Last Minute Gift Ideas

On coming to the house, they (the magi) saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Matthew 2:11-12

 

It is a familiar story; these three wise guys arrive from somewhere far away and give Jesus and his family three gifts of overwhelming value.  You may have heard it so many times you don’t blink at the fact that a baby born to such humble means is given gifts that are typically reserved only for those of great influence and power.

 

As you read this you may be rushing to get your last Christmas gift for Grandma, or your Secret Santa at work.  I have an uncle and cousins who have a tradition of doing all of their shopping for their family bright and early Christmas Eve!!!  Maybe you are reading this as you run around scrambling to get ready for Christmas.  Each Christmas most of us share gifts with some number of people all around us.  You struggle to get just the right thing, that they will love.  You are always looking for that really thoughtful gift, something that is unique.

 

I love the Christmas carol, “Little Drummer Boy.”  The little boy in the song meets Jesus, and seeing all the valuable gifts being presented wonders what he could ever give to Jesus.  Then it dawns on him, I can play my drum for him, as best I can.  The song ends with Jesus smiling at the little boy playing his drums as best as he can.  I love the song because I often feel like the little drummer boy, wondering what could I ever give to God of any value? 

 

God, our Heavenly Father, has a simple wish list: time and a relationship with you.  God would love nothing more than to share a relationship with you, to talk with you, for you to read the Bible, serve others for Him, and for you to encourage others by using your gifts.  God wants to see your life transformed by His grace and love.  God wants to see your life look different today because you know Him.  It’s a simple gift, if you are still looking for gift ideas.  You can even take a few minutes right now to talk to God, say a prayer, and reconnect.

 

I pray that this is a wonderful and meaningful Christmas for you and your loved ones!!!  Merry Christmas!!

 

Pastor Bill

Showing Up

You arrive at work; stop to get coffee, two creams, and one sugar just like you do each day. You walk past the same cubicles, turn on your computer, wave hi to the same four people, and start your normal day at work. Nine hours later, you head home, and drive the same route you do each normal day. You wake up at 5am, start the coffee, wake up the kids, let out the dog, feed the cat, and make lunches. Kids are off to school around 7:30am, now onto errands. Most of us would qualify our lives as normal or ordinary. Nothing crazy goes on; we have a rhyme and rhythm to each day, which is pretty regular. Today is not an ordinary day though, today you may be the answer to someone’s prayer, and you may not even know it.

We know Scripture tells us that “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:8 ESV) God hears our prayers and answers them but often in ways and places that we did not plan on. Did you ever think that the woman you held the door open for was praying for a break after a tough meeting at work? You “happened” on the way home from work to call your sibling, who felt lonely and was praying for company, for someone to listen to them, someone to be with them. Each day we are presented with is a chance to be an answer to someone’s prayers. Sometimes we can be an answer to that prayer just by our presence, just by simple basic things. Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 25 of people who took this seriously, and gave clothes away, visited prisoners, shared food, and more. They asked, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” 40 ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. They did not see themselves serving God, they were trying to make an impact in their own lives. They had no idea the power of their simple acts of service.

It has been said 90% of care is showing up. Where are you going today? What door might you hold, or conversation might you have, that changes someone’s day, that answers a prayer that you never even knew about?

Pastor Bill

 

Discussion Questions

1. What are some people and places you regularly interact with that might be opportunities for you to be God’s ambassador?
2. Do you have a story of how someone else has been an answer to your prayer unknowingly?

