Living Stones Christian Church

     Chrsitmas Eve we had the oppurtunity to go to Ryan and Amy Stover's farm for a Christmas Eve Service in the barn.  This was the first one we had been to in several years and was not disappointed.  The music w as great and the style right up my alley.  From the acoustic guitar to the electric bass and guitar, throw in the  bongo/congo and 12 string guitar and then finish it off with a violin.  It was fantastic.  This year I was given the honor of presenting the devotion and have included it below.

     Tonight I want to begin by asking you a question. What’s under your tree? In my house, my girls and I have a saying when someone asks a question we don’t have an answer for. Google it. When God first led me to this idea, I was thinking consumerism. When I typed these 4 words into Google’s search bar I was redirected into an entirely different direction. The first several hits had to do with family trees and genealogies. Just like real trees, your family tree has roots and branches. My middle daughter has been intrigued with tracing our family history lately. She is fascinated with the fact we are related to Randall McCoy of the Hatfield and McCoy fame and the outlaw Jesse James. When drawing out your family tree, you go in two directions. Your offspring are the branches on your tree and your ancestors are the roots. Isaiah 11:1 says, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” This is important to us because it is a Messianic Prophecy that is later fulfilled with the birth of Christ. Matthew starts out the New Testament in Matthew chapter 1 with the genealogy of Jesus to show this fulfillment.

The family tree of Jesus Christ, David’s son, Abraham’s son:

Abraham had Isaac,

Isaac had Jacob,

Jacob had Judah and his brothers,

Judah had Perez and Zerah (the mother was Tamar),

Perez had Hezron,

Hezron had Aram,

Aram had Amminadab,

Amminadab had Nashon,

Nashon had Salmon,

Salmon had Boaz (his mother was Rahab),

Boaz had Obed (Ruth was the mother),

Obed had Jesse,

Jesse had David,

And David became king.

Matthew 1:1-6

     Now, you could read over this and say “So what”. Kind of like reading Chronicles. However, there are some notable things to point out here. Of the 18 names mentioned in the first 6 verses 3 are women (Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth). This is a big deal because it was not socially acceptable among the Israelites to mention them. The list also includes murderers, adulterers, prostitutes, liars, and gentiles. Jacob was a liar by tricking his father and brother to gain his brothers birthright, Judah withheld his third son from Tamar, Tamar tricked Judah into sleeping with her, Rahab was a prostitute, Ruth was a Moabite making her a gentile as well as a product of incest being a descendent of Lot, and David was a murderer and an adulterer. Sounds a lot like reality TV or daytime soaps. We all, if we look hard enough, have family members that we are embarrassed of, that we would rather leave off the tree and not tell anyone about. God doesn’t do that. He writes it down, right here in black and white. He says, “My son comes from a long line of sinners”. Why is this important to us, because the very people he comes from, are the very people he came to save. It is the same people Jesus ministers to while he is on earth. It is the same people he calls us to minister to as the church. It is us. We are those people. Matthew is telling us there is room for all of us in God’s family, by grace. There is room for men and women, rich and poor, young and old, moral and immoral, Jew and gentile, perverted and virgin, religious and irreligious, liars and truth tellers, murderers and their victims, by grace if you believe in Him. There is room for you no matter what you have done or what your family history may be.

     Spend some extra time this holiday season worshipping God and thanking him for sending us His Son Jesus.  And as you look to the New Year ahead, don't let your past, your current circumstances, your social status, your phyisical stature, your age keep you from drawing near and serving Him.

      Merry Christmas to all, Jesus is the Light.

     Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.  Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."  John 6:26-27

      Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  John 6:32-33

      The verses above took place after Jesus fed the multitudes with 5 loaves and 2 fish.  It represents not only the Isrealites near-sightedness but ours as well.  They were focusing on the physical bread.  They were looking for God to provide physically for them much like their ancestors before who wandered in the desert for 40 years.  Jesus is saying, focus on Me, the one the Father sent.  I am the bread.  What I am bringing does not spoil, won't go bad.  In Exodus, God reigns down daily, manna for them to eat.  He warns them not to take more than they can eat that day.  First chance they have, they try and hoard up as much as they can.  The next day, it is spoiled.  God is trying to teach them to rely on Him, to trust Him, to look to Him for their provision.  Jesus is trying to teach them the same thing.  Jesus is saying, what I have to offer is better than your daily portion of manna.  He is offering them eternal life.  

