SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Christmas messages
from
local pastors
lone U nited C h u rc h o f C h rist
‘If an angel appeared to you’
G abriel said to Mary, “Hail, O favored one, the Lord
is w ith y o u ." T he G reek w ord that is translated as “ H ail” is
sometim es used as a greeting. M ore often, it means “ Rejoice”
or “Be glad.” It is a joyful, hopeful greeting. Mary was troubled
in her mind, like a pool that is stirred by a sudden current and
she wondered what sort o f greeting this might be.
Im agine what it w ould it be like to have one o f G od’s
m essengers say to you, “ Rejoice, be glad. God loves you. The
Lord is near.” W ould you be eager or afraid?
“ Do not be afraid,” said the angel, "for you have found
favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb
and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” It is unlikely
that G od w ould send a m essenger to you to say precisely these
words, but w hat might such a m essenger say to you? “ Do not
be afraid. G od has a special love for you. And God w ould like
to do som ething rem arkable in your life, som ething that you
m ay not even believe is possible.” You m ay have to w atch,
listen, and pray for a long tim e to gain a glim pse o f what this
might be. You m ay need to talk with someone whom you trust
to guide you in order to confirm what the spirit is saying in your
heart.
“ He w ill be great, and jvill be called the Son o f the
Most H igh,” said the angel. "A nd the Lord G od will give to
him the throne o f his father David, and he will reign over the
house o f Jacob forever. A nd o f his kingdom there will be no
end." The good news to M ary w as not ju st a private message,
and the m iracle w as not a private blessing ju st for her sake.
What God was doing in M ary would change the lives o f many,
and would establish the pow er o f G od among us in a way that
would last forever. In the sam e way, G o d ’s w ord to you m ay
transform your attitudes tow ard yourself, the people around
you, and o f your place in society. W hat G od is doing in each
o f us is a part o f the w ay that G od is transform ing the world.
M ary said to the angel, “ H ow shall this be, since I
have no husband?” This question m ay not imply doubt. In a
very similar moment, the father o f John the Baptist asked, “How
shall 1 know this?” and w as unable to speak until John w as
bom because o f his disbelief. Yet M ary keeps her voice. “How
shall this be?” is a question o f “ H ow ?” not “ Will this really
happen?” You might have the same question, especially when
our hearts lead us to attem pt w hat does not seem likely to
succeed.
“The Holy Spirit will com e upon you, and the power
o f the M ost High will overshadow you; therefore the child to
be bom will be holy, the Son o f God.” G od’s m essenger might
answ er our questions saying, “This will be done by the Holy
1 1 .Spirit and by the power o f God, and therefore w hat is done in
you will be holy, a work o f G od.”
“ For with G od,” said the angel, “nothing w ill be
im possible.” A nd M ary replied, “ I am the handm aid o f the
Lord. Let it be with m e according to your w ord.” She freely
accepted both her general responsibility to God, and the special
miracle, which would alter the course o f her life forever.
This Christm as, m ay you be blessed by knowing that
G od loves you, and that G od is w ith you. M ay G od speak to
your heart to let you know both the prom ise and the task that
is set before you. May you have confidence that this will happen
by the work o f the Holy Spirit and by the Pow er o f God, and
that with G od all things will be possible. And m ay you find the
peace to accept the h onor o f being a servant o f G od, and the
courage to allow and not resist the wonderful possibilities that
God is placing in your life. Amen.
-Reverend Paul Clay
First Christian Church
‘So what’s the plan’
I heard a report on the new s today that m ost people in
America will travel more than fifty miles this holiday season to
be with friends and family. Here in Heppner we kind o f chuckle
at that fact and say, “ We travel that distance every day.”
A bout two and a h a lf years ago, I m ade the decision
to go back to school for a little more education. O ver the next
two years, I worked very hard and completed the course work
that the school requested I do to complete this particular degree
program. I also began to prepare for a trip to California just in
case I actually finished. Now, o f course, no trip to Los Angles
can be done without taking the family and taking in the sites,
so a little m ore planning had to be done. Hotels were booked.
Tickets to certain m ajor them e parks had to be purchased.
The trip had to be planned out. W ell, ju st this last w eek m y
family and I made this trip. After many “well ok” and after two
years o f waiting we made the trip to my graduation cerem ony
and certain them e parks in Anaheim. It was a blast and we had
fun and loved the w eather and then w e cam e hom e. It took a
lot o f planning and w ork and tw o and a h a lf years o f tim e to
have a week and a half's worth o f fun with m em ories to last a
lifetime. But it only affected four people- my w ife, m y kids,
and myself.
