Epiphany - Sunday Sermon Review

Sunday January 6, 2013 - Sunday Sermon Review
( from my home church I attend regularly )

1 Peter 4:10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Thought for the Week: "Prayer is as important as breathing".

Topic: Epiphany

The service began with singing "Worthy is the Lamb", "How Great Thou Art", and "I Stand Amazed in the Presence".

Text : Matthew 2:1-12
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,  Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.  And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.  Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.  When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Our speaker today was our Pastor in Training - Pastor Ryan. Here is some of what he said.
The Magi from the east were not Jews but Gentiles. They were men of stature. The star signaled the coming of the King of Israel. They were determined to find Jesus. The wise men worshipped Jesus and gave Him gifts. They believed the Child was worthy of worship and to be given gifts.
What do we bring to King Jesus our Saviour?
*our offerings at church ( an act of worship and submission )
*financial donations to camps, and other ministry organizations
*our talents and gifts ( we are all gifted with unique talents and abilities )
*gifts and talents come with variety and include - music abilities, working with children and adults, encouraging others, being a good friend, cooking, the list is endless
How do we give our gifts to Jesus?
Our gifts should be given to bring glory to God.
We give our gifts through service
* we use our gifts to serve God and others
* its not about what I can get out of life but how can I serve and bless others?
1 Peter 4:10 - 11 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.  If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
When we use our gifts and talents to serve others, we bring glory to God!
Sometimes we may feel like we are not as gifted as other people are - Some gifts and talents get more spotlight while others are done privately ( God sees! )
1 Corinthians 12: 4-6 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.  And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
Some are visible while others are more behind the scenes but just as valuable.
Diversity and Unity in the Church just as in the Human Body
The church needs all the people's gifts to function
There are many churches in our town - If they are grounded in Christ then we are of the same mission. We have the same goal. We are a body.
Personally Speaking - am I using my talents and gifts for God? - to bless others in service to God?
Use your work to bless others and intentionally encourage others in the faith.
The hardest gift to give is our time. We are busy people. Make time to serve God and others.
The Magi brought gifts to Jesus.
Let's bring our gifts to Him also!

Romans 12:4-8 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

Note: Next Sunday we are back to our Matthew series.

Grace - Wrapping the Gift of Forgiveness

2 Corinthians 12: 8-9 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Forgiving the person or persons who hurt us deeply is hard work - it is a process and takes time. I say this from personal experience. Some time ago I wrote a blog post titled Forgiving the Hard Stuff, Justice and Healing. I would like to encourage everyone to read it - link to the post here - http://sharingthefaith-northernsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/06/forgiveness.html
If you are like me and have been working forgiveness through your mind and focusing on getting it to completion, you will agree that as much as you want forgiveness toward that person to be complete, you feel inadequate in getting it done and in the depths of your heart you wonder if there is more "forgiving" to do in order to feel that completeness in your heart.
Since I have been in process of forgiving for a few years now, and I really want it to be complete, God has been gracious to me and revealed to me that I need His grace to do the rest of the work in my heart. I have come a long way but I am weak - He is my Strength and He assures me that I can leave it to Him to complete the work of forgiving my offender in my heart and  I cannot reach that point without His intervention of grace in my heart. With His grace He covers my weakness with His Strength. Then in Him  and through Him I am made complete. 
In my mind I see giving forgiveness as giving a gift to a person. I want to give the gift ( with my whole heart I want to give this person this gift) but the gift is not ready to give until it is wrapped in beautiful gift wrap. Grace is that gift wrap which provides completeness to the gift of extending forgiveness.
After the Lord had revealed this lesson in grace to me, He affirmed it to me again through the teaching of one of my radio Bible teachers. I praise the Lord for this! The radio Bible teacher said that sometimes the sin done against us by our friend or whoever is so huge that forgiveness is not humanly possible. The pain from a deep hurt can resemble post traumatic stress disorder with similiar symptoms ( nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety, sadness, fear, loneliness). It is at such a time that we need Jesus to help us and He will! Jesus experienced extreme betrayal and from the cross and in Luke 23: 34 it says Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.  When the pain is so huge, Jesus comes and takes over and carries the pain for us. He does the work of forgiveness through me in a miraculous way. Every time the pain surfaces and reoccurs in our heart we must turn to the Lord in prayer and again and again leave it with Him there. His Grace is sufficient for me.
1 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
It is so important to be able to forgive completely since to live with these burdens of pain and hurt in our hearts are dangerous to our own health. Jesus wants to take all of our burdens and anxieties and replace it with His peace. He is the Healer of our broken hearts. In Luke 4:18  Jesus says - he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
Lets remember to constantly bring our cares to the Lord in prayer.
Phillipians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

Turning 50! ...Part 2

In my earlier post titled  Yep I'm Turning 50 Part 1 (  http://sharingthefaith-northernsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/10/yep-im-turning-50-part-1.html ), I shared how my family surprised me with a birthday party two months early. I want to be able to look back here on my blog and remember the party and the gifts my Mom and sisters came up with for the "50 gifts for your 50th birthday box!"
So I took some pictures in order to help me remember everything:

I will call this one "My Fifties Stuff"

There is a jar of  Over the Hill Pills, a bottle of Niffty Fifty Pills, a nice coffee cup, a bit of "aged" honey from the farm-but not 50 yet!, a jar of 50 mints, 50th napkins, lens eyeglass cleaner, a keychain that says "people born on this day are great perfectionists. They enjoy being with family and relatives. People who like to set high standards. They can be wary of strangers."

Next is my "Heaven is Best" collection -

The note with the teapot reads as follows:
Just a little bit of advice-"some gold"
For times you are feeling kind of OLD-
Sit down and have a cup of tea
And remember " The BEST is yet to be!"

The kitchen scrubber holder is a cow to remind me of milking our dairy cows on my parents farm in my growing up years. The note there says - Did you ever see such a sight in your life - A far cry from what you used to milk!

Next is my "Purple Collection"

I was told at the party that an old lady like me should wear purple - so they gave me a purple scarf, a purple necklace, a purple wallet ( with a nickel and a penny inside! LOL) , a vase with purple flowers in it, another vase saying "Forget me not", and a couple of books - "My Jesus is Everything" by Anne Graham Lotz and  "Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life" by Charles Swindoll.  Along with my purple collection was a poem which I will share here:

Warning

 (by Jenny Joseph)

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple

With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me

And I shall spend my pension on summer gloves

and satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired

And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

And run my stick along the public railings

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

and pick flowers and learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

And eat three pounds of sausages at a go

Or only bread and pickle for a week

And hoard pens and pencils and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

And pay our rent and set a good example for our children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple!

Next - A Purple Hyacinth bulb, A phonebook to read in my sparetime, and everything to make Lemon Tarts

and knitting needles and yarn so I can start knitting!

Childhood Memories

Our Old Teddy Bear says :

I've had a lot of lovin' in my younger years-

But I sure wouldn't mind a bit more in these

Olden GOLDEN Years!

More Childhood Memories

When we were kids, my sister and I used to make purses out of cereal boxes just like this when we would play so my sister made a purse for my 50th birthday!

An old ball and a rubber ball with notes to go with:

Rubber Ball note - This rubber ball reminds me of our childhood days- only it still has it's color on it - ours usually did not keep the color very long. We used them for 7-up, catch, baseball at times or even to play Anti Anti Over ( in Low-German we would shout - anten, anten sant soa dumm de fracten hoava) 

Other Ball Note-It will be interesting to see
If you still remember me

Bouncing around was so much fun

 In the shade or in the sun!

Who or what do you think I am?

The Everything Else Gift Collection

So to all my family Thanks very much for making this a Thanksgiving day and birthday party a day to remember!

Gender Selective Abortions......

Genesis 4:9-11
And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
¹⁰ And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
¹¹ And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;


This morning I was listening to the radio as I usually do as part of my morning routine. The discussion involved gender selective abortions. I was utterly disgusted to learn that this practice is going on within Manitoba's health care system. The question they were asking is whether gender selective abortions is founded in a  prejudice against a particular gender whether female or male. It's horrific to imagine that a couple would go for an ultrasound for the purpose of identifying whether their baby is boy or girl, then choose to have it aborted if it is not what they wanted. Seriously, we are not shopping for clothing or a car here, we are talking about a human life created by God Himself. We are talking about a human being's life, a life that is equally as precious as the lives of the  parents who are making these horrible decisions.  I think it is time that people realize there is a God up in Heaven and that each of us will give an account to Him for the things we have done on this earth in our lifetimes.  Abortion is the killing of a child and therefore it is murder and that is how God sees it. As the opening verses that I posted - the blood of the murdered victims cries out to God.

Romans 14:11-12
¹¹ For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
 ¹² So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God

  The discussion on the radio went on to the abortion of most babies with down syndrome. Parents are encourage by their doctors to have an ultrasound to check the health of the baby. If down syndrome is detected, then abortion is recommended. This also is a horrific tragedy. God creates each human life with loving care and there is no doctor or health practioner that has the authority to recommend killing innocent children.  How can we as a nation survive if we mess with the authority of God like this? God sees and knows what is going on and such as this grieves His heart. God is God and we as people are not God, neither in a position to pretend that we are.

Psalm 127:3  Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

I remember when my baby was born with down syndrome. You can read about this in the archives section of this blog. Our baby was born in the local hospital here but was rushed to Winnipeg by ambulance when it was determined that she was seriously ill. So I spent sometime in the hospital in Winnipeg as well. I remember one particular doctor in Winnipeg speaking to me about my daughter's condition and the way he spoke puzzled me. He kept implying that we would be giving her up to adoption. There was no way that I was going to give her up for adoption. So I had to tell him very plainly "We are keeping her". That changed the conversation. I could not imagine a doctor suggesting to me that I should give up my child. There had never been a question in our minds whether we would keep her.  My husband and I knew that God had planned this special baby for us, that he wanted us to love her and raise her and that really she is God's little girl. She is a gift to us for this short time on earth.

Jesus loves all children and we can plainly see that in the following verses:

Luke 18: 15-17
¹⁵ And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
¹⁶ But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
¹⁷ Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter there

So if anyone out there is considering having abortion - Please please do not give your child to be put to death.
Not for gender selection nor for a birth or growth abnormality. It is just not right to abort the baby. God will give you the strength to care for every one of the children that he gives to you - only trust Him to do so!