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#UnexpectedNews

Thursday, December 22nd, 2022

Talk about unexpected news! How about good unexpected news!

The weather event that was supposed to come starting last night (Wednesday) and affect us through the whole week is not materializing (at this point). The cold temps (single digits)? Yes. The blanket (more like a heavy comforter) of snow? No. I’m okay with that!!

We will be offering both a Christmas Eve and a Christmas morning worship to our folks. The CE service is from 6-7:00 and the Christmas morning service is from 10-11. Both will have common elements. The only difference will be the songs which will be sung and how they will happen.  And if you are unable to attend or would simply like to join in, the Sunday morning service ONLY will be live streamed.

My topic will continue the 4-week series I’m preaching with this being the 3rd one: The Unexpected News. The Gospel is for all people-rich, poor, clean, unclean, whole, blind, deaf, prostitutes, immoral- you name it.  I will be looking at the very familiar Scripture (to most) in Luke 2: 1-17 where the angel announces the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, then he is joined by a whole chorus.

It is hard to believe next Sunday brings us to the end of 2022. My last sermon in this current series will on January 1. Then I start a series on Revelation. Now that ought to be interesting……Hmmmmm.

Join us this weekend if you are able to. If not, join us on line Sunday morning. You can go to the church’s website for information on directly connecting to the live stream.

Posted in Christmas, Church, Jesus, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic, Story | Comments Off on #UnexpectedNews

#UnexpectedChild

Thursday, December 15th, 2022

There are a lot of truths which make us feel Christian doctrine is confounding. The Trinity for one. Who of you totally understands it? Certainly not me! He is three-in-one: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To understand it is hard enough; to explain it so it can be understood? Above my pay grade. 🙂

God made flesh is one which boggles the mind and has us grasping for answers to understand how God could come to earth in fleshly form. ‘Course it is easy to say, “God can do whatever He wants to do,” but that still does not help us understand it any better.

There are more I can add but I’m guessing none is more difficult to understand, and to wrap our mind around than the two I want to deal with this Sunday. “God made flesh” is one; He was one person with two natures is the other.  He was born of a virgin and He was fully God and fully man.

They might appear to be heavy topics for a Christmas message (and they are), but they are absolutely essential, not only to our Christian faith, but to truly realizing the meaning behind this holiday.  It will not be an easy topic to preach on or to listen to, but one that is essential.

Join me please in person if possible. If not, join us at 9 & 10:45 as we live stream both services. Meanwhile, may I ask you to pray for me, for us? Thanks.

Posted in Christmas, Doctrine, Jesus, Sermon Series/Topic, Story, Truth | Comments Off on #UnexpectedChild

#ExpecttheUnexpected

Thursday, December 8th, 2022

When someone uses the phrase “Expect the Unexpected” they are saying something which is pretty obvious: there will be times when something happens to you-you don’t know where, when, or why-that will totally surprise you.

Have you ever watched It’s a Wonderful Life? (Hard to imagine there is someone who hasn’t).  There is a scene in it where George comes home defeated and Mary informs him “George Bailey lassos stork.” He is so surprised and asks her, “Mary, Mary…are you on the nest?”  I chuckle every time I see that. Who says that today? But to my point: he was surprised.

Imagine Mary’s surprise when she is visited by Gabriel (not Clarence) and is told she is going to have a child. Her first reaction is to be expected: “How can this be since I am a virgin?” Gabriel tells her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”

Mary’s song called the Magnificat is a response to this announcement and to Elizabeth’s confirmation (the baby leaping in her womb when Mary showed up). It is a beautiful song of praise to God. I will be focusing some on this song of praise and what it says to us.

I hope you will join us in person. If not, then I invite you to join us via live stream at 9 and 10:45. Expect the Unexpected will be a four-week series that will focus on the birth of Jesus and get us ready for the new year.

Posted in Christmas, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on #ExpecttheUnexpected

#Feasts#Delivery

Thursday, December 1st, 2022

My short series on the Feasts of the OT will come to a close this week. A short recap of the previous weeks:

  • God Redeems His People- Passover
  • God Separates His People- Firstfruits and Pentecost
  • God Reminds His People- Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and Sukkot (Booths/Tabernacles/Ingathering)

This week’s sermon is God Delivers His People. This one is a bit different in that it will also lead right into our Christmas celebration. The two feasts this week are Hanukkah (aka the Feast of Dedication) and lesser-known one called Purim.

