Recently, I was in the checkout line at Farm Fresh and I overheard a conversation between a customer and the checkout lady.  The checkout lady was lamenting because she wasn’t going to be able to get much in the way of gifts this year. Fair enough, I thought.  But what I heard next really got my attention. She said that her teen boys were “ready to die” when they heard that gifts would be light this year.  Seriously… ready to die?!

If you are like me, you are immersed in the American culture and one thing that seems clear is that Christmas equals giving and, especially for our kids, getting gifts.  Please hear me – I am not anti-gift giving!  I believe there are many good reasons to give gifts:  practice generosity, hospitality, thinking of others more highly than yourself (Philippians 2:3-5).  But I have observed that this season evokes a kind of expectation that we will get something, especially among our children.  How many of you have children that are making a list of what they want for Christmas?

Cindy and I were discussing this recently, and she brought a perspective that I found to be wise, and hopefully helpful.  On someone’s birthday, we get that person a gift in honor of him/her.  Why is it then that when we celebrate Jesus’ birthday, we don’t get Him a gift, but give each other gifts?  Sure, I understand that we give each other gifts to remind us of the greatest gift of all, the gift of our Savior Jesus Christ, sent as a baby to live a perfect life, die on the cross for our sins, and rise to new life to defeat the curse of sin and to grant us eternal life.  But doesn’t it also make sense for us to give a gift to Jesus as a way to honor Him since it is His birthday that we are celebrating?

There is nothing wrong with giving each other gifts.  However, as parents, Cindy and I feel the responsibility to help our children understand the true meaning of the season, and do what we can to counter the influence of our culture telling our children that it’s all about “what you want” and “what you get.”

So, my wife suggested an idea that I have grown to love and can’t wait to do this Christmas.  We are going to give each child a pre-determined amount of money and explain to them that in celebration of Jesus’ birthday, we will each give Him a gift instead of giving gifts to each other.  But how do we give Jesus a gift?  Doesn’t He have everything He needs?  Jesus, the birthday child, tells us what He wants, “Give to the least of these and you give to Me.” I will read the parable in Matthew 25:31-40 where Jesus tells us that deeds done to those in need are counted as deeds done for Him.  We give a gift to Jesus when we feed the hungry, tend to the sick, visit those in prison, and clothe the poor. We will have gift catalogs for the children to look through from organizations like Compassion International, World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse, Harvest of Hope and Gospel for Asia. The children will get to choose how they will use their money to give a gift to Jesus.

Will they choose to buy mosquito nets, a pair of rabbits, a cow, a water filter, fishing nets, blankets, a rickshaw, or…?  I can just hear the conversations now…  “They need blankets during the winter because their house has no heat.”  “A pair of rabbits will quickly multiply, providing a steady diet of lean meat and plenty of bunnies to sell.”

Our hope is that this will set the focus of Christmas on the Christ Child, whose birthday we are celebrating, and that it will bring about great conversations with our children and help them to appreciate all that the Lord has given them so that they desire to help others as they give to Jesus this Christmas.

Do you have ways to keep the reason for the season focused on Jesus Christ in your family?  I would love to hear your ideas!

Chris

Tomorrow is the big day!  Turkey, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, pies, traditions, time with friends, time with family, afternoon naps, NFL football, Black Friday sales in the paper, etc., etc.  I hope and trust that everyone will enjoy this day set apart to give thanks to God for all of His kindness and blessings towards us, even if this has been one of the most difficult years of your life.  God’s steadfast love is unfailing.  He is in covenant with us through His Son to never stop doing us good, and showering us with mercy, and overwhelming us with faithful care, and working out all things for our good.  God is good and his steadfast love endures forever!  As we all know, tomorrow is a wonderful opportunity to give specific thanks to our Heavenly Father – every blessing He pours out we’ll turn back to praise!

