REJOICE! HE HAS COME!

REJOICE! HE HAS COME!

It is dark and cold outside today, and only a few days left until Christmas Day.  But there is a song in the air and we rejoice because our King has come!  Our King has brought salvation and His joy to this dark and cold world.

 We look at the lovely decorations and the colors and remember it is all about Him: the red for His shed blood on the cross for our sins, the green for eternal life He brings.  We see purple as we remember His royalty and we see blue remembering our home in heaven.  And oh, those lovely gold ornaments on our trees, His Divine Kingship, our King of kings and Lord of lords!

The third Advent candle that has been lit is the “Candle of Joy.”  And oh the joy that this candle represents!  We can shout and praise our Wonderful Lord that He has called out of darkness and into His marvelous light, bringing hope into this dark world.

JOY TO THE WORLD!

“Joy to the world!  The Lord is come; let earth receive her King, let ev’ry  heart prepare Him room, and Heav’n and nature sing, and Heav’n and nature sing, and Heav’n and Heav’n and nature sing.

Joy to the earth! The Saviour reigns; let men their songs employ; while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found, far as far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness, and wonders of His love, and wonders of His love, and wonders and wonders of His love.  (Isaac Watts)

At this Christmas time, let us look up and rejoice in the coming of the King to that stable in Bethlehem.  We remember the Biblical account of the Inn Keeper refusing Mary and Joseph a room, but He calls us to prepare Him room in our hearts.  We hear of the angelic hosts as they proclaimed to the earth the joy of the Saviour’s coming.  Now we can rejoice and shout for joy as He comes into our hearts with His love and peace and His eternal salvation.  Have you made room for the King to come live in your heart?  What a wonderful time of the year to be born again into His kingdom of joy!

“Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it; let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth, with righteousness He shall judge the world, and the peoples with uprightness”  Psalm 98:7-9.

The psalmist calls on all creation to sing and shout for joy at the Lord’s coming!  I love this hymn because it celebrates God’s involvement with His people, and this work of God began at the stable in Bethlehem.

When we receive this King into our hearts, our sins and our sorrows and those thorny places in our hearts are covered by the blood of Jesus.  He takes away the sins and thorns to remember them no more.  Yes, we may have sorrow come into our lives, but now this King will be there to be our comfort and our peace.

For now we look forward to the day when He will judge the world in righteousness.  Yes, in this season of Advent we are looking forward to His Second Advent, when Christ Himself will split the sky and will come again, and the nations will know the wonders of His great love!  Oh, what a day that will be!  On that day God will being a righteous conclusion to all things.

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, let you sorrow as others who have no hope.  For is we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.  For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Therefore comfort one another with these words” I Thessalonians 13-18.

Yes, “Joy to the World” He has come and He is coming again, oh Praise the Lord!  He will judge the nations and bring peace to this weary world.  Our King will reign in righteousness!  There will be no more thorns in the ground, no more curse on this earth.  So as you sing this song this Christmas, sing it with great joy!  Our King has come, and He will come again!

Blessings in this Joyful Season!

Pastor Sharon

WE WELCOME YOU, PRINCE OF PEACE!

WE WELCOME YOU,

PRINCE OF PEACE!

As we continue to share the season of Advent, we lit our second candle, the Candle of Peace.  In this world we sometimes wonder “where is our peace?”  Problems come into our lives that will shake us to the very core of our being.  And sometimes it is just a phone away.  We think everything is going well.  We are looking forward to Christmas and the New Year, and then we hear news that a Radiologist has found something suspicious and we are scheduled for more tests. 

But no matter what the test results may be, we as followers of our Lord Jesus know where our peace lies.  We can run right into His arms with our problem and isn’t it wonderful to know that He is right there and is aware of the whole situation and whatever the future may hold.

As I was thinking about this blog and what song the Lord would have me share, I was looking at our wonderful Christmas carols, and thinking of a song that would speak of the peace that He brings to us in these difficult times.  Let me share with you the story of “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”.

“Although he was a Unitarian minister, Edmund Sears believed in the deity of Christ.  He also believed in the angels’ message of “peace on earth.”

This hymn, written in Massachusetts in 1849, focuses on the angels’ song of “peace on earth.” Like many other hymns written in America during the mid-1800’s, it might be called a “horizontal hymn.” Such hymns called people to live well, to be at peace, and to honor God.  It seeks to encourage people who are bent “beneath life’s crushing load,” as the third stanza says, to stop and hear the message of Christmas sung by the angels.

Peace was a timely topic when Sears penned these words.  Tensions were rising in America, leading toward the Civil War.  But the peace promised by the angels is not only national; it is personal as well.” (Hymns by Petersen).

IT CAME UPON THE MIDNIGHT CLEAR

“It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old, from angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold: “Peace on the earth, goodwill to men, from heav’ns all-gracious King!” The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come with peaceful wings unfurled, and still their heav’nly music floats o’er all the weary world: above its sad and lowly plains they bend on hov’ring wing, and ever o’er its babel sounds the blessed angels sing.

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, whose forms are bending low, who toil along the climbing way  with painful steps and slow, look now! For glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing: o rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing.

