.

After we all parted and went our separate ways, I couldn't get this dear one off of my mind. I wondered if she thought I was crazy for hugging a complete stranger.  But I realized that it wasn't really me...it was JESUS reaching out to her through me.  It was His Holy Spirit prompting me to action.  It was a divine sense of empathy, actually feeling her pain, that caused me to spring into action.

This Jesus, the "babe in the manger" whose birth we celebrate each Christmas, grew up to sacrifice His life for us...and He is acquainted with our sorrows and grief.  Isaiah the prophet told us long before Jesus' birth that He would do this for us:

Isaiah 53:2-4

"For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,

and as a root out of dry ground.

He has no form or comeliness;

And when we see Him,

There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

He is despised and rejected by men,

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows..."

What a comfort to know that our Savior knows our hearts and carries our sorrow!  This experience with this  perfect stranger yesterday ministered to my heart as well as I trust it ministered to her. And what can I learn from this experience?

• Don't be afraid to open your heart to the sorrow of others
• Listen to the prompting of God's Holy Spirit when He speaks to your heart
• Obey that prompting...don't hold back because of fear that you will be misunderstood
• Let others see the Jesus living in you! That is what Christmas is all about....Jesus came to earth to draw us to Himself...and to save us...and to live through us so that others will be saved and find rest for their souls.

So, today's Advent message is to Open the window of your heart...and let others see Jesus in you!

That leads to pure JOY!  Jesus...Others...You... J-O-Y!!!

Second Sunday of Advent

Here we are again...the 2nd Sunday of Advent...and in our home tradition we usually light the "Bethlehem Candle"...

(picture from our home Advent Wreath, 2017)

As we lit the Second Advent Candle we read the following:

"Today we light the Bethlehem candle.  It is symbolic of preparation.  The prophecy in Micah 5:2 that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem has significance because it indicates how God prepared even the last detail of the coming of Christ."

The following scriptures were read:

Micah 5:2

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,

Yet out of you shall come forth to Me

the ONE to be Ruler in Israel,

Whose goings forth are from of old,

From everlasting."

Matthew 2:1-6

"Now after Jesus was born in BETHLEHEM of Judea 

in the days of Herod the king,

behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,

saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?

For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together,

he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

So they said to him,

"In BETHLEHEM of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:

"But you, BETHLEHEM, in the land of Judah,

are not the least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel."

This was followed by the singing of another beloved Christmas Carol, "O Little Town of Bethlehem"

Don't you sometimes wonder why God chose Bethlehem for the birth of our Savior?  Perhaps because God wanted us to realize that He is able to make something marvelous and magnificent come out of someplace seemingly small and somewhat insignificant. Much like what He does with us, we are seemingly small and insignificant in the eyes of the world...but Psalm 139:13-16 tells us we are "fearfully and wonderfully made"...and that God had a plan for our lives before we were even born.

"For you created my inmost being;

    You knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    Your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

15 

My frame was not hidden from you

    when I was made in the secret place,

    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

    all the days ordained for me were written in your book

    before one of them came to be."

The marvelous thing about Advent and the Christmas story is that God sent Jesus, His Only Begotten Son, down to earth in the form of a tiny baby, to be born in an animal stable in the insignificant little town of Bethlehem, so that He could save ME (YOU) from all our sins. Read the following from the book of Matthew, chapter 1: 18-25 for more information...

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

"YOU ARE TO GIVE HIM THE NAME JESUS, BECAUSE HE WILL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS."

We are the people that He has come to save...little, insignificant you and me...because the God of Heaven loves us so much He was willing to sacrifice His Son for us...this is really significant...really big news!  And THIS is why we celebrate Christmas!

Nativity scene at our church - 2018

Today at our church Advent service, we lit the candle of PEACE.  This was our responsive reading and prayer after lighting the second candle:

In this season of Advent, we pray for God's peace.

Christ is our light and the source of our peace.

