Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful year it has been! As Christmas falls upon us, and 2009 comes to an end, we find ourselves reflecting upon the blessings in our lives. We count each of you as one of those blessings. As we think of each of you, we cannot help to recall Paul’s words, as he wrote to the church of Corinth, “I thank my God always concerning you…” Each one of you are dear to us! We are thankful for you, and blessed to have you in our lives.

Throughout the busyness of this season we pray you’ll take time to truly reflect on the reason we celebrate. Luke 1:31-34, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end.” Verse 35… “The holy offspring shall be called the SON OF GOD.”

The very Son of God, Jesus, sent to this world in a most humble state. Yet He was born, not just for life, but for death…Not just for peace, but for people…not just for sin, but for salvation. The Savior…humbled, yet exalted.

Praise be to God!! This is why we celebrate!

Preaching the Gospel to the Church

Sunday, during the third worship service, we had quite a discussion regarding what Romans 1 was asking of us. If you haven’t noticed, we have been hitting hard the simplistic depth of the gospel message in our latest sermon series (especially as it relates to the church). At the heart of these discussions is what I believe to be a faulty understanding of the theology of salvation. In other words, I believe we have missed a vital part of the salvation message.

What makes Romans 1 so interesting is what Paul says in verse 15. Paul says that he can’t wait to come to Rome to “preach the gospel to YOU who are in Rome.” You…being the people to whom he is writing, namely, the church. So why in the world would Paul preach the gospel to the church? Isn’t the gospel focused on unbelievers? Well…not exactly.

As we discussed on Sunday, the well known verses in Romans 1:16-17 extends farther than just the salvation experience we call conversion. Clearly Paul didn’t say in verse 16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to CONVERSION…” but “SALVATION.” At first glance it would seem that Paul is just speaking of that moment we placed faith in Christ. But this letter goes on to describe that salvation is not only the initial moment of faith…but faith that leads to the salvation of Christlikeness. So, while there was a moment years ago that I realized “I was a wicked sinner in need of redemption through the blood of Christ”…I still have a continual understanding of the gospel message that says, “I am still a wicked sinner being redeemed until I become like Christ.”

So Paul’s desire to preach the gospel to the church came from an accurate view of the theology of salvation. He came back to the truth that all aspects of life come back to how we respond (presently) to the gospel. Not just a past decision…but a continual understanding and surrender to that message we accepted.

Thanksgivings...

I have to admit…I love Thanksgiving. What a great time of food, family, friends, fellowship, and football. Thanksgiving is one of those holiday’s that I look forward to the most. No, No … not just because food’s involved (although it does add greatly). But it is a time of reflection on the Lord, to give Him thanks for everything He has blessed us with. So many times, I consistently ask the Lord for one thing after another after another, and yet forget to stop and say, “Thank You,” “Thank You for eternal life. Thank You for a great family. Thank You for health. Thank You for a wonderful ministry. Thank You for another day to serve You.”

It’s funny because Allyson and I, as most parents do, have attempted to teach our boys to say “thank you” after asking for something. Most would agree that this seems to be simplest thing to teach our children. I mean…how hard it should be to expect them to say “please and thank you?”As I was thinking about our progress as parents this week, I couldn’t help but to ponder, “Does the Lord need to teach us to say thank you or does it come from our mouths with a heartfelt thankfulness that the Lord deserves?” Are we truly thankful, even though we claim to be very thankful? Do we need a lesson on thankfulness?

The subject of thankfulness reminds me of the story in Luke 17 where Jesus heals the ten lepers. In verse 13 these lepers ask the Lord to have mercy on them. I am sure you have heard the story. One came back, a dirty, rotten Samaritan, to give thanks to the Lord for what He had done. Jesus asks, “Where are the nine?” Now wait a minute… The Lord knew that they were thankful. In fact, He knew that they were probably too excited. They were sharing the news with their families and friends. Why would Jesus expect them to come back and say thank you? Of all people didn’t Jesus know of their thankfulness?

We can speculate. We can believe that the rest of the former lepers were thankful. But thankfulness is not an understood word or an obvious thought. Thankfulness is an action. It is taking a step in our life to show what our heart really feels. Of course if some asked the other nine if they were thankful, they probably would have said, “very thankful.” But thankfulness is not words, but a life action.

Is your life a demonstration of thankfulness or is thankfulness a day of the year, a word from a mouth, a thought from your mind? Are you truly thankful with your life?