I also love the opportunities my friend Mark Altrogge writes about over at his blog The Blazing Center.  Mark is the senior pastor of the SGM church in Indiana, PA.  He is also a prolific songwriter.  We’ve been singing his songs for 20+ years!  I’ve copied his text below and was inspired to make the most of these kinds of opportunities as well.  I hope these ideas will be in our minds tomorrow as well.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Eric

The Blazing Center

“Thanksgiving provides a great opportunity to serve others. Rather than spending the whole day crashed out on the couch in a tryptophan-induced coma watching football games you don’t really care about, (not that it’s wrong to crash on the couch or watch football – I’ll probably spend some time in a tryptophan-induced coma myself) try reaching out to your family members, especially if they are unbelievers.  Thanksgiving is a great day to imitate Jesus who came not to be served but to serve.  Here are a few ideas:

Take a genuine interest in them. Ask them if they’ve read any good books or seen any good movies lately. Ask them how it’s going on their job. Ask them about their children. If your grandfather or grandmother is there, ask them to tell you funny stories about their childhood or if they have any good stories from when they were in the Army.

Taking an interest in people is fun. If you have a relative who’s a lawyer, asked her about her most difficult case. Ask her if she’s ever said “I’ll see you in court” to someone. Ask her what she likes most and least about her job. Ask her what she does to try to persuade juries.  Ask her what the funniest thing that ever happened in court was.

Serve their children. Get down the floor with their kids and play with them. Do an art project or craft project with them. Play hide and seek or “I spy” with them. Try to make a memorable Thanksgiving for the kids.

Take an interest in the teenagers. Ask them what movies they’ve seen lately or what music they’re listening to. Ask them if they’ve seen any funny YouTube videos. Ask them about any sports they’re playing.

Help set the table and clear the table.  Wash the dishes. Try to be the biggest servant in the house.

If you’re as selfish as I am, you’ll need lots of grace, so don’t forget to ask the Lord to give you the desire and the strength to serve.”

I’m getting to know a new friend.  His name is John Newton.  If you’re not familiar with the name you will most likely know the famous hymn he wrote.  It’s called Amazing Grace.  Newton’s mother was a godly woman and from his birth she taught him the Scriptures in hopes that he too would embrace the Christian faith.  She died when he was seven, however; and when she did it seemed that any significant spiritual influence in Newton’s life died as well.

When the young boy was eleven years old his father, a sea captain, took him on board and Newton entered into what would become his livelihood for many years to come.  Life as a sailor was, well, salty.  There was little that Newton wouldn’t engage in, with respect to worldliness and immorality.  He was known for his vile tongue, quick to blaspheme and eager to encourage others to follow his example.  He had little use for Jesus.  Then in 1748, while out at sea Newton and his shipmates encountered a violent storm.  Within minutes the ship began to break apart as water poured into the wooden vessel.  The plunge into the watery darkness was imminent.  In a moment of uncontrolled fear Newton blurted out to his captain, “If this will not do the Lord will have mercy on us!”  No sooner had the words left his mouth and a thought entered his mind; “It directly occurred, ‘what mercy can there be for me?’ ”

Have you ever found yourself thinking a similar thought?  You love the Lord.  You delight in worshipping Him.   You are faithful to spend time in the Scriptures each day.  You’re reading a Christian book to help you grow in godliness.  You are serious about your relationship with Christ — you know it and so does everybody else.  But you’ve screamed at your kids for the fifth time today.  You clicked on a pop-up that you knew would lead you into temptation while surfing the Internet.  You lied to your parents about why your breath smells the way it does.  Because of God’s love for you His Spirit is now bringing conviction and you find yourself asking the question, “is there mercy for me?”

Or maybe pictures of time spent with God and His people are but a distant memory for you.  Sure there was a time when you were excited about actually knowing God.  You had faith to believe that He would take care of you.  The Bread of Life offered a sustenance that the world never could.  But life happens.  You grew up.  You and Jesus grew apart.  You’ve done things you never thought you would do.  You’ve found yourself in places only “those people” go to.  You figure, “sometimes you get so far gone there’s just no way to get back”.  Newton thought that too; “I thought, allowing the Scripture premises, there never was or could be such a sinner as myself; and then comparing the advantages I had broken through, I concluded at first that my sins were too great to be forgiven”.  As you sense the Lord calling to you, in the fog of your waywardness, your response is, “what mercy can there be for me?”

There is good news for those of us who fail!  The psalmist describes God as one “who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy” (Ps 103:2).  When Jesus Christ died in our place God the Father poured out the full cup of his wrath on his beloved son.  It was for our sins that he was judged and punished.  The affect of His sacrificial death reaches all the way into our lives and opens the door to God’s mercy.  When we fail in our fight against sin we must be quick to flee to the Cross and once again apprehend the grace and mercy that are found in the Gospel.  Though difficult to believe at the time due to our heightened awareness of our sin, we must put our faith in Christ’s finished work.  For those who think they’ve gone beyond the reach of a merciful God, think again for “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom 5:20). God is rich in mercy and He’s poised for you to experience it!

