Praise the Lord for this Friday, only 6
days before Christmas. Indeed there is song in the air. Those of you who live
in the area join us for our weekly Television outreach this evening at 7 PM on
Time Warner Cable channel 4. A group of us are making our annual pilgrimage
to hear "Handel's Messiah", presented by the Downtown Singers. This is a treat
for me. I have attended this powerful and glorious performance for last 28
years. We are blessed to have this presentation in our area.
Praise the Lord for the eternal and never changing Good news of Christmas. In the world of flux and change the Good News of Christmas is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We, as human beings, feel that the world around us is accelerating rapidly, that our world is moving forward at a cyclonic rate of change. It is as if this world of ours is a giant gyroscope, twirling, swirling, whirling into its future. In the midst of it all the Christ of Christmas is the unchanging, eternal, ever present.
I read the story about Robinson Crusoe when I was a young teenager. Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked and left all alone, stranded on an island. He wandered around that island for days, weeks, months and he knew he was alone on that island. One day, however, he noticed a footprint in the sand and that footprint was not his own. Immediately, Robinson Crusoe knew instantly that he was not alone. Someone else was on that island with him. The story of Robinson Crusoe is the discovery that he was not alone on that island but that someone else was with him.
Similarly, Christmas is a story of how Jesus left a sign that we are not alone on this island called Earth, that Christ has left his footprint, indeed God's footprint, in the sands of time so that you and I will know that we are not alone on this island called Earth. At Christmas, we have received a message from God, a sign from Jesus Christ, that we are not alone and that the Christ of Christmas, has left us a footprint in the sand to assure us that we are not alone.
One of the faithful servants of Jesus, Dave Ring, will celebrate his first Christmas in heaven this year. Dave used to remind us, "Grass withers, flowers fade, but the Word of our Lord endures for ever". The Word of God. The story of God putting his footprint into the sands of time. Christmas is the story of God’s intimacy, of God’s closeness, and nearness, a reminder that He is “with us”. Christmas is the story of God’s closeness, so close that a Christ child is born in our hearts, so close to us that we can see God’s footprints in the sands of our lives. We see the signs of God’s presence all around us because God leaves his footprints all around us.
The Good News of Christmas is proclaimed and celebrated around world once again this year of our Lord 2014. The Christmas story will be the same and the words of that eternal story will continue to be sacred: “It came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world was to be enrolled. And everybody went up to be enrolled, each into his own city. … For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you, you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” As we look for signs in our lives, the sign is that we will find the babe, the Christ, the Presence of God wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly, there will be a multitude of angels and you will join them in singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace on earth.”
That eternal story will continue to be told in the year 3000 AD. This story will read, will be read and will be proclaimed and will be proclaimed in the year 3000 AD if Jesus tarries that long. The prophet Isaiah said, “All people are like grass and all beauty is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers. The flowers fade. But the word of the Lord, the story of the God becoming a human being, that story will last forever. Amen
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/7HItFqKBAQE
Praise the Lord for the eternal and never changing Good news of Christmas. In the world of flux and change the Good News of Christmas is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We, as human beings, feel that the world around us is accelerating rapidly, that our world is moving forward at a cyclonic rate of change. It is as if this world of ours is a giant gyroscope, twirling, swirling, whirling into its future. In the midst of it all the Christ of Christmas is the unchanging, eternal, ever present.
I read the story about Robinson Crusoe when I was a young teenager. Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked and left all alone, stranded on an island. He wandered around that island for days, weeks, months and he knew he was alone on that island. One day, however, he noticed a footprint in the sand and that footprint was not his own. Immediately, Robinson Crusoe knew instantly that he was not alone. Someone else was on that island with him. The story of Robinson Crusoe is the discovery that he was not alone on that island but that someone else was with him.
Similarly, Christmas is a story of how Jesus left a sign that we are not alone on this island called Earth, that Christ has left his footprint, indeed God's footprint, in the sands of time so that you and I will know that we are not alone on this island called Earth. At Christmas, we have received a message from God, a sign from Jesus Christ, that we are not alone and that the Christ of Christmas, has left us a footprint in the sand to assure us that we are not alone.
One of the faithful servants of Jesus, Dave Ring, will celebrate his first Christmas in heaven this year. Dave used to remind us, "Grass withers, flowers fade, but the Word of our Lord endures for ever". The Word of God. The story of God putting his footprint into the sands of time. Christmas is the story of God’s intimacy, of God’s closeness, and nearness, a reminder that He is “with us”. Christmas is the story of God’s closeness, so close that a Christ child is born in our hearts, so close to us that we can see God’s footprints in the sands of our lives. We see the signs of God’s presence all around us because God leaves his footprints all around us.
The Good News of Christmas is proclaimed and celebrated around world once again this year of our Lord 2014. The Christmas story will be the same and the words of that eternal story will continue to be sacred: “It came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world was to be enrolled. And everybody went up to be enrolled, each into his own city. … For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you, you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” As we look for signs in our lives, the sign is that we will find the babe, the Christ, the Presence of God wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly, there will be a multitude of angels and you will join them in singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace on earth.”
That eternal story will continue to be told in the year 3000 AD. This story will read, will be read and will be proclaimed and will be proclaimed in the year 3000 AD if Jesus tarries that long. The prophet Isaiah said, “All people are like grass and all beauty is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers. The flowers fade. But the word of the Lord, the story of the God becoming a human being, that story will last forever. Amen
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/7HItFqKBAQE
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