Brown's Daily Word 12-31-12

Praise the Lord for this last day of 2012. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness and for His tender mercies. It is a wonderful blessing to enter the New Year through Christmas, through much celebration and through much rejoicing. Praise the Lord that He has come down to be with us. He is Emmanuel, God with us. The Word became flesh and dwells with us even now and through Eternity.

“Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise” (Ephesians 5:15). To “be careful” means literally to walk accurately or precisely. The King James uses the old word “circumspectly.” It has the idea of walking on a narrow path along the side of a steep mountain. Keep your eyes open lest you take a wrong step and plunge to your death.

Sometimes we are guilty of living too fast. We make too many snap judgments, we come to too many hasty decisions, we speak too fast, we move too fast, we react too fast, and we answer before we hear the question. The divine prescription for our hurried lives is still: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). When we slow down enough to get God involved, we discover that he can do more through us than we can ever accomplish on our own. We are invited to redeem time. “Making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).
The King James Version uses the word “redeem,” as in “redeeming the time.” To us redeem is a salvation word, but originally it comes from the marketplace and means to “buy back” or to “purchase” something. You “redeem” something when you buy it for your own use.

“These are desperate times!” (The Message - Ephesians 5:16) The NIV uses the word “opportunity” instead of time. Paul indicated that there is a particular reason we must “redeem the time” and grasp the urgency of the moment “Because the days are evil.” Paul wrote these words while chained to the guards in a Roman jail. The emperor was Nero, a perverted excuse for a king . Before too long he would set fire to Rome and blame the Christians. Later he would order Paul beheaded. Ephesus, a city wholly given over to heathenism, was in Paul's day the most important city in the Roman province of Asia. Meanwhile clouds of persecution were rolling in. As the gospel spread, it encountered opposition in the form of entrenched interests that saw Jesus and his followers as a threat. That’s what Paul meant when he said, “These are desperate times!”

Evil days tempt us to despair, encourage us to give up. When the day is dark and the hearts of men have grown cold, we feel that there is nothing to be done, and sometimes we give up too soon. “Day of moral corruption offer special opportunities for the prosecution of great enterprises for the kingdom of God” (G. Campbell Morgan). That’s good news. In fact, the things that make it difficult for us for live as Christians are the things that make us shine. Hard times are blessings in disguise. Days of moral compromise offer incredible opportunities for the gospel.
When the world around us seems to be going haywire, we have an incredible opportunity to display the life-changing power of Jesus Christ. The darker the night, the brighter the light shines. “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Ephesians 5:17). These are great days to be alive. They are exciting, amazing, uncertain, and sometimes frightening days (or all at the same time).
Whatever our days be like, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). “There is no rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2). “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16).

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/3x2fSxOeij4

Brown's Daily Word 12-28-12

"Mary wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger". Mangers were not the beautiful, clean places we see in our Christmas pageants. They are found in lonely, dirty, smelly stables made for animals. If you are looking for Jesus, don’t start in the nursery. Go outside to the barn and find the oldest part where the boards need repair and the ground is covered with dirt and the air smells of manure. When you hear the baby’s cry, you’ll know you’ve found the Lord. He’s not in the nursery with the rest of the children; he’s out in the barn with the animals. No wonder the world missed him then and still misses him today. It is only by the eye of faith that the majesty of Christ is seen. God’s surprising sign is a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and resting in a feeding-trough in a cave behind a village inn. It’s not a very likely beginning for a movement that would change the world. What a rebuke to those who love pomp and outward glory, to those who despise the small things of the world. Jesus was once a “small thing” Himself. To borrow a phrase from Martin Luther, “He whom the worlds cannot enwrap yonder lies in Mary’s lap.” This is surely a strange way for a Savior to enter the world. Even the poorest child would not be found in a manger, but there he was, God’s appointed “sign” from heaven.



Charles Haddon Spurgeon of London preached a sermon on this text. The scene at Bethlehem is one of utter simplicity: a mother, a father, and a baby. Thus was “the Word made flesh” to dwell among us. What God does is both simple and clear. And the message to us is also simple and clear. Those who come in simple faith to the Lord Jesus Christ find great peace. We need once again to preach the plain man’s gospel, free of speculation and centered on Christ.

Spurgeon then urged his hearers to come in faith to the Babe of Bethlehem who would one day die for the sins of the world. Little children should come for He was once a little child himself. Young women should come for Mary was a young woman who was God’s instrument for bringing Christ into the world. Young men should come for Joseph was a young man who had great faith in God. Old women should come for Anna was an old woman who looked for the coming of the Lord. Old men should come for aged Simeon waited for the consolation of Israel. The working men and women should come to Christ because the shepherds represent all those who work with their hands for a living — and they too came to Bethlehem. Finally, the highly-educated of the world should come for the Wise Men came bearing gifts. They too bowed and worshiped the King.

This is Spurgeon’s closing appeal: “For my own part, the Incarnate God is all my hope and trust. I come back to preach, by God’s help, the gospel, the simple gospel of the Son of God. Jesus, Master, I take Thee to be mine forever! May all in this house be led to do the same, and may they all be thine, great Son of God, in the day of thine appearing, for thy love’s sake. Amen.”

May we all say"Jesus, Master, I take thee to be mine forever."

In Christ,

Brown

http://youtu.be/mnTQo3WS7rM

Brown's Daily Word 12-27-12

Merry Christmas, our Savior is born. I have posted some of my pictures from my recent trip to Australia on my Facebook page. It is almost mid-summer in Australia and New Zealand, so they celebrate Christmas in mid summer. When I spoke to the Australians and the New Zealanders about Christmas celebrations they shared with me that they prepare mega barbques for Christmas and go the beaches for surfing. Various summer flowers akin to those on the Indian sub-continent are in full bloom. They are also harvesting summer/tropical fruits. In quite a contrast to the balmy summer Christmas in Australia we are having a very snowy Christmas here in North East of the America the Beautiful. The Lord blanketed our region here in New York with almost a foot of snow. All is well. It is looking like a winter wonderland.

I am reflecting on the shepherds, who became the divine news channel for the announcement of the Birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The simple and sleepy shepherds, stunned by the songs of the heavenly host, forgot about their sheep and came in haste to Bethlehem. They were the first to behold the newborn king. Their lives were changed, challenged, and filled. It is written in Luke 2: “The shepherds returned to the fields, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard "

I love to see Christmas come because it is during this time of year that we see the human race more as God intended us to be. That is, at Christmas time, most of us are a little kinder…to family and friends, and even strangers. Most of us are a little more thoughtful, a little more generous, a little more considerate to others. The world is a happier place because most everyone is a bit kinder. 'There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,' returned the nephew. 'Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round - apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that - as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!' Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol".

The Spirit of Christmas peace and generosity is not supposed to be confined to one, or at the most twelve, days a year. The Lord gave the gift of Christmas to last whole year and whole life span on earth and beyond this world.

There is a story about an old man who was sitting in his house one day in January and he thought he head the voice of a little boy singing. The old man heard a knock on his door and he slowly got up and shuffled over to open that door. There was a little boy singing, HARK THE HERDALD ANGELS SING and the little boy sang the chorus with real gusto, GLORIA. The old man was not amused and he spoke gruffly, “Sonny, don’t you know that Christmas was four weeks ago? Today is January 25th and Christmas has been over for a month?” The little boy replied in his excited voice, “Yes, but I had the measles at Christmastime and then I got the small pox, and I just got out of the house. I wasn’t able to do any Christmas caroling this year, so here I am. HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING.

"A man is at his finest
towards the finish of the year;
He is almost what he should be
when the Christmas season is here;
Then he's thinking more of others
than he's thought the months before,
And the laughter of his children
is a joy worth toiling for.
He is less a selfish creature than
at any other time;
When the Christmas spirit rules him
he comes close to the sublime.

When it's Christmas man is bigger
and is better in his part;
He is keener for the service
that is prompted by the heart.
All the petty thoughts and narrow
seem to vanish for awhile
And the true reward he's seeking
is the glory of a smile.
Then for others he is toiling and
somehow it seems to me
That at Christmas he is almost
what God wanted him to be.

If I had to paint a picture of a man
I think I'd wait
Till he'd fought his selfish battles
and had put aside his hate.
I'd not catch him at his labors
when his thoughts are all of pelf,
On the long days and the dreary
when he's striving for himself.
I'd not take him when he's sneering,
when he's scornful or depressed,
But I'd look for him at Christmas
when he's shining at his best.

Man is ever in a struggle
and he's oft misunderstood;
There are days the worst that's in him
is the master of the good,
But at Christmas kindness rules him
and he puts himself aside
And his petty hates are vanquished
and his heart is opened wide.
Oh, I don't know how to say it,
but somehow it seems to me
That at Christmas man is almost
what God sent him here to be." Edgar Guest from" At Christmas"

Merry Christmas,

Brown

http://youtu.be/76RrdwElnTU

Brown's Daily Word 12-26-12

Merry Christmas. Joy to the world; the Savior is come. The Lord blessed us with a brilliant Christmas Eve. He blessed us during our Christmas Eve Services. Indeed it was holy and silent yet vibrant, triumphant, and joyful. Our second Christmas Eve service that began at 7:30 PM, concluding with the singing of Silent Night and lighting of the candles exactly at 9 PM. When the worshippers were about to walk out of the sanctuary it began to snow gently and beautifully. My wife had been praying longingly for snow for Christmas, and the Christ of Christmas granted the desire of her heart by blanketing the area with fresh and friendly snow. He makes all things glorious and beautiful in His time.

Sunita and Andy have come from Washington for the week. Tom and Jessica came yesterday as we were walking after Christmas dinner. They will be here for the whole week. Laureen has taken this week off to have time with her sisters and us. We are blessed beyond belief. Micah, Simeon and Ada stayed with their parents in Boston. They had an old Boston style Christmas, attending Christmas Eve services in Cambridge. We spoke to them twice yesterday via Skype. It was a great thrill and a treat. I preached on Christmas Eve from from Luke 2, “The angel said to them, I bring you good news of great joy which is for all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Liberator, who is Christ the Lord.”

One of the most exciting and most dramatic rescue missions of modern times happened in Entebbe, Uganda, located in Central Africa on July 4^th, 1976, on the 200^th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. That rescue mission captivated the whole world. An Israeli airplane has been hijacked by a group of Palestinian guerillas after it left Paris, France. These Palestinians had made arrangements with Idi Amin of Uganda to land their plane at Entebbe, a remote city in Uganda. The hijacked plane landed at Entebbe, and "Big Daddy" Amin, one of the cruelest dictators of all time, who had brutalized his own country into submission and who had murdered his own people by the tens of thousands, came out to meet the hijacked airplane. He fumed and railed at the 150 prisoners on the plane. They expected death at the hands of this violent, cruel man. The hostages were kept isolated, captive for several days and then…it happened. . .so suddenly, so secretly. No one had an inkling that it was going to happen. Suddenly and silently in the middle of the night, at 1:00 AM on July 4, 1976, on the 200^th anniversary of our own national liberation, a plane quietly glided into Entebbe and out jumped a squadron of forty commandos. There was a blast of gunfire. Two Israeli soldiers were killed, but the Ugandans immediately surrendered. Quickly there were two airplanes in the dark sky, the first plane which had been hijacked and the second, a rescue plane. Both planes flew to freedom. The next day, Amin fumed and railed that his airspace had been violated.

