Christmas Hearts (4)

Preached on Christmas Day, this fourth in a series of four messages upon Christmas Hearts looks at The Wisemen as model for developing our own worshiping hearts.

Christmas Hearts (3)

Senior saints Simeon and Anna waited their whole lives to see the infant Jesus. In this third in a series of four messages on Christmas Hearts, we will look at their story and find how we too might wait with active anticipation for the Second Advent of Jesus.

Christmas Spurgeon

After worshipping, the Wise Men presented their gifts. One broke open his casket of gold, and laid it at the feet of the new-born King. Another presented frankincense—one of the precious products of the country from which they came. And the other laid myrrh at the Redeemer’s feet. All these they gave to prove the truth of their worship. They gave substantial offerings with no stingy hand.

And now, after you have worshipped Christ in your soul, and seen Him with the eye of faith, it will not need that I should say to you, give Him yourself, give Him your heart, give Him your substance. Why, you will not be able to help doing it! He who really loves the Savior in his heart cannot help devoting to Him his life, his strength, his all. With some people, when they give Christ anything, or do anything for Him, it is dreadfully forced work.

They say, “The love of Christ ought to constrain us.” I do not know that there is any such text as that in the Bible, however. I do remember one text that runs thus—“The love of Christ constrains us.” If it does not constrain us, it is because it is not in us. It is not merely a thing which ought to be, it must be. If any man loves Christ, he will very soon be finding out ways and means of proving his love by his sacrifices. Go home, Mary, and fetch the alabaster box, and pour the ointment on His head, and if any say, “Why this waste?” you will have a good reply, you have had much forgiven you, and therefore you love much.

If you have gold, give it. If you have frankincense, give it. If you have myrrh, give it to Jesus. And if you have none of these things, give Him your love—all your love, and that will be gold and spices all in one! Give Him your tongue, speak of Him. Give Him your hands, work for Him. Give Him your whole self. I know you will, for He loved you, and gave Himself for you.

Merry Christmas 2006

Robert's Gingerbread Firehouse

One More Christmas Carol for the Day

powered by ODEO

Mary Did You Know - Kathy Matea

Sarah Mclachlan - O Little Town Of Bethlehem

Lost The Christ of Christmas?

Received the following from Global Pastors Network in my e-mail this afternoon and thought it was worth passing on...

As we approach this Christmas, let's think about a time when Jesus was lost by Joseph and Mary (Luke 2:41-50). There are four question for us to ask ourselves this holiday season:

1. Who Lost Christ?

Joseph and Mary lost the Lord Jesus. Those who were the closest to Him, lost Him. Jesus had been with them for twelve years. No matter how long you have known Jesus you can still lose Him. No one is exempt from backsliding.

Some of the greatest men and women in the Bible have fallen in sin. All Christians are vulnerable to backsliding. Regardless of who you are or what you have done, you can lose Christ. Here is a thought: If Mary and Joseph can lose him, anyone can lose Christ.

2. When Did They Lose Christ?

Joseph and Mary lost Jesus during a religious celebration. The irony of ironies took place because the Passover celebration symbolized Him. Not only was the Passover about Christ, but Christmas concerns itself with Christ. Passover involved the sacrifice of a lamb. Christmas includes the sending of the Lord. The Passover mad man look ahead to redemption. Christmas makes us look back at the incarnation.

During this Christmas Season remember that our joy is because of Jesus; our songs are because of our Savior, our love is because of our Lord and our inheritance is because His incarnation and our blessings are because of His birth!

3. Why Did They Leave Christ?

We can leave Christ when our perception is weak. The Bible says, "And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother knew not of it."

The second reason that Joseph and Mary left Jesus is their perception was wrong. They supposed that Jesus was with them but He was not. I encourage you to evaluate your spiritual condition this holiday season.

The third reason that their progress was wasteful. Can you imagine the scene? Mary and Joseph traveled an entire day before they realized that they had left him behind. A life without Jesus is a wasted life! How did they leave Him? One step at a time. If there has ever been a time when you loved Jesus more than you have backslidden that far.

4. Where Did They Latch Onto Christ?

Jesus' parents found him at the exact place where they had left him. It is the place where people leave Christ is where they find him.

May you find Christ this Christmas
and in the coming New Year!

The Message...Not The Messenger

Do You Know How Your Christmas Lights Are Made?

Most Christmas lights bearing the label "Made in China" are hand-strung by Christian pastors imprisoned for preaching the Good News. Watch the following video and you will never look at your Christmas lights in the same way again.



More information can be found here: Lights of Christmas

Away With This Manger...What A Crib For His Bed

Going Jesus has assembled a collection of some of the strangest nativity sets out there. Here are a few samples. Click on the link to check out more.





And my personal favorite...

Sunday Spurgeon

Live while you live. While it is called today, work, for the night comes wherein no man can work.And let us learn never to do anything which we would not wish to be found doing if we were to die. We are sometimes asked by young people whether they may go to the theater, whether they may dance, or whether they may do this or that. You may do anything which you would not be ashamed to be doing when Christ shall come. You may do anything which you would not blush to be found doing if the hand of death should smite you. But if you would dread to die in any spot, go not there. If you would not wish to enter the presence of your God with such-and-such a word upon your lip, utter not that word. Or if there would be a thought that would be uncongenial to the Judgment Day, seek not to think that thought. So act that you may feel you can take your shroud with you wherever you go.

