Dear Fellow Children of God,
Have you seen the Christmas displays in the stores? Actually, Christmas decorations and gifts
have been on display in stores since just after Halloween. I do not like it when the commercialization and
materialization of the cultural Christmas holiday drowns out the Christmas message
of the birth of God’s Son, our Savior. But
I don’t mind the anticipation and the waiting. People live in anticipation of
Christmas, because Christmas is worth waiting for.
Anticipation is part of the Biblical story of the people God
waiting for the coming of God’s promised Savior. From the beginning of time God had been
promising to send a Savior who would defeat the enemy of His people. Sometimes God’s people forgot that their
greatest enemy was not so much other nations and people. Satan and the temptations to sin are the
ultimate enemies of all people in the world.
Sin brings suffering and pain and death.
But people still anxiously waited
for the promised Savior who would bring deliverance.
In the time of John the Baptist the people knew a Savior
was coming and you can hear their anticipation.
Listen to the words of Luke 3. 15 The
people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John
might possibly be the Christ. 16 John answered them all, "I baptize you
with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals
I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with
fire. They were “waiting
expectantly” for God to fulfill His promise.
John lets them know that he is not the one, but John points to Jesus,
the Son of God, who came as God’s Messiah to save the people. Jesus was worth anticipating and waiting for.
What are you waiting for?
What is on your Christmas list this year? Children like toys and bikes, dolls and
sporting goods, or maybe some new computer game. Adults enjoy things for the home or music, or
something to enjoy in the outdoors.
But more important than material gifts, what are the deepest
hopes of your heart? What would really
fulfill your dreams for your life? Personally, my deepest prayers are for God and
His grace in the lives of those I care for.
I pray for faith and peace and eternal life for myself and my family. I pray fervently for God’s love and grace for
the people of St. John. In fact, many of
our efforts at St. John are aimed at sharing God and His saving grace and love with
others. I pray because God is worth
waiting for.
With this in mind, do you know the words of anticipation
from Psalm 130? 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul
waits, and in his word I put my hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord more than
watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. 7 O
Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with
him is full redemption. 8 He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. The Psalmist knows that the things of this world may bring temporary
happiness. But, it is the Lord who brings
love, forgiveness, redemption, and life.
So, he waits for the Lord to reveal Himself in this life and
forever. You see, God is worth waiting
for!
While stores around us are building up anticipation of Christmas,
God’s Church is observing the season of Advent.
Advent is a Latin word that means “coming.” The
anticipation and waiting of Advent point to the coming of God’s Son, our
Savior. We constantly live in hope and anticipation
for Jesus to come in our lives. The
anticipation tells us that Jesus and His gifts of love and forgiveness,
redemption and life, are worth waiting for.
A Child of God, Waiting Every Day to Experience God and
His Love in my Life,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. I thought I
might have fishing pictures for this message.
On Monday I took Henry fishing, which he had been asking to do. But, when we got to Seventeen Mile Lake and I
opened the door the wind was blowing and blew in Henry’s face. He told me it was cold and didn’t want to get
out. I drove to a closer lake, Walby,
where the wind was not blowing and asked Henry if he wanted to fish there. Henry answered, “Poppy, I told you we can
fish the next day! I want to go to your
house and drink hot chocolate. So . . .
no fish pictures this week.
****
ABOUT
‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages,
hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I
have. (I am regularly adding new names of friends and members – in case
you are just receiving this e-mail for the first time.) However, if you
don’t want to receive this e-mail, please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave
your name off my list for this message.
****
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