Alm ost two thousand years ago, some well-laid plans
began to unfold here on earth w ith the birth o f a baby boy. It
was the start o f a plan to deal w ith the sins o f m ankind and to
redeem the w hole o f hum an kind to a proper and good
relationship with their Creator. This season as you celebrate
Christmas rem em ber the planning that started at Creation and
led one man to the cross so we could have a right relationship
with God. A nd this plan, done so long ago, not only affected
those folks in their time, but affects you and I today. So m uch
planning and it was ju st as m uch for you and me as it was for
them . For that reason w e can truly celebrate the birth o f our
Sav ior and praise God for the wonderful holiday season. Have
a m erry C hristm as and a happy N ew Year.
-Pastor Andrew Johnson
Christian Life Center
Heppner Nazarene Church
‘The birth of a king’
‘The Ten Commandments
Christmas’
The first two chapters o f M atthew give us five proofs
that Jesus Christ o f Nazareth is truly King and has the right to
rule and reign over each o f our lives. The wise men who came
seeking for H im stopped in Jerusalem and asked, “ W here is
H e w ho is bom K ing?” T he C hrist child w as b o m to be a
supreme ruler and a supreme monarch. In fact, John the writer
o f Revelation says “He is King over all kings and Lord over all
lords.” He is the greatest, the most suprem e o f all m onarchs.
T he first p ro o f is found in the genealogy o f Jesus in
M att. 1:1-17. H ere we have the descendants from A braham
dow n to the birth o f Christ. To be bom a king one m ust have a
royal heritage, and these verses show C hrist’s royal heritage.
While the racial line o f the Jews came from Abraham, the royal
line began w ith David. To possess a royal lineage, one would
need to be a son o f A braham and a son o f David. Verse 1 o f
chapter 17 starts out showing us that Jesus fulfilled those two
requirem ents, and thus had a genealogy o f royalty.
The second proof o f his kingship is his royal nature. A
K ing was one w ho the people w ent to for m ercy and grace.
The King had the right o f life and death. Jesus is the King who
w e can go to for pardon, forgiveness, and favor. W hen you
consider the follow ing people w ho w ere in Jesus’ lineage, it
becomes apparent that his ancestors were definitely in need o f
mercy.
First off, w e look at A braham . We see that he was a
m an in need o f G od’s grace and mercy. A braham w as a great
m an, but he also w as a sinful m an. He lied blatantly and
flagrantly about his own wife to try to protect her when he was
in Egypt. He doubted the power o f God. He had an adulterous
relationship with his own handmaid because he didn’t believe
G od could really give him a child. Ishmael was the product o f
that relationship, and was a cursed child in many ways. Abraham
was a liar, doubter and adulterer; and so he was a sinful man.
N ext, consider D avid, w ho w as know n as the m an
after G od’s ow n heart. He was a bloody man, a m an o f m any
battles, m any m assacres and m any deaths. He sow ed seeds
o f dissipation by marrying many women. He was a horrendous
excuse for a father, losing his children by allowing them to fall
in dissipation, evil and even rebellion. He was exceedingly sinful
in his adulterous affair w ith Bathsheba and the m urder o f her
husband. H e acted as if he was insane to try to escape from a
circumstance he thought G od was unable to deliver him out of.
H is son Solom on was even worse than he was.
W hat is God showing us by all o f this? He is showing
that His nature is one o f m ercy and grace, and that M ary was
also bom a sinner in need o f grace and m ercy, ju st like you
and I.
The third proof was His royal birth. Verse 18 o f chapter
1 rem inds us that Jesus w as bom o f a virgin. M ary w as not
impregnated by man but by the Holy Spirit. The scripture tells
us that M ary and Joseph did not have a physical relationship
until after Jesus w as bom . Joseph had the right to divorce
M ary w hen he found out that she w as pregnant, but after the
angel visited him to tell him it was okay to take her as his wife,
he changed his mind. This was not just another baby. This was
G od com ing dow n in the flesh to dwell with you and I.
The fourth proof is the royal worship He receives gifts
from the w ise m an after He is bom . C hapter 2:1 tells us that
th e w ise m en cam e from the east to brin g H im gold,
frankincense and myrrh. The Gold speaks o f His kingship, the
frankincense speaks o f His deity, and the myrrh speaks o f his
humanity. Tim e doesn’t allow me to go into all the details o f
im portance in the w ise m en visiting the King, but as you can
see, the wise m en’s gifts show their acknow ledgm ent o f Him
asking.
The fifth and final proof o f Jesus’ royalty I w ould like
to cover is the fact o f his royal decree. G od gave prophecies
to Old Testament m en who foretold the details o f Jesus’ birth.
It w as foretold that He w ould be b o m o f a virgin, that He
w ould be bom in B ethlehem and that He w ould com e out o f
Egypt. It w as foretold o f the w eeping that w ould com e as a
result o f the m assacre o f little children. It was foretold that he
w ould be called a Nazarene. Jesus fulfilled every elem ent o f
the royal decree o f God. He is the K ing in every sense. He is
K ing by birth, by decree, by lineage, by character, and by
worship.