Neither feast finds its roots in the OT Law where God requires the Jewish people to observe them as He has the others before mentioned. As we will see, Hanukkah found its roots during that Intertestamental period (between Malachi and Matthew) as a celebration of the Maccabean revolt against Syrians. Purim is a feast of celebration for the salvation of the Jews during the time of Esther.  Both are feasts of celebration of God’s preservation and protection.

I chose these two and chose to do them last because I felt they would be a great lead-in to our celebration for Christmas.  I begin next week with a 4 part series called Expect the Unexpected. Here is the lineup:

  • The Unexpected Birth
  • The Unexpected Child
  • The Unexpected News
  • The Unexpected Dawn (January 1 sermon)
  • AND THEN COMES REVELATION!!

I hope to see you this Sunday for the final “feasts” sermon and then during the month of December. If you are unable to be there, we do live stream our services at 9 and 10:45. You can go to the church’s website (ovcf.org) to see where to watch.

Posted in Christmas, Christmas History, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic | 2 Responses »

#AfterChristmas#Letdown

Tuesday, December 21st, 2021

The last Sunday of 2021. I know some who said, “I can’t wait until 2020 is over.” Now those same people are saying, “I can’t wait until 2022 is here. Surely it will be better.” Well…I certainly don’t have a crystal ball to predict any of what is to come so I will refrain from making any predictions.

Except one.

2022 will be different from 2021. It is a new year filled with all new challenges. 

Every new year which begins holds promises of something better for all of us. We like the idea of turning over a new leaf and starting with a clean slate. But to get to the new year we have to fight through what I will call the Christmas letdown.  You know what that is: the high then the low. A veritable roller coaster of emotions.

But the new year is not without its hopes and dreams. My sermon this Sunday is one in which I uncover for you what I believe is the dream of every individual: that we all just get along. Well, you know that isn’t going to happen so let’s go to Plan B. What will it take to even begin to think that might happen?  Two qualities (IMHO):

Unity

Humility

The foundation for the sermon is from Philippians 2: 1-11.  I hope you will join me this Sunday either in person or via live stream.  We will be having only one service this week at 10:00 so you can watch it live then or catch it later. I do pray that 2022 will be a good year for you to find a deeper walk with Jesus.

This is also the last of my theme for 2021: Life on the Edge. I will unveil my theme for 2022 next week with an all new graphic.  Be looking for it. I’m also posting this early due to Christmas being on Saturday and I suspect most of us will lay aside our computers for a day or two.  🙂

Posted in Christian living, Christmas, Faith, humility, Opinion, Sermon Series/Topic | 2 Responses »

#Singing!

Tuesday, December 14th, 2021

I posted this on my other blog, Living in the Shadow, and since it is not well read by a lot of people, I thought I would share it here.

I have always been a music person. Ever since I can remember (that might be a day or two) 🙂  I have always been a person who listens to music. I used to tell my folks I could study with music playing. Not true.  I have to admit that when I am studying or reading it has to be quiet or at least with background music I cannot know the lyrics to, i.e. classical.

Christmas is a time for songs, for singing. One of the best parts of this season is the songs-both old and new.  It doesn’t get much better than O Holy Night or Joy to the World.  The angels sang. Children sing. Adults sing. Young folks sing. Old folks sing. We can’t stop singing.

Chris Tomlin has written a (non-Christmas) song with the lyrics: “How can I stop from singing Your praise? How can I ever say enough, how amazing is Your love/How can I keep from shouting Your name. I know I am loved by the king and it makes my heart want to sing.”

This will be a different type of devotion today. I want to share some of my songs with you-those which have been meaningful to me this Christmas season. I hope it will give you something to sing. So here are a few of my favorite “new” Christmas songs. Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/5Vwu-t7QRaE

https://youtu.be/mt_xfOutfSQ

https://youtu.be/182xcb3GyOg

https://youtu.be/qmNDI4f8Wrw

If you want the lyrics (except for the last song which has them), hit CC and the lyrics will come on the screen. Enjoy the songs! May they lift your heart to heaven and put a spring in your step and a song in your heart today…and tomorrow…and the next day…(you get my drift).

