Archive for December, 2006
The Christmas Guest
To their amazement they found him bustling around his workshop, sweeping and cleaning and making sure all the copper kettles were gleaming brightly.
“Why Franz,” they said, “we have never seen your workshop look so clean and bright.”
“But now I must decorate it,” he replied, gathering up armfuls of greenery.
“But why?” they asked.
“Last night I fell asleep while I was reading my Bible, and the Lord Jesus appeared to me in a dream. He told me he was going to visit my house today. That’s why I am so busy getting it ready.”
His friends were surprised, but were glad to see Franz so busy and happy, and decided to leave him to his preparations.
Soon all the work was done and Franz sat down to await the arrival of his important visitor.
Soon there came a knock at the door. Excitedly Franz ran to open it, but all that he found on the doorstep was an old woman in ragged clothing, carrying a heavy bundle of firewood.
“I am so sorry to disturb you, “she said, “but I am so cold and tired, and I saw the bright lights of your workshop and wondered if I might come inside and rest for a while.”
“But, of course,” said Franz. “Come and sit by the fire. I have made some soup for the guest I am expecting, but there is plenty for you to have some, too, if you would like some”
The old woman warmed herself by the fire, ate a bow of steaming broth, and then took her leave, with a heart full of gratitude.
But as Franz shut the door behind her he felt a little sad that his guest had not yet come, and wondered how much longer he would have to wait.
Christmas Guest/2
The hours passed slowly, and it was afternoon by the time another knock came to the door.
“This must be him,” thought Franz, hurrying to answer the door as quickly as he could.
His face fell as he opened the door, and found a beggar standing there.
“I am sorry to disturb you, but I am so cold and hungry and I could not resist knocking on your door, for the decorations in your workshop make it look so inviting.”
“Come in, come in,” said Franz. “I have some bread and meat and pickles prepared for a visitor, but there is more than enough for you to have some.”
As the beggar sat eating his meal, Franz noticed that he shoes were full of holes, and his heart was filled with pity. Hurriedly he found a pair of brand new shoes that he had just made, and brought them to the man. He put them on, and they fitted perfectly.
He took his leave, but once again, Franz’s heart sank within him as he noticed how the shadows were lengthening and that evening was drawing nigh.
“I do hope I will not have to wait much longer,” he said to himself, sitting down again by the fire.
Suddenly he heard the sound of crying out in the street. He opened the door and found a little girl standing there.
“I have lost my way,” she said, “and I do so much want to be home for Christmas Day.”
“I will be glad to take you home,” said Franz, “but you look so cold and tired, why don’t you come in and have a drink of warm milk first?”
Franz took the little girl home, but by the time he returned to his workshop night had fallen, and Franz sat down by the fire with a heavy heart.
Then he fell to his knees and began to pray. “Dear Lord Jesus, what made you delay? Why did you not come as you said you would?”
Just then Franz heard a voice say in the sweetest of tones:
“But, Franz, my dear friend, I did come. In fact three times my shadow crossed your door. For I was the woman you gave to eat, and I was the beggar with bruised, cold feet, and I was the child who had lost her way, whom you saw safely home for Christmas Day.”
In Christ Alone
You are eternal.
“I AM” - Script
Selections from the Book of John, adapted by Carol Jaudes
ONE: Jesus said:
ALL: I AM.
ONE: I Am….
TWO: ….the Bread of Life….
THREE: ….the Light of the world.
ONE: I am….
FOUR: ….the Good Shepherd….
ONE: ….the Gate.
ALL: I am the Way.
TWO: I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that every one who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.
ONE: I am gentle and humble in heart.
TWO: I have called you friends.
FOUR: I am among you as the one who serves.
ONE: I have come down from heaven.
FOUR: I am not of this world.
THREE: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
FOUR: I am the good shepherd….The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheppe and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.
ONE: I am …… the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
FOUR: I am the resurrection.
TWO/THREE: and the life.
THREE: He who believes in me will live,
TWO: even though he dies;
ONE: and whoever lives and believes in me
ALL: will never die.
FOUR: I am the way,
THREE: and the truth,
TWO: and the life;
ONE: no one comes to the Father
ALL: but through Me.
FOUR: I came forth from the Father
TWO: and have come into the world;
THREE: I am leaving the world again
TWO: and going to the Father.
FOUR: I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
ONE: I am with you….
ONE/TWO: I am with you ….
ONE/TWO THREE: I am with you ….
ALL: …always. Even to the end of the age.
QUOTES
The history of our grandparents is remembered not with rose petals but in the laughter and tears of their children and their children’s children. It is into us that the lives of grandparents have gone. It is in us that their history becomes a future. ~Charles and Ann Morse
You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was. ~Irish Saying
What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories
- George Eliot -
What is it about grandparents that is so lovely? I’d like to say that grandparents are God’s gifts to children. And if they can but see, hear and feel what these people have to give, they can mature at a fast rate. ~Bill Cosby
Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family
Anthony Brandt
What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies. ~Rudolph Giuliani
Being grandparents sufficiently removes us from the responsibilities so that we can be friends. ~Allan Frome
God made Grandfathers
Especially nice,
They’re better than bikes,
And even white mice,
He made grandfathers to joke with
And to be special friends,
to listen to problems,
Again and again.
He made grandfathers special,
They’re kind and patient too;
And they always seem to love you,
No matter what you do.
- Unknown -
Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future
- Gail Lumet Buckley -
Grandfather - a wonderful father with lots of practice. ~Author Unknown
I have always looked at life as a voyage, mostly wonderful, sometimes frightening. In my family and friends I have discovered treasure more valuable than gold
- Jimmy Buffet -
I close my eyes and drift slowly to sleep,
And in my thoughts, you’re there to keep.
Wings of an angel, these surely shelter me,
Within any dreams and visions I may see.
