We live in an ever changing, always competetive world. In the sports world every player needs to know, that if they are going to shapen their skills, they must compete with players who will challenge them. In the world of the church, we can fall into the mindset of the world. We can see ourselves as we stack up against the church down the street or across town. We are tempted to grade ourselves on a scale created by us or by the evironment we live in. God doesn’t do that, nor does He want that for us! He will ask us one question and he demands an answer to his question, “Are you being obedient to my Word?” We cannot look to someone else for the answer, we must give the answer! In a parable Jesus told the story of three men, each were given a different number of talents. That’s right, different nuber of talents! When the Master came for an accounting of what was done with the talents, each man was judged according to what he did with the talents he was given. Each stood before the Master, alone. Our Church stands alone, given talents and gifts by God. We are accountable for what God has given us and not on what the church around the corner was given. We must be diligent in our obedience to God and God alone! My prayer for for you, is that you will be obedient to be a good steward of the talents andd giifts God has given you. How will you answer when he asks you what you ahve done with the talents he has given you?

The question in front of us is rather simple, “Are you a good person?” When answering this question we can look at it from three vantage points, and each may have a very different answer. First opinion is yours, do you think you are a good person? Most of us will answer the question with a very positive “yes”. That’s what we think of ourselves in the good moments! And we may be asble to come up with a list of “facts” to back up our answer. And so, we move through our days thinking we are a good person! But, and there is always a “but”, we ask your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, and your family the question… they see you from a different and widely varied perspective. They get to see and hear you in many of life’s circumstances. How did you respond when… what did you say when… and where did you go when…? OOPs! maybe we are as nice as we think and then again, may be not! The third opinion of whether or not you are a good person comes from the one who created you, God, himself. He said your goodness has value only in light of your obedience to His Word! Jesus said many people will do good deeds, but our doing must be for Him and not for ourselves! Only what we do for Him will be put on the scales of good and evil! And it all begins with surrendering our lives to Him! Living a life of repentance and forgiveness are at the foundation of living a holy life, a life pleasing to God.

THe question of “who are you” has been asked for many generations. Self itentity will be with us as long as there is someone asking the question. For Christians, those who follow Christ, we find the answer in God’s Word. We are called his children, his friend, heirs, and his ambassadors! Ambassador, the highest ranking representative of a KIng, President, Prime Minister, and government. An ambassador speaks for those who sent him/her. As ambassadors for Christ, we are to take the Gospel message to everyone we encounter. We are to speak it with love, grace, mercy, kindness, gentleness, self-control, etc.. May you be known in your community as an ambassador of CHrist!

We are in the first week of December, and signs of Christmas are everywhere! But what is it you see? Walk around the mall or go to Walmart and make note of what Christmas means to us! Yesterday afternoon, I asked the boys’ mentoring group what they saw as the signs of Christmas. Their answers were simular to what the mall or Walmart would give us. Christmas is Santa Claus, reindeer, snowmen, lights, candycanes, trees, toys, and everything BUT the birthday of Jesus! Yes, we did around to the true meaning of Christmas, God sent His Son to save us from our sins!(Matthew 1:21) We must keep Jesus in Christmas! Read the story from Matthew or Luke’s Gospels. Tell your children and grandchildren about the gift of being saved from your sins! Christmas is not Christmmas until we tell the true story of God’s love for us!

February is the month of LOVE. Walk in to a store and all you see is Valentine’s stuff! Everything has a heart on it and red is everywhere. But is love more than stuff, well the answer is a loud “YES”! In John’s Gospel we see and hear JEsus talk and show love. Jesus shows us love with his WORDS of encouragement, compliments and even in his discipline of the men selling animals in the temple courts. But we know words are just words until they move us to action. Telling someone you love them is empty unless you back it up with actions. Do you LISTEN to them, do you show AFFECTION, do you give them your TIME? DO you give them GIFTS, do you HELP them with a project, do you FORGIVE them when something goes wrong? All are important elements in showing LOVE as Jesus did. Jesus is our perfect example of giving LOVE to those who need it! Examine how you show love to your friends and family… Be like JEsus!

Christians believe God can get us to a place where we do not have to look good all the time, in our own eyes. Have you ever been around people who always have to win, always have to “look” better than anyone else in the room? The word “humility” does not, cannot exist for those who must the brightest bulb in the room!
We are not talking about how you comb or don’t comb your hair, or the style of clothes you wear. We are talking about the need to impress people, or how you react when you are losing a debate about some unimportant issue. Sometime we are guilty of thinking our worth is in how we “look” to others… In I Corinthians 13, Paul reminds us that God loves us perfectly! His love for us is not dependant upon how we look to others or how we see ourselves! Pure love comes from those who are not full of pride or do not need to boast about how great they are! None of us will look good all the time, yes we need to do our best, but in Christ we need to be free to be who He knows we are, sinners saved by grace!

Christmas is like no other holiday! It has morphed from a day set aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus to a season of shopping, decorating the house, inside and out, and the giving of gifts. We, the church of Jesus Christ, must hold to the real reason for the day of celebrating. In our house, my wife uses the sounds of Christmas to keep her (us) focused on the message of Christ coming to earth asa baby. The songs of Christmas can be heard in her van or in our house for many days before and after the frenzy of shopping have passed, the decorations have been taken down, and the gifts have been returned.
The words of the songs remind us God sent His Son to bring us peace, salvation, and His kingdom! Have we heard the message?
We sing the message in O COme, O Come Emmanuel; The First Noel; Silent Night! Holky Night!; Joy to the World; Away in a Manger; and How Great Our Joy!. Sure they are just words in a hymnal, which we sing during the Advent season, but don’t forget them in March, April, or September! The mesage of the words is good for all seasons!