Posted in Christmas, Jesus, Joy, Music video, Opinion, Pick me Up, Worship | 4 Responses »

#UnexpectedNews#Surprise!

Friday, December 10th, 2021

I’m guessing we have all been the recipients of unexpected news.  Good and bad. If there was anyone who had to be surprised by unexpected news it would have to be the shepherds.

In his book, The Christmas We Didn’t Expect, David Mathis wrote the following:

“It may have been the greatest choral presentation in the history of the world. One nameless angel had the honor of singing the lead, with a veritable angelic multitude behind him. But no tickets were sold, and the show was not announced ahead of time. The audience was simply a flock of unresponsive sheep and a lowly band of unsuspecting shepherds. But it was too good to keep quiet about. Word got out, and ‘all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.’ The Gospel of Luke records the story for us to wonder at too.”

The shepherds are part and parcel of every Christmas celebration. But they are much more than children in a play dressed up in bathrobes. You know how that works. You find someone to play Mary and Joseph and look around for a baby Jesus-real or a doll. The rest of the children want to be in the play so you dress them up in bathrobes, tie a towel around their head and they become a great multitude.

Of course, the real shepherds’ involvement was more than that. My sermon this week is about the shepherds and the Unexpected News they received. Join me if you would like.

{NOTE: I apologize for failing to post last weekend. Jo and I went to Ohio from Thursday through Sunday. Pastor Ryan preached for me. I’m eager to be back with the people I love}.

Posted in Christmas, Christmas History, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic | 4 Responses »

#UnexpectedBirth

Friday, November 26th, 2021

So it begins. The slow trudge toward the end of 2021. Actually, I have heard several say they will be glad 2021 will soon be over, and that 2022 has to be better!  I don’t know about that but I am trying to prepare myself for the month of December and Christmas.

For a good part of our 48 years of marriage I have largely been a dunce. That comes as no surprise to some, but I’m not talking mentally. It comes to the use of my hands, i.e. remodeling experiences. I was never afforded the experience as a young boy growing up to watch and learn so the use of my hands with tools is minimal. That isn’t saying I can’t do some things but if I have put forth any effort it has turned out second rate at best. That is why I like to watch shows like Fixer Upper. Big time dreamer I am. 🙂

When it comes to surprises some of the best things in life are surprises.  To know what one is getting for their birthday or Christmas is kind of a balloon deflator (yes I know that is not a word).  The best surprises are those which take us totally by surprise and are no where near what we thought. Could there be any greater surprise than the birth of Jesus? Even though it was foretold, very few knew or were expecting it.  That is my theme for the month of December: Expect the Unexpected.  This Sunday I have entitled my sermon THE UNEXPECTED BIRTH.  The Scripture is from Luke 1:26-35 and 46-55 and I’ll be looking at what came before His birth and what came after.

Please join us as we begin our celebration of Christmas. You can do that in person or online. If you can do neither, then please pray for us. 

Posted in Christmas, Christmas History, Jesus, Sermon Series/Topic | Comments Off on #UnexpectedBirth

#CCReflections

Monday, December 28th, 2020

I posted this on my other blog. I thought I would post it here also.

Christmas reflections:

Friday-After a positive Covid test for me, Jo and Tami and some positive tests for the staff and friends of each of us, this is a really strange Christmas. It was going to be anyway because Janna and Braden were not going to be here. But even Tami can’t come over. This devotion may be a little longer than normal due to my observations but also because it will cover 3 days of observations.

Every year it seems we hear certain refrains from spiritual leaders, i.e. pastors.

  • Slow down. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I have said that. “Pull away from the hustle and bustle and slow down,” I’ll say. Well, this has certainly been one of the by-products of covid isolation.
  • Stay home. No problem. And when I have said this in the past it was not a covid-ordered government mandate. We travel a lot visiting family and friends all over the place. We aren’t allowed to go out of the house so staying home is the norm. If we had gone to Ohio today we would have been snowed in. They got a ton of snow! White Christmas indeed! So we stay home and maybe watch some Christmas movies. {Note: we didn’t. Neither one of us felt like it}
  • Refocus. Honestly, how can you not? Gifts will be opened rather quickly instead of one at a time like we normally do going around the room. So when that is all done we get to focus on the real gift.

Saturday– This will forever be remembered in history as CC- Covid Christmas. Yesterday was strange. We Facetimed Tami as we opened gifts-she in her apartment and us here. We would have welcomed her here but MCCSC (her school corporation) monitors her during covid. So it was safer. Later Janna Facetimed us with Braden so we could see what he got. Everything was “Air this and Air that.” I guess I don’t see the fascination with giving a retired basketball player, whose stuff is made in China, all that money…but that’s me. All in all yesterday was an uneventful day. Lazy. Watched a little TV then head back to my “cave” to fall asleep. Other than the no taste and no smell issues, and a few others, the biggest by-product is the desire to sleep. I have slept more in the last week than I have in the last year. I remember Pastor Greg Laurie saying that was his biggest issue (wish I could say that). Some of that is boredom since I can’t concentrate on reading. I’m going to try to study today since I preach virtually tomorrow. Praying for extra grace today as I prepare for tomorrow.

Sunday– I’m writing this after the fact.  Sunday seemed to go off okay without a hitch. We were immensely blessed by the anonymous gift that allowed us to purchase the upgraded equipment. All in all though, I thought it went well. I chose to sit instead of standing. I’m not sure my stamina would have been there to stand the whole time and preach and remember.

Sunday afternoon was tough. I was weary but when I tried to eat some soup it didn’t stay in my stomach very long. But you don’t want here that saga. 🙂 It was a lazy day as they have all become. One family was really kind and brought some soup and crackers, a couple of baked potatoes, and some other items. Friday one family blessed us with Ensure and Pedialyte for me, some veggies  and soup and crackers. Saturday one family blessed Jo with some Zero and Diet Coke. I’m not sure about the other two on staff but I certainly can’t complain how we have been taken care of. Plus the texts and emails have been nice. Oh yeah…one family brought us a Christmas meal on Christmas evening after their family Christmas. Not that we could eat it or taste it. 🙂

Jo and I called it a day at 8:00. Yep 8:00. Seems to be about the norm these days. I’d like to believe I am on the mend. It has been a week since my test but well over that since I started showing symptoms. I should have been more honest and aware and introspective with myself. Gone to be tested sooner. Not gone to Ohio. Funeral? But hindsight is 20/20 and there is nothing I can change. It seems strange the way it has hit us all about the same time and in the same way. Others also have got it-part of our friends group-so there is a common denominator there somewhere. But who wants to try to figure that out. Not me. It is what it is.

I’ll close by saying I’m looking forward to putting this behind me and moving forward.

Posted in Christmas, Family, Friendship, Miscellaneous, Story | 8 Responses »

#StarIsBorn!

Friday, December 18th, 2020

It all comes down to red carpet night. Stars, wannabe-stars, and people who hang on all make their way onto the red carpet and inside for the grand production. So many flashbulbs go off you gotta wonder why they don’t have seizures or get flash burns. The “who’s who” of fandom is there. Some come solo. Some come with their significant other. All dressed to the “nines” in clothing that cost more than I make in a couple of months. Ridiculous fawning over people and celebrities, enough to make you want to gag, goes on all night. But to be sure…this is the night all the hard work is rewarded.

We have seen that as we have made out way through the Christmas story.  The supporting cast (the ladies in Jesus’ genealogy and Zechariah and Elizabeth).  The Unknowns (shepherds and wise men who appear and never to be heard from again). The co-stars (Joseph and Mary).  And now the culmination.  The STAR of the whole production  has made his appearance. Everything has led up to this point. All the OT prophecies and the prophets who wrote them. Isaiah. Micah. 

Then we get to John 1. I will be spending the bulk of my time. Two statements will stand out Sunday.

Christmas was not a beginning but a becoming. Christmas wasn’t His start, but His commission. He was not created; He came. The Christmas We Didn’t Expect by David Mathis (p.24)

“We are not being told merely that Jesus Christ has eternal life or even that He gives it. This verse in I John 1:2 is saying He is eternal life, salvation itself.”

I’m looking forward to Sunday and preaching about the STAR. Join me if you would like.

Posted in Christmas, Christmas History, Doctrine, Opinion, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic | 8 Responses »

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