Liberation is a good word. Liberation is good news. Liberation implies positive change, being set free from an awful situation. Liberation happens to us. We don’t liberate ourselves. We can not liberate ourselves. Many try to liberate themselves by their self help methods or by their own ingenuity. They become frustruated , disappointed because they can not liberate themselves. Outside intervention is needed. Liberation is exciting, life giving, and thrilling to see when it happens.

The angels said to them: “I bring you good news of great joy which is for ALL people, for onto you is born this day in the city of David, A LIBERATOR, who is Christ the Lord.” The word liberator is a good, strong word, a real word for a real world in need of liberation. Usually, when we hear the song of the angels on Christmas Eve, we hear the words like this: “For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a savior, who is Christ the Lord.” We hear the word, savior, rather than the word, liberator. The words, liberator and savior, come from the same Greek word, but the words have different meanings and connotations in English. The word, savior, implies the forgiveness of sins. God cancels our sin. God covers up our sin. We need God’s forgiveness for all of our lives. We cannot escape this sinful disposition that we all have, so we need to experience forgiveness throughout our whole lives. But the word liberator has a different feel to it than the word, savior. "Liberator" implies more than forgiveness; it implies transformation, actual change in us and to us.

Jesus comes to liberate us from our selfishness,. that enslaves us to our own whims and appetites and egos. Jesus comes to liberate us from our painful pasts, to set us free from all the mistakes we have made years and years ago - mistakes with the kids, with the spouse, on the job, as a neighbor. Jesus comes to actually set us free from our uncountable mistakes. Jesus comes to actually liberate us from our fears - the fear of disease, the fear of death, failure, and growing old, as well as the fear that there is no God, and that your kids won’t turn out right. Jesus comes to liberate us, to bring about a wonderful transformation within us and around us.

Jesus comes to actually liberate us from our addictions, from our rage, our anger, our sharp tongues and sharp comments, our sarcasm, our putting others down, our need for revenge and the dreams of inflicting revenge on someone who has hurt us and needs to hurt by us. Christ the liberator comes to free us from all of that. He comes not only to forgive us, but to liberate us. Whenever God in Christ comes into our lives and frees us from all this stuff that stifles us, cripples us, corrupts us, it is good news and great joy. It is Christmas. two thoutand years later, we still hear the angel’s choir singing their song: I bring you good news of great joy which is for all people, for onto you is born this night, a liberator, who is Christ the Lord. Amen.

Joy to the world; the Savior reigns.

In Him,

Brown

http://youtu.be/X-LEVmxL5Y8

Brown's Daily Word 12-20-12

" O come, all ye faithful,joyful and triumphant...O come ,let us adore Him Christ the Lord", Hark! the herald angel sing, "Glory to the new -born King"," Joy to the world , the Lord is come". I love summertime. I just returned from Australia, where it is summertime. My wife loves "The Chronicles of Narnia". There is a famous phrase C.S Lewis uses to describe the brokenness of the world in which we live in. It is the phrase used by Tumnus, the faun, when he explains to Lucy what Narnia is like: ‘Always winter but never Christmas.’ This is a powerful metaphor for the state of our lives. Lewis believed that all human beings live in a state of permanent winter because of our alienation from the rightful King (Aslan in Narnia, Jesus Christ in our world). We are alive, but there’s a sense in which we’re also dead. In the constant winter of Narnia, the lamp in the forest serves a similar purpose. The lamp is left over from Aslan’s creation of Narnia, a beacon of his creative power and a reminder that Narnia is still ultimately his. Lewis finally recognized that life only made sense with God in the picture; only the coming of the King could bring an end to the winter and bring, in its place, a magical spring. It was a decision he came to reluctantly, having been an atheist for some years. He described himself as, ‘the most dejected and reluctant convert in England . . . brought in kicking, struggling, resentful.’ Lewis realized that a relationship with God is only possible because an event powerfully pictured by Aslan dying in Edmund’s place and rising again to defeat the White Witch, an image of the ‘Deeper Magic’ of Jesus’s death and resurrection.

Praise the Lord! Into the winter of the world Christmas comes once again. I had a glimpse of preparations for the celebration of Christmas around the world as I met people from all over the globe and witnessed a portion of it in Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, and in Japan. When I arrived at home our church was fully decorated for Advent and Christmas, and my wife had turned the parsonage into a Christmas House once again, with so many trees and so many decorations reflecting the sounds, the sights, the smells, and the songs of Christmas. We have our real tree towering almost 9 feet which now has taken its rightful place in the living room of the parsonage where other others Christmas trees have adorned for the last 22 Christmases.

As church we celebrated a very special Christmas with gifts of love last Sunday. The faces of children were glowing and glistening, because Jesus comes into the midst our children's gathering and celebration, and He reminds us to "let the children come to me do not hinder them". "If you love me feed my lambs."

I am excited about Christmas. We get to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior once again. I will be sharing Friday Evening at 7 PM on our weekly Television outreach on the Birth of our Savior. Laureen and I, along with some of her friends and with some my friends, are attending the Handels' Messiah presentation this Friday at 8 PM in Binghamton. This is our annual pilgrimage. Sunita and Andy attended the Messiah at the National Cathedral, in Washington, DC a couple weeks ago. They will be coming home Friday night. Our Church is presenting a Living Nativity this Saturday from 4-5 PM at Center Court of the Oakdale Mall, Binghamton.

We will gather for our Sunday worship at Union Center UMC at 8:30 and 11:00 and at Wesley at 9:30AM. There will be a Christmas celebration and reception at Wesley after the morning worship. Adult and children's choir will be singing at Union Center during both services followed by Christmas reception at 12:30PM at the Union Center UMC. For Christmas Eve we will gather for a Candlelight service ast the Historic First United Methodist Church, Endicott at 4:30 PM. We will gather at 7:30 PM at the Union Center UMC for a Candlelight Communion Service.

Jessica and Tom will be joining us on Christmas day. Micah, Simeon, and Ada, along with their parents, will be celebrating their Christmas in Boston. We will be going to se them a few days after Christmas.

As we pause and ponder about the most wondrous birth of Lord and Savior and how silently, how silently the wondrous gift was given, we praise the Lord for all of you with whom we are linked because of Christ. Thank you for you Christmas cards and gifts and your love that you have shared with us. May the Christ of Christmas fill our hearts with the fullness of His Joy, the power of His love, and the gift of Redemption. Praise the Lord for this wonderful world we live in. Praise the Lord for the way He fills the globe with His glory and splendor and His grace and love. Praise the Lord for the church around the corner and around the globe.

I am enclosing by attachment a brief synopsis of the Naik Family here at 131 Maple Dive, Endicott NY for the year 2012.

Once we receive and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior and begin to serve Him as our King He gives us His grace and mercy to live in that Eternal Hope only He provides. We run the race looking un to Jesus and in to the Eternal City. In his " The House of Christmas" G.K. Chesterton reminds us "To an open house in the evening,
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome
To the end of the way of the wondering star
To the things that can not be and that are,t
To the place where God was homeless and all men are at home."
Joy to the world the savior is born.
In Him,
Pastor Brown
http://youtu.be/X-LEVmxL5Y8

Brown's Daily Word 12-19-12

Praise the Lord for this Wednesday before Christmas, 2012. We will gather for our mid-week study and fellowship at 6 PM followed by choir practice at 7:30 PM . We will be looking at Isaiah 35. We read in this wonderful and powerful passage about a Highway, a Holy Way. Isaiah is describing this Holy Highway that will lead the people from their exile to God’s temple in Zion – the site of their joyous homecoming.
He said that there will be no ravenous beasts – there will be nothing along the way to be afraid of and then he said, “No traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.”
It’s a wonderful image of God’s grace. God is so eager for us to come back home, to come back to him, to know the joy for which we have been created, that he builds this holy way where no traveler, not even a fool, can go astray.
The source of our joy is Jesus. We can begin to experience His presence even
now. There are flowers already blooming in the midst of the desert and we wait
for that day when we will know Christ fully and our joy will be complete. In the meantime, the Christ of Christmas gives us work to do. The middle of our passage is a command, an imperative, something we are supposed to do. Isaiah said,
"Strengthen weak hands, and make firm feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, 'Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.'”
It is not enough for us to simply receive this joy of knowing God’s presence and God’s love. We also have opportunities to share that joy, to help others see the signs of God’s presence and experience God’s love all around them.

Praise the Lord for all who are engaged in ministering to the grieving families in Connecticut. In the midst of such great tragedy we see the signs of grace and healing, and even the signs of triumph and victory. Therefore we are always on the lookout for those with weak hands or feeble knees. We are always on the lookout for those with a fearful heart. We are always looking for opportunities to say “Be strong. Do not fear. Here is your God.” With every person we greet we have a chance to share just a little bit of our joy.

Our nephew who lives in Colorado posted on Facebook that he "Will be saying Merry Christmas to everyone for the next 7 Days." Some things are worth saying again and again. Over and over again we have an opportunity to speak to those with fearful hearts who need to hear the Christmas message – “Be strong. Do not be afraid. Here is your God.” In this way we keep spreading the message. We keep pointing to the signs and God’s presence and God’s love.
We keep waiting for the promise to be complete, waiting for that day when the ransomed of the Lord will come to Zion with singing. We wait and we pray, for in that day we will obtain everlasting joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

In Christ,

Brown

http://youtu.be/RmknWYFr6Xk

Living Nativity Presented by the Union Center United Methodist Church

Location: The Oakdale Mall, Johnson City, NY.

Date: Saturday, December 22, 2012

Time: 4-5 PM

 

Handel's Messiah Presented by the Down Town Singers of Binghamton

Date: Friday December 21, 2012

Time: 8 PM

Location: Helen Foley Theater in Binghamton High School (corner of Main & Oak Streets)

 

Christmas Eve Candlelight services

4:30 PM at First UMC, 53 McKinley Avenue, Endicott

Pianist: Aric Phinney,

Organist: Yancey Moore

Soloist: Emma Brunson

Pastor Brown will be Preaching

 

7.30 PM Candle Light Communion Service

Union Center UMC, 128 Maple Drive

Organist: Betty Phinney

Pianist: Laureen Naik

Preacher Rev. Brown Naik

All are welcome.

 

Phone for information: 607-748-6329 or 607-748-1358

Brown's Daily Word 12-18-12

We were all stunned and overwhelmed the tragedy that occurred the Friday before the Third Sunday in Advent. As a nation we have wrestled with unbelief, anger and confusion. How could it happen in America? I was sharing with our daughter Sunita, who reminded me that there is no simplistic answer to this tragedy. We need to come to Jesus and pray and mourn. He comforts those who mourn. He heals the brokenhearted. Last Sunday morning during the morning prayer time at Wesley Linda reminded me that there so many millions who love Jesus Christ in these United States. There are so many who love their children and grandchildren. There are so many children who love their parents with great devotion and affection. There are so many who love Jesus who live with great selflessness and service to the Lord. There are so many millions who give to the work of the kingdom with so much generosity and sacrifice. The Pew research has announced that there are over 2.2 billion Christians around the world. There are so many who minister to the children with great joy and love. In the midst of senseless tragedy and violence we see that the work of the Gospel continues around the corner and around the world.

In my simple faith I wonder how it is okay to pray after the tragedy and during tragedy but it is forbidden to pray in the public arena before the tragedy. The culture that denounces Christ in the public discourse, the society that mocks Christ in the political sphere, is suddenly brought to knees for prayer when suddenly we are made powerless and voiceless. I reminded my daughter Sunita that the birth of Jesus, the Prince of peace, was surrounded and followed by the ruthless murder of children of Bethlehem by King Herod. Thus says the LORD: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more” (Jeremiah 31:15). Christians must call evil what it is, never deny its horror and power, and remain ever thankful that evil will not have its full sway, or the last word.

We affirm the Cross of Christ as the only adequate remedy for evil. There is one and only one reason that evil does not have the last word, and that is the fact that evil, sin, death, and the devil were defeated at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. There they were defeated conclusively, comprehensively, and publicly. Christ’s victory over sin, evil, and death was declared by the Father in raising Jesus from the dead. The resurrection of Christ is the ground of our hope and the assurance of the final and total victory of Christ over all powers, principalities, and perpetrators. In the face of such horrors and atrocities, we are driven again and again to the Cross and resurrection of Christ, knowing that the reconciling power of God in Christ is the only adequate answer to such a depraved and diabolical power.
For now, even as we yearn for the Day of the Lord, we grieve with those who grieve. We sit with them and pray for them, and acknowledge that their loss is truly unspeakable and that their tears are unspeakably true. We pray and look for openings for grace and the hope of the gospel. We do our best to speak words of truth, love, grace, and comfort.
What of the eternal destiny of these sweet children? There is no specific text of Scripture that gives us a clear and direct answer. We must affirm with the Bible that we are conceived in sin and, as sons and daughters of Adam, will face eternal damnation unless we are found in Christ. So many of these little victims died before reaching any real knowledge of their own sinfulness and need for Christ. They, like those who die in infancy and those who suffer severe mental incapacitation, never really have the opportunity to know their need as sinners and the provision of Christ as Savior. They are in a categorically different position than that of the person of adult consciousness who never responds in faith to the message of the Gospel. In the book of Deuteronomy, God tells the adults among the Children of Israel that, due to their sin and rebellion, they would not enter the land of promise. But the Lord then said this: “And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it” (Deuteronomy 1:39).
Many, if not all, of the little children who died in Newtown were so young that they certainly would be included among those who, like the little Israelites, “have no knowledge of good or evil.” God is sovereign, and he was not surprised that these little ones died so soon. There is biblical precedent for believing that the Lord made provision for them in the atonement accomplished by Christ, and that they are safe with Jesus.
Rachel is weeping for her children. The prophet Jeremiah’s reference to Rachel and her lost children is heart-breaking. “Thus says the LORD: ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.’” Like Rachel, many parents, grandparents, and loved ones are weeping inconsolably even now, refusing to be comforted for their children, because they are no more. This tragedy is compounded in emotional force by the fact that it comes in such close proximity to Christmas, but let us never forget that there was the mass murder of children in the Christmas story as well. King Herod’s murderous decree that all baby boys under two years of age should be killed prompted Matthew to cite this very verse from Jeremiah. Rachel again was weeping for her children.
God, not the murderer, has the last word. For those in Christ, there is the promise of full restoration. Even in the face of such unmitigated horror, there is hope. “There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to your own country.” There are so many who pour out their lives and love to others in the Name of the New Born King, Jesus Christ. We praise the Lord the Lights still shines in dark places. "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." Isaiah 9:2

May the Lord give grace and anointing to feed the lambs. May Jesus grant special blessings to those are engaged in the ministry to the children in schools in churches. Jesus said let the children come to me. Do not hinder them for to such belongs the Kingdom of God.

In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/Re75Mn85Jjk

Living Nativity Presented by the Union Center United Methodist Church

Location: The Oakdale Mall, Johnson City, NY.

Date: Saturday, December 22, 2012

Time: 4-5 PM

 

Handel's Messiah Presented by the Down Town Singers of Binghamton

Date: Friday December 21, 2012

Time: 8 PM

Location: Helen Foley Theater in Binghamton High School (corner of Main & Oak Streets).

