"It Takes a Child"

Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Our co-worker, Dr. Robert (Bob) Newel, who serves in Athens Greece, has recently written a series of Advent sermons. In the first sermon he refers to the “African proverb, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’” He goes on to say that he would like to turn that saying around and look at it in a different way for the theme of his sermons: “It takes a child.”

“Indeed, the heavenly perspective, as revealed most keenly in the Bethlehem event, affirms the power of this reality. Advent and Christmas stand as stark reminders that ‘It takes a child’ to raise the hopes of humankind; ‘It takes a child’ to raise the awareness of a decimated and discouraged world of God's faithful compassion! ‘It takes a child’ to raise the desperately damaged vision of what each of us was intended to be; ‘It takes a child’ to raise, anew, the possibility of destinations where the Almighty has dreamed that we should go. ‘It takes a child!’” (Taken from the 1^st sermon in Dr. Newel’s Advent series.)

It is amazing to me that God chose to send His Son to us as a baby.

This Christmas season may we be ever thoughtful and thankful “for unto us a child is born!”

"May it be to me as He has said"

Luke 1, 26-38

“In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendent of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’

“Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’

“’How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’

“The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.’

“’I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May it be to me as you have said.’ Then the angel left her.”

One might wonder what it was about Mary, a young girl that “found favor with God.” Quite possibly it was her attitude of absolute surrender which is obvious in her statement that she is the Lord’s servant. In the Beginner’s Bible for children, Mary’s response to the angel and thus to the Lord is simply, “’I believe you,’ said Mary. ‘I will do whatever God wants.’”(p. 271.) God desires each of us to come to the place of absolute surrender in our lives in which we will do whatever He wants. Then He can bless us with the abundant life. During this Christmas season, may our hearts be more like Mary’s.

Thanksgiving

Often when I wake up in the morning, I find myself thanking God for the many blessings in my life. I am thankful for the home that God has provided for my family – our terrace apartment in southern Spain. I am thankful for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. I am thankful that God has used CBF to send us here to minister to people from West Africa. We have had the opportunities to become friends with people from the places in Africa where we previously lived and learned the languages. It is so much fun to greet these precious people in their language from home. We have had the opportunities to meet people from Senegal, the Gambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Cameroon, Mauritania, Morocco, and Algeria, as well as people from Latin America and Romania. I Chronicles 16:8 “Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.”

I am very thankful for my three precious children and my husband.

I Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I am even thankful for the times when I am really missing my extended family back home in Texas. A friend once reminded me that if I didn’t have such a great, encouraging, and supportive extended family, I wouldn’t miss them so much.

The key to happiness…might simply be found in being thankful to God for the blessings He has already given us.

One Day Jesus Will Call My Name

When I was in college, I remember going on retreats and sitting around the campfire in the evenings. A couple of guys would usually pull out their guitars and we would all sing choruses. One that I have been thinking about a lot lately goes something like this…

“One day Jesus will call my name

As the days go by I hope I don’t stay the same

I want to get so close to him that it’s no big change

On the day that Jesus calls my name.”

As Christians we strive to grow closer to God each day so that when we reach the end of our days and go home to be with Him, hopefully we will know Him well and it won’t be a big change.

We can grow to know Him better each day, by spending time with him in prayer and reading our Bibles.

2 Peter 3:18, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.