Our Amazing Christmas

 



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Forward Thinking in a Backward World

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or The Power of Perceiving the Goal Philippians 3:12-16 Before we begin looking at this short text, I want to set the scene. In verses 1-8, Paul lays out everything about his earthly life in which he could "boast in the flesh". After his list is expressed, he immediately dismisses all of his bragging rights: "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ." Paul's earthly accomplishments are the same kinds of things in which we would be tempted to boast. A religious family A family with deep ties to the community From the right family Upstanding and esteemed by others A regular Golden Child who has done everything right Sounds pretty good, rig ht? Well, it wasn't that great to Paul because he chucked it all to the wind for the sake of Jesus Christ. In fact, more than just disregarding his accomplishments, he lowers them to such a low regard that he equates them with manure. Yes...MANURE! The word "rubbish" that Paul uses in verse...
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A Prayer of Appreciation

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  A Prayer of Appreciation The Refreshment of Onesiphorus May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus. 2 Timothy 1:16-18 We've all done it. Admit it. You know you have. You plan a time to sit down and read your Bible, and you've carved out some time specifically for that purpose. However, you also know that you have X, Y, and Z to get done today, and before you realize it...you are speeding through your Bible reading thinking more about what has to be done NEXT rather than what you're doing right NOW. It's a shame, really. When we allow ourselves to simply "go through the motions" with our Bible reading, we may end us missing out on some amazing encouragement because God gave us the Bible...includi...
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Belief is Precious: Guard it!

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The belief and trust of a child is are precious things. Christian parents, please be cautious. Traditions of Santa, or Elf on a Shelf, may be fun, but in reality, they are simply delusions. Lies. If we have to foster and encourage real belief in fictitious characters to create the wonder and excitement of Christmas, I wonder do we truly know the wonder and excitement of an infinite God putting on finite flesh to fulfill a requirement we could never achieve to gain a favor with God we could never earn? Christ, born of a virgin, Emmanuel, God with us, living a perfect life to fulfill the law on our behalf, taking the full wrath and judgment of God for our sins that we could never survive, conquering death that would see us eternally defeated, and rising again to grant us life eternal with the Father which, without The righteousness of Christ, we would never know. If THAT isn’t wonder enough, then nothing ever will be. Christ alone is more than enough! This may seem dreary or hard...
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