     Many times we work for and seek after physical bread.   That's why I am getting ready to go to work.  I have to make the bread to feed my family.  Our focus should be on the Bread of Life instead.  Working to please Him in all we do.  If our focus is right, he will provide everything we need.  Put your focus on Jesus today and be looking for all the ways he is providing for you.  Sometime we are too busy to notice or to give to credit for the manna raining down in front of us.

Peace

     "How good and pleasant is it when brothers and sisters live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.  It is as if the dew of Herman were falling on Mount Zion.  For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore."  Psalm 133.

      This is the scriopture for the day in the morning devotional I read.  Again, God amazes me with his timing and direction in our lives! For the last three days we have talked about communion with one another.  Here is yet another example from scripture urging us to live in unity.  The oil of Aaron and the dew of Heron are lost to us.  But the images would have been loaded with meaning to the Isrealites who first heard them.  They would have presented a picture of God's greatest blessings falling upon a united fellowship.

     Oil was poured on Aaron's head for his annoiting as the father of Isreal's priests.  Verse 2 describes a thorough covering; he was thoroughly sanctified and powerfully prepared fot his priestly work.  He was set apart to God for a specific, holy purpose.  He was ordained to communicate God to humanity and humanity to God in the prescribed acts of worship.  The precious oil on his head, flowing down his beard and onto his robes, was a sign that God was with His people.

     That's what unity does for a fellowship.  It turns a common gathering into a priestly community, able to communicate God to humanity and humanity to God.  It points to His character for those who don't know Him, and it confirms His presence among us for those who do.  Unity is the greatest evidence that God is living, active, and right there where the fellowship is.  It is precious.  

      Unity also makes the fellowship fruitful.  It takes the dew--the blessing of God--from one place and pours it on a needy land.  It turns a common people into a holy conduit for mercy, where God's character flows and powerfully changeslives.  It makes dry land green.

     That's how good and pleasant our unity is to God.  It isn't a casual matter to Him; it's critical.  God desires our unity because our unity shows the world who He is and how He works.  If we don't have it, they won't know Him.

     Strive for unity.  It's good and pleasant gift, a precious, powerful sign that God is among us.

     These are not my words.  I merely reposted my devotional for the day because it fit with the theme.  I believe it fits with our mission statement as a church also.  Ordinary people bringing ordinary people to an extraordinary God.  If we are unified and focusing on God as one, we can be a green oasis in a barren, brown desert.  Spend the day praying for one another and encouraging one another to focus on God.

     "If we focus on our differences, our focus is on each other.  If we focus on unity, our focus is on God."  anoymous

     Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; do not worry about your body, what you will wear.  Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.  Consider teh ravens:  They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them.  And how much more valuable you are than birds!  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his llife? Since you cannot do this very thing, why do you worry about the rest?     

Consider how the lillies grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!  And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.  For the pagan world runs agter all such  things, and your Father knows that you need them."  Luke 12:22-30.

     It is amazing how often prideful we can become in oh so short of time.  Marlene, yesterday your comment about letting the Holy Spirit lead the discussion was priceless.  This morning I got up later than I had wanted as as I headed to the shower I started asking myself what I was going to write this morning?  I began to convince myself that I could skip today and write tomorrow.  Then He hit me.  Within two days, I had already high-jacked the blog and made it about me.  While what I write is still going to be about me and what I am learning, it should be the Spirits words not mine.

