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Daily Devotions based on the Sermon Series: “ReDiscover Christmas”

Week 4 of 4: “LOVE in our Differences!”
Full Sunday message: CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL

THIS WEEK: ReDiscover LOVE!

You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. —Matthew 5:43-44

From a distance, the priest thought it must be roadkill left by wild animals. But as he drew closer, he heard humanlike moaning, and he could tell it was a man’s bloodied body. Robbers had done this, stealing all the man had and leaving him to die. The priest moved as far away as he could. “He’s almost dead anyway,” he thought. “I don’t have time for this.” He hurried on. The next man who passed reacted similarly. “I can’t get involved with this unclean mess,” thought the priestly assistant as he veered around the scene of the crime. The third man who eventually came along was a Samaritan who immediately stopped. After some first aid, he lifted the victim onto his donkey and transported him into the city. He treated the man’s wounds all day and night, then paid the innkeeper to continue. “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor?” asked Jesus. “The one who had mercy on him,” the expert in the law replied (Luke 10:36-37).

Did you ever notice the man trying to prove a point to Jesus couldn’t even bring himself to say the word Samaritan? That’s because the Jews hated the Samaritans.

The prejudice went back thousands of years in their shared ancestry when the tribes of Jacob split. Talk about a grudge! The groups had fought battles and disagreed about worshiping God (the Samaritans had their own temple, as if the Jews would have let them in at Jerusalem anyway).

But when Jesus told a story to illustrate God’s command to love your neighbor as yourself, He flipped the religious teachings on their head. The hated Samaritan lived out God’s love. He loved his enemy. He pleased God. And as Jesus taught, God’s love and salvation are for everyone, enemies included. There is freedom in loving others, even those we don’t like.

Apply: Who do you have trouble loving? How can you reach out to them with love this week?

(Reprinted with permission from Outreach.com “Advent Reading Plan”)

Daily Devotions based on the Sermon Series: “ReDiscover Christmas”

Week 4 of 4: “LOVE in our Differences!”
Full Sunday message: CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL

THIS WEEK: ReDiscover LOVE!

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. —John 13:34-35

Harley Davidson riders are known by their leathers. Surfers are known for their board shorts. Gangs identify by their colors. You can spot a Las Vegas Raiders fan by the black and silver skulls. A cheese hat? You’re loyal to the Green Bay Packers. You knew Groucho Marx by his glasses and bushy mustache. Abraham Lincoln’s top hat was a dead giveaway. Early punk-rockers were recognizable by their three-foot mohawks. Flannel was the ‘90s mark of grunge rockers. Handlebar mustaches now reveal a hipster. Braided beards and ruthlessness? Pirates. Reggae and dreadlocks often reveal a Jamaican, mon. Brazilians are known for their expressive warmth.

What are Christians known for? Jesus said it should be our love for other people. Early on, the church shone with Christlike love as believers shared all they had to care for each other’s needs. When pandemics hit Roman cities, Christ followers chose to tend to the sick even while the persecuting Romans fled. But there have been clear collective blunders, like invading countries and killing innocent women and children during the Crusades.

So how are we doing now? Are our churches known for who we’re trying to keep out or who we are welcoming in? Are we known by our service or our self-preservation? Our willingness to listen or our quickness to shout down? Our devotion to our political party or our devotion to Jesus? Does our encouragement or criticism come through louder? Are we marked by anger or grace? Outrage or compassion? Are we recognized by our expressions of Christ’s love or our indignation about what others call the holiday?

Are we too busy to show love and kindness in our daily interactions? Let’s let everyone know we are Jesus’s disciples this Christmas by our love for others.

Apply: What do others know you for? What can you do to put Jesus’s love into action?

(Reprinted with permission from Outreach.com “Advent Reading Plan”)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

If you were busy last night, take time today to enjoy a time of worship it!

CHRISTMAS EVE WORSHIP: Click Here

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” —Luke 2:10-11

There’s been so much bad news this year in the era of doomscrolling. How about some good news headlines?

History brings us some momentous ones: “Peace. Greatest War of All Time Over.” “Victory. Nazis Reveal Surrender.” “Man Walks on the Moon.” “Nelson Mandela Freed.” But we can also find these feel-good stories from the past year: “A 6-year-old ordered $350 in Barbies from Amazon. Her parents gave them to a hospital.” “A farmer fell ill. So dozens of his neighbors showed up spontaneously and harvested his crops.” “Bride and groom had extra food. So they took it to a shelter and served it.”