We witness the hostility between nations and neighbors.

Christ is our light and the source of our peace.

We see a world full of fractured relationships and unforgiving hearts.

Christ is our light and the source of our peace.

We seek relief from our own inner turmoil and restlessness.

Christ is our light and the source of our peace.

"Gracious God, as we continue our Advent journey, we thank You for sending the Prince of Peace into a world filled with unrest and strife.  We ask that You quiet our restless hearts and instill in each of us the calm assurance that tells us You are in control so we need not worry. Give us the tools we need to serve as You would have us serve, and make us willing instruments of Your peace. Amen."

Our choir sang the following "Calypso Lullaby", written by Jester Hairston, and arranged by Joel Raney.  You can listen and sing along here:

https://soundcloud.com/hope-publishing/calypso-lullaby-marys-little

It really doesn't matter if your church lit "The Bethlehem Candle", the "Peace Candle", or no candles at all...what matters is that we are each preparing our hearts for Christ to enter our lives, homes, churches, and world anew at this Christmas time. Try to forget about the gifts we need to buy or wrap or make...try to put aside all of the stress of doing this or that or how much money we are going to spend to make sure everyone gets a "good Christmas".  Can we just focus our thoughts and minds on Jesus, and how He came to save us from our sins and give us PEACE and HOPE and JOY?  And can we share this good news with someone else this week?  It is too good to keep to ourselves!

(This post will take the place of our usual Sermon Notes for this week)

A Special Christmas Tea Party - Updated

This was originally posted in 2016, so somethings have changed...I have added an update in the story below.  It's Saturday, a good day to play with our dollies, don't you think? And it's always a good day to have a tea party, any day is fine for that!!  So, without further ado, here is the repeat performance of the Dollie's Christmas Tea Party:

Original Post 12/6/2016
This will be a little different than my usual "Advent" posting.  I just felt like playing with my dolls today.  I know what you're thinking...."She's HOW old? And STILL plays with dolls???"  Well...no one ever said that dolls were just for little girls!  Sometimes BIG girls need to play with dolls as well. Call it therapy, if you wish.  That's probably pretty close to the truth!

Anyway, I've had this thought in my head for a while...that I wanted to have a Christmas Tea Party with my dollies!  So, today being a rainy day (!!! hooray!!! First rain in over a month!!), and also being a day that my mind needed a little escape from reality for a while...and since little by little the Christmas decorations are coming out of their boxes....it just seemed like the right time to do this! So here goes:

This is Margie and Valerie, all dressed up in their Christmas finery and ready to get this party going.
Margie (on the left), was given to me by my Aunt Margie for my 7th birthday...and is perhaps my most treasured doll. My mother made her lovely rose taffeta dress, complete with pantaloons and petticoats.  

Valerie (on the right) is also a very special doll, given to me by my Daddy when I was already grown up and married.  An interesting side note on this doll, when I opened the box on Christmas and saw her, I decided that I would name her "Valerie".  After declaring to every one that was what her name would be, I looked on the back of the box that she came in, and it said, "My name is Valerie"...I kid you not! 

I couldn't leave my sweet little Madame Alexander dolls and one Ginny doll out of this special event.  They spend most of their time sitting in my china closet, and never get out much.  So today they have been invited to this special tea party, and they brought their own dollies along as well!  From left to right, we have Miss Scotland, given to me by my mother (when I was already an adult...yes...I've been getting dolls for all my life...), and then next to Miss Scotland is my first Madame Alexander Doll, named Wendy. She was given to me by my Grandma Mursch when I was a little girl. She has red hair (like me! when I was a little girl).  Next to her is Miss Ireland,  a gift from my mother...she also has red hair!  And last but not least is Ginny, my sweet little Ginny doll, a gift from my Grandma Mursch when I was a little girl.  The miniature Madame Alexander dolls are actually Hallmark tree ornaments, and each one was a  gift to me from my sweet big sister Doris...who knows how much I love my dollies.  (I think she's kind of like me on that subject as well.)

This lovely group of young ladies I have named "The Martin Sisters", after my mother in law and her three sisters.   From left to right we have Daisy, Nellie, Dorothy, and Vivian.  Vivian is named after my mother in law because she looks the most like her...tall, blonde, with pretty green eyes. The other girls also look similar to their namesakes (who have all passed on to heaven, except for Vivian, who is 93+)(UPDATE 2018: They are ALL enjoying heaven together now, since my mother in law, Vivian, entered heaven's gates this past August at the age of 95! I can just hear them all laughing and enjoying heaven together with their beloved parents. What a tea party that must be!) with the exception of the doll named Daisy. Daisy wasn't a brunette or so dark complected, but I needed someone to be her in this little grouping, and so that's how she was named that way.  The other two, Nellie and Dorothy, really do look similar to the real gals!

So here they are, having their tea party and so much fun!!!

Oh, I almost forgot some other special dolls who came along for the party:

This little girl, holding her dolly, I've named Pammy, because my mother gave me this doll one year for Christmas (again, after I was an adult), specifically because of the little plaid taffeta Christmas dress that she made for her.  If you look at the picture to the right, and below here:

you will see an old snapshot of my sister Doris (left), with her bride doll, and me (right), with a baby doll, and we are wearing plaid taffeta dresses that our mother made for us when we were little girls. The note is from my mother, if you can decipher it!  My sister's bride doll was very special, as it actually belonged to our mother when she was a little girl, and was quite fragile. She was named "Florence", after my mother's oldest sister who died at the age of two years, before my mother was even born, so she never knew her.  (For more about THAT story, click HERE)

Of course, No doll tea party would be complete without my sweet baby Elva, all dressed up in her little Christmas dress and stockings.  She has her "Bear Bear" the polar bear, that has been her constant companion since 'birth'.  For more about Baby Elva, Click HERE.

This Christmas, baby Elva has a new playmate, her cousin "Pearl":

Pearl actually belongs to my mother in law, and she is named after her mother, Pearl Sarah Elizabeth Waters Martin.  My mother in law found this baby doll in a closet at her house, and really didn't know where she came from, so we cleaned her up and named her Pearl.    So Pearl is dressed in a cute sleeper that says "My First Christmas", since this will be her first Christmas here with us.  I know Elva appreciates having a playmate her own size:

So, let's see who else came to our tea party:

Ho! Ho! Ho!  There's Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus, and they brought their own Santa Train Tea Pot for the party!  Wave at the Santa Engineer!!


Oh, here's another of my favorite "dolls"...the little china Christmas doll, which was a Christmas gift from my Grandma Mursch when I was a young girl!  She has managed to survive many Christmases and moves and welcomes our guests as they arrive for the party!  She even has her own little ceramic Christmas tree and sled with gifts, and a toy train around the tree.  I see a little wooden Santa peering around the tree...

Here's a couple of other Santas who have come to enjoy the party... This first one brought a dollie for some lucky little girl:

And this Santa came out of the woods and takes care of the birds...

Well, last, but certainly not least, we have the most important guests of all:

Here's Mary and Joseph, and the Baby Jesus...the real reason we have this celebration of Christmas:

And they have some special guests as well:

There's the shepherd boy with his sheep, and the three Wise Men, who have traveled from afar as they followed the star...and the angel...who said to the shepherds,

"Do not be afraid, for behold, 

I bring you good tidings of great joy

which will be to all people.

For there is born to you this day in the city of David,

a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be the sign to you:

You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths,

lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host

praising God and saying:

"Glory to God in the Highest,

and on earth peace,

goodwill toward men!""

Luke 2:10-14 

I hope you have enjoyed this special Christmas Tea party with my dollies and friends.  Sometimes we just need to take a break from the harsh realities of life and do something that makes us feel like a child again.  

