The Nobodies of Christmas

The Nobodies of Christmas
by: Ray Hollenbach

When important people come to town, everyone one knows it. NBA stadiums sell out months before LaBron or Kobe show up for game time. When Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson do a personal appearance, hundreds of screaming fans will show up hours ahead of time. When the President visits your city, you can be sure the mayor will meet him at the airport, and schoolchildren will be there to give the First Lady flowers.

The Christmas story shows us that God does things differently. You might even call His way sneaky. The most important person in the history of the world snuck into town late one night and definitely did not stay in a five-star hotel. Actually, Jesus was smuggled into Bethlehem through the womb of a teenage girl, who gave birth in a barn. That’s different.

We all know the story of Christmas: the baby, the barn, the shepherds, and magi. Hidden inside that familiar story is the surprising revelation that God’s way is to ignore the bigshots and use nobodies instead. Just count the nobodies:

Mary was a teenage girl from a small town. In Bible times, women were not important people, and teenagers were even lower on the scale. Mix in her pre-martial pregnancy, and you’ve got a real nobody on your hands. Mary was God’s choice. She conceived the baby Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. God considered her somebody important and gave her a pretty tough assignment!

Joseph was a nobody, too. He was just a working man. He was faced with a choice between trusting God or protecting his small-town reputation. But reputations belong to important people, and most of the important people were in Jerusalem. Joseph said yes to shame, yes to love, and yes to God, so God chose Joseph to act as a foster-father to the Savior of the world.

Shepherds are not important people, just the opposite: second-shift schmucks who work outdoors. Back in that day, watching sheep was not exactly a rock-star kind of gig. Yet they were the first guests invited to the celebration; they saw the skies ripped open and heard the song of heaven. In just one winter night, these social misfits witnessed more of God's glory than all the priests in Jerusalem.

The Magi: They were nothing more than rich pagan astrologers. It didn’t matter if they had money; they were foreigners. Foreigners have the wrong religion, the wrong clothes, and the wrong sacred books--yet the Father invited these rich pagan astrologers, strangers in Israel, to celebrate the birth of the King. 

Elizabeth & Zechariah were a kindly old couple engaged in harmless religious activity. They are the kind of people society ignores--unless they are driving too slow on the highway. This childless couple found themselves unexpectedly drafted to care for and raise the greatest prophet of the Old Testament tradition--and the forerunner to the Messiah.

Anna & Simeon: Alone and elderly, they were two people almost completely invisible in Jerusalem. Invisible to everyone except the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God had been whispering to them for decades that they would witness the most important event in human history. Even after they held the baby Jesus that day in the Temple, the world would have considered them people at the margins of society, yet Simeon and Anna were in on God's secret plan decades before the rest of the world knew what was going on. 

The secret message inside the Christmas story? God invites the nobodies. And when God invites you to the table, He provides everything you need. The powerful people, the beautiful people, and the cool kids might not make it to the celebration. They’re welcome, but they might be too busy building their own kingdoms. Meanwhile, God’s kingdom is filling up with the people no one notices.

This season, if you are a nobody—rejoice! You are not far from the Kingdom of God.

Reaching Out to Unbelievers at Christmas

Reaching Out to Unbelievers at Christmas
By: Dr. R. Larry Moyer

Many times as I travel this time of year, people ask the question, “How can I use Christmas to reach out to unbelievers?” The answer I give them is simpler than they are probably expecting. I believe the answer is in two words—think non-Christians. In other words, it doesn’t begin with what you do, but it begins with the way you think. We have an expression today that goes, “Out of sight—out of mind.” I think it’s also possible to say, “Out of mind—out of sight.” If you do not have them on your mind, you won’t have them within view over the holidays. Regardless of what you do and what you participate in, think non-Christians. Once you do that, you’ll be surprised how many ideas come to your mind.
For example, cards are often sent to family and friends, most of whom are believers because of relationships at church, etc. But why not think of five to ten non-Christians you may not be that close to but who would appreciate a card from you? If appropriate, you can include a tract, but I believe there are also times when it’s not appropriate. A warm personal handwritten greeting simply lets them know you care. That warm greeting may open up a door for the gospel later. In each situation, you have to ascertain what’s best. A tract may be enclosed in one card where it may not be in another.
If you’re going to the mall, why not take an unbeliever with you and even offer to buy their lunch? That kind of giving spirit over the holidays is different than just getting a package from beneath the tree and has such a tangible way of saying, “I value your friendship.”
If you’re thinking of a loved one who is a believer who lost a member of their family this year, your concern and attention as you go through the first holiday season would mean a lot. But who do you know that’s an unbeliever who suffered a similar kind of loss? Why not reach out to them as well? The holiday may be even harder for them than it is for a believing family because they do not have the hope in Christ that you have.
I trust you see what I mean. By simply “thinking non-Christians,” you’ll be surprised by all the ideas that come to your mind whereby you can reach out to unbelievers. As you go forth, ask God for wisdom, direction, and boldness. He’ll give you all three.

John 1:14

John 1:14 ESV   And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This is indeed an incredible biblical text, it's one of the most concise descriptions of Christ's incarnation that we find in Scripture. I love how it begins “and the Word became flesh” how incredible that God himself would come and join humanity as a person? The verse doesn't end there. Instead it says “he dwelt among us.” For 33 years he walked with humanity on planet Earth. Jesus Christ really did dwell among us. He was God in the flesh, yet he chose to walk a mile in our shoes. The author of the text goes on to express that he was an eyewitness when he says “we have seen his glory.” And even though we have not seen his glory in the same way that the author of this text has, we do continue to see miracles each day of our life. We see his glory and the moon and the stars, and the blue sky, green grass, the birth of a child, or the salvation of one lost soul. His glory still surrounds us to this very day and we have seen it with our own eyes. The author says he is "the ONLY SON FROM THE FATHER” And he is full of grace and truth. This is indeed an incredible passage of Scripture to reflect upon during the Christmas season. This morning as I read this passage from The Living Lamp devotional I could not help but take time to pray and thank God that he became flesh among us, has allowed me to see his glory, and  thank him for being full of grace and truth and for being the one and only son of God who saved me from my sins.

Lucy—The Runaway Dog

Some of you may know that we have a dog in our family named Lucy. She is a miniature white poodle who at times can be a handful but is generally a great dog. Yesterday afternoon at some point she slipped out the front door without anyone noticing and disappeared. Several hours later I received a text from my wife, who had been frantically calling, whistling, and looking for Lucy. It was almost dark and the temperature was dropping and we both knew it was going to be a long cold night for Lucy if she was still on the street. After I got home I spent some time walking through the neighborhood and later driving around the neighborhood continuing the search for our runaway dog. It had become apparent that she was gone and Abby and I both came to grips with the fact that we may never see Lucy again.

This morning we woke up and decided to call the local pound to see if anyone had brought Lucy in. Abby was unable to locate a number so she called the police department and they informed us that they would have to get back to us later. About an hour passed before we received a call from the Pleasanton Police Department and discovered that LUCY HAD BEEN FOUND! It turns out she was right down the street just around the corner at an extremely nice gentleman’s house. Phil had seen Lucy the previous evening chasing a cat near his home. Phil had lovingly taken Lucy into his home for the night. But he did more than just take her into his home he had put a new collar on her, he’d given her a new doggie toy, and he even let her sleep in his bed for the night. Phil had no idea who’s dog it was but he assumed that it belonged to one of his neighbors and he decided to take it in.

This morning as we sat down to eat breakfast (before we found Lucy) we opened up The Living Lamp and the promise and the challenge both spoke to our hearts. The promise for today came from Matthew 6:27-30 which basically says who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life. God asks why do you worry it does no good at all, instead he encourages us to have faith. The promise is that if we have faith, God will come through. Then the challenge for today came from the book of John chapter 15 verse 17 it read “love each other. This is what I am commanding you to do.” Don’t you find it amazing how God’s word speaks to you each and every day you decide to read it? Not only did the promise for today bring encouragement to our hearts and remind us not to worry about things we had no control over, but we also saw the challenge come to life as well. Everyone knows that the golden rule is to love your neighbor as yourself and God’s Word clearly commands us time and time again to love each other. I’m so glad that we have a neighbor like Phil who, despite not knowing whose dog it was, decided to go out of his way at his own expense to care for Lucy the runaway dog. What are you worried about today? Why are you worried about it? Who can you love, what can you do to bless someone today?

The Christmas Story

What do you know about the Christmas story? Not the story you heard from your grandmother or your grandfather. Not the story you were told in school, or even the story you heard in Sunday school. What do you know about the Christmas story in the Bible? When was the last time you read it?

Personally I'm very familiar with the Christmas story. I've read it often over the years from the pages of God's word. But this year as I dove into the Christmas story in the Gospel of Luke I decided that I was going to take my time and focus on some of the aspects of the Christmas story that I  had perhaps overlooked in years past. This Sunday I'll be sharing a message about the stable that Jesus was born in. As I thought about that stable I was confronted with several different things that I personally have in common with that stable. If you can make it to church this weekend I think this interesting take on the Christmas story will both encourage and inspire you.

I want to encourage you to read the Christmas story in the coming days, focus on it, meditate, think about it, let yourself become immersed in the drama that surrounds the birth of our Savior. Take a fresh look, don't just glance at it and think that you already know the story, instead pretend that you've never heard it before and examine it closely from beginning to end. Don't just do this once, take time to read it every day and focus on it every day. I promise you will be blessed!

Pastor Pete

Word From The Pastor

It seems like it was just yesterday when I stared up into the bright blue sky to catch a glimpse of an airplane passing overhead. As I took my eyes off the plane which was quickly moving out of sight, a bright green bud on the ash tree in front of my house caught my eye.  Upon closer inspection there were many more brand new spring leaves being born before my very eyes.  Winter was over, spring had arrived and with it new life.  As I continued to work in my yard that afternoon I pondered some of the amazing aspects of life. 

Today as I worked in my yard, rushing to finish several tasks before the sun set and darkness impeded my ability to work, I caught a glimpse of something else out of the corner of my eye.  Naturally I turned my head to find a single leaf falling to the ground.  It was not violent, brutal, or unnatural at all.  Instead that leaf fell to the ground as if it was performing the last graceful dance of its short life.  It was just a few months ago that its bright green glow burst forth from the bark of that ash tree.  Now it lies in my yard waiting to decay and return to the earth from which it came.  Two verses immediately came to mind as I pondered the significance of this natural cycle nature produces.

1Peter 1:24–25 NIV For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.

James 4:13–15 NIV   Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

As I thought about the many truths contained in those verses, my heart was reminded to pray for many people I know who, like that leaf, find themselves in the last stages of their own lives and only barely attached to the tree as their season of life comes to an end.  One of my closest friends and most faithful partners in the ministry God has blessed me with, currently lies in a hospital bed needing constant care to survive. My grandmother is strong, faithful, and a powerful prayer warrior, but like the leaves on a tree, we all bloom but for a season then we are afforded the privilege of returning to the place of our origin.  Not to mother earth, but instead into our Father’s hands, who has loved us from the beginning of time, who knit us together in our mothers wombs, and who has already prepared a place for us in His eternal Kingdom. 

My thoughts then quickly turned to family, friends, church members, and myself, who find ourselves still firmly attached to the tree.  We are green and functioning just like we are supposed to.  Many of us are in the prime of our lives yet what we fail to realize is that one day we too will fade and fall.  I fear that we are wasting much of our limited time on this planet.  This is not to say that we are totally unproductive and inefficient. But certainly we could all pray, read our Bible, witness, worship, and obey His commands just a little more.  I certainly know I could.  One of my greatest fears is that I will one day arrive in heaven and realize how much of my life was wasted on myself, and the temporary things of this world. Only the eternal investments I make will last forever, everything else will fade and be unable to withstand the test of time.

When its time for me to take my last great journey I pray that I will be like the leaf I witnessed today.  I pray that I might be able to peacefully let go knowing that my season has passed, my work has been completed, my race finished, and that in some small way my short life was effective and helped the tree grow.  Then without regret, hesitation, or fear, I might peacefully float away to my Father’s loving arms in heaven. I pray that we might all be able to approach our final days in such a way.

What will you do with your life in 2011? What will you do with your life this Christmas season?  What will you do with your life next week?  What will you do with your life tomorrow?  Do you have a plan? Have you afforded God the opportunity to guide you in the direction of His own purpose for your life? Time is the greatest gift we have been given and no one knows how much of it they will have.  May we all live well!  

                                                                                    Pastor Pete

Life is a path trodden by all men, and but once.

John Gill^[1]

It is not how long but how well we live that matters.

Anon.¹

Life is not measured by length but by depth. Birthdays tell us how long we have been on the road,
not how far we have travelled.

Vance Havner¹

The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.

William James¹

Make sure the thing you are living for is worth dying for.

Charles Mayes¹

Life is worth living better than most men live it.

Anon.¹

Live so as to be missed.

Robert Murray M’Cheyne¹

Let God have your life; he can do more with it than you can.

D. L. Moody¹

Let us live as people who are prepared to die, and die as people who are prepared to live.

James S. Stewart¹

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^[1]Blanchard, John, eds. The Complete Gathered Gold: a Treasury of Quotations for Christians. Accordance electronic ed. New York: Evangelical Press, 2006.

Be Like Jesus Today

This morning I was thinking about one of my memory verses 1 John 2:5–6 NIV But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. What an incredible statement, if we claim to live in him we must walk as Jesus did.  I thought about some areas in my life that still need much refining so that I might be a better reflection of Christ.  There are still things in my walk which are lacking to be sure.  It is my goal today to be more like him, it will be my goal tomorrow, and the next, and the next, until God is finished with me.  I pray that we might all make this our goal and greatest ambition in life, that we would be like Jesus.  Below are some quotes you might consider reading as you think about what it means to be like Christ.

If you are in Christ, and Christ is in you, then the world should see nothing else.
    Anon.

From morning to night keep Jesus in your heart, long for nothing, desire nothing, hope for nothing, but to have all that is within you changed into the spirit and temper of the holy Jesus.
    William Law

If you try to imitate Christ, the world will praise you; if you become like Christ, the world will hate you!
    D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

When no mark of the cross appears in our discipleship, we may doubt the ownership. We should be branded for Christ.
    Mary S. Wood

To be much like Christ, be much with Christ.
    Anon.