Happy is he that dies in his pulpit. Blessed is the man that dies in his daily business, for he is found with his loins girt about him serving his Master. But, oh, unhappy must he be to whom death comes as an intruder and finds him engaged in that which he will blush to have ever touched when God shall appear in judgment. Power Supreme. You everlasting King—permit not death to intrude upon an ill-spent hour—but find me rapt in meditation high—hymning my great Creator—proclaiming the love of Jesus, or lifting up my heart in prayer for myself and my fellow-sinners.

Truth From Tozer

"It is disheartening to those who care, and surely a great grief to the Spirit, to see how many Christians are content to settle for less than the best. Personally I have for years carried a burden of sorrow as I have moved among evangelical Christians who somewhere in their past have managed to strike a base compromise with their heart's holier longings and have settled down to a lukewarm, mediocre kind of Christianity utterly unworthy of themselves and of the Lord they claim to serve. And such are found everywhere. Every man is as close to God as he wants to be; he is as holy and as full of the Spirit as he wills to be. Yet we must distinguish wanting from wishing. By 'want' I mean wholehearted desire. Certainly there are many who wish they were holy or victorious or joyful but are not willing to meet God's conditions to obtain. Oh Lord, give me that 'wholehearted desire' that keeps me from being satisfied with mediocre Christianity. Amen."

A.W. Tozer

Christmas Hearts (2)

The shepherds were the first evangelists telling the Good News of Jesus' birth. As we look at their first hand experience, first priority and their first mission field we can discover how we can have witnessing hearts this Christmas.


MP3 File

Sunday Spurgeon

But if I give myself to the Holy Spirit and ask His guidance, there is no fear of my wandering.

Again—we rejoice in this Spirit because He is ever-present. We fall into a difficulty sometimes. We say, “Oh, if I could take this to my minister, he would explain it. But I live so far off and am not able to see him.” That perplexes us and we turn the text round and round and cannot make anything out of it. We look at the commentators. We take down pious Thomas Scott and, as usual he says nothing about it if it is a dark passage. Then we go to holy Matthew Henry and if it is an easy Scripture, he is sure to explain it. But if it is a text hard to be understood, it is likely enough, of course, left in its own gloom. And even Dr. Gill himself, the most consistent of commentators, when he comes to a hard passage manifestly avoids it in some degree.

But when we have no commentator or minister, we have still the Holy Spirit. And let me tell you a little secret—whenever you cannot understand a text, open your Bible, bend your knee and pray over that text. And if it does not split into atoms and open itself, try again. If prayer does not explain it, it is one of the things God did not intend you to know and you may be content to be ignorant of it. Prayer is the key that opens the cabinets of mystery. Prayer and faith are sacred picklocks that can open secrets and obtain great treasures. There is no college for holy education like that of the blessed Spirit, for He is an everpresent Tutor to whom we have only to bend the knee, and He is at our side, the great Expositor of Truth.

A Christmas Miracle

The following story is true. You can find more information here.

- Santa Mark's True Miracle Christmas Story -

When I recall precious Christmas memories, I think of a very special story, one which represents the magic and glory of the season. This is a true story, as told to me by my husband -- a professional Santa Claus -- of a real Christmas miracle which he experienced. A story that I think will cause YOU to believe ...

A few years ago, a little boy and his grandmother came to see my Santa at Mayfair Mall in Wisconsin. The child climbed up on his lap, holding a picture of a little girl. "Who is this?" asked Santa, smiling. "Your friend? Your sister?"

"Yes, Santa," he replied. "My sister, Sarah, who is very sick," he said sadly. Santa glanced over at the grandmother who was waiting nearby, and saw her dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

"She wanted to come with me to see you, oh, so very much, Santa!" the child exclaimed. "She misses you," he added softly.

Santa tried to be cheerful and encouraged a smile to the boy's face, asking him what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas. When they finished their visit, the Grandmother came over to help the child off his lap, and started to say something to Santa, but hesitated. "What is it?" Santa asked warmly.

"Well, I know it's really too much to ask you, Santa, but ...." the old woman began, shooing her grandson over to one of Santa's elves to collect the little gift which Santa gave all his young visitors. "The girl in the photograph ... my granddaughter ... well, you see ... she has leukemia and isn't expected to make it even through the holidays," she said through tear-filled eyes. "Is there any way, Santa ... any possible way ... that you could come see Sarah? That's all she's asked for, for Christmas, is to see Santa."

Santa blinked and swallowed hard and told the woman to leave information with his elves as to where Sarah was, and he would see what he could do.

Santa thought of little else the rest of that afternoon. He knew what he had to do. "What if it were MY child lying in that hospital bed, dying," he thought with a sinking heart. "A visit from Santa is the least I can do."