W hile m any thought he was com ing to rule over the
people o f the tim e, His first plan has alw ays been to rule and
reign over the hearts and lives o f mankind without forcing himself
on anyone. The time will come when every one will stand before
G od and declare that His is Lord o f lords and King o f kings.
W hy not choose to m ake H im Lord o f your life right now,
before it is too late.
-Pastor Duane Jones
St. Patrick’s and St. William’s Parishes
‘Biblical simplicity’
Children love to hear stories. Adults love to tell them
stories. All o f us rejoice in the story o f Christmas. It is a story
o f peace and goodwill, a story o f angels, and shepherds, and
stars, and Magi, and travelers, and music. This story is told in
various w ays. Som e people tell this story by putting lights
around their hom es; som e do so by having Christm as trees;
som e do so by giving gifts; businesses do so by having sales;
the Church does so by recalling the words o f the Bible.
W hile some o f us tend to bemoan the commercialism
associated w ith Christm as, the fact is that C hristm as w ould
not be the same without it. If we were truly unhappy about that
we would not go on shopping sprees, we would not squander
our money on gifts; we w ould not mail cards to our friends far
and wide. So perhaps we have to adm it that we are touched
by the story, and it m akes us all am bassadors o f peace and
goodwill.
W hat is this w onderful story that m oves so m any
people to rejoice? The Bible expresses w ith great simplicity.
In the words o f the angels: “This day in D avid’s city a savior
has been bom to you, the M essiah and Lord.” (Luke 2:11) St.
Luke also tells us, M ary “gave birth to her firstborn son and
wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manager.”
(Luke 2:7) The wise men from the east inquired: “Where is the
new born king o f the Jew s? W eobserved his star at its rising
and have come to pay him homage,” (Matthew 2:2) W ho could
have imagined 2000years ago that such simplicity would move
million to faith in the newborn savior?
M ay this Christmas be a time for you o f genuine faith
in the savior o f m ankind. M ay you experience the true inner
joy, peace and happiness that Jesus brought to the w orld and
which He offers you this Christm as season.
-Father Gerry Condon
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‘It’s a wonderful life’
The classic Christmas movie, “ It’s a Wonderful Life,”
rem inds us each year o f the value o f a life well lived. Jim m y
Stewart, in his role as the m anager o f the small tow n Savings
and Loan, has been a positive influence to all around him.
Discouragement can set it, as it does for him on Christmas Eve
when the daily bank deposit is lost. But friends rally to his side,
his eyes are opened, and he proclaims: “ It is a wonderful life.”
T here is a m essage here for us all: our attitudes and
helpfulness, throughout our lives, does make a big difference.
But we know something the Jimmy Stewart’s character doesn’t
know. We know that the bank deposit w asn’t ju st lost; it was
stolen by the one m an in tow n w ho w as trying to prove that
reaching out to help others is not such a noble thing to do. We
are able to see the evil, but we are still asked to accept the
thought that life is indeed wonderful. That is not always easy to
do. W hen w e see evil at work, we think, and som etim es even
begin to speak, negative thoughts.
The m essage o f Christm as dow n through the ages is
that w e are to em brace the positive, the good, the ju st and
right. W hen love is shown, when love is returned, even in the
face o f evil, the world begins to change for the better. Just like
the world o f Jimmy Stewart’s little hometown, our communities
will grow to become the reflections o f our won attitudes today.
T oday’s sm ile, to d ay ’s gift, to d ay ’s love, will be the
heritage w e leave for our next generation. A jo y o u s, merry,
positive and love-filled Christmas to us all.
-Pastor Keith Brudevold
i
The following contains some good advice that will help
us keep selfishness in check this Christmas:
I. T hou shaft not leave: “C hrist” out o f C hristm as,
making it “Xm as.” To some, “X” means “unknown.”
II. Thou shaft prepare thy soul for Christm as. Spend
not so m uch on gifts that your soul is forgotten.
III. Thou shaft not let Santa Claus replace Christ: thus
robbing the day o f its spiritual reality.
IV. Thou shaft not burden: the shop girl, the mailman
and the merchant with complaints and demands.
V. T hou shaft give y o urself w ith your gift. This will
increase its value a hundred fold and he w ho receives it shall
treasure it forever.
VI. T hou shaft not value gifts received by the cost.
Even the least expensive m ay signify love and that is m ore
priceless than silver and gold.
VII. T hou shah not neglect the needy. Share your
blessings with many who will go hungry and cold.
VIII. Thou shah not neglect your church. Its services
highlight the true meaning o f the season.
IX. Thou shah be as a little child. Jesus said, “Unless
you change and become like little children, you will never enter
the kingdom o f heaven.”
X. Thou shah give your hear to Christ. Let Him be at
the top o f your Christm as list.
Original author unknown.
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