“Unto us a Son is born. Unto us a Child is given.” The message of Christmas is the message of the Gospel. It is the story of the love and grace of God in providing redemption. Reconciling sinners to a holy and righteous God. It is a message worth telling and we’ve been commanded to take the message to the ends of the earth. The Southern Baptist Convention was born out of a desire to see the nations come to faith in Christ. The heartbeat of our convention has been to spread the name and the fame of our God. Because of the faithful of our churches Southern Baptist have just under 5000 missionaries serving around the world. Hundreds of thousands of people each come to faith in Christ through our efforts. Yet there is more to do. There are those who have never heard.

We are two-thirds toward our goal of $9,500 for our Lottie Moon Offering. You gift can make a world of difference. Did you know your gift of $128 keeps a missionary on the field for one day? $900 takes care of their needs for a week. Of course in addition to paying for personnel your gift goes to supply Bibles in the language of the people; provides hunger relief; hospitals; schools; radio; the list is exhaustive. Your gift is a sound investment in Kingdom work. But don’t just take my word for it. Go to www.imb.org and see what we are doing together through the International Mission Board. Together let’s meet our goal. Together let’s take the Gospel to the world. Together let’s make a difference.

I look forward to seeing you and your family Christmas morning as we worship our Savior.

Rod

One of my prized possessions is a little volume entitled, Gadsby’s Hymns. It is a collection of hymns put together by William Gadsby and first published in 1814. It includes some very familiar hymns by Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley but also many that are virtually unknown to most. I was reading hymns this morning about the incarnation. Here are a few lines from one of Gadsby’s own hymns:

The eternal Word, who built the earth and skies,
Takes on him flesh, and in a manger lies;
In that dear Babe of Bethlehem I see
My God, contracted to a span for me.

Mary’s first-born was God and man in one;
David’s own God, and David’s blessed Son.
Well might the angels wing their way to earth,
To celebrate so glorious a birth.

They sang, with new surprise and fresh delights,
Glory to God, in all the angelic heights;
Surrounded with God’s glory, in a blaze
To heaven they fly, the incarnate God to praise.

Shall angels sing the honours of his name,
And sinners, saved by grace, silent remain?
Good God, forbid! Inflame us with they love,
And set our groveling minds on things above.

This God-like mystery we will gladly sing,
And own the virgin’s Babe our God and King;
Jehovah Jesus, we will thee adore,
And crown thee Lord of all for evermore.

Christmas is a time for us to joyfully proclaim the glory and wonder of the incarnation. God made flesh to redeem sinful, fallen humanity. It is not our responsibility to win an argument, wage a culture war or make sure our traditions remain unchanged. It is our responsibility to declare the wonder of the Gospel. Let’s not lose sight of our objective. I’ll see you Sunday.

Rod

This past Sunday we began our emphasis on the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. Our International Mission Board currently has 4,887 field personnel under appointment. We are engage with 763 people groups. That’s exciting and we praise God for what we are doing together through the work of the Southern Baptist Convention. In 2010 we baptized 360,879 and started 29,237 new churches! However, there are 3,629 unreached people groups. These are people who have no meaningful contact with the Gospel. The need is great.

For the first time in our history we have more personnel trained and ready to go then we have money to send. The need is great. How important is the Lottie Moon Offering? 57% of the IMB’s budget is provided by this offering. The need is great.

What can you do? You can pray, you can give and you can go. We are engaged in a spiritual battle for the souls of men. Such a battle demands that we pray. Pray that God will continue to open doors of opportunity. Pray that missionaries will have the courage and boldness to speak. Pray that God will protect those who serve. Pray for the freedom of the Gospel around the world.

You can give. Your gift to the Lottie Moon Offering goes directly to mission efforts around the world. Your gift helps to keep a missionary on the field. Your gift provides much needed supplies. Your gift helps to feed a village. Your gift puts the Bible in the language of the people. Your gift brings light into the darkness.

You can go. God is still calling for laborers to enter the harvest. Perhaps He is calling you. At a time when money is scarce it may be that you can go as a volunteer for a week, 2 weeks, 6 months a year? The need is great.

As you plan your Christmas giving why not make an eternal investment? Give generously to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. I’ll see you Sunday.

