We read about the first church in Acts 2. This wasn’t a building but a group of people who all believed in God and wanted to forward the mission that Jesus had given them. That mission was encompassed in the great commission and the greatest commandments. We as a church can’t lose focus on what the mission is!

Abraham hoped in faith that he would become the father of many nations. Sometimes in life we have to hope on in faith. Sometimes things don’t look like they are happening in the time frame we had in mind. Sometimes we have to hope on in faith.

Today we are looking at some significant things that happened in the Christmas story that we might look past when we read the account of Jesus’ birth. May we never get so caught up in our belief of what God is doing that we miss what God is really doing.

Joseph’s actions speak louder than his words within the Christmas story in Matthew. Joseph doesn’t say anything but each and every time the angel comes to him, he does what the angel says. Joseph is considered a righteous man, partly because he listens then reacts. Joseph was told to do something, to take action and he did, but several times when we are told to do things we choose not to do it. Jesus tells us to love God with all our heart and our neighbors as ourselves. We are told to forgive. We are told to keep peace with our brothers and sisters, that isn’t just blood family. How do we do with those things? Are we as good at listening and responding?

The Christmas story begins back in the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter seven starts to tell us about a virgin giving birth to Immanuel. The Old Testament is full of stories of judgement but God continues to remind there is hope. Isaiah foretold the story of the virgin giving birth over 400 years before it happened. It was a long time to hold onto hope. That is part of what makes the Christmas story so amazing. That people didn’t give up hope and realized who the Messiah was over 400 years after His birth was foretold.

This week we take a look at Mary’s powerful love song she prayed after the angel announcement to her that she was pregnant. Mary sang this song that spoke to God’s power and faithfulness. The in-breaking kingdom of God was coming in the least expected way. This was the turn in the story. Mary’s song let’s us know that the narrative has shifted much like movies when the soundtrack lets us know that something we didn’t expect is going to happen.

This week we are staying in the story of John the Baptist. We talk again about repentance being a change in the inner man. This scripture shows us in so many ways that the in-breaking Kingdom looks so much different than the world. The in-breaking Kingdom isn’t coming forth through power. The in-breaking Kingdom shows the fruit of repentance, or the fruit of the Spirit. In this season of preparing our hearts we need to look and see if our actions are showing the fruit of the Spirit.

When we think of peace we often think of a picturesque scene like the picture drawn in the Hymn Silent Night. But peace is really a level playing field. John the Baptist shows us through his life that peace doesn’t always look like a Silent Night. Sometimes peace work is hard. But when we give our lives to God he calls us to turn from our self focused life and calls us to be peacemakers. People who do the hard work of fighting against injustice.

Psalms 25:1-10 reminds us that we are called to have hope no matter the circumstances. God is faithful and trustworthy. When we surrender our lives fully that leads to spiritual formation. Spiritual formation spurs us forward into action. An outpouring of hope from our lives into our community, into our families. We have hope because we know God is faithful and one day all will be made new. We show the hope we have through our actions.

Paul tells us to give thanks in all circumstances. Paul is not saying we need give thanks to our circumstances. Paul is saying though despite our circumstances that we are to continue to praise God and give thanks for His faithfulness in all circumstances. Even in the times where we feel like the world is falling down around us we need to praise God that He is still guiding us, with us, and is our comfort.

Paul tells us to pray continually, or you might have heard it translated pray without ceasing. It seems like a big ask from Paul. Can we honestly pray continually? We can. We need to have our heart in the posture of prayer, to be open to conversation. That is not to say we shouldn’t have moments through the day where we stop and take a posture of prayer. We need those moments but to pray continually is to focus our heart on a constant communication with our Creator.

Rejoice always. Seems like a huge request from Paul if we think of it in terms of always being happy. But rejoice always means to delight in God’s grace. To remember what God has done, trust what He is doing, and will do in the future. Seems a little easier in that sense. But I still argue that we get distracted and tend to forget we have the ball. If we equate it to football we tend to take a defensive position instead of an offensive one.

We need to remember we have the ball, not in a smug way. But we need to remember that we are playing offense, we are not playing defense. We don’t have to be offended because we rejoice always knowing God has been faithful in the past and will continue to be in the future.

Today we are studying the story of the prodigal son. There are two brothers within the story and we figure out that both sin against the father, just in different ways. Both brothers had a relationship simply for what the father could give. Do we have a relationship with our Father simply because of the benefits offered to us by that relationship? Or do we have a relationship with Jesus because we actually truly love Him?

The parables of the lost reminds us of a few things. If it is one of one hundred, God is still going to go after the one. If it is one of ten God is still going to use his resources to find the one lost. The one lost still has value, still holds an image it was created in, and is still loved by the Creator. We tend to think as Christians we are better but we have the same value, same image and same love. We should remember that as we interact with those considered lost.

In the parable of the lost sheep we see the role of the lost, God’s role, and our role. At one point in time, we were all part of the lost sheep in need of being found. The Shepard goes out and searches for the lost, and when they are found, our roll is to celebrate. In our interactions with others, may we remember, that we were once lost in need of being found

The author of Psalm 46 tells us even when the stable seems unstable that God is still God. There are times in our lives where the mountains may feel like they are being thrown into the heart of the sea. We were told to not fear at those times that God is still God. We were never told not to grieve, but not to fear. We can grieve what is happening to us, and those around us and still have hope that ultimately God will make all things new. We can grieve and still have faith that one day there will be no more pain, or tears, or sea. Emotions are not our enemy, but we must allow God to help us through and to heal what hurts.

It is estimated that it takes the combined efforts of 85 Christians working a year to bring one person to Christ. Knowing this makes me realize Christianity is a team sport, a group effort. The attitudes of those in the church are important. In Ephesians Paul urges us to live a life worthy of our calling. How do we show we have this calling into a new life? By being humble and gentle. Or as Beverly Christensen stated to me get along with each other. Bev offered wisdom to all who encountered her. In this sermon I share some she wanted to share with her church family.

Today we held a Freedom Sunday service where we learned of organizations that Nazarene Compassion Ministries team with to help being about an end of human trafficking. We ask ourselves what we can do to bring about freedom for the captives? I feel the first step is to remember that all are created in the image of God so we need to treat all like that. It seems simple but I feel that is our first huge step is that commitment to treat all around us as image bearers.

In this upside down Kingdom that God creates for us those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who are humble will be exalted. Today we talked about how Paul and Silas humbled themselves and stayed in prison for the sake of the jailer. Paul later wrote to the church in Philippi in humility value others above yourselves (Philippians 2:3). He could give this direction because he had done so himself. If we are jockeying for a better position in the kingdom we don’t understand the kingdom very well.

Today we had a guest speaker Kim Crawford speak about Circle of Freedom. Circle of Freedom is a ministry here in Southern Iowa that is helping women find freedom from the chains of addiction. We also spoke about the story of the woman at the well. Jesus helped her to see who she really was through the eyes of the creator. If we are looking at ourselves through any other lenses than through God’s lenses then we are seeing ourselves wrong.