Today we celebrate the best, most momentous news of all time: Christ has come! Jesus is here! He comes in the midst of troubling times. He brings hope in our despair. He brings peace in our worry. He brings joy in our sorrow. He brings love in our conflict. He brings life in our death. This is the good news angels announced in the night. It is the good news we can proclaim on this morning. Jesus is who we expectantly await in Advent, and Jesus is who we celebrate at Christmas. He is the Good News no matter how troubling the times. Jesus is here. Jesus will come again. Jesus will never leave us.

In Jesus, let’s celebrate with hope, peace, love, and joy in our hearts as we worship with the angels: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom
his favor rests.”

Apply:  How will you rejoice and celebrate today? How can you carry Christ’s hope, peace, joy, and love forward with you all year?

(Reprinted with permission from Outreach.com “Advent Reading Plan”)

TONIGHT: ReDISCOVER Christmas…Rediscover Christ in Your World!

Christmas Eve Worship – 5pm

In person @ Cross & Crown, 3800 Shell Road, Georgetown, TX

Online: Live Stream

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. —Luke 2:4-5 

“This is sooo not what we need right now!” Mary and Joseph must have thought when they found out they had to report in Bethlehem for that Roman census. Mary should have been at home nesting, preparing the nursery, cleaning the cupboards, or weirdly reorganizing the hut for the twelfth time. If you’re a parent, you know what I mean. But instead of those final preparations, Mary had to endure a 90-mile journey on foot from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

In pregnancy, you know the time is drawing near, but you never know exactly when the baby is coming. There are contractions. There may be false starts. But one moment you are rearranging the kitchen, and the next, labor has begun. There’s no going back. Your body and mind completely focus on the process of labor. This new life is entering the world, and your life will never be exactly the same.

In these moments, there is joy and there is uncertainty. There is contentment and there is expectation. There is the planned and the unexpected. There is completion and there is the journey ahead. Here on Christmas Eve, we find all the same things.

As we finish our Christmas preparations, let’s also pause to rest a few minutes in the expectant now. The celebration will erupt. The emotions will swirl. The memories will be created. Our lives will add another new day, a special day not exactly like any other, and in that sense, our lives will never be the same. Like Mary, let’s ponder and treasure these moments in our hearts as we reflect on this threshold of birth and life, expectation and celebration, and God turned human in our hearts and lives.

Apply: What is heavy on your heart in the anticipation of Christmas? What is joyful in your expectant spirit?

(Reprinted with permission from Outreach.com “Advent Reading Plan”)

Daily Devotions based on the Sermon Series: “ReDiscover Christmas”

Week 4 of 4: “LOVE in our Differences!”
Full Sunday message: CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL

THIS WEEK: ReDiscover LOVE!

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 8:38-39

The Great Plague was London’s last major outbreak of bubonic plague, but it claimed as many as 100,000 lives from 1665 to 1666. It spread to the Derbyshire village of Eyam, about 160 miles north of London, in a bale of cloth infested with carrier fleas. Forty-two villagers died in September and October. The plague had been killing millions of Europeans for centuries. These villagers didn’t understand all of the science, but they knew the plague spread from person to person. By spring, the remaining citizens prepared to flee their homes to survive.

But the newly appointed rector, William Mompesson, with the help of the trusted former rector, Thomas Stanley, convinced the villagers to remain and quarantine themselves in their village. By staying, they knew they were choosing death, but they knew they would also avoid spreading the plague to other villages. They chose to protect the lives of others beyond their own boundaries. Death hit Eyam hard, killing 260 of its 300-800 inhabitants in a year. “It must have been terrifying, but every single family would have had that strong belief in God, and would not have feared death,” Joan Plant, Eyam churchwarden and direct descendant of one of the survivors, told the BBC.

The citizens of Eyam must have clung to the truth of Paul’s words, that nothing in all the universe or eternity can separate us from God’s love, not even death. Despite suffering and grief, they chose to love and protect their neighbors in nearby villages even more than themselves. They knew they were held firmly in the embrace of God’s love no matter what.

Apply: What feels like it is separating you from the love of God? If there is truly nothing that will break the bonds of God’s love for you, what courageous step will you take?

(Reprinted with permission from Outreach.com “Advent Reading Plan”)