 

Play to Your Strengths

Last week church was bustling as we prepared for Vacation Bible School.  One day some of the volunteers were asking which adults would be leading each part of VBS, and someone asked, “What is Pastor Bill doing?”  Helping teach the bible story.  Their response, “Of course he is.”  Now you can read what you want into their response, but the whole conversation made me stop and think, should I “branch out” and do something else at VBS this year, is teaching the bible story to “easy”? Then I thought of these words from God to a man named Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:4-5, TNIV)  Before you were even born God already was knitting you together.  God did not just knit your body together, but your talents, your tendencies, the way you smile, the total package.  So from the beginning God made you with a purpose, with specific skills, talents, and passions to do work for Him in this world.  Often though we are encouraged to branch out and try new things. Are we trying so hard to branch out that we ignore the God-given strengths placed inside of us? Using your strengths is not code to use your strength in the same specific way all the time.  In fact, it might be a call to be more creative than you have been before.  Say you have a passion for helping people.  You used to volunteer at a food pantry loading boxes each weekend, but your schedule at work changed or you started a family, and can’t give that time anymore.  So does that mean you won’t be able to use that gift anymore.  Instead, that should be an opportunity to say what are some other ways that I can put that skill to use?  Are there some people on my block who I could rake leaves for in the fall?  Or babysit for someone, or help them paint their house?  The question is not, how do I keep using my gifts in the same way?  But how can I use my gifts to meet needs, or use my gifts to build up others? Take some time to reflect on what some of those gifts are that you have, because we are told in 1 Corinthians 12:7-8 “To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another….” and the list continues because there are a variety of gifts given, and each of us have some.  I finally decided that I would teach the bible lessons, and that I would not try something different like leading arts and crafts, because there are small children who have more gifts in that area that I do (although I did get asked to help prep for arts and crafts one day, and I was told I did ok).  Instead we have to ask ourselves how can we best use the gifts that we have been given in a creative, innovative way that make an impact, and change lives.  At the end of the day the question is less about what gifts do you have because we all have some, but instead how am I going to use the gifts I was made with to make a difference?   Pastor Bill   Discussion Questions What gifts has God given you? How are some ways you have using those gifts currently? What are some innovative ways and places you might put those skills to use differently?

No More Excuses

I can be a bit of a perfectionist, or as my wife likes to tell me, I am just little impatient.  When I begin something I want to be good at it quickly, to excel, and if it does not appear that I am getting better quickly, I get quite discouraged, and sometimes I will even quit trying or move onto something else (except golf, I have played for almost 13 years and am still not real good).  This is a natural and pretty normal reaction from most people.  If we approach a task that we are not good at, or there is someone with more training or skill than ourselves available, we will often not engage it.  This does not exclude our faith and church life.  When we run into areas of ministry that are unfamiliar or that we don’t feel gifted in, we often will simply not learn more about it, we will leave the work to the gifted, to the trained, maybe even to the pastor.

Yet Jesus disciples, the future leaders of the church, were nothing short of the C team.  They were not religiously educated or trained and they struggled in their faith even after being around Jesus for three years.  Yet this is the group that Jesus identified as the future leaders of the church.  But the poorly educated disciples were some of the strongest most powerful evangelists and pastors ever.  So how did this rag tag bunch become the A team for Christianity?  Did they read some books, take some classes?  In John 14 Jesus disciples are wondering how they can continue their work, and Jesus tells them this, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:16, 26, TNIV)

We don’t get involved because we feel unworthy, unable, or untrained.  The disciples felt the same way, unworthy, untrained, unable.  But when God sent them the Holy Spirit, Jesus told them, no more excuses, your ministry is not going to be controlled by your gifts and skills, but instead by your willingness to be used by God.  Your ministry is going to be driven and empowered by the Spirit from now on.

Is there some ministry or task that you have been avoiding because you don’t feel skilled or gifted to do?  How could I invite my neighbor, what would I say, maybe I need a class in evangelism before I can even talk to them.  I can’t be a KIDS HOPE mentor unless I have a background working with kids.  The list of reasons can be endless.  Yet Jesus says, no more excuses, I have given you the Holy Spirit to empower your ministry, to help you do things in ways that you alone could have never done, do you trust me?  Do you trust that I can do all things through my people?  God will use you for his purposes, to invite a neighbor, to teach a Sunday school class, to sing in the choir, to welcome visitors on Sunday.  But are we willing to be used, do we trust that God really work through us?

Bill