Rod

To say, “I’m not a good speller” is one tremendous understatement. When spell check says, “I have no idea what you’re trying to spell” you know you’re in trouble. Dictionaries are no help. Honestly, if you can’t spell how do you look up a word in the dictionary? Thus I find word games frustrating. Rheadon loves to play Words with Friends. For those of you who don’t play, you play Scrabble online with your smart phone. It is frustrating to play a game you are not equipped to play. The game is not very forgiving. It expects you to know how to spell. My problem is when it comes to spelling I agree with Mark Twain, “I have no respect for a man who can only spell a word one way.”

I suppose it is this struggle with trying to do what is so unnatural that keeps interfering with my spiritual life. I’m not naturally forgiving. Or understanding. Or patient. Or prayerful. Or compassionate. Or…well you get the idea. Here is the good news – I don’t have to be any of those things naturally. In fact God knows I’m not. Jesus has even said left to myself I never would be any of those things. He said, “Apart from me you can’t do anything.” He went on to say if I learn to “be at home” in him, I would bear much fruit. In other words I’d learn to be all those things and more by his power and through his enabling. G. Campbell Morgan said, “Living the Christian life is not difficult, it is impossible! There is only one who has ever done it successfully and he does it again and again in you and me.” I find great comfort in that. Now, if only he played Words with Friends.

I’ll see you Sunday.

Rod

November? How can that be it was January just last week. Isn’t it hard to believe the year is almost over? November means a couple of things. First the holidays are upon us. Things get busy from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Pray for our children’s choir and our Celebration Singers as they work on Christmas music. A new wrinkle to the holidays this year is that both Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Sunday. We will be adjusting our schedule some for those two Sundays we’ll tell you more about that in the days to come.

Second, it means that it is budget time. I would ask you to pray for our finance committee as they begin work on next year’s budget. We do have some challenges. While we’ve been blessed and have no debt, we’ve experienced a significant drop in receipts the last quarter. Pray that we will be good stewards of what has been entrusted to us.

Third, and this is really the most important, guard your heart during the business of the season so that you do not forget what it’s all about. Thanksgiving is not about food, family and football it’s about giving thanks to God for His gracious provision. It is a time to acknowledge every good and perfect gift comes down from above. Christmas is not about jolly old Saint Nick it’s about God’s gift of salvation through His Son. This is the time of year that grants us many opportunities to testify of our faith. Let’s not waste this opportunity. It’s worth thinking about. I’ll see you Sunday.

Rod

It is ingrained in us from an early age, “Behave in a certain way or you’ll not be loved.” Your worth or value is determined by your performance. Certain people in school are given exceptions and privileges because of how they perform on the football field or the basketball court. Even in church the message is, “Live up to the standard or God won’t love you.” That is why I find the Gospel so appealing. The message of God’s love and grace comforts, encourages and inspires. I’m not loved or valued because of my performance. God does not love me because I make the grade but because of Christ!

Christ fulfilled the law of God perfectly. He satisfied every righteous demand. By my faith in Him I am clothed with His righteousness. I am in Christ and thus loved by the Father. That love is fixed, settled, and unchanging. The Father now loves me just as He has loved Christ. I do not have to earn God’s love it is mine because of Christ. I can rest in that. I am called to dwell, abide, and be at home in the love of God. Now that does not mean I quit striving for holiness. It does not mean that I do not need to obey. It means my motivation is different. I do not obey in order to be loved but I obey because I am loved. I want to demonstrate my love out of profound gratitude. I do not want to betray such love. Love is far more demanding that law. Now that I’m loved I’m driven to even greater obedience.

I hope to see you and your family as we gather for Bible study and worship this coming Lord’s Day.

Rod

It is an overwhelming thought, a great motivation and provides amazing comfort to understand the depth of God’s love for His own. Jesus made an extraordinary comment on the night of His betrayal as He spoke to the 11 remaining apostles (Judas had already gone to betray Him). “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love.” To the degree that God loved me – I love you. In the way the Father has loved me – I love you. Such a love is fixed, settled and unwavering. Such a love invites your “abiding.” To abide is to relax, make yourself at home, and settle in. You don’t have to impress Him. You do not have to gain His favor. You have it! You have it not because you perform up to standard but because of Christ. Christ’s perfect obedience has secured the Father’s love for the believer, so relax. Get off the treadmill of works and start striving in love. Start living out of gratitude instead of guilt.

