Have you ever wondered why God chose the shepherds to be the first witnesses to the coming of the Messiah?  We have no evidence that they were particularly devote or that they would be the best messengers to spread the word.  I might have chosen the innkeeper or the local restaurant or tavern owner.  They probably knew more people to share the message with. Perhaps the shepherds were chosen because they were nearby and awake watching the sheep.  Let’s look at Luke’s account in Luke 2.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

The shepherds were ordinary and not exceptional but were given an exceptional task.  They were to share the news about the Messiah to the world.  This Christmas season is a good reminder for us all that we, too, may be ordinary but we also have been given an exceptional task to share God’s love and message with the world.  We did not receive this task from Angels singing but from Jesus, Himself.  His very last words on earth before He left were – “You will be my witnesses… and I will be with you always.” This Christmas may we all be faithful in carrying out the task He left for us.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Have you ever had a situation where your opinion or perspective changed quickly.  Perhaps you got more information or maybe your thoughts changed about the situation.  I love how we see this with Mary in Luke 1 when the angel Gabriel visits her.  Let’s look at the encounter together today.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Mary starts by being greatly troubled and confused about the angel’s greeting.  Gabriel begins to explain and Mary goes from troubled to skeptical.  I’m sure we all would be as she says how can this be when I am a virgin.  She probably doubted but just in case wanted a good story or explanation to give to others who would have even more doubts.  Then when Gabriel explains some more her last line is beautiful when she says may it be so I am the Lord’s servant.  My prayer is that might be our response to the things that God calls us to as well.  Loving God and our neighbors as ourselves, sharing God’s love with the world, reaching out to the least and the lost, and all of Jesus’ teachings for us during His time on earth.  May our response be like Mary’s, may it be so I am the servant of the Lord!

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Do you ever find yourself struggling to trust in God’s promises?  If so you are in good company.  Many of the heroes of our faith have had moments of doubt.  Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Elijah, the list could go on   There is an interesting story about a priest who would have taught others about God always coming through despite our doubts and he struggled as well.  Let’s look at the story of Zechariah found in Luke 1 together today.

 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. 8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” 19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

Zechariah would have taught others about God providing a child for Abraham and Sarah in their old age yet when it came to his own hopes and dreams and prayers being answered he had his doubts.  God doesn’t always give us everything that we want but He does give us what we need and He always comes through on His promises to us.  Today pray for the thing that you are struggling to trust God for.  Watch and see how He comes through.  It will always be for your ultimate best.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Have you ever been a part of a team?  You wear a uniform with the name of that team on you.  Whatever you are doing with that uniform on you represent that team.  There have been great athletes over the years who were really good at their particular sport but because of their behavior the team parted ways with that player because they didn’t want to be represented by that person.  As followers of Jesus we are part of a team.  We may not wear a uniform but we represent Jesus as we go throughout life.  People will form an opinion about Jesus based on what they see in us.  Paul reminds us that everything we do should be and is done in the name of Jesus.  Let’s look at his words in Colossians 3 together today.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Paul reminds us to live at peace with one another and continue to build each other up with the message of Jesus.  This is important because the world is watching.  If they see Christians fighting and arguing why would they want to be a part of that?  When they see us loving each other and building each other up it is attractive and inviting.  Everything we do is for Jesus and is done in His name.  So put on your team Jesus uniform today and represent Him well!

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Have you ever had your mind or heart really set on something?  Set to the point where you have trouble even focusing on other things.  What happens when we set our hearts and minds on Jesus?  Paul talks about this in Colossians 3.  Let’s look at it together today. 

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

When your mind is fixed on something it becomes easier to throw off things that lead in a contrary direction.  This is true in big and little things.  When I get hungry I tend to not do things that will delay me getting to eat.  When we fix our minds and hearts on Jesus we don’t do the things that lead us in directions other than Him.  We become focused on Christ alone.  We find our satisfaction and joy in Him not in the pursuit of worldly pleasures.  I pray that we might all find ourselves with minds and hearts fixed on Jesus. 

