Mulling It Over (Reflections on This Past Sunday's Sermon) # 070311

According to data from a 2001 study there are 2.1 billion people in the world who claim to be Christians. There are 159 million adults in the United States who claim to be 'born again'. That's 75% of the adults who live in the U.S.

But what is a Christian? The term 'Christian' literally means 'little Christs'. It was a term used to describe the early church followers of Christ. They were called 'little Christs' because as people observed their lives, they recognized that these disciples were like Jesus.

The Apostle Paul wrote "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." (Galatians 2:20) Being 'crucified with Christ' means that we put to death our own desires and allow the life of Christ to live through us. It's not easy to do it, but we can, with Jesus' help.

The Bible also says that God is involved in the process of making us into the image of Christ. Paul also wrote "...we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10) Don't misunderstand. Good works don't save us. Good works are the natural outpouring of a life lived 'in Christ'.

Being a Christian isn't a birthright, like being Chinese or French or American. It's a conscious decision to trust Christ, to give your life to Him and then to follow Him!

Part of Our Christmas Celebration

When Hannah was younger she told me that she wanted to be a 'cooker'. At first I thought that meant a chef, but after some interrogation I realized that she wanted to be a baker! (Now she wants to be a teacher.)

Here is a shot of Hannah displaying the birthday cake that she and Jennie made for Jesus on Christmas eve. Hannah decorated the cake!

The cake was part of our celebration/remembrance of Jesus leaving heaven and coming to earth as a baby for our benefit.

The Bible says that Jesus ...

'... came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name ...' (John 1: 11-12)

Lessons From Shoe Box Land - Episode 2

Last week I walked into the Operation Christmas Child processing center to begin a four hour shift of wading through the hundreds of thousands of shoe boxes filled with gifts destined for poor children around the globe. We would spend the evening inspecting and cartonizing the gift boxes in preparation for their flight overseas. Hundreds of volunteers were present, working feverishly.

When I saw the sign in sheet my eyes scanned the list of volunteers and the expected duration of their shifts. I was amazed to see that most volunteers had worked eight hours and some as many as ten! Satan took this opportunity to whisper words of condemnation into my ear. 'Only four hours? How lazy are you? That shows how serious you are about sacrificial giving!'

Satan used the opportunity to try to discourage me. He used a weapon that had been successful in the past, the flawed idea that God's love for us is conditional and is based on our performance.

The truth of the matter is that God's love for us is NOT conditional. The hound of heaven loved us so much that He sent His Son to die in our place, in spite of our sin. The Bible says that 'God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us'. (Romans 5:8) Jesus stands at our door and knocks. He is always hoping that we will open the door of our lives to Him.

Lessons From Shoe Box Land - Episode 1

There was a husband and wife who, one Christmas, packed up a shoe box filled with toys and donated it to an international charitable organization who brought the shoe box to poor children in war torn countries around the world. Assembling this gift helped fill the void of being childless for so many years.

Weeks later all the orphans were incredibly excited about the arrival of the Christmas gift shoe boxes from the United States, all of the orphans, that is, except one. As one of the shoe boxes was presented to the young boy he angrily pushed it away. 'I know that the one thing I want most is not in there', he said. What he wanted most was a mom and dad.

The wise volunteer worker grabbed the box and sat in front of the child. He opened it up and started thumbing through the toys inside, showing them to the child. He then pulled out a letter and read it out loud. The letter was from a nice American couple. They spoke a little about themselves, including the fact that for some reason God had allowed them to be childless. The letter included a return address.

A correspondence began, between the couple and the child, that in a few years would lead to their adoption of this young boy and his relocation to the United States.

I first heard this true story about a week ago while crating up hundreds of gift shoe boxes on their way to Columbia, South America at the Operation Christmas Child processing center. The hound of heaven loves us so much that he is willing to do, what may seem impossible to us, in order to execute His plan of redemption and salvation.

It is a miracle that the holy Creator of the universe is willing to look past our sins and call us His children, if we are simply willing to pray to Him and say: 'I'm a sinner, please forgive me, I believe that your death on the cross was sufficient to restore my broken relationship with You. I give You my life.'