 

Christmas Eve Candlelight services

4:30 PM at First UMC, 53 McKinley Avenue, Endicott

Pianist: Aric Phinney,

Organist: Yancey Moore

Soloist: Emma Brunson

Pastor Brown will be Preaching

 

7.30 PM Candle Light Communion Service

Union Center UMC, 128 Maple Drive

Organist: Betty Phinney

Pianist: Laureen Naik

Preacher Rev. Brown Naik

All are welcome.

 

Phone for information: 607-748-6329 or 607-748-1358

Brown's Daily Word 12-14-12

How great our joy! Great our joy!
Joy, joy, joy! Joy, joy, joy!
Praise we the Lord in heav’n on high!
Praise we the Lord in heav’n on high!
"Joy to the World, the Lord is Come", Good Christian Men, Rejoice

One of the powerful Advent passages from Isaiah is chapter 35. It declares that joy caused when God comes. The first picture it portrays is a desert which blooms with flowers. It is written that the desert itself will rejoice. The second picture is of healing. When this healing comes, “the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless will sing for joy.” The last picture, my favorite, is the joy of a homecoming. The Word of the Lord speaks of a highway through the desert which will allow exiles to come back home. Then “they will obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

The promise is not that we will leave the desert and find a garden somewhere else. The promise is that the desert itself will blossom. The joy will come. It will even grow out of the dryness and bareness of the desert.
The same kind of dynamic occurs in the other two images. It is those who have known sickness who will experience the joy of healing. They who have known the pain of the exile who will experience the joy of homecoming. In his book, "Where Is God When It Hurts", Phillip Yancey spoke of a curious connection between pleasure and pain. St. Augustine once said that our love is always greater for that which we have lost and then regained, than that which we have possessed all along. Augustine said, “Greater joy is always proceeded by greater suffering.” Yancey saw this principle at work in the many people he interviewed in his years as a journalist.

It is written that the desert will rejoice and blossom abundantly. In the midst of bareness, and even hopelessness, in the midst of suffering joy will come. The source of this joy is God. It is written that the reason that the wilderness and the dry land will be glad is that they will see the glory of the Lord, and the majesty of our God. The reason that the lame will leap and the speechless will sing for joy, is that God will come – God will come to save them. The highway in the desert will appear. It will be called the Holy Way, and it will lead those who have been ransomed by the Lord to Zion – to the holy mountain in Jerusalem where the temple will be restored, and they will know God.
I offer a word of caution here. We must not think we need to go out looking for pain in order to experience God’s presence. Our Lord comes to us in both times of joy and times of sorrow. He comes both on the mountain top, and also in the desert.
The source of our joy is the coming of God – and God can come in both the desert and in the garden, in sickness and in health, in our times of exile, and in the joy of coming home.
One of the challenges of all of the advent texts is that we see glimpses of God’s
promise already being fulfilled, but we also see many ways that God’s promise is not yet fulfilled. There are some blossoms out there – and those blossoms can be a source of great joy. But there is also still a lot of desert out there – in the world and in our lives.
We do experience God’s healing even now. That healing might come in extraordinary ways that can only be described as miraculous. Or the healing might come in more ordinary ways, such as through the skill and care of a physician.
Sometimes our healing is more spiritual than physical. It is that infusion of grace and strength that enables us to carry on.
We also experience something of that joyful homecoming that Scripture so often describes. There are times when we feel so close to God that we have to celebrate. But there are also times our sense of exile persists. Therefore, we wait for the day when we will see God face to face, for that day when we will know fully, even as we have been fully known. Because the source of our joy is God, we can have confidence, even when we are still wandering through the desert, even when we are still in exile.
I just love Isaiah's description of the Holy Highway that will lead the people from their exile to God’s temple in Zion, the site of their joyous homecoming. Isaiah wrote that there will be no ravenous beasts; there will be nothing along the way to be afraid of. He added, “No traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.” This is a wonderful image of God’s grace. God is so eager for us to come back home, to come back to him, to know the joy for which we have been created, that he builds this holy way where no traveler, not even a fool, can go astray.
The source of our joy is the Christ of Christmas.. We can begin to experience His presence even now. There are flowers already blooming in the midst of the desert. We wait for that day when we will know Jesus fully, and our joy will be complete.

In Christ,

Brown

http://youtube/U0aL9rKJPr4

Living Nativity Presented by the Union Center United Methodist Church

Location: The Oakdale Mall, Johnson City, NY.

Date: Saturday, December 22, 2012

Time: 4-5 PM

Handel's Messiah Presented by the Down Town Singers of Binghamton

Date: Friday December 21, 2012

Time: 8 PM

Location: Helen Foley Theater in Binghamton High School (corner of Main & Oak Streets).

Christmas Eve Candlelight services

4:30 PM at First UMC, 53 McKinley Avenue, Endicott

Pianist: Aric Phinney,

Organist: Yancey Moore

Soloist: Emma Brunson

Pastor Brown will be Preaching

7.30 PM Candle Light Communion Service

Union Center UMC, 128 Maple Drive

Organist: Betty Phinney

Pianist: Laureen Naik

Preacher Rev. Brown Naik

All are welcome.

Phone for information: 607-748-6329 or 607-748-1358

Brown's Daily Word 12/13/12

"It is the most wonderful time of the year... It's beginning look a like Christmas everywhere you go... It's Christmas time in the city... I heard the bells on Christmas Day... O Come all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant... Hark the herald angels sing... Joy to the world the Lord has come". One of the worship services that we held aboard ship during the cruise was attended by people from many nations. I preached at the service. I felt like Peter preaching on first Pentecost to people from many nations. Before the message I had asked people to share about Christmas. There were many who shared joyfully and spontaneously. One woman with a beautiful accent said, "We need to pray for world peace; the world is in an inferno". One of the amazing gifts of grace the Lord gave us at the first Christmas is the Peace that came in the person of Jesus Christ wrapped in swaddling clothes.

"The Peaceable Kingdom" is the title early Nineteenth Century painter, Edward Hicks, gave to this benign menagerie of animals - wild and domesticated. He based his work on this Isaiah 11, the passage that speaks of such animals as the wolf, lamb, leopard, lion, kid and calf - all sharing the same pasture, grazing and resting together. Hicks’ vision, like that of Isaiah, is of a world of peace, love, and tranquility.
In chapter 11:1 Isaiah called the lineage of the Davidic dynasty the “stump of Jesse”. This is the only time in the Old Testament that David’s line is called by His father’s name. In verse 6 note that the word “Branch” is capitalized because it is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ, “the Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 The message that Isaiah portrayed to the people of Israel is a message of hope, that what God has cut off is also that which God restores. That the One who judges His people for their sins, is also the One who forgives them and restores Peace. Isaiah’s message to Israel was their need to know this coming Prince of Peace.
During this season of Advent we may feel like the people of Israel. It may be that something in our lives has been suddenly “cut off”. Our, dreams, our hopes, our aspirations seem to have disappeared. All that remains is the stump of unrealized expectations. The Good News of this Advent season is that our Mighty God wants us to know that he is the Restorer of dreams, He is the Restorer of hope, and He is the Restorer of aspirations.
The Prophecy found in Isaiah 11 reveals that the source of lasting peace is none other than the Branch of the Lord. Furthermore the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit are embodied in the Person Jesus Christ our Lord, as revealed in Isaiah 11:2

Our world longs for peace. We live in a society where injustice, unfaithfulness, and unrighteousness abound. We are invited to come to the manger, come to Christ. He is the Prince of Peace. Have you been victimized by unrighteousness? Have injustice and unfaithfulness cut a swath across your path? Then come to Christ. He will vindicate you, he will make the wrong right, and He will be faithful to you even when others are not.
Christ lifts the burden from our shoulders. He takes the burden of unforgiveness, the burden of despair, the burden of anxiety, and the burden of guilt from us. Let us come to the Branch of Jesse. Let the peace that is found only in the Prince of Peace pervade our lives, our homes, our churches, and the world in which we live.

In Christ,

Brown

http://youtu.be/imLgyjxTLqo

http://youtu.be/MS3vpAWW2Zc

Living Nativity Presented by the Union Center United Methodist Church

Location: The Oakdale Mall, Johnson City, NY.

Date: Saturday, December 22, 2012

Time: 4-5 PM

Handel's Messiah Presented by the Down Town Singers of Binghamton

Date: Friday December 21, 2012

Time: 8 PM

Location: Helen Foley Theater in Binghamton High School (corner of Main & Oak Streets).

Christmas Eve Candleleight services

4:30 PM at First UMC, 53 McKinley Avenue, Endicott

Pianist: Aric Phinney,

Organist: Yancey Moore

Soloist: Emma Brunson

Pastor Brown will be Preaching

7.30 PM Candle Light Communion Service

Union Center UMC, 128 Maple Drive

Organist: Betty Phinney

Pianist: Laureen Naik

Preacher Rev. Brown Naik

All are welcome.

Phone for information: 607-748-6329 or 607-748-1358

Brown's Daily Word 12-12-12

Praise the Lord. The Lord blessed us with wonderful day to travel to Baltimore and back yesterday. While in Baltimore I picked up the daily newspaper, The Washington Post, where I read that the year 2012 has been one of the warmest years on record. As I shared yesterday that I just returned from Australia where it summertime and the temperatures in the high 90's. I love warm weather, whereas my wife loves winter with lots of snow. She is praying for snow for Christmas.

She told me yesterday that if it does not got cold here in New York, she is ready to move to Canada.

We will meet for mid-week gathering for fellowship and study this evening at 6 PM for a special meal followed by Bible Study at 6.30 PM. We will be looking at Zephaniah. While aboard ship one morning I overheard a group of young people discussing about the world coming to end on December 21, 2012. One morning I read the book of Zephaniah for my morning devotion. There’s quite a bit of bad news in Zephaniah – out of three chapters, two and a half are filled with woes and warnings.
The “Day of the Lord” is referenced over twenty times in these three short chapters, more than in any other Old Testament book. In his outstanding commentary on the Minor Prophets, James Montgomery Boice writes: “No matter how depressing the message of judgment in the Minor Prophets becomes, it is never the final word of God to His people.” Like Joel, Zephaniah urged the people to return to God before it was too late. In 2:3 it is written, “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger.”
Zephaniah is among the readings for the coming Sunday, the 3rd Sunday in Advent. Zephaniah 3:17 has been called the “John 3:16” of the Old Testament. “The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” God’s presence – God is with you! “The Lord your God is with you…” When we feel alone or abandoned, remember that God’s presence is with us. This literally means that God is “in the midst of you.” God is not just watching us; He is walking through life with us. He’s not just near us; He’s right in the midst of whatever we are going through.
Our God is for us! “…He is mighty to save…” God is a mighty warrior and He overcomes all odds to defeat the enemy so we can be free and safe.

Our God delights in us! “…He will take great delight in you…” The word delight means to be bright and cheerful. Some of us think that God frowns when He thinks of us. Instead of glaring at us, He is taking joy in us.

Our God calms us! “…He will quiet you with His love…” can be translated “He will be at rest in His love.” The NASB puts it this way, “He will be quiet in His love.”

Most often the love of the Lord is expressed as loyal love, stressing God’s unconditional commitment to us. God celebrates us! “…He will rejoice over you with singing.” God moves from the quiet rest of being in relationship with us to exuberant rejoicing. The Hebrew word for “rejoice” means “to spin around in joy with great gladness and glee.” When our girls were younger I used to spin them around and we’d giggle together. God is spinning around when He thinks of His sons and daughters as well. The word for singing refers to “a shout or shrill sound.” This is loud singing, not just mumbling or half-hearted lip synching. Do you picture God spinning and shouting in song when He thinks of you?

Dennis Jernigan has written a translation of Zephaniah 3:17 from the Hebrew that captures the majesty of this verse: “The eternal self-existent God, the God who is three in one; He who dwells in the center of your being is a powerful and valiant warrior. He has come to set you free, to keep you safe, and to bring you victory. He is cheered, and He beams with exceeding joy and takes pleasure in your presence. He has engraved a place for Himself in you, and there He quietly rests in His love and affection for you. He cannot contain Himself at the thought of you and with the greatest of joy spins around wildly in anticipation over you…In fact, He shouts and sings in triumph, joyfully proclaiming the gladness of His heart in a song of rejoicing! All because of you!”
Rejoice in singing. Frederick Nietzsche, the nineteenth century German philosopher famous for his quote that “God is dead,” once said this of Christians: “If they want me to believe in their God, they’ll have to sing me better songs…I could only believe in a God who dances.” We are called to rejoice in God because God rejoices in us. 3:14: “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart…”

I love what Alexander Maclaren said about this passage: “What a wonderful rush of exuberant gladness there is in these words! The swift, short clauses…the very words seem to dance with joy…for every throb of joy in man’s heart; there is a wave of gladness in God’s. The notes of our praise are at once the echoes and occasions of His.”

In Christ of Christmas,

Brown

http://youtu.be/J820DMrPvZI

Living Nativity Presented b the Union Center United Methodist Church.

Location: The Oakdale Mall, Johnson City, NY.

Date: Saturday, December 22.2012

Handel's Messiah Presented by the Down Town Singers of Binghamton

Date: Friday December 21, 2012

Time: 8.PM

Location: Helen Foley Theater in Binghamton High School (corner of Main & Oak Streets).

Christmas Eve services

4:30 PM at First UMC, 53 McKinley Avenue, Endicott

Candle Light service.

Pianist: Aric Phinney,

Organist: Yancey Moore

Soloist: Emma Brunson

Pastor Brown will be Preaching

7.30 PM Candle Light Communion Service.

Union Center UMC

128 Maple Drive

Organist: Betty Phinney

Pianist: Laureen Naik

Preacher Rev Brown Naik

All are welcome.

Phone for information:

607-748-6329 or 607-748-1358

Brown's Daily Word 12-11-12

Praise the Lord for this wonderful season of Advent in the Church calendar as we prepare for the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. I spent almost three weeks overseas. I just got home yesterday early morning flying close to 24 hours in an international flight first crossing the Equator on a ship and then crossing the International Dateline in flight over the Pacific Ocean. I was with two other pastors leading Bible studies and conducting worship services and prayer meetings on an Australian cruise sailing around Southeast and Northern parts of Australia, then sailing to Bali, Indonesia and concluding in Singapore. The ship had 2500 guests from all over the world plus 950 crew members that came from 58 different countries. It is summertime in the land down under. The temperature readings were in the high 90s with 90% humidity. The Lord granted His favor and blessings. The Lord blessed our time at worship, prayer meetings, and very informal conversations and times of prayer.

I have been reading some of the passages from the Word of the Lord that are part of the Advent readings. One of the readings comes from Isaiah 12. It is often said that the shouting side is the winning side. When there is a football match or any contest at all, one would recognize the side that has an upper hand through the ambit and atmosphere. The side that is doing well will be vibrant and the supporters that are watching them will probably dance and sing. The other side that is treading the path of defeat will be struggling to put in their best and will be sweating profusely. Their faces will not be bright. They are not likely to be dancing. They could sing but the songs would probably be asking for God’s intervention.
At the war front, the winning side is vibrant and will shout the songs of victory. The side that is being defeated will not be able to shout because there are too many corpses of their comrades lying on the ground around them. This means the army has been reduced in number and even if they shout, their voices will not be as loud as those of the winning side. Their song will not sing of victory; it would either be of supplication to God or of surrender. In the text above, Israel having felt God’s hand of salvation could not help but shout for joy. A shout is not a silent sound, it is a loud sound that is heard by other people and from the intonation, the hearers will know what it is announcing.

The Psalmist said: “In the day that l cry, then shall my enemies turn back; this l know, for God is with me”

What is the power behind the cry of the Psalmist? It is found in the text we read in Isaiah 12: “Great is the Holy one of Israel in the midst of thee". The Passage begins with these powerful declaration: "Behold , God is my salvation, I will trust, and not be afraid, for the Lord for the Lord Jehovah is my strength, and my song. He also is become my salvation. Indeed, the Lord is our strength, He is our song, and He is our salvation. He is all sufficient. He is all we need. Let this be our theme for this Advent season. Amen

In Christ,

Brown

http://youtu.be/NLhb3qUA3uc