There is a shining guiding brilliant safe light,
Comforting, watching, all through the night.
It’s the love of my Grandfather in my heart,
Keeping me warm until the morning starts.
Grandparents are similar to a piece of string - handy to have around and easily wrapped around the fingers of their grandchildren. ~Author Unknown
My grandchild has taught me what true love means. It means watching Scooby-Doo cartoons while the basketball game is on another channel. ~Gene Perret
One of the most powerful handclasps is that of a new grandbaby around the finger of a grandfather. ~Joy Hargrove
Grandparents are similar to a piece of string - handy to have around and easily wrapped around the fingers of their grandchildren. ~Author Unknown
Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children. ~Alex Haley
Grandpas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever. ~Author Unknown
You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them
- Desmond Tutu -
POSTURES OF WORSHIP IN THE BIBLE
Posture was very important in my family growing up. My mother taught me that the way I sat conveyed my attitude in a given setting.
arms crossed and slouched down – defiant gesture
comfortable with a person - tuck feet underneath, or lean forward
shy – avoid eye contact, cross arms, bow head
I remember going to see Queen Elizabeth with two friends from church one Sunday afternoon a couple of years ago. We rushed down after church, and stood for over an hour, and then all of a sudden the door to the hotel opened and everyone stood taller, there was an overwhelming sense in the crowd that this tiny little woman deserved our respect. When we think about worship, we are approaching a King much more powerful than Queen Elizabeth, and we are approaching a parent so much more perfect than all of our earthly parents. Consequently, it is worthwhile considering how we use our bodies to approach God.
KNEELING:
Psalm 95:6 – Come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
James 4:10 – “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
The first stances we will look at are ones of humility.
Recognise God as our King, as our Governor, as our Judge
Old Testament stance – kneel with forehead touching the ground
It is uncomfortable – exercise with children – find as I do this, and my knees hurt and my head begins to get a heady feeling that my mind wanders less than it does when I am sitting comfortably
New Testament stance – kiss with hands and then kneel and have forehead touch ground
HANDS RAISED:
Psalm 63:4 – So I will bless you as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
Psalm of David while he was in desert – God as a provider
Hands raised up - asking
Psalm 134:2 – Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the Lord
Song of Ascent – approaching Jerusalem, the Temple
Recognising awe and majesty of God.
EYES RAISED:
Isaiah 51:6 – Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and those who live on it will die like gnats; but my salvation will be forever, and my deliverance will never be ended.
Looking up to God – as ruler of the world, as creator of the world
Being aware of who God is
Psalm 121:1-2 – I lift up my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made the heaven and earth.
God as our provider
PROSTRATE:
Position of complete vulnerability –
For example, Moses came down from the mountain with the two stone tablets and saw the Israelites had sinned and formed a golden calf –
Deut. 9:17-18 – “So I took hold of the two tablets and flung them from my two hands, smashing them before your eyes. Then I lay prostrate before the Lord….”
Or, Daniel, after seeing the vision of the four great beasts (Daniel 7) and the angel Gabriel came to him to explain the vision “So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I became frightened and fell prostrate….”
This is the most vulnerable physical position – no way to defend yourself – when you see someone be arrested, they make them lie down and put their hands behind their back, there is no way to get away, there is no way to fight back, at that point the person must trust in the goodwill of the person not to hurt them.
When we lie prostrate, it is an act of complete surrender, it is a time when we reveal complete trust.
Something to think about: if we actually saw God, what would we do?
Isaiah: Woe to me, for I am a man of unclean lips.
One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen is the response of a woman in our church. Easter Sunday – married to an heroine addict, four children and a very hard life – that Sunday we had rearranged our sanctuary and had a 6’ cross in front of our platform – she came and knelt and prayed for the strength of the Lord and as she prayed the weight of her burden pressed upon her and she knelt further and further down until she was completely on the floor and she wept, and Jesus met her there. Her husband is still addicted, he is in treatment right now but we don’t know how it will work out, but this woman is able to hold it together because of God.
McManus - abdication of passion
“So many of us have abdicated our passions for obligations, as if passion is a luxury for the young, and we must all grow up one day. We, even if reluctantly, fall into place to live a life of conformity that we describe as ‘maturity’. We’ve made acting like an adult synonymous with living apathetic lives…If apathy is adulthood and passion is childish, then I understand all the more the words of Jesus when He said that to enter His kingdom we must come as little children.”
Maturity is seen as the natural progression between age and reason, that the older we get, the more we recognize the need to put childish ways behind us and accept the responsibilites of adulthood. I think it’s the reverse in terms of spiritual maturity. Yes, we grow older and (hopefully) wiser as the years go on, but true spiritual maturity is learning how to hold onto the qualities of a child that simply believes. Too often I think people write off the Word of God as a lofty ideal, an unrealistic view of how the world really works. But just stop and think of how different life would be if we took the Lord at His word, if we came to Him with that childlike faith believing that anything is possible.
CURTAIN/VEIL
“Make a curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim worked into it by a skilled craftsman.”
The curtain/veil separated the Holy Place the first room of the Tent of Meeting from the Most Holy Place.
Aaron was to take incense behind the curtain.
Remember that incense is our prayers.
During Christ’s crucifixion the veil was rent in two from the top to the bottom as if God the Father Himself reached down from heaven and tore the curtain/veil.
In this God signified that He is accessible to all who would come.
Because Jesus had laid his life down for us on the cross we could now boldly approach God the Father.
The only veil that exists today is the veil put over our minds by Satan the god of this world.
Ask the Holy Spirit to tear down anything that veils your mind from the knowledge of how to enter into the Most Holy place.
Please take one of the torn pieces of fabric and write upon it an item, action or emotion that distances you in your fellowship with God and other believers.
