Simply Christmas

Remember as a child when Christmas was simply a time of excitement, wonder and expec-tation? You couldn’t wait for the Christmas cookies to come out of the oven. Your eyes would get wide as the lights sparkled on the tree. And who could fall asleep on Christmas Eve? Ah, Christmas...

Fast-forward to the busy, hectic, over-scheduled time of year, where the list is long of tasks that must be completed. Christ-mas trees are to be decorated. Christmas shopping and gift wrapping must happen in a flurry. Christmas entertaining fills the calendar. Christmas programs abound—at school, in the community, at church. When will it all stop? December 26? No, for then the frenzy of gift returning and after-Christmas sales begins!

What happened to the simplicity of Christmas and the tranquility of the season? Has the expectation and wonder of Christ-mas disappeared? Does it fade as we grow older? Or, does it just get crowded out? Is it possible to have a simple Christ-mas?

Before the stress of shopping, relatives and overcharged credit cards rob us of the joy and wonder of Christmas, we at First Christian Church would like to remind you that some things are still very simple, like the age-old story of a manger and a very special gift. Before life gets crazy complicated, we invite you to join us and discover the simply amazing story of Christmas for yourself.

December  4   A Simple Gift

December 11   A Simple Family

December 18   A Simple Birth
December 25   A Simple Message

Preparing for a Good Harvest

The words "harvest time" conjure many different images in our minds. The farmer bringing in his crops, leaves turning colors, Indian corn, pumpkin pie, football, and, of course, Thanksgiving Day. God has also designed seasons in each of our lives, to bring about a harvest in us. It is a wonderful time that the writer of Hebrews describes as producing in us a har-vest of righteousness and peace. Each of us would love to have this kind of fruit in our lives—to be right before God, more like His son Jesus and have that calm assurance that He is in control.

Farmers, who know all about the harvest, are, in many ways, connected to the land. It’s how they make their living. For some, their very livelihood and prosperity are linked to the harvest. Farmers who rely on a good harvest to make a living understand that careful preparation for the harvest will have begun months before any John Deere or Case combine can begin collecting ears of corn or bushels of soybeans.

I am certainly not a farmer, but I know enough to understand that a decent crop is not a guarantee. The land must be properly cultivated for a bountiful harvest to result. This includes plowing and disking the ground to turn the soil before planting, adding the proper nutrients to the ground, making sure plants get enough water to grow, and so forth. If I fail to cultivate the land to prepare it for planting or if I neglect my crops through the growing season, the harvest would be less than desirable. Every good farmer understands the need to cultivate and prepare the land, turning over the soil so nutrients, rain and seeds can make their way in deep. Proper cultivation sets the stage for a good crop and prosperity for the hardworking farmer.

This truth is no different when it comes to our hearts. Only a fool would think that his heart would reap a harvest of righteousness and take on the appearance of Christ without daily cultivation and care. Only when our hearts are properly cultivated can the Spirit most effectively form the character of Christ in our lives. Paul talks about this in Ephesians 3:17: "Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong."

That’s the kind of harvest God intends to produce in our lives. Strength. Depth. Character. The harvest is only possible if we’re willing to allow our roots to go down deep as we continually to trust in Him for the results.

In His Grip, Phil

Public vs. Private

Turning on the news and you will soon hear about a scandal knocking at the door of a high profile celebrity or politician. One would think that those who live in the public eye would learn the wisdom of Numbers 32:23 "...your sin will find you out." The truth is that this verse applies to everyone, whether you are followed by cameras or live a life of obscurity like most of us.

I think a lesson here is one about integrity.

Simply ask yourself this question: “How do I live when no one’s looking?” It’s easy to look like a person of integrity when people are watching, but do I live my private life with the same level of consistency as I live my public life?

Much of our lives are consumed with trying to get people to think about us the way we want to be thought about. John Ortberg suggests, “Human conversation is largely an endless attempt to convince others that we are more assertive or clever or gentle or successful than they might think if we did not carefully educate them.” Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:1 are hard to get around: “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

I think celebrities think it’s possible to live one life publicly and another life privately. Check that...all of us live double lives to some degree. That’s not integrity; it’s a recipe for trouble and God’s discipline. We are to live with consistency in public and in private, because our Father “sees what is done in secret” (Matthew 6:4).

Since this is the case, being faithful in small, secret things is a big deal. It may be the case that God is far less concerned with our public life than he is in our private character. He may be more concerned with how we manage our home than our business. I'm not suggesting that God is not concerned with our public life - He is! However, allowing God's grace to change us and shape us in the small, secret places of our lives will enable us to live in the image of his Son in the big, public places.

In the end, integrity is about desire. Who we become reveals what we really desire. If you desire the praise of men, then you will become a certain kind of person in public. But if you desire the praise of God, then integrity (your behavior in private) will need to become a priority.

Doth We Petition Too Much?

My LIFE group is currently studying Dean Trune's book, The Path Toward Passion.  It covers nine spiritual disciplines that help us connect our heart to God's. This week's chapter was on prayer -- more specifically, how to pray humbly. Dean touched on five elements of prayer that are essential to the believer. They are petition, submission, obedience, confession, and repentance.

Dean writes:

"All elements need to be employed as we pray to reach the deep intimacy we seek with our Creator. Praying humbly means that I lay our everything in every corner of my being before God. He is ready and waiting for us. It is all about Him and not about me. Praying with reckless and relentless humility will lead us to God's heart."
(Trune, D. The Path Toward Passion. p. 63. Prayershop Publishing. 2009)

After studying the five elements of prayer, I asked our group which one we do more of and which one we do the least. Overwhelmingly, we agreed that most of our prayers take the form of petitioning God, while prayerful times of confession and repentance are seldom experienced. In other words, we're pretty good at asking God, but not so good at listening and submitting to God in our prayer time.

It isn't that petitioning God is bad, but often times our petitions are misquided. Our prayers are dominated with requests for things we want and need -- It's all about my life, my family, my health, my job, my friends, my, my, oh, my. We pray selfishly for God to fix this, give us that, bless us now, keep us safe, and while you're at it, do something about the weather. Again, those aren't necessarily evil or bad things to pray about, but who is the benificiary of those petitions? We are!

In order for our faith to deepen and our walk in Christ to take us to newer heights, we need to focus less on ourselves and our needs and more on God's kingdom and His will. Instead of us being the beneficiary of our petitions, let's make God's kingdom the beneficiary. Let's pray more like Jesus -- "Not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42).

Here's a little excercise. The next time you pray, don't petition God for anything unless it is Kingdom related.

When the Earth Beneath Us Crumbles

Watching the videos and seeing the images of Japan's devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami leaves us speechless and numb. Each news report paints a darker picture than the one we saw the previous day -- thousands more dead, homeless numbers rising, damage estimates skyrocketing into the billions, and the threat of nuclear meltdown more imminent. It all makes our cozy lives and trivial compliants about the weather seem so small and meaningless compared to this great tragedy.

We are left with many questions. What can we do? How do we respond? Where is God in all of this?

This may sound like a Sunday School answer, but the first thing we can do is PRAY! Don't just talk about praying or say you will pray, but really pray. Find a quiet place and pray out loud to God. Pray for the victims and their families. Pray for the rescue workers. Pray for our missionaries in Japan. Pray that God will move and respond to those who cry out to Him (Ps. 107:6).

Yes, we can do more than pray, but we can't do more without praying. We can GIVE! You can give toward the relief effort by sending your gift to First Christian Church (please write "MSGF" in the memo). All donated funds will go directly to Mustard Seed Global Fellowship (MSGF). FCC's own Jared Henke, and his wife Stephanie, are missionaries with MSGF. They have a very good network with many of the Christian churches in Japan. This means they will be able to get aid immediately into the hands of Christians who are reaching out to the victims of this natural disaster.

Pray, give, and BE WISE! It is likely you will have those in your circles of influence who want to know where God is when such tragedies occur, or, worse yet, they blame God for it! If you can help them make sense of it, you have opened a door to share Christ’s love with them. Here are a few questions and answers that may help you in these discussions:

Why did this happen?

We live in a fallen world. All of creation is deteriorating because of one thing -- sin. Bad things happen to good and bad people because of sin. The Apostle Paul writes, “For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.” Romans 8:19-21 (New Living Translation). So, natural disasters happen and will continue to happen until the Christ returns!

Did God cause this to happen?

Yes and no. Because God is the Creator, He created a world where this could happen, or as some say, God allows it to happen. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that God purposely caused the destruction. Jesus speaks of a tragic event in His day and time in Luke 13:3-5 where a tower collapsed, killing 18 people. Jesus pointed out that God didn’t cause it to happen because the 18 were sinners. It just happened. However, it comes as a warning to all that if calamity does happen (and it will) we need to be eternally prepared!

What good could ever come out of something so tragic?

Tragic events cause us to stop and ponder the frailty of life -- we are faced with our own mortality. Knowing that life is fragile, leads us to evaluate our priorities, and for those whose priorities are skewed, it's a wake up call. In fact, Jesus in Matthew 24 & 25 and the Apostle John in the book of Revelation indicate that God allows such things as a warning of the coming day of the Lord –- or judgment day. Jesus says, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42, NIV). And, John adds the words of Christ, “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown” (Rev. 3:11, NIV). In Japan, less than 1% call themselves “Christians.” As our missionaries and other Christians in Japan respond to meet the physical needs of those hit by this disaster, pray they will have the opportunity to share the eternal hope that is found in Jesus Christ.

In His Grip.

Phil

FCC partners with CCB!

I am pleased to announce our new partnership with Church Community Builder (CCB). CCB is a web-based church management system, which provides calendaring, scheduling, church membership and record keeping for the local church.

More than anything else, CCB will provide the means for people who join First Christian to be connected to one another. FCC members will be able to interact, encourage each other, promote fellowship in small groups and communicate with each other.

Up to now our database has been maintained in house on our own server. As technology continues to change, it has become more difficult to maintain our software and database and deal with compatibility issues. Since CCB is web-based, we will no longer have to worry about maintenance or compatibility issues. In fact, being web-based means that all of our members and leaders will be able to access our online community with a web browser.

When the new website for First Christian is up and running, there will be a place where members of First Christian can log in and check out their small groups, serving groups and individual messages. If they would like (their option), they can provide additional contact information for other members of FCC to get in touch with them. Think of CCB as an on-line church directory, which never becomes out of date! Yet, unlike public social networking sites like Facebook, the on-line directory for FCC will be private, only available to other people who are part of the church.

In addition, FCC members will be able to view their donation records on-line all year long - not just at tax time. This information is secured and backed up by CCB, and can only be accessed through your private username and password.

Currently, we are waiting for our data to be migrated into CCB. I will keep you posted as we implement this new website.

In His Grip,

Phil

The Simple Church

Our preaching series to begin this year has been about asking the difficult question – Are we the church God wants us to be? It's a chance to ReFocus our spiritual lens on the simple mission of the church – to love God and love people.

Sometimes in order to accomplish more we need to simplify and do less. It is possible that our approach in "doing" church (and life) has gotten so complex that we're not as effective as we can be. How can there be time in a follower's life to "go and be the church" if he or she is expected to attend church three or four times a week, be in a small group, serve in a ministry, etc.? The truth is that we're good at "doing" church, but are we good at "being" the church?

The church in Thessalonica became a "model to all believers" (1:7), a group of people "making it their ambition to lead quiet lives." Their lifestyle was—in a single word—simple: simple Christians living simple lives. In contrast, Moses was not living in simplicity, and was confronted by his father-in-law to change. Solomon in Ecclesiastes reveals a life of regrets. He pursued wine, women, work, wealth and wisdom, a complex life. Yet, in the end, he admitted the conclusion of the matter: fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of man. He admitted there was a more simple way to live.

Are we living lives in community that appear to be simple or complex? Like Solomon, will we realize that a simple life of pursuing God is what truly matters in life? Like Moses, will we take deliberate action to simplify our life?