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Have you ever tried to remove a tree?  Not cut it down but to completely remove it roots and all.  It’s a much tougher process than you might think.  Even small trees often have a deep and wide root system that doesn’t want to move.  I remember once breaking a metal chain trying to pull out a 6 ft tree and its roots with a 4X4 truck.  We had to dig the roots out a tremendous amount before we could even get it to budge.  Paul writes to the Colossians about the importance of being rooted in our faith.  Let’s look at his words found in Colossians 2 together today.

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. 9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self-ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

Many of Paul’s letters address a similar concept of not abandoning the faith they were taught and embracing other ideas.  This was a problem in the early church just as it is today.  People seem to love to add to or take away from the message of Jesus.  That’s why being rooted is so important.  When we are rooted in Christ we don’t budge when life throws others messages and ideologies at us.  We continue to grow and be fed by what we are rooted to – Christ.  The deeper we are rooted in Him the stronger we are. Ideologies and the storms of life don’t move us much at all because of our strong roots.  I pray that we all might be rooted well in Jesus. 

Rooted Deep in His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Colossians is a book that is focused on the supremacy of Jesus in all things.  Chapter 1 sets the tone with verses 15-20 about how all things in life were created by Christ and for Christ.  Let’s look at the passage together today. 

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

The fact that we were created by Christ and for Christ has a great importance for us.  The fact that He made us means that we are important to Him.  Things that we make tend to hold great value for us.  I remember building a back deck on the first house that I bought.  I loved sitting on the back deck a little bit more because I made it.  There is something special about that.  We are special to Jesus in the very same way.  He knit us together in the womb and therefore we hold a special place in His heart.  The second half of the equation is that we were created for Him.  This is also very important.  It means our lives are not our own but have a purpose.  Our lives are to be lived for Christ that is our purpose for existing.  We all get caught up in our own agenda, our own goals and passions and forget that we have a greater purpose in our lives.  We were made by Him and for Him.  Our lives should demonstrate that. 

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

I have always loved the prayers that Paul includes in his letters to the churches.  They all have a slightly different take based upon his relationship with that church and how that particular church is doing.  I have often wondered what kind of letter and greeting we might get from him today.  Let’s look at this pray together today found in Colossians 1. 

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

When I first began to prepare to be a Pastor I remember a mentor of mine stressing this particular passage and just how important it is to pray every day for your people.  Prayer not only is a powerful tool but it sets your mind on what you hope God will do in and through the people of the church.  Paul prays for knowledge and wisdom and understanding.  He prays that they might live a life worthy of the Lord and bear fruit.  He prays that they might be strengthened in power and have great endurance and patience.  To me the natural tendency might be for him to address each of these things in the remainder of his letter but instead he immediately just goes into talking about Jesus.  The supremacy of Jesus is the central theme of the book.  It is a good reminder of our priority to simply point people to Jesus.  When we show people Jesus the rest of those things seem to fall into place.  So today my prayer for you all is that we might be a people who look to Jesus and point others to Him as well.  I think that’s a pretty good thing to pray for.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Philippians is a book about joy and finding our joy in Jesus.  It has also been called the mental health book.  Chapter 4 offers us some insights into both of these things.  Let’s look at it together today. 

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Paul uses the common literary tool of repetition to stress the importance of rejoicing in the Lord.  No matter our current circumstances we always have reason to rejoice because of the goodness of God.  Paul reminds us that whatever we are walking through God is near to us.  He is with us throughout the ups and downs of life.  When we face situations and circumstances that are making us anxious we are reminded to go to Him in prayer. When we rely upon God we are given a peace that actually guards our hearts and minds against further attacks of anxiety.  Paul gives us a further tip to help with worry and anxiety by fixing our thoughts on the good things of God.  I have found this reset or switch of thinking to be extremely helpful in my life. Sometimes even listening to some favorite worship songs or reading Scripture will do the trick.  I suspect that Paul may have had his own struggles in this area which is why he concludes by saying whatever we have seen him do we should put into practice.  May the God of peace be with us all and grant us His peace that passes understanding. 

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave