Joyful Worship

Snow…Snow… Snow… Snow
It won't be long before we'll all be there with snow
Snow
I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow

Yeah, and I’m dreaming of a White Christmas and all of that. BUT DOES IT HAVE TO HAPPEN ON SATURDAY! Come on. Does anyone else notice that the bad weather keeps coming in on Saturday? Could it be …SATAN!

It’s just so obvious to me that someone down there doesn’t want a bunch of people out there to hear these sermons about the Supernatural Christmas.

It’s okay – we won’t be stopped by snow, rain, sleet, hail – if they can deliver the mail – we can do this!

I’m talking about paying attention to the supernatural again this week. This one is on the Wise Men – which is so weird. That God guided these pagan guys from worlds away with a star – because they were paying attention. And the religious leaders of the same religion were five miles away and never bothered to get off their couches.

My good friend Sierra Purvis (the college student who is heading up our homeless clothes drive today) wrote this:

For how many days was the bush burning before Moses came to acknowledge it?

How long has God been trying to get our attention?

I often run into people who say that they will gladly drop everything and completely follow God when he sends them an angel or sets their lawn on fire. "if he appears to me in a dream or arranges my alphabet cereal to spell out his plan for my life....that'll be ALL i need."

...are we missing it?

Perhaps we're waiting for a Gabriel who's wearing an illuminated white robe with massive wings, when he's actually showing up as a friend...a co-worker...a husband...a conversation with a stranger.

And maybe we're waiting for a bush to be set ablaze and a voice to audibly call our name, when really the bush has long been burning. Perhaps it's a breaking news report, a meeting with a friend, a newspaper headline, a cause that seems close to your heart and you can't figure out why.

It's because we're being called. It's because our time is now.

Sierra Purvis

Pay attention this Christmas. God is all around you. And when you see Him – how should you react? IN JOYFUL WORSHIP

Matthew 2:10 “And when they saw the star they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” The Greek there literally means they jumped up and down with joy.

Matthew 2:11 “When the magi, the wise men, went into the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary and they bowed down and they worshiped Him.”

Merry Christmas Everyone! Don’t let snow or schedules or anything else in your life rob you of the opportunity for joyful worship!

Tim

Comments

[Paula]

AMEN! Go Sierra! and the snow is slowing down some...oh and Dawn, can't wait to see you again too. Merry Christmas!

[We Are...Penn State email list]

Great message this weekend and a tremendous worship service. Kudos to Jessica, who knocked it out of the park on "Go Tell It On the Mountain."

Thanks for the reminder to TiVo "White Christmas." There would be much wailing and gnashing of teeth in my household if I blew that one!