New Beginnings Community Church

Here is another one for those of you that have children at home!

The Magi had a brief delay in visiting King Herod, looking for more information as to how they could find the Messiah. The Wise men saddled up again, with their entire caravan back on track, they picked up the same star they had been following for many miles and months. It was probably a relief to know that even though they got off track, God was still willing to lead them to His Son. Their thoughts must have been swirling as they replayed their stop at Herod's place. He s...hould have known, his religious leaders should have known, not the magi who were not even from that region. On top of that, they should have wanted to join the caravan to find the Messiah, because they made such a big deal over the questions surrounding the Christ. I can only put myself in their shoes, when it comes to how they were handling all this. I do know this, that when the star stopped moving, they broke out into celebration! They knew they were moments away from meeting the Savior of the world, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!

The other night, I was at the grocery store, it was extremely busy, parking was hard to find. I walked past a woman with a over flowing basket of groceries while heading down and isle, I noticed her because her shopping cart was overflowing. When I got up to the checkout stands, I noticed all the lines were backed up, this same woman noticed as well and proceeded to slip into the 20 items or less line. I got into the same line a couple of customers behind her. She never a...cknowledged that everyone ahead of her and behind her had only a couple of items. I was already in line and just accepted that she was going to do what worked best for her over everybody else's needs. When ever we seek our own needs above others, it is because we are used to doing this on a regular basis. We can be blind to our own self-centeredness without ever really knowing it. The same mentality existed when the Magi showed up at Herod the king's residence. The only thing Herod was concerned about was his own wants and needs. He was troubled that he might lose something he prized. His heart was for something else, not for God, he said all the right things but his heart was far from God. If he really wanted to worship Jesus, he would have gone to look for Him on his own, Bethlehem was roughly 5 miles away! Real worship always happens in our hearts before it comes out of our actions!

For me, going to the mall has always been a challenge, going during Christmas season is an act of bordering on foolishness! Lets start with parking, at the mall closest to us, they finished building a parking structure that was completed right after summer, which gave me hope! We pulled up on the opposite side of the new parking structure and they are in the process of building another parking structure, during December? We fortunately found a parking space quickly, then ...proceeded into the mall. Once you are in the mall, your shopping senses go into overload. There is a store and a bargain where ever your eye glances. If you can't find it in the store you are in you can look up what you need for the cheapest price at the closest location. We were only there for a short period of time, which made me feel excited and free once we got back to the car. The Magi had traveled for hundreds of miles and for many months, with a large caravan of camels packed with supplies and very specific gifts for the One they were looking for. They had a tremendous sense of awe and wonder of God and what He was leading them into. No distance was too great, no gift was too expensive, no hardship would stop them. They did not have much of an idea what they would encounter, but they believed that what ever they did run against, God would be there for them! You see, there sole purpose was to worship God, in fact worship God in the flesh!

I was struck with sadness and then anger over the latest act of terror, that took place in Berlin Germany. A suspect, used a big rig truck to ram into a crowd of unsuspecting Christmas shoppers, killing 12 and injuring many more. While I am not surprised by acts like this, it is just another form of our chaotic world. The hope I hang onto and try and share with as many people God places in front of me, is that I have a God who is able to save! This Christmas, Americans s...till have a degree of security that allows us to enjoy the trappings of the season. This tragedy happened far away from us, yet, I constantly think about all those who lost their lives and the many family members who are profoundly affected by this. I hope and pray for our world and the billions of people who have yet to meet Jesus Christ. He is the hope of the world, the Messiah, the Savior for those who would believe and be saved! Keep vigilant in praying for a lost world and for the testimony He gave us responsibility to share! Matthew 28:18-20

Joseph and Mary were without a doubt, exhausted and exhilarated at the same time! All the traveling on a donkey, without family to help and encourage, and support. They settled in for the night after finally finding a stable, probably in a hewn out cave, it was not the comfort of home, nor familiar in surroundings. Most likely there was still animals in this stable, or at least the smell of them. A manger was a feeding trough, yet it became the first place Jesus slept on... earth. Before the shepherd's were told of the birth of Jesus, the shepherds were treated to an amazing worship service that is only done and repeated in heaven. Could you imagine, just how crazy the worship of God by all these amazing angels? They are always in and around God and have the blessing of knowing how and what to sing to God! The shepherd's as well as us, have never heard of something like this! Not until we get to heaven will we truly understand how and what worship is really like. I try, just like you to sing with all my heart and that is all He expects. The amount of reverence and passion that was displayed that night must have been overwhelming! Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

I have always enjoyed the Christmas season, as a little boy, we only got to see what was new or different, was when our parents took us to Sears or Penny's. There was some advertising on TV, but nothing like it is today. We did not have the internet to look and see what was out there. When we did arrive at the store, it was an amazing discovery! Toys, bicycles, games, it was all new to us and each isle seemed to have something new we had never seen before. Christmas day,... we would go outside and show off to our friends what we got, and share it with them. I have noticed that, even when a ball game is on, it is hard not to notice all the commercials pointed towards getting the right gift, the best deal, something for yourself gift. If you look at something online, it automatically displays it on just about any page you download after that. It can be distracting and a little annoying after a while, you almost are afraid if you do look something up it will haunt your every move! After the angel tells the shepherd's about the birth of the Messiah, the Savior, the hope of the world, all heaven breaks loose! So many angels break their cover and reveal themselves to the shepherd's! Talk about a new discovery! This had never been done before, and the people who received the good news, never expected in their wildest dreams that God would make them the bearers of fantastic news! Just think, God has given us the greatest news of all time and we have the blessing of sharing with those who are not really looking in His direction.

My wife says I snore, so I let her head off to bed before me, so she can get to sleep a few minutes before I crawl into bed. One night I fell asleep on the couch, I turned off all the lights and went down the hall, to the bedroom. Everything was instantly dark and I fumbled around for something to grab onto as I tried walking around the bed to my side. As I took a couple of steps, I stepped on something and lost my balance. In the process of regaining my balance, my hand h...it the light switch and turned the lights on! I let out a loud reaction and my wife sat up in bed wondering what had happened? What was once darkness had now become completely bright. The night of Jesus' birth, shepherds were doing what they did every night, got their sheep ready for the night and since there were no street lights in those days, it was easy to imagine how dark it got. When the angel appeared before them, it was a total shock! Instant light, an angel before them, communication from God to them. Not only was it a shock, it was historical in what it was all about. The Messiah, the Savior, the King of Kings was born and they were invited to go and see Him. They had gone from silence, darkness, sheep bleating in their ears, to a brilliant light, first one angel talking to them of great importance, and then a host (an in numeral amount) if angels celebrating all around them, to meeting God!

I grew up at a time in which the Christmas story was air brushed and polished, it looked very clean and without controversy. Joseph and Mary was able to find a very clean stable, with well behaved animals, a plush manger with fresh straw to lay Jesus the babe in. It seemed as though they had no problems and all their needs were met. In reading the scriptural account of the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1-7), we find that Joseph and Mary were betrothed (engaged), and would not be i...ntimate until they were married. To complicate matters, Caesar Augustus, the Roman emperor, made a decree that everyone had to show up for registration in their home town. That meant traveling while being pregnant over rough terrain on a donkey. They did not have any paper work to confirm their marriage, and to have her pregnancy revealed would be grounds to stone her to death. With the birth of their first child, it was an amazing event, they brought forth a child that was beyond description in what He would become and do in His short life. Even though the parents were given an incredible gift, it was really there job from then on to prepare Him for ministry and the greatest gift of His willing death on the cross. They had no idea what Jesus would become and do for the world of that time and for all those in the future! Like wise, we can be told of all the great promises God has for us, and yet we cannot see them immediately. We have to begin right where God has us today, now, believing He wants to and is able to begin the journey of the next step of faith. We really do not know what is yet in store for us!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for. In just 20 words, the apostle Paul, shares with us simple keys to being thankful throughout life. ... Rejoice always: To do anything always, is to do the same thing over and over again. To rejoice always, is to have a joyful attitude, without the right attitude, it means I will not be able to sustain joy in difficult times consistently. If I have a joyful attitude, this translates into a habit and character change that allows me to have this as my first and foremost response always. Pray without ceasing: Prayer is what most Christ followers practice, but is it a two conversation? Do I wait for God to respond or intercede (Psalm 46:10, Romans 8:26)? To pray without ceasing, is to be in constant communication with God. Constantly talking to and listening and looking for His response. He needs our undivided attention in certain intimate times with Him, so when He does remove the fog surrounding our mind, we are able to receive His extended and deep thoughts concerning our circumstances (Isaiah 55:8-9). In everything give thanks: Giving thanks to Him no matter what is an extraordinary work of a mature believer. Giving thanks can be done superficially, just like with rejoicing, we can say all the right things, but that will have no benefit. God is not looking for or accepting lip service (Isaiah 29:13). The goal for us is to have a shift in what our expectations are when we are praying for an outcome. Recognizing that if God really is in control, we then can release the controls to Him and accept His results. So when something falls into "category bad", and I have been rejoicing and thanking God over everything up to that point, I don't take a big hit. I already know and accept that God knows what He is doing and He is looking for my faith level connection.

When you read and then break down the story of the birth of John the Baptist and our Lord Jesus Christ, it is truly an amazing story of God and His plan. It is a story that had never happened before and will never happen again. It is so fantastic, that without faith, it would fall under the category of fantasy for those who do not believe. We read earlier this year about the lead poisoned water the inhabitants of Flint Michigan have been drinking. I just read today that o...ver 4,000,000 Americans drink unsafe water daily, leading many to have lead poisoning. Over 2,000 smaller water utilities that have been found to have lead in their drinking water, have not been tested regularly and over 850 utilities have not been tested since 2010! The Federal and State government have not followed up on this huge problem. That story to me is more amazing and hard to believe than that of God sending His Son into the world to save it (John 3:17). The angel that tells the good news to Zechariah, Joseph and Mary, virgin birth, the Wise men coming from the East, following a moving/directing star. Mankind, at times can be very cruel, self-serving, ignorant to the needs of his fellow man. God, on the other hand, has shown how much He loves mankind, sacrifices His only begotten Son for the salvation we all need. For me, what we do and know as an advanced society, has it's usual ups and downs, I expect that. When I measure the level of consistency God has shown both in His word and this present day through Holy Spirit, more than makes up the shortcomings of this present age. The angel told Mary in Luke 1:37 "For with God nothing shall be impossible", gives us an incredible hope for today and for our future!

The people and pieces had to be put into place at the right time and with the right people for the Messiah to come to us in the form of flesh. Even though the people of Israel had been reminded of the Messiah coming one day, the chain of events began to take place right under their noses, and they did not know it! Zechariah and his wife Elisabeth had always prayed to have a child, their advanced ages had stolen their hopes. They still remained loyal and faithful children of... God, they were from the priestly line of Aaron and Zechariah was a priest. It had been over 400 years since there was any movement from God to His people, no prophecy, the only change people noticed was that the priest's had slowly drifted into religion. Their faith had dwindled into only talk of what God had done and not what He was doing! When Zechariah was selected to serve in the temple, he was honored and excited to be the one who got to offer sacrifice to God for the people's sin. He was also aware of the repercussions, if he had any personal sin, he would be instantly killed in his service. He had no idea that his personal relationship with God had gained so much attention from Him! God sent a personal message to him through Gabriel, the Arch angel. This shook Zechariah up greatly, as it would you and I. The news he received was tremendous, "don't be afraid", and what was greater "your prayer has been heard". We can get jaded in our walk with God, let little things slowly have a foothold in our life and because we get used to it, we think God might even let it go without a challenge. Our goal is to take the time to associate ourselves with God's word (Psalm 119:9-11), take on His ways, thoughts, standards, so we can also hear from Him at different points in our life, "your prayer has been heard".