In The Beginning

At the beginning of a new year, people often look forward to all the things they want to do.  They also use it to look back at the past year, and at all that has been done.  We like to chronicle our accomplishments, and there's no shortage of people telling us how to have new and different lives this year.

But as a new year dawns, the matter of the fact is that most things stay the same.  Even with a big event like a child or marriage or death, life changes but it quickly becomes the new normal.

There's has only been one new beginning in all of time.  And it is chronicled in the book of Genesis, in the very first chapter and verse.


"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"   Genesis 1:1


As we begin a new year, this scripture tells us that whatever happens in this new year, God must be the creator of it, the originator of it.  Over the past year, God has used this church to support missions, send missionaries, conduct outreach, support mission churches, and more.  God was the force in what we did last year, and will be the force for this new year as well.

When you don't know what to do

It must've been a strange experience when Joseph and Mary woke up on the day after Jesus' birth.  The night before had been a big production, with the birth, the angel's songs, and the visit from the shepherd.  

But what were they to do next?  It's a strange and terrifying thing to be left with a newborn baby, let alone when that baby is the Son of God!  When faced with uncertainty, when they didn't know what to do, scripture tells us that Mary and Joseph did what they knew was right.  

When we are faced in the new year with those situations where we don't know what to do, Mary and Joseph give us the example.  We are to obey the commands of God, we are to stay a part of the family of God, and remember the sacrifices that God makes for us.  

And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "EVERY firstborn MALE THAT OPENS THE WOMB SHALL BE CALLED HOLY TO THE LORD"), and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, "A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS."  Luke 2

The Long Wait

In his book The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, CS Lewis' characters step through a magical wardrobe that takes to a world where it is always winter, but never Christmas.  Through a series of adventures, Christmas comes to Narnia.  But Lewis hits on an important topic about Christmas.  The wait is worth it only because of the payoff at the end.  Nobody likes to wait, especially at Christmas time.

But the bible shows us that since the beginning of time, the whole world has been waiting for it's rescue, has been waiting for it's redeemer.

Genesis 3:15 gives us the first promise of one who is to come, and the whole Old Testament speaks of his coming.  Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and more are all pictures and promises of the one who is to come. The prophets speak of him, the patriarchs are shadows of the one who is to come. The drum is beat consistently throughout the Old Testament.  He's coming, He's coming, He's coming.

And in the beginning pages of the New Testament, finally the good news comes!  He's Here!

Behold I bring good tidings of great joy which shall be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you, you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.  And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

We now wait for Christ's return.  This holiday season, don't waste the wait!  Let it bring you towards Christ as we celebrate His birth and wait for His return!   

Hold fast the word of life

If you step outside on a clear night, you can see light from the moon and stars.  The moon is about 238,900 miles away, according to google.  And the closest star is 4.24 light years away.


Put another way, that is one very bright light!  Paul says thats the way that Christians are to stand out in a dark world, as stars, as lights, guiding the way.  By working out our salvation with fear and trembling, or working out what God has worked in, we do this.  We point people to Christ by being sanctified and becoming more like Christ.


He gives several ways to do that, like doing all things without grumbling, but the last way he tells us to do it is to hold forth the word of life.  By holding out God's word, it is not only a light to us, but to others as well.

Phl 2:12-16 12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.

No Grumbling or Complaining

The Bible is God's words to us.  Living and active, it is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and training.

But sometimes it can be hard to read.  Not hard to understand, but difficult to listen to and take to heart.

As Paul writes to the church at Philippi, he has instructed them to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.  That is, they are to work out what God has already worked in them.  This is the life of a Christian.  God works salvation in us, justifying us.  Then we are to sanctify ourselves, working out the new life that has come within us.  But how are we to do that?

What Paul writes in Philippians 2:14-16 is one of those passages that is hard to take to heart, because it cuts against the very way we live.  But Paul instructs us to do all things without grumbling or complaining. This is one of the very first ways that a Christian is to work out their new life. And by doing so, they not only honor God, but bring others to Him through your witness.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. - Phl 2:14-16 NASB

Obedient Unto Death

Do you think the President vacuums his own floors?  Do you think the Queen of England cleans her bathroom?  There are some things that we deem as beneath certain people.  Because of their importance, their job, their status in life, there are things that they just don't have time to do.  

In one of the most beautiful and descriptive passages of Jesus in all of the Bible, Paul reminds us of all that Christ did for us, and how he sets an example for us to follow.  Paul instructs us to have the same attitude that Jesus had.  When Christ came to earth, he certainly did things that are below the King of Kings!

Although equal with God, Jesus did not consider it his right to hold onto his divine prerogative, but instead put that aside to become a man on earth.  But as if that were not far enough for Jesus to stoop, he became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.

Through his selflessness, Christ not only purchased our salvation, but set for us the ultimate example to follow in thinking of others as higher than ourselves.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. - Phl 2:5-11 NASB

Perform Your Duties as Citizens of Heaven

Imagine you arrive at work at school only to meet ssomeonenew there.  It's their first day, and as you begin to talk, you ask them where they are from.  

"Beverly Hills", they say.  Does that change the way that you expect them to act?  

What if they say somewhere else?  "Toad Suck, AR"  Ravia, Milburn, OKC, Dallas, London.  We expect people from certain places to act a certain way.  Being from a certain place comes with certain habits, patterns, and more.

What if the person you met said they were a Christian?  How then would you expect them to act? 

In the book of Philippians, Paul says that it's our duty as Christians, our right, our responsibility to act in a certain way.  He says we are to act worthy of the Gospel.

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents--which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, - Phl 1:27-29 NASB

How should you act as Christian?  Live lives that are worthy of the Gospel.  LIve as citizens of heaven.