It’s not that we do not strive. It is not that we do not struggle. Rather we live knowing love is not given as a reward or removed as punishment. God’s love for the believer is constant and unchanging because of the finished work of Christ laid to our account. We are not driven to obey in order to experience the love of God rather we are driven to obey because of our experience of God’s love. That is Gospel living.

I hope to see you and your family as we gather for worship this coming Lord’s Day.

Rod

Do you get depressed watching the news? Drive-by shootings, meth labs, and home invasions those things used to happen in other places now they are commonplace here. Culturally the country is going to pot. Political bickering is wearisome. Everywhere I turn lately there seems to be controversy, trouble, bad news or despair. Is it any wonder I seek relief by visiting Mayberry where the great tragedy is that new lady druggist want sell Emma Watson her miracle pills?

But, alas, that only buys me 30 minutes of comfort and relief. I know that retreating to Mayberry is not a lasting remedy and doesn’t supply any real relief but where are we to turn? Is there a place of safety and rest? Is there a more permanent solution to our troubles? The answer is yes. And the answer is not found in retreating to a “make believe” world. It isn’t found in denying the real dangers that threaten us. It is found in taking refuge in the profound truths of our faith. It is found in taking refuge in our God. Doctrine is practical. Biblical truth is to be embraced and lived. It is to be applied to the real world in which we struggle day by day. Our faith is to impact our lives on a daily basis.

Throughout history God has graciously revealed himself to his people. He has not been silent. He has spoken. He has said, “This is who I am. And this is what I am doing.” This is why we gather for Bible study on Sunday morning. This is why we attend the preaching of the Word. So that we might be equipped for life. So that we are prepared to handle the heartache and struggles that regularly come our way. It’s worth thinking about. I’ll see you Sunday.

Rod

Psalm 149 declares, “Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly!” One of the joys of being part of the church is public worship. Public worship is the opportunity to join our hearts and minds in the praise of our God. I know that we can worship God anywhere. I understand that we are to be in an attitude of worship continually but there is something unique about public worship. Sure we can worship in our prayer closet. We ought to engage in private worship but there is no substitute for corporate worship.

Yes you can be blessed through the ministry of televised worship services. There are some wonderful Bible teachers available both on television and through the Internet. Yet it is not the same as gathering with your church for worship. It is not the same as joining with those with whom you are in covenant to praise and honor God. On Sundays, when I look across the congregation and see those who’ve walked with Christ for years, I’m spurred on toward faithfulness. When I see those who’ve experienced devastating loss sing, with joy the great hymns of our faith, I’m encouraged to persevere through trial. When I see those are locked in battle with sickness and disease or burdened with caring for a loved one, I’m reminded that God’s grace is sufficient and He will supply all my needs. When I see those, one fallen now restored, I know He’s faithful even when I’m not.

I need worship. Further I need you in worship. Worship, indeed our faith, is a corporate effort! I’ll see you Sunday.

Rod

Making a difference where we live. Impacting the community with the gospel, the love and grace of Christ. That’s our calling. That’s why we are here. We are called to bring the presence of the living Christ to this community. How do we do that? By living our faith day and day in this community. By joining our lives with the lives of our neighbors, coworkers and those we cross paths with everyday. Two of the ways we do that together is the football meals on Fridays and the Good News Club on Tuesdays. These are tangible was of touching and impacting the lives of students, teachers and families. I’m grateful to those who’ve taken leadership in these areas and the large number of volunteers who take part every week. Thank you!

In addition there is the Vision West Block Party we participated in this month. We’ve got Trunk ‘r Treat coming up n a few weeks. These are wonderful opportunities to say to the community we’re here, we care about you and we have something to offer you. But there is another element. Its what makes the others work. Without it, the others are of limited value. Each of us must live out our faith. Share our lives, speak of the gospel with our neighbors, pray for and with the people God puts in our path. When our faith is real and vital to us it impacts those who cross our path.

At the end of the day it’s not about programs, agendas or packaging. It’s about the reality of our faith spilling out onto others. It’s about slowing down and taking the time to talk to others, pray for others and involve ourselves in their lives. I know that’s a foreign concept in today’s culture. But it’s what works. It always has. It always will. It’s called evangelism and it’s personal. I’ll see you Sunday.

Rod