       Ajppearantly He had something to say, so here goes.  Last night my family attended Freedom at AHOP like they always do.  I was able to tag along which has not happened as much lately, but I still enjoy seeing some of the people we have made connections with and Pastor Greg always has a good message.  Last night was special as it was the last meeting of the year.  The meal was a tradional Christmas meal and a record number of people showed up.  As we walked in, Pastor Greg greeted Kristi and I at the door with a Christmas card and wished us a Merry Christmas.  Upon sitting down and opening, we were dismayed by the gift card inside to show their appreciation for the work we do in their ministry.  In addittion to the card, we each recieved a ticket stub as we walked in.  At Freedom, much like Metamophic, this is used to track the number of people coming.  Usually you drop the ticket off when you get your plate so the kitchen knows how many people they are feeding.  Last night was a little different and something special happened.

      After the meal, Greg presented his message as usual.  At the end he had everyone get their ticket.  For the weeks leading up to this, a group of ladies had been having fundraisers to raise money to buy gifts for the kids that come to Freedom.  Last Sunday they had a bake sale after church that raised $700.  Gregg told us how God had blessed the ministry and someone matched the funds collected giving them $1400 to love on people.  The tickets were for door prizes consisting of gift cards for gas, groceries, and food at resturants.  They also had an area set up where parents could go and select two new toys to take home and wrap for their kids in addition to gifts handed out by Santa.  

       Me being me, I waited untill almost the very end to check my ticket stub.  I really didn't want to win because I felt like there were many people in that room that needed that card way more than me.  This morning I realized I had become a little Pharisee.  It is easy for us to be independent and not rely on God's provision.  What makes me any better than the people we are serving?  While I didn't need the 3 food gift cards we recieved, I also don't know what God has planned for me this week.  Maybe I need them more than I know.  Last week after church as we were about to leave, a gentlemen wandered in and wanted to speak to the pastor.  I drew the short straw and sat down with him to find out what he needed.  He told me a story of how he needed money for a bus ticket back home to California.  I offered to not only pay the rest of his ticket but also to drive him to the bus station in Trotwood.  He borrowed my phone to call the person he had been staying with so he could get his luggage and then he told me they were going to take him.  After I got home, I reaized that there was no call in my phone history, that he had been talking to himself and my money was gone.  Last night, in my pride, my money was more than returned to me!

       As you go through the day today, remember to take a minute, slow down, listen to God and what he is saying.  Instead of always doing everything on your own, ask God to help and be ready to learn something.  Have a great and Blessed day.

Peace and Shalom

       "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:42-47.

    It never ceases to amaze me how God orchestrates our Sunday School lessons with the morning message.  For me, two ideas are very clear. One, it reassures me that we are headed in the right direction with our teaching. And two, maybe we are missing something or because of our slowness to understand He gives it too us twice.  It seems to me if He is taking the time to tell us twice, it must be important.  With that said, several things were swirling around in my head when I got home and I thought I would take a moment to write them down.

     Yesterday in Sunday School we were asked to compare our church to the church mentioned in the verses above.  One of the things we all agreed about was that it was easier for them to meet daily as they most likely lived within a couple blocks of each other as the towns then were much smaller.  I am imagining maybe something like Bowersville or Port William.  Living that close would easily allow them to stop and break bread with each other as they passed by in their regular travels of the day.  That got me to thinking, maybe we make it too hard.  Think about it, with social media the way it is today, almost all of us are a keystoke away.  In theory, we are physically closer to each other than they were.  

     If we started a daily blog like this one, where one of us could post a few verses and a thought for the day, then each time one of us read it and meditated on it, we would be one step closer to living in community.  We could share with one another some of our struggles and pray for one another.  We could challenge one another to take a fresh look at scripture we have read over in the past and never really applied to our own lives because we didn't think it was relevant.  While not physically, we have the ability to be together everyday in Spirit.  The verses above say they met everyday in the temple courts and followed the teaching of the apostles.  We all well know that we are the church, not the building.  What we are discussing is what makes it pleasing to God, not the where.  

      Throughout the day today, everytime you take a drink, whether it is coffee, pop, or even just water, remember this: Fluid is a life blood for each of us, without it we will surely die of dehydration; Jesus poured out his life blood for all of us so that we may live.  Remember to not take it for granted.  Leave your thoughts below and join the community.

Peace