Brown's Daily Word

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Brown's Daily Word 1-5-12

Good morning,

Today is the eve of the Epiphany, which celebrates the coming of the Wise Men to Jesus, to pay their homage to him with their gifts and treasures. Christmas is the celebration of God's gift to us in Christ, and Epiphany is the celebration of our gifts to Him, even as the Wise Men gave theirs. They were the leaders of a never-ending procession of those who, at Christmas, come and kneel, open their treasures, and present gifts to Him. They brought their gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Gold is a gift fit for a king. It symbolizes the presentation of all that we have. We place before Him unreservedly all material things that we hold dear. As one of the hymn writers wrote, "We give Thee but Thine own, whate'er the gift may be."

They also brought frankincense, symbolic of worship. We are reminded at Christmas to give Him our adoration and worship.

The third gift, myrrh, is used for embalming for burial. It speaks of Christ, who came to die and, praise the Lord, rose again.

Since Epiphany is the celebration of our gifts to Him, we need to keep in mind that the best we can give to Him is our heart.

John Wesley's Covenant Service contains a prayer which is the prayer of all who would come to worship the Christ.

"I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt; put me to doing, ut me to suffering; let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee; let me be full, let me be empty; let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal."

Charles Wesley, the great hymn writer, spoke of the same idea in the following way:

"Hail, holy, heaven-descended Child,

Who God and man hast reconciled,

Whom angels bow before!

Whate'er I have of good to give,

To Thee, from whom I first receive,

I thankfully restore.

"To Thee my heart I open wide;

The myrrh of passions mortified,

The gold of charity,

The incense sweet of humble prayer,

I now, Thy prostrate worshipper,

With joy present to Thee."

In Christ,

Brown

http://youtu.be/k8mjRxkMBkE

Saturday, January 7.2012
        Praise and Worship Service
        First United Methodist Church, Endicott .
        Sponsored by Union Center UMC
        6 PM Gathering - Coffee - Fellowship
        6:30 PM Worship
        Music:  Jane Hettinger, Emma Brunson
        Speaker: Pastor Bill Turner

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Brown's Daily Word 1-4-12

Good morning,

Praise the Lord for the first Wednesday of this new year. We will gather for our mid-week fellowship and study this evening at 6 PM.

We are living in the afterglow of Christmas. In His wonderful providence and wisdom the Lord included people of all ages in the unfolding event and the story of Christmas. We have the young teen Mary, an adult, Joseph, the angels, and the elderly - Zechariah, Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna. I refer to them as the wrinkled wrappings after Christmas. In the Book of Luke we meet these personalities. The divine and human encounter took place in the temple precincts of Jerusalem. Here came Mary, here came Joseph, and here came Simeon. He had never seen them before, nor had they seen him before, but a divinely-planned encounter was about to take place.

Luke told the story this way: "Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ." (Luke 2:25-26)

Along came Mary, holding the baby in her arms, with Joseph by her side. Jesus was only forty days old. Never was there a more unlikely couple, Joseph, the poor carpenter from Nazareth, and Mary, a peasant girl carrying a little baby boy. They were obviously from the country, and equally obviously did not have much money. People-watchers would not have given them a second glance. They were not educated, not part of the intelligentsia, and not from the upper-crust. Yet, they came to Jerusalem, where they timidly walked into the Temple courts. When Simeon saw them, he asksed his question for the 10,000th time, “Is this the one?” and the Holy Spirit answered, “Yes.”

“This Is The One.” Suddenly Simeon’s heart leapt within him. The long days of waiting were finally over., and the Lord’s Christ before him. Simeon broke into a song of praise, a song that is so beautiful that it has come down through the centuries to us as the final and climactic song of Christmas. It is called the Nunc Dimittis, the title being taken from the first two words of the Latin translation of Simeon’s words. It was not only a song (vv. 29-32), but also a personal word of prophetic blessing to Mary (vv. 34-35). "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."

Simeon was now ready to die. He had accomplished his life's goal. The word “dismiss” is a military word, used to describe a sentinel who has stood watch during the long hours of the night. At last, as the sun comes up over the eastern horizon, he knows his work is done, and he goes to his commanding officer to be dismissed.

Simeon calls Jesus, “a light of revelation for the Gentiles”, revealing that this baby would not only be the glory of his own people Israel, but also the light of revelation for the Gentiles. He came not just for Israel's benefit, but to shine a light of the revelation of God into every nation, every tribe, every kindred and every tongue. Jesus is the Savior of the whole world. Rich and poor, young and old, Jew and Gentile, healthy and handicapped are all included in his coming. He did not come for a small group, but for the whole world. “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight.”

When Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms, he said, “Lord, I’m ready to go home now. I can die in peace.” No one is ready to die until they have seen Jesus Christ with the eyes of faith. You’re not ready to die until you have seen him and known him and trusted him as your Savior. Once you have seen him, death is no longer an enemy. Though you may live your life and come to the end not having been as successful as you like, or you may live in some frustration because you failed to accomplish all your personal goals, but if you can come to the end of your life and say, “I have seen the Lord’s Christ,” then you have had a blessed and full life--- abundant life that leads to eternal life.

In Jesus our Lord,

Brown

http://youtu.be/Q7VQWAILSbY

Saturday, January 7.2012

Praise and Worship Service

First United Methodist Church, Endicott .

Sponsored by Union Center UMC

6 PM Gathering - Coffee - Fellowship

6:30 PM Worship

Music: Laureen Naik

Speaker: Pastor Bill Turner

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Brown's Daily Word 1-3-12

Good morning,

Praise the Lord for this brand new year. Praise the Lord for the way He invaded this world of time and space with His truth and grace. We will be studying the Gospel according to St. John during our Wednesday Evening gathering starting tomorrow.

In John we see Jesus as the very God, becoming flesh and dwelling among us. His dwelling with us and among us gives us courage, confidence, boldness, and blessing to live our lives on earth without fear or any trepidation. In the words of Eugene Peterson, Rev 21 ^3-5,"I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: 'Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God. He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.' The Enthroned continued, 'Look! I'm making everything new. Write it all down—each word dependable and accurate.'" God’s entrance into the world reveals the heart of God. In the person of of Jesus Christ, we see the heart and nature of our God revealed.

I came across the following story some time ago. On March 5, 1994, Deputy Sheriff Lloyd Prescott was teaching a class for police officers in the Salt Lake City Library. During a break he stepped into the hallway, where he saw a gunman forcing 18 hostages into a nearby room. Prescott, who was dressed in street clothes, fell in line with the group and became the nineteenth hostage. The gunman had not noticed him, and Prescott followed them into the room, and shut the door. The gunman announced the order in which hostages would be executed, and then it was that Prescott identified himself as a police officer. A fight ensued, and Prescott, in self-defense, shot the gunman. All of the hostages were released unharmed. The officer placed himself at great risk, but he was not thinking of himself, he was thinking about the danger the hostages were in. Like Lloyd Prescott, God dressed himself as one of us and entered our world. He joined us because we were held hostage to sin and in danger of spiritual death. He rescued us from eternal danger. Imagine it! God, who could have crushed the world because of its sin, came into the world to be crushed for our sin. The very One who said that everyone who sinned would die, came to the world to die in our place. He both pronounced the judgment and took the judgment upon himself. We did not even understand the danger we were in. We were too ignorant and stubborn to ask for his help, but he came to save us from that danger anyway.

    The Bible says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). This is an incredible mystery, and an incredible story of love.
    “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). Here is the Word made flesh — God becoming a real man so that he would experience what it was to be human. He was God. The Bible says, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9). But he was also fully human. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).      “For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17). In Jesus Christ, God did not just reveal his will or his laws, but he revealed himself. Jesus steps out of the pages of the written word and into our lives.     Soren Kierkegaard, the great Danish theologian of another century, told the story of a prince who was running an errand for his father one day in the local village. As he did so, he passed through a very poor section of the town. Looking through the window of his carriage, he saw a beautiful young peasant girl walking along the street. He could not get her off his heart. He continued to come to the town, day after day, just to see her and to feel as though he was near her. His heart yearned for her, but there was a problem. How could he develop a relationship with her? He could order her to marry him. It was in his power to do so, but he wanted this girl to love him from the heart, willingly. He could put on his royal garments and impress her with his regal entourage, and drive up to her front door with soldiers and a carriage drawn by six horses.  If he did this he would never be certain that the girl loved him or was simply overwhelmed with his power, position and wealth. The prince came up with another solution, giving up his kingly robe and symbols of power and privilege. He moved into the village dressed only as a peasant. He lived among the people, shared their interests and concerns, and talked their language. In time, the young peasant girl grew to know him, and then to love him.
   This is what Jesus has done for us. The Word became flesh. The King of heaven put aside his heavenly robes and divine prerogatives. He came to us as one of us. He lived among us, ate with us, drank with us, and felt with us — all to win our love. He could have forced us. He could have overwhelmed us, but he chose to win us with His love. He will be with us through out this brand new year.. He is the God who became real so that we could experience his transforming love. Jesus is not just a truth to believe in, he is a person to be experienced.