Luke 1:28

The Angel visited Mary and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. - Lk. 1:28,29 NIV

As I ponder those words to Mary, I am reminded that we as followers of Christ do have some things important with Mary. The key characteristic of Mary was that she was going to bring forth the Messiah to the world. It was through her that the world was going to meet their savior. She was going to give birth to the Messiah. Of course, we are not pregnant with the Christ child, but let me remind you that we are Christ's ambassadors and God is making his appeal to the world through us. 2 Cor. 5:18

Please also consider that these two amazing statements that God can make about followers of Jesus today. 1. You are Highly Favored and 2. The Lord is with You. Wow!!!! What could be greater than that. And I love Mary's response. She was greatly troubled. That shows her true, genuine humility. She knew her shortcomings and failures and she still believed the word of the Lord. Let me encourage you to do the same. Walk in humility and look at yourself soberly (Romans 12:3) and believe that the favor of God is on you and that the Lord is with you and He will never leave you nor forsake you.

God's Greatest Gift

The teaching series we are doing at Praise Fellowship this Christmas is entitled "God's Greatest Gift" I encourage you to come out and see how the gift of the Messiah changes, shapes, and affects everything. If you can't make it out Sunday morning, remember that our services are broadcast live on our web site at 10 am on Sundays. www.worshipplace.org

Five parts to Christmas Celebration

What follows is a very simple answer to the why of Christmas.

Creation: We were created in God's image and were in perfect fellowship with him. Adam and Eve walked with Him and truly enjoyed His company.

Separation: Adam and Eve Sinned!!! This separated them from God. Ultimately it brought death to the world and also to them. But the issue of separation from the Lord is ultimate hell. The grace of God was demonstrated in that He sought out Adam and Eve.

Hope of Salvation: Right after the first sin God promised the messiah to save them from their sin. He would crush the head of the serpent. Gen. 3:15 The entire Old Testament is the story of a people waiting for their salvation.

Reconciliation: This is what was offered in the Birth, Life, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus. This is what Christmas was about. The savior entered the world and offered reconciliation to God. Mankind has be "enemies" of God since Adam and Eve sinned. Through the work of Christ, reconciliation is offered to those who believe.

Celebration: The natural result of being reconciled is to celebrate. Let's celebrate the savior of the world coming into the world. Have a party! Decorate the house! Bake cookies! Give people gifts! Sing! Do any appropriate thing to celebrate the messiah coming to earth. That is what Christmas is all about.

Why Christmas?

Yesterday I preached on "Why Christmas?". To understand things from scripture, I believe you need to see the big picture of the plan of God. In fact, most of my teaching somehow include the book of Genesis or at least something from the Pentateuch. Here are 5 areas that I propose for the reasons of the coming of Christ at Christmas.

They are: 1. Creation 2. Separation 3. Hope of Salvation 4. Reconciliation and finally 5. Celebration.

I think I will take some time on this blog this week to expand on each one of those topics and hopefully we will all gain a better understanding of the coming of the Messiah.

This week's announcements at PF

Christmas Cookies

One of the great benefits about being a preschooler is that you get to stay at home and bake Christmas cookies Mommy. Yesterday, I came home for lunch and there was Jason grinning from ear to ear and telling me all about the baking he was doing. And, yes he was covered with flour. He had to show me all the cookies he cut out and frosted. He was extremely proud because he made the cookies. Now, you and I both know that Sandie did most of the work and she provided all of the know how, but he was feeling pretty good because Mommy had let him help and he was able to eat the final product. Maybe our "work" in the kingdom is a little bit like Jason making cookies. It's all Jesus, but we should be quite excited to be involved.

A Happy and Clean Desk

On Monday, Sandie and the boys were over at my office and we cleaned it up. It looks really nice. One of my favorite things is to have a perfectly clean desk. Any of you who have ever seen my desk will not believe that, but it's true. I love a clean desk, but the problem is that it never stays that way. I guess it is one of those life long struggles. I think Paul was on to that same concept when he talked about sin.

Romans 7:15-20

¹⁵I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.¹⁸I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^{c]" style=" line-height: 0.5em; ">[c]} For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.