When Santa finished visiting with all the boys and girls that evening, he retrieved from his helper the name of the hospital where Sarah was staying. He asked the assistant location manager how to get to Children's Hospital. "Why?" Rick asked, with a puzzled look on his face. Santa relayed to him the conversation with Sarah's grandmother earlier that day. "C'mon ... I'll take you there," Rick said softly.

Rick drove them to the hospital and came inside with Santa. They found out which room Sarah was in. A pale Rick said he would wait out in the hall.

Santa quietly peeked into the room through the half-closed door and saw little Sarah on the bed. The room was filled with what appeared to be her family; there was the Grandmother and the girl's brother he had met earlier that day. A woman whom he supposed was Sarah's mother stood by the bed, gently pushing Sarah's thin hair off her forehead. And another woman who he discovered later was Sarah's aunt, sat in a chair near the bed with a weary, sad look on her face. They were talking quietly, and Santa could sense the warmth and closeness of the family, and their love and concern for Sarah.

Taking a deep breath, and forcing a smile on his face, Santa entered the room, bellowing a hearty, "Ho, ho, ho!"

"Santa!" shrieked little Sarah weakly, as she tried to escape her bed to run to him, IV tubes in tact. Santa rushed to her side and gave her a warm hug. A child the tender age of his own son -- 9 years old -- gazed up at him with wonder and excitement. Her skin was pale and her short tresses bore telltale bald patches from the effects of chemotherapy. But all he saw when he looked at her was a pair of huge, blue eyes. His heart melted, and he had to force himself to choke back tears. Though his eyes were riveted upon Sarah's face, he could hear the gasps and quiet sobbing of the women in the room. As he and Sarah began talking, the family crept quietly to the bedside one by one, squeezing Santa's shoulder or his hand gratefully, whispering "thank you" as they gazed sincerely at him with shining eyes.

Santa and Sarah talked and talked, and she told him excitedly all the toys she wanted for Christmas, assuring him she'd been a very good girl that year. As their time together dwindled, Santa felt led in his spirit to pray for Sarah, and asked permission from the girl's mother. She nodded in agreement and the entire family circled around Sarah's bed, holding hands. Santa looked intensely at Sarah and asked her if she believed in angels. "Oh, yes, Santa ... I do!" she exclaimed.

"Well, I'm going to ask that angels watch over you," he said. Laying one hand on the child's head, Santa closed his eyes and prayed. He asked that God touch little Sarah, and heal her body from this disease. He asked that angels minister to her, watch and keep her, and to give her family peace. And when he finished praying, still with eyes closed, he started singing softly, "Silent Night, Holy Night ... all is calm, all is bright." The family joined in singing, still holding hands, smiling at Sarah, and crying tears of hope, tears of joy for this moment, as Sarah beamed at them all.

When the song ended, Santa sat on the side of the bed again and held Sarah's frail, small hands in his own. "Now, Sarah," he said authoritatively, "you have a job to do, and that is to concentrate on getting well. I want you to have fun playing with your friends this summer, and I expect to see you at my house at Mayfair Mall this time next year!" He knew it was risky proclaiming that, to this little girl who had terminal cancer, but he *had* to. He had to give her the greatest gift he could -- not promises of dolls or games or toys -- but the gift of HOPE.

"Yes, Santa!" Sarah exclaimed, her eyes bright. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead and left the room.

Out in the hall, the minute Santa's eyes met Rick's, a look passed between them and the two men wept unashamed. Sarah's mother and grandmother slipped out of the room quickly and rushed to Santa's side to thank him. "My only child is the same age as Sarah," he explained quietly. "This is the least I could do." They nodded with understanding and hugged him.

One year later, Santa Mark was again back on the set in Milwaukee for his six-week, seasonal job which he so loves to do. Several weeks went by and then one day a child came up to sit on his lap. "Hi, Santa! Remember me?!"

"Of course, I do," Santa proclaimed (as he always does), smiling down at her. After all, the secret to being a *good* Santa is to always make each child feel as if they are the *only* child in the world at that moment.

"You came to see me in the hospital last year!"

Santa's jaw dropped. Tears immediately sprang in his eyes, and he grabbed this little miracle and held her to his chest. "Sarah!" he exclaimed. He scarcely recognized her, for her hair was long and silky and her cheeks were rosy -- much different from the little girl he had visited just a year before. He looked over and saw Sarah's mother and grandmother in the sidelines smiling and waving and wiping their eyes.

That was the best Christmas ever for Santa Claus. He had witnessed -- and been blessed to be instrumental in bringing about -- this miracle of hope. This precious little child was healed. Cancer-free. Alive and well. He silently looked up to Heaven and humbly whispered, "Thank you, Father. 'Tis a very, Merry Christmas!"

Migdal Eder

And thou, O tower of the flock (migdal eder), the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. (Micah 4:8)

Christmas Hearts (1)

In Dr. Seuss's Christmas classic, the Grinch's heart grew three sizes when he understood the meaning of Christmas. This series will look at how we can let God enlarge our hearts this season. In this first message we look at how Mary and Joseph had hearts willing to let Jesus enter their lives and ask how we can have willing hearts to do the same.

MP3 File

The Nativity Story