Hubert, our Adult Bible Teacher at CFA
From a photo taken on our trip to Atlanta
From a photo taken on our trip to Atlanta
Christmas Reflection
We had a wonderful Christmas Day! Of course, as usual I spent it with a little sleep deprivation. There is always something to keep us up late the night before Christmas. We opened gifts at home with our children before getting ready for church.
Since we were having Christmas Service at 11:00 a.m. and missing our regular Sunday School, Hubert did a Power Point Sunday School Lesson. His presentation was GREAT! Using some beautiful pictures that included scenes from Jerusalem, he focused on God's purpose, sharing Scripture from Genesis through Revelation. This morning, I want to take a moment to express our gratitude to him, not only for this lesson, but for work he does all year long, every year, to teach us. What we see and hear, on Sunday morning or Wednesday night, is just a fraction of the time and energy he invests in us each year.
After the Lesson we sang some Christmas hymns, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Silent Night, and O Come All Ye Faithful. The people sang heartily which compensated greatly for what was lacking at the piano. ( I played the piano. Not only had I not played for some time, it had been even longer since I had played these Christmas hymns.) We had about thirty-five for our Christmas Day Service and what a blessing they were!
During the Christmas message I shared a Christmas story from Joe L. Wheeler's book, Christmas in My Heart: A Treasury of Timeless Christmas Stories. The story was entitled, And the Two Were Made One, by Dennis Eberhart. In the story, a grandfather is remembering a Christmas when he was only just out of high school and recounting it to his grandchildren to keep them out the way while grandmother is baking cookies. I hope you will read the story if you missed it on Sunday. The story teaches that if we care enough we can take something ugly and worthless and make it beautiful and valuable. We must be willing to do whaterever it takes. That's what God has done for us. We were spiritually ugly and worthless, but God loved us enough that he gave His son for us, as Paul records in Romans 8:32,
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
He gave the greatest gift of all, the Savior, Christ the Lord. God gave whatever it took to save us. He doesn't give sparingly, but sacrificially. What's more is that He just keeps on giving! Along with Christ, He graciously gives us all that we need for life and godliness. Have a great day!
1 comment:
I want to thank everyone for the great service on Christmas. Its the first time I have ever been in church on Christmas day. The presentation that Hubert created was a wonderful way to start the day. I thank him very much not only for the Christmas presentation, but for all that he does. Every time that I attend one of his classes, I always think about what he has brought to my attention and he gives me reason to think about how his lesson affects my life and how I can improve myself to become a better person.
The music was wonderful. Something about piano music that seems to warm the heart and makes me want to sing. (though I can't for love or money.) The story was a wonderful lesson for everyone. Too bad they don't teach that in school. I was watching a movie the other night and a guy in the movie said something that has stuck with me. He said," You don't throw away a life because its a little banged up." That story reminded me of that little sentence. Thank you all for the love and happiness that we shared on Christmas.
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