Newton and his shipmates survived the storm, but the Lord had the young rebel’s rapt attention; “I began to think of Jesus whom I had so often derided.  I recollected the particulars of his life and of his death — a death for sins not His own, but as I remembered, for the sake of those who in their distress should put their trust in him”.   This was the turning point in his life.  He wasn’t speaking metaphorically when he penned the line “amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me”.  He was convinced of his former disposition and increasingly aware of the inexhaustible grace he had been shown through Christ.  So the next time you and I fail in our battle against sin and we are tempted to ask, “Is there mercy for me?” we can stand fast in this truth:  God didn’t save us “because of works done in righteousness, but according to his own mercy”.

All Because of Grace,
Brett

Want to know more about John Newton?  Read But Now I See by Josiah Bull (Newton’s biographer).

Gilbert Highet, long time professor and scholar at Columbia University once remarked about the value of reading books, “These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves.  From each of them goes out its own voice… and just as the touch of a button on our set will fill the room with music, so by taking down one of these volumes and opening it, one can call into range the voice of a man far distant in time and space, and hear him speaking to us, mind to mind, heart to heart.”

We have a room in our church that is home to a significant number of men and women who love God and want to tell you about it.  I’m referring to the writings of various Christian authors found in our bookstore.

The Scriptures demonstrate that God works through teachers so that each of us in the body of Christ might grow in godliness.  The Bible is exclusively authoritative and without peer.  There is no replacement for it in the life of the Believer who is desirous of a healthy and growing relationship with God.  However, hearing J.I. Packer expound on what it means to “know God” or Wayne Grudem explain the importance of the sacraments or Gordon Fee describe the “empowering presence” of the Holy Spirit can provide an even deeper understanding of what the Scriptures teach.

We have one purpose in our bookstore — growth in Godliness.  That goal is realized by providing resources to our guests and members at a minimal cost.  While we can’t stock everything we’ve tried to offer something in each of the more common areas of study such as: the gospel, evangelism, marriage, parenting, discipleship, spiritual disciplines, church history, biography, systematic theology and Old and New Testament studies.  Because every book in our bookstore has either been read or reviewed by one of our pastors we can heartily recommend all of them to you.

Interestingly the bookstore serves as a respite, at times, for folks.  Prior to the service children will occasionally come in, grab a book off the shelf, and plop on the floor to begin their adventure.  For guests, this is a favorite stop when “checking out the church”.

Overseeing all of this is Barbara Reynolds.  If you’ve ever met Barbara you’ve encountered her love for others.  One of the reasons why she enjoys serving in the bookstore ministry is because it puts her in a position to help people with their study needs.  One person needs a book to reach out to a neighbor; another person wants to pick up where the sermon left off.  A couple has decided to study something together.  These are just some of the situations Barbara encounters each Sunday.  When she’s not serving in the bookstore Barbara also serves as the Executive Secretary for Sovereign Grace church.

While the knack for running a bookstore seems to be in the family’s blood (Barbara’s sister runs a very successful bookstore in Boston), it’s not necessary to have read all of the Ante-Nicene Fathers or even the latest exposition by John Piper to serve on the Bookstore Service Team.  You simply need to enjoy meeting people and helping them find their way to the next book God has for them.   That’s what Barbara and her husband Jim, along with Mark and Dee Palmer, Paul and Christine Guizard and Cheryl and Christen Davis do each time they serve. Why not consider if God would have you join this team?

Sometime back in 1990, Dave and Sheila Bendinelli reached out to a young Navy couple.  Soon God radically changed Barbara and Jim’s world and they began coming to what was then Southside church.  With the exception of a three-year hiatus in Georgia the Reynolds have been here ever since.  They’ve watched both their daughter Katie and their son Jake grow up here.  We’re so thankful for the part that Barbara and Jim, along with the rest of the Bookstore Service Team,  play in the on-going mission of Sovereign Grace Church!

