The End of Another Year

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. Did you get everything you wanted? Did you give everything you could? I hope you were able to spend some significant time with family and friends and a significant amount of time with the One whom we celebrate.

One thing never ceases to amaze me at Christmas time. That is, we get presents on someone else’s birthday. And at most Christmas celebrations, the Guest of honor, the “birthday honoree” is never even mentioned except in the official greeting of “Merry Christmas”.

Did you bring Him a gift this year? Did you take time out to honor Him on His birthday? If not, don’t beat yourself up. The wonderful thing about our Lord is that worshipping Him is not confined to a day, place or season. Here at TBC we celebrate the Christ of Christmas every week.

Here we are at the end of another year. Do you know Him better now than you did last year at this time? As we move forward into another year of many unknown’s let’s make a commitment as a church and as individuals to strive to know Him better and love Him deeper in 2004.

And remember, it won’t happen by itself and it won’t be easy. Day by day, you and I will be faced with distractions that will seek to take our minds off of growing in Christ. Have you ever gone to a celebration and while there you get reacquainted with an old friend? At the end of the night you express how good it was to see each other again and you may exchange emails and cell phone numbers. Reality is that most of the time you are fortunate if you are in contact with that person one time after that re-acquaintance.

May it not be so with you and the Lord. Do you experience a sense of closeness at Christmas and New Year’s that stirs you to make resolutions to spend more time getting to know Him? Take one day at a time and make a choice to make it a habit to “keep in touch” with Jesus, Emmanuel, the source and strength of your days.

Make plans to join us Thursday night at 6:00pm for a time of Praise and Worship to “ring in the New Year!

With you on the journey,

MJ

Cracked Pots

This Christmas season may be difficult for some of us as we feel the sting of how much we perceive our worth to be in the eyes of those around us. As you journey into the celebration of Christmas this week, consider this story and let it be an encouragement to you.

A water bearer in India had two large pots which hung on each end of a pole that he carried across his neck. One of the pots was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, while the other pot was cracked and always arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master’s house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.

“I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.”
“Why?” asked the bearer. “What are you ashamed of?”

“I have been able for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts.” the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.” Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walked back from the stream, you’ve watered them. For two years I’ve been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”

This season we celebrate the One who came to use “cracked pots.” Remember in only in God’s economy does great lose equal great gain! Bloom where you are planted, my friend.

Have a Merry Christmas!

The Ornament

Many of us know what loss is. From the time we are children we experience that dreaded feeling of losing something. As a child you may have lost a toy or your dog ran away. As a teen you may have lost a boy friend or girl friend or maybe your lunch money. In college, did you ever get lost on that long drive back home for the holidays? Have you ever been late for work because you’ve lost your keys?

Later in life the losses get a bit deeper, the loss of health, an aging parent, or even marriages make the realities of life and loss stare you in the face.

Holidays are times when deep losses are felt the most by many people. The smells, sounds, events and moments left alone to contemplate can leave us anxious, lonely, sad and frustrated.

On this side of heaven loss doesn’t always equate to gain. However, in God’s order of things loss can be viewed as opportunity and blessing. We see that in many stories in the Bible but the greatest gift that mankind has ever known came at a significant loss to the Giver but made the way for eternal gain for us. The Sacrifice that God the Father made by giving up His only Son paved the way for us to experience the greatest gain that we could ever imagine, a relationship with the God of the universe and eternal life.

That reality should give us great hope as we go through the myriad of circumstances that life places before us.

Next week, we invite you to come and bring your friends and family as we present the drama, “The Ornament”. It will take place in both the 9:00 and the 10:45 services. In this drama you will meet men and women who have been touched with the losses of life, but find in the end that, God is indeed a good God and that the Christ of Christmas does bring hope to a world that has lost it.

My friend, as you continue to prepare for Christmas this year, remember that in God’s economy, “loss does equal gain, unchanging gain…eternal gain. It may not change your current circumstances, but it can change how you embrace them.” (Miriam Drennan)

Be praying for us as we continue to prepare and pray that God would challenge and encourage the hearts of all those present.

Blessings,

MJ

Give Thanks

“It is so much more comfortable and rational To see what we have to be thankful for And to rejoice accordingly, than to Have our vision forever filled With our lacks and our needs…”(Leaves of Gold)

Did you have a good day of Thanksgiving on Thursday? I hope you did. Whether you were alone, or with lots of people, I pray that you were able to recognize God’s goodness, faithfulness and incredible provision for you and yours.

I don’t know about you, but I love to eat. One of my favorite meals throughout the years has been and still is “Thanksgiving Dinner!” I can still smell, taste, and see the miles of food prepared by all of the members of my family for us, when I was a child, to enjoy together with the Jones and the extended Jones family. As good and as satisfying as those meals were, what if I tried to live off of that one meal until next Thanksgiving? It would be impossible, although with all the food we eat it would seem like we could survive for months on end!

Today, we are gathered for our weekly “Thanksgiving meal”, our corporate worship service. We sing, praise, exalt, pray, and feed from God’s Holy Word and from the contributions to the table that each of us bring.

However, for some of us this is our only “meal” of the week. It is no wonder that as we ‘run the race’ during the week, we often get weak and cannot gain the strength to carry on. We lack spiritual nourishment.

We can view our corporate gatherings as our spiritual breakfast, a very important part of our balanced diet. Our Bible study, prayer, fellowship, music, and reading Monday through Saturday all enable us to survive, grow and thrive in this battle zone we call life. As we sit around the ‘table’ of God’s grace, love, mercy, hope, etc., today we celebrate Him and He fills us for today and spurs us on to tomorrow.

Eat up today! Take and give from the Table of God’s blessing in your life. But don’t think that the “leftovers” will last you all week.

Remember:

“Seven days without prayer makes one weak!”

Pastor MJ

Thanksfulness

"It's not what we say about our blessings,
but how we use them that is the
true measure of our thanksgiving," Unknown

Thank you. Everyone appreciates hearing those words. However, many times although not always intentionally, we forget to thank those to who thanks is due. Although a common courtesy, the excitement of the gift often overshadows the giver.

Thank you. Everyone appreciates hearing those words. However, many times although not always intentionally, we forget to thank those to who thanks is due. Although a common courtesy, the excitement of the gift often overshadows the giver.

Our Lord Jesus experienced that. In John 17 we see that Jesus heals ten lepers. Now just imagine. You are a leper, an outcast, set aside by society as untouchable. You look at yourself and your limbs are all but off. You are bandaged up and because of the lack of feeling in parts of your body you have several severe burns. Your life is a mess and your body is the same.

Then Jesus steps into your journey and heals you. Partial limbs become whole, gangrened skin becomes as soft and clear as a new born baby’s. A distorted face is made beautiful. What would be your first response? Well in Luke 17 we see that one man recognized the most important thing in being blessed, which is to remember to thank the giver of the blessing. But as we read, Jesus asked, Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” (Luke 17:17 NIV)

So often we focus on and are carried away with the gift that we forget and neglect to thank the Giver.

This Thanksgiving let’s take a moment and pause. Take an inventory of the past 12 months or more. What has god done for you? What has He done in you? Have you thanked Him for it? Is the Lord saying, “Where is ________? Didn’t I bless him/her too?”

We have an opportunity to bless the Lord today. As we participate in our annual Thanksgiving sharing service take a moment and share with us, in the presence of the Lord what you have to be thankful for. All of us have something, but who of us will share? By doing so, you bring pleasure to the Lord. Along with that, in the community of believer’s you’ll encourage those who hear you who might need the same blessing from God. Your thanks through your life story and journey could very well encourage them in their journey with the Lord.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pastor MJ