Jesus said to His disciples in Mark 10:14-15:

"Let the little children come to Me,

and do not forbid them;

for of such is the kingdom of God.

Assuredly, I say to you,

whoever does not receive the kingdom of God

as a little child will by no means enter it."

I believe that we need to have the faith of a little child again...and trust in God to hear our prayers and solve our problems and heal our wounds.  Thank you.

Current Thought (2018)...We are anticipating a move to a "downsized home" in the upcoming year. I've been debating on whether or not to keep all of these dollies. I need your input here, ladies.  What would YOU do???????

Friday Foto Friends: December Trees and Memories

Welcome to Friday Foto Friends!! I hope you have all been having a wonderful week, preparing for Christmas in this lovely Advent season.

We received our first Christmas cards in the mail today...and this one I had to share with you...If I were to design a Christmas card from my neck of the woods, this would have to be it...

Those of you who know me can understand why...

We haven't been seeing much of our wildlife here lately...our deer family seems to be in hiding, probably because it's hunting season.  So I hope they have found a safe place to hide until the hunters go away. And the bears also seem to be settling down for a little nap somewhere. They don't officially hibernate here in Florida, but they do "rest" for a short time and start getting more active again around February.

Are you sending out Christmas cards this year?  I always write a Christmas letter and send it to folks we don't hear from too often throughout the year, especially those who are not on social media.  I figure those who are my Facebook/blogging friends already know everything there is to know about our happenings throughout the year, so in an effort to keep our expenses down (postage, printing) I have reduced the number of letters/cards that are sent out considerably.  But I do love to get cards....and I find that I usually send cards to people who send us cards.  I hate to let the tradition die out altogether.

Here are a few pictures from in and around our house and other places from this past week.  I find that I am waxing nostalgic a bit, knowing that this will most likely be our last Christmas in this house. So I find myself taking pictures of things (and trees!) that I enjoy here that I want to remember.  Here are just a few from this week:

Looking at our little grapevine Christmas tree that is on the front porch...looking out through the windows next to the front door...

And here is "Baby Elva", dressed up in her Christmas outfit,  sitting beside her little Christmas tree in the Dining Room.

Closer view of "Baby Elva", holding her "Boo Bear"

Another little Christmas tree in our kitchen...

Morning Tea Time...

Another view of the little tree and my rocking chair...

I like to sit here and sip tea and read some of the lovely books about tea time while I watch supper cooking on the stove! It is also a nice place for a friend to sit and visit with me in the kitchen. Nanny used to sit here a lot. I do miss her presence here.

My "Tea Time" calendar for December... ( I do save these calendars from year to year. They are too pretty to throw away. They have recipes and history of the teapots, etc. included.) 

(Now you may understand why I have a difficult time "downsizing"...)

Another of my favorite calendars...would just love to be on that wagon bringing in the Christmas tree...we did that when we lived up north.  I loved tromping through the snow looking for the perfect tree.  Toes and noses were numb by the time we found that "perfect tree". 

This year we went back to using our artificial tree, after two years of going and cutting a "Florida Cracker Tree" from the forest... (click on the link for more about that from last year)

And click HERE for the year before that....,  and HERE for the history of the Florida Cracker Tree

With the prospect of moving I really didn't want to go to all the trouble of searching for and cutting and cleaning up after a live tree.

And speaking of trees, This little maple tree is showing off its colors finally. We planted this little tree about 4 years ago, in memory of our son Matthew.  I hate to leave it here when we move, but I'd feel even worse to dig it up and have it die when we try to transplant it. We will just plant something new in memory of our son at our new house, when the time comes. We can always come back and check on its progress in the future.

This is another view of the maple tree, seen from the Bear Crossing sign that our son "Ben's Wood Signs" created after we discovered that our yard is most definitely a "Bear Crossing" zone. I guess we will probably leave that here as well.  Don't think we'll need it in the area where we hope to be moving...but if we do discover any bears, "Ben's Wood Signs" will just have to make me a new one!!

Looking out across our front yard at the close of the day as the sun was going down, shining its brilliant rays through the trees...this picture doesn't do it justice...

This one may give you a better idea of what I was seeing.  It was beautiful...

That is probably a good place to close for the day at the end of another beautiful day....(written on Thursday evening)

Here are some verses from my Bible reading that I found especially comforting today:

"I called on the Lord in distress;

The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.

The Lord is on my side;

I will not fear.

What can man do to me?"

Psalm 118:5-6

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 

We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.

God is the Lord,

And He has given us light..."

Psalm 118:26-27a.

Isaiah 26:3-4

"You will keep him in perfect peace,

whose mind is stayed on You,

Because he trusts in You.

Trust in the Lord forever,

For in YAH,  the Lord, is everlasting strength."

If you are struggling with any distress or fears during this busy and somewhat stressful season of the year, lean on the Lord...call on Him in your distress...and He will hear your cries...and He will answer you and give you peace...and light...and everlasting strength. He has promised...and I believe His Word.  Have a blessed week, dear friends.

Now, let us travel over to Deb's place at Breathing in Grace and see what our other Friday Foto Friends are posting!!

Sermon Notes "Most Wonderful Time of the Year"

Today is the first Sunday of Advent...the time of preparation for the first advent of our Lord as a baby in the manger...God With Us...

As we lit the first Advent candle... the Pastor read:

 "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." 

My view from the choir loft during the prelude. Such a peaceful, beautiful Sunday morning. So thankful to be able to worship in God's house each week.

And then the choir sang this to help begin the Advent Season. 

A little later in the service the choir sang the following anthem:

"Christmas is coming...Let the Church bells ring..."

With the onset of the Advent Season, we are preparing our hearts to welcome the Christ Child at Christmas. But it is not necessarily so out  there in the rest of the world.  Sadly, Christmas has become "sanitized" as Christ has been removed from the commercialized version of Christmas, and has been replaced with cash.

Our scripture reading today tells of the current world view:

II Timothy 3:1-7

"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:

For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,

boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,

traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

having a form of godliness, but denying its power.

And from such people turn away!

For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, 

led away by various lusts,

always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Christmas commercials that we see on the television may sometimes be heart-stirring and well-done, but they are still all about sending us a message to sell their product, whatever it may be.

God has been sending a message of salvation and reconciliation to man since the beginning of time and the fall of man. He has sent signs and wonders...plagues, parted the Red Sea, defeated big armies with just 300 men, healed those riddled with disease and leprosy.  He sent messages through the patriarchs and prophets of old...Abraham, Moses, David, Micah...He even sent a message through a donkey to get man's attention.  And yet we miss the message...we continue on in our own way..."lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God...having a form of godliness, but denying its power!"

Get amazed by the simplicity of God's message to us...He loves us...no matter what...He wants us to be reconciled to Himself...He wants us back.  This stubborn world continues to sin and rebel...God knew that only a personal act could redeem man...so God came down to live among us...to a dirty, dark, smelly stable...He didn't send some regal production to get our attention...He sent His Son...a Baby...Emmanuel, God with us.

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"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, 

and we beheld His glory, 

the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 

full of grace and truth."

John 1:14

Christmas, the ultimate act that demonstrates the unfailing and unconditional love God has for us, His precious children. God with us...Emmanuel.

Do we keep it for ourselves, or do we have a responsibility to share this gift with others?

The true message of Christmas is to learn to love unselfishly as God did...and start to love people unconditionally, just as He has loved us and sent His Son to redeem us to Himself...

What will you do with this precious gift?  Will you keep it for yourself...or will you share it with the rest of the world...?

Sermon Notes: FUMC, Interlachen, FL., Pastor A.C. Myers, 12/2/2018

Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given. I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously. Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said. Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear... That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts. So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.