Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. The Lord blessed us with a weekend of abundance. We met for an evening of food and fellowship at Wesley UMC on Saturday evening. Every time we come before the Lord with His people He shows up there to bless us in such a way that we can feast at His table. It was a great evening of praise and thanksgiving. The Lord continued to bless us yesterday during our 8:30, 9:30, and 11:00 worship services and the Sunday School hour. On Saturday our people, with much love, packed Thanksgiving Food Baskets and delivered them to various families. Thanks to Debbie H and Robin B, who orchestrated this ministry. Yesterday, 49 Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes were collected to be sent overseas with Samaritan's Purse. Deborah E, Deanna M, Kory M, and Nicole A orchestrated this ministry.
Shannon M and her team have picked 49 children from the church family to receive Christmas gifts from the Church. Various members and friends of the church have been invited to take the name of a child from the list and pray for the child during this season. They are also being asked to buy a gift for the child for Christmas. We are praying that these gifts, given with love, may touch each recipient with the love and joy of Jesus, our Savior, who came to give.
We had a very pleasant telephone call from Laureen on Saturday night at 10 PM, saying that she had landed safely in Los Angeles. The team had two concerts yesterday. Laureen will be arriving in Binghamton tonight at 11:30 PM, in a long journey that will take her via San Antonio and Washington, DC. Thank you for praying for her and caring for her.
Yesterday was the last Sunday in the Christian liturgical calendar. This last Sunday of the Christian year has come to be known as the feast of "Christ the King." This designation only goes back to 1925 when Pope Pius XI established it . His reasons for it had to do with a rapidly changing world and the need to remind the earth’s human rulers of who was really in charge. Believe it or not, this is an time of ending. Just ask a farmer, if you're lucky enough to know one. The time for harvesting has come and gone, for the most part. The season of growth is over. Winter is on its way. The holiday we call "Thanksgiving" originated in this ending time. It started out as a celebration of the harvest, being thankful for the fruit of the land, which has now been gathered in. A new season is coming, with colder weather and shorter days. Therefore, end the old and begin the new with a grateful heart - that’s what Thanksgiving is all about.
The reading for yesterday was taken from Revelation 1:4 ff.
"‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come." (Revelation 1:8)
You probably knew that "Alpha" is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and that "Omega" is the last. The Lord God is our beginning point. God is at the start of all things, and it is He who launches us forth on this journey of faith. God is also our ending. The Lord stands at the finish with arms outstretched, drawing us forward. This is one reason these moments of beginning and ending are so special. When we are able to push aside the tears and other things that cloud our vision, we see God being part of such times.
When the Lord says "I am the alpha and the Omega," He is not saying that the Almighty is found only in those ending and beginning times. No, our Risen Lord is with us at every step along the way. From Alpha to Omega, from A to Z, God walks the path of our "ordinary time" with us. We have our past and our future in Christ. However, God is very present in our present. With our Alpha and Omega walking the path with us, we live eternity now. Every ordinary moment is overflowing with the One who said, "Look, I am coming." (Again, this is in the present tense -"‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come." (Revelation 1:8)
The late, great, Swiss-born, German-educated American Protestant theologian and historian of the Christian Church, Rev. Philip Schaff (1819 - 1893), once said, "Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mahomet, and Napoleon; without science and learning. He shed more light on things human and Divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of schools. He spoke Words of Life as never were spoken before or since; and, produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line. He has set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and sweet songs of praise, than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times. Born in a manger; and, crucified as a malefactor, He now controls the destinies of the civilized world; and, rules a spiritual empire which embraces [more than] one-third of the inhabitants of the globe. There never was in this world a life so unpretending, modest, and lowly in its outward form and condition, and yet producing such extraordinary effects upon all ages, nations, and classes of men [and women]. The annals of history produce no other example of such complete and astonishing success in spite of the absence of those material, social, literary, and artistic powers and influences which are indispensable to success for a mere man [or, woman]."
Not only is Jesus, the Christ, the only-begotten Son of the living Almighty God. He is our Way - we walk in Him. He is our Truth - we embrace Him. He is our Life - we live in Him. He is our Lord - we choose Him to rule over us. He is our Master - we serve Him. He is our Teacher - instructing us in the Way of Salvation. He is our Prophet - pointing out the future. He is our Priest - having atoned for us. He is our Advocate - ever living to make intercession for us. He is our Savior - saving to the uttermost. He is our Root - we grow in Him. He is our Bread - we feed upon Him. He is our Shepherd - leading us into green pastures. He is our True Vine - we abide in Him. He is the Water of Life - we slake our thirst from Him. He is the fairest among ten thousand - we admire Him above all others. He is the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of His Person - we strive to reflect His likeness. He is the upholder of all things - we rest upon Him. He is our Wisdom - we are guided by Him. He is our Righteousness - we cast all our imperfections upon Him. He is our Sanctification - we draw all our power for Holy life from Him. He is our Redemption - redeeming us from all iniquity. He is our Friend - relieving us in our difficulties! Jesus, the Christ, is our "all in all" - Yes He is!
In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itUNSwS4q9E
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment