Today is both Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday as well as President Trumps inauguration.  Pray for our new president (no matter who you voted for) and for our country that we might fulfilled MLK’s dream of not seeing people by the color of their skin but by the character of their heart.

The importance of John 1:1 cannot be overstated.  John is linking the eternal God that created everything at the very beginning of time with Jesus.  This Word was not just with God in the beginning, He was GOD.  And this God was now appearing in human flesh and blood to live among us, shows us the power of God, the love of God, and most importantly the character of God.  See Jesus, see God.  If you look to Jesus you look to God.  They are one and the same person in two different forms.  One was still the infinite and omnipresent God, one was finite and local and part of time and space.  If you can comprehend this great mystery, then the rest of John will be a piece of cake!

The first post of the new year.  I hope that you enjoyed the message reviewing what we learned in 2024.  But more so, I hope that you will continue your grow journey this year as we looked at our beloved one, Jesus Christ and see how much we are loved by him.

Tony did a great job on Sunday preaching on Gen 1:1.  Little did he know but his message leads us perfectly into our theme for next year and the basis of my sermons for the coming year.  It is so important to know that God is the beginning and the creator of all that we know and see.  Without that foundation, everything else can (and usually is) called into question.  I hope that as we start reading through the Bible again, starting in Genesis, we will see who we are and who God is right from the beginning.  I hope your year looking at the wisdom of God will prepare us to look to this new year with love and passion for Jesus.

I want to wish all those who are reading this post the Merriest of Christmases.  But more so, my prayer is that this season you will find room in your heart for Jesus.

One week until Christmas.  I almost seems like it is already here.  Things are already piling up on the “to-do” list and my precious time is filling up.  But one thing that I do not want to run out of time for is praising and worshiping God.  Without him, this season would not exist.  Without him, all of life would be meaningless.  Without him, we could not do anything.  So fill your time with praise and worship and you will be surprised how much time that frees up for the most important thing.

Whenever I think about some of the people of the OT, especially some of the women that we talked about in the message, I am often surprised that some of the “less then stellar” episodes of the Bible where not edited out.  Especially of the great heroes.  The two books of Chronicles sometimes do this, skipping over some of the faults of the kings of Judah, but the OT if filled with sinful behavior from many considered to be the “greats”.  And Matthew’s intentional placement of many of these sins is just as shocking.  Yet, the Bible is honest about the failures of their characters.  No one is without some failure or moral lapses.  And this should encourage us.  Because we all have some failures and moral lapses in our history.  We all have sinned and fallen well short of God’s glory.  Yet, God still loves us even to the point of sending his Son Jesus.  This is the whole reason why we celebrate Christmas.  Jesus was born in this imperfect world to save us from these sins.  And for that we truly can celebrate.

Well the Christmas season is now upon us and we are driving toward the celebration of Jesus’ birth.  But there are many lessons we can learn from those who took place.  Joseph taught us to obey without question.  The shepherds taught us joy.  And the wise men seeking the promised one.  All of these men showed different ways we can apply these principles to our lives.

Have a great Thanksgiving giving thanks.

The Keith Green version of the sheep and the goats is a dramatic adaptation to the parable that is written in Matthew 25.  If you want to listen to it again here is the website (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-QvSnHY–Q).  Like I said during the message, it brings a tear to my eye.  Firstly, the joy of Jesus welcoming the sheep and the surprise of the sheep to be welcomed into their rest.  Secondly, the anguish Keith uses to portray the painful betrayal of the goats toward Jesus.  Hearing what Jesus must feel when his children are neglected or treated so poorly by the goats gets me every time.  Not only does “the least of these” feel the pain but so does Jesus.  His love for the least is so great.  And finally, the excuses that the goats make are the kind that I sometimes find myself saying.  “Enough!!!”  We need to do what God has called us to do for all of God’s children.