Today, Pastor Henry talked about what we should do about the Christmas story we have heard. We read from 1 John 3 -
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
Pastor Henry talked about how so much of the world goes through the day without food or running water. We have been blessed indeed! But the challenge is how can we use these blessings to bless others. We need to listen to God to find where we can serve Him.
How has the Lord blessed you this year and how can you use these gifts to bless and love others? I have been blessed with so much but what comes to mind is that I have been blessed with a good education. This is a gift I can use to solve problems and offer solutions that bless other people.
Today at MCC it was a blessing to hear the children tell us the Chrismas story from Luke 1 & 2. We heard that we have the kind of king who would come down to live among us in the humblest of circumstances. What struck me today as I heard this story is the holiness of the story and how God in His faithfulness has kept it alive for over 2000 years. We have been compelled to love and serve and teach and praise all because of Jesus amazing love for us. What struck you today?
Today, Pastor Henry talked about the hope that we have because of Jesus birth. He read 1 Peter 1:3-12 and we watched a video of the work of the CRWRC with people affected by AIDS in Kenya. We looked for signs of hope in the video clip and saw how the people there were given hope because of Jesus. We also took communion today and were reminded that our hope is in Jesus.
The question this week is what are you hoping for this Christmas? Since Jesus is the greatest gift ever given to us along with the hope He brings to our lives, I am hoping this Christmas that more people come to know Him.
Today, Caspar Geisterfer who is a missionary in Haiti gave the message from Colossians 1:15-20. He asked us first of all who Jesus is and it became evident that you cannot summarize who He is in one statement. Caspar challenged us to reimagine Jesus which is especially good to do at Christmas. The text says that Jesus is the image of the Invisible God. Everything that is created finds it's meaning in Him. After Caspar spoke, his wife Leanne talked about and showed us pictures of their work in Haiti and then we could pray for them with a better idea of what to pray.
Jesus gives us such great hope for the world. Joy to the world, the Lord is come! This is verse 20 from the Message:
Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe - people and things, animals and atoms - get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross.