Thankful to be serving together,

Brett

Psalm 104:24-34 O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures…these all look to you, to give them their food in due season.   When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.  When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.  May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke!  I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.   ~ Psalm 104:24-34

I sit on my deck.  The sky is blue.  The trees are saturated with green.  The sun lights the grass before me in a golden blaze.  A gentle breeze blows and the leaves dance like hundreds of green swatches all moving to the same harmonious meter. Suddenly a butterfly lands on the railing just before me.  As this former caterpillar takes a reprieve from his flight he spreads his wings to reveal a colorful and symmetrical design.   There are numerous orange circles of varying diameter above a light blue base all drawn on the charcoal colored background of his wings.  To my left I notice a robin pecking through a pile of leaves.  Soon she returns to her home; a nest built atop the crook of my drainpipe.  The robin sits contentedly in her warm perch.  She occasionally looks around.  I am taken by her peacefulness.  She is free from anxiety, stress or striving.

Perhaps this is because my little houseguest is innately aware that provision is always at hand even though the identity of her benefactor remains anonymous.  While unknown to the robin He is not unknown to me.  I know the master designer.  Through the renewal of the Spirit my eyes have been opened to see as I was meant to see before that fateful day in Eden.  I am privileged to find my place on the canvas of this one whose creativity knows no limit.  The divine artist dabs his palette of colors and meticulously strokes rich colors on the wings of a butterfly, light hues on flowers that are beginning to bloom; bold shades of green on the crepe myrtle leaves that speak of life renewed.  This thoughtful builder provides the raw materials for the robin to lay her eggs, along with the wind that will lift the wings of her young nestlings as they take their first flight.

This same sovereign one who tells the sun when to rise, arranges the clouds like wisps of summer cotton, who leaves no bird of flight or furry creature that scampers along the earth to go hungry also provides for me.  For the theater today is the backyard of my own home.  Yes, my God provides for me.  Soon I will go inside and enjoy a sumptuous meal.  The sound of laughter and tales of the day’s adventures will resound as my family and I enjoy the fellowship that God has birthed.  And when I go to bed this evening I will sleep soundly; a sinner who’s debt has been erased for God has delivered the ultimate provision, my savior, Christ Jesus.

This is the world I live in.  I know it is only temporary, a mere foreshadowing of the celestial land that knows no borders nor passage of time reserved for those whom He has redeemed.  Yet I am in awe, humbled by my smallness; grateful for the ability to comprehend to some degree the majesty and wonder that is God!

In Wonder of Him,

Brett

For about the first 1000 years of the Church worshippers stood for the entire service.  By the 1700s pews had become more prevalent though the wooden bench may have been a bit uncomfortable.  Given that tidbit of Church history makes me appreciative of the cushioned chairs we get to sit on each Sunday morning.  It’s nice to come in at 9:45 and gaze out at a sea of choices, all in neat little rows. Have you ever wondered who makes that possible?  The Chair Set Up Team is one of our many Sunday Service Teams.  The team, made up of three groups of men who serve one month and then are off for the next two.  Each Sunday, around 8:00 a.m. they meet in the empty gym.  Using laser technology for alignment (seriously, it’s a laser plumb line), PVC pipe for proper distances, and lots of elbow grease they set in 700+ chairs.  In a matter of an hour (the younger guys say they can do it faster) these teams transform our cavernous gym into a well-organized sanctuary for guests and members to come and worship the Lord and experience the presence and power of God.

Wes Dipzinski serves as the overall leader of the Chair Set Up team.  Years ago Wes spent his time skiing and snowboarding competitively while living in Gaylord Michigan.  In 2004 however, God redirected him to move to the Hampton Roads area and become part of Sovereign Grace Church.  Wes and his wife Katie (members of the Davis Care Group) are eagerly anticipating the birth of their first child this August.

Wes enjoys the fellowship that he and the other guys experience each week as they labor together.  He sees it as an opportunity for fathers and sons to serve alongside of each other as well.  While the task is not complex a strong back and attention to detail is helpful.  The work may seem pretty “ordinary” but make no mistake, the Chair Set Up Team performs a service vital to our mission.  It’s another way of saying, “Welcome to our home.  We’re glad you’re here!”  If you’d like to begin serving on this team  – we could use you!  Just see Wes and he’ll tell you all about it.

Grace to you,

Brett