For lo, the days are hast’ning on, by prophets seen of old, when with the ever-circling years shall come the time foretold, when the new heav’n and earth shall own the Prince of Peace their King, and the whole world send back the song which now the angels sing.  (Edmund Hamilton Sears)

The world during the time of Christ’s birth was a sad and weary world.  The people were bowed down with the weight of Roman rule.  There had been no prophetic word for 400 years, and they waited anxiously for their Messiah to come.  And He came that night, The Prince of Peace, born in a lowly stable.  The shepherds out in the fields of Bethlehem saw a wondrous event in the skies that night.  The angels bending low announcing that He was here at last, our Gracious King.  And the world of the shepherds stopped for a moment in time in the stillness of that night to hear the glorious song of the angels.

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men” Luke 2:14.

And today we live in a weary world with its turmoil and pain.  And our Precious Lord calls us to stop in the rushing world of Christmas, the noise of traffic, the crowded stores, the business of the season and listen with our hearts to the song of the angels as they proclaim peace to our hearts. But it takes our willingness to just put aside all the noise of the season and hear the music of the skies.  He calls us to come away with Him, just sit in His presence and let the world go by.  Can we do that?  The babe of Bethlehem speaks of peace and joy to come.

Are you bending under a heavy load right now?  Are your steps slow and painful?  Listen to the music of the angels, listen to the lovely carols, each and every verse  We walk a weary road sometimes and He calls us to rest and listen with our hearts and minds tuned on Him, the Savior of the world.  The One who came as that precious baby and remember that before Him was the shadow of a cross!

And yes, the days are hastening on quickly.  The prophecies are being fulfilled, and the signs of that wonderful day coming are upon us.  We look up, keeping our eyes on the heavens and someday those heavens will open and Jesus will come!  This time He will not come lowly and meek, as He came the first time, but this time He comes as the Conquering King of kings!  And we all look forward to that day when at last there will be continuing and forever “Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.” And we will join in joyful chorus around the Throne that joyful song of the angels!

Be Blest in Jesus’ Name,

Pastor Sharon

COME, COME EMMANUEL!

COME, COME EMMANUEL!

It is the first week of December, and the weather is very cold.  But the season is upon us, warming our hearts with song “Joy to the World, the Lord has come.”  Everywhere the lights are bright and shoppers are crowding the stores looking for their special treasures.  And we see the beautiful colors of Christmas in our lovely decorations and trees.  And we sing those lovely Christmas carols which speak of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We look at our nativity sets and see Mary and Joseph and sweet baby Jesus surrounded by shepherds and wisemen and angels looking on.  And in our church we are celebrating the Advent season.  We light our candles each Sunday and ponder the meaning of each of five candles.  The last candle we will light will be the large white candle on Christmas Eve.

The first candle we lit was the “Candle of Hope and Prophecy.”  As we celebrate Advent we are remembering His first Advent, His first coming and the amazing prophecies that foretold of the Messiah and His coming.  The people in those days were looking for the deliverer, the One who would free them from the Romans and sit upon the Throne of David once again.  But Jesus came not to be an earthly king, but to bring the Kingdom of God to reign our hearts, a spiritual kingdom.  But the people did not see that and rejected Him and He went to the cross to die, to shed His precious blood for you, for me. 

And He came to bring hope to a lost world and to each of us.  In this world many have lost their hope, but there is hope in Jesus, my friends.  The cry of ours hearts and the cry of the hearts of those in His day was “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!

O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL!

“O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.  Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan’s tyranny; from depths of hell Thy people save and give them victory o’er the grave.  Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come Thou Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here; and drive away the shades of night, and pierce the clouds and bring us light! Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David come, and open wide our heavenly home; make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path of misery.  Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. (Latin hymn from 12^th century)

In this wonderful old hymn we see the promise of His coming, and we see Emmanuel, God with us.  He would come and when He came He would bring salvation.  In the first verse we see captives in exile longing for Emmanuel to come.  And there are times when we feel that we are captives to our sin, and to pain and sorrow.  But Emmanuel will come and bring deliverance from our sin and that which enslaves us.

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.  The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of Knowledge and the fear of the Lord” Isaiah 11:1-2.

We see this wonderful prophecy of our Wonderful Lord as He would come.  He would be a “Righteous Branch” which would grow out of Jesse, David’s father.  He would come with wisdom, understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  This was the Messiah they were waiting and watching for, our Precious Jesus, the Messiah!

“Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” Luke 1:78-79.

In God’s tender mercy, He was sending the Dayspring, the Messiah to visit us.  Those who sit in darkness, He came to bring light and life and to conquer death forever.  And He promises to guide us into a life of peace.  Oh, what a promise!  If you are feeling darkness closing in on your today, the Dayspring has come to light your path, to bring peace and joy and eternal life with Him forever.  Oh, what a precious promise!

As we celebrate Advent, we also are looking forward to His second advent.  And we look for our heavenly home.  And because of His death and resurrection, He has opened the way to eternal life.  And when He comes there will be no more sorrow, pain or tears.  And our hearts look toward the heavens and long for His coming at last!  O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!

In the Name of Jesus’

Pastor Sharon