Dear
Fellow Children of God,
On Monday morning, December 19, our youngest two
grandchildren, Henry and Annie, came to our home before delayed start
school. Kathy entertains these two bundles of energy each week, and then brings
them to Monday classes which begin at 10:00 a.m. Henry and Annie are bright, and active, and
when they arrived and took off their coats this week, they decided to start
counting manger scenes in our home. They
saw the three nativities on our mantle.
They continued counting ceramic decorations, advent wreaths, pyramids,
and hangings placed around our home. They
also found many of the nativity themed ornaments on our Christmas tree. Their probably inaccurate count was 26 depictions
of Jesus’ nativity. After all, Christmas
IS about the birth of our Savior, Jesus.
When we decorate each Christmas, Kathy has many
decorations which she likes to place around our home. I like to focus on the manger scenes. However, there is a mystery which occurs each
year as I display our crèche displays.
We have 3 main nativities which we have acquired over the years, one
which we bought in St. Louis in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s, one which we purchased
in Alaska in the 1990’s, and one which we brought home from Israel in 2007. We
also have an advent wreath with a full manger scene. For these large nativities, I first have to
find the boxes where all the figures are stored in tissue paper. Then I have to find the individual pieces,
the shepherds, the wise men, Joseph and Mary, etc. Because Jesus is the smallest figure in each
display, the baby Jesus piece is often one of the last I find. Sometimes I
wonder if I’ll find that most important piece.
As I put out our nativity scenes I hear myself asking out loud, “Where
is Jesus?”
Is that a question you find yourself asking, or a
question you should ask yourself this Christmas season? “Where is Jesus?” If we acknowledge the truth that Christmas is
about the gift of God’s Son, come to this world to save us, does it cause you
concern if you have trouble finding Him in your Christmas celebration? Does it
cause you concern if you have trouble finding Jesus in your life? Sometimes we are the ones who make Jesus hard
to find. Do the decorations, the gifts, the
cards, the movies, or modern culture hide our Savior in your life? Do your personal struggles steal the peace
and joy of our Lord from your life?
Maybe we need to learn a lesson
from the shepherds. The angel told them
that first Christmas night, “ . . . Do not be afraid. I bring you
good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of
David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11) Hearing the good news of the Savior these men did not
remain in the fields, they went searching for Jesus. “15
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one
another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has told us about." 16 So they hurried off and found
Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.” (Luke 2:15-16) When God sends the promised Savior and
Messiah, when God Himself comes to this world to bring love and to save us, WE
DO NOT WANT TO MISS HIM! We want to find
and receive Jesus!
When I put out the manger scenes in our home, I need to
work to find baby Jesus by working through the tissue paper and the
figures. There are ways we can look for
Jesus and find Him in our lives this Christmas.
The best way I know to find the source of our Christmas celebration for
your life, is through worship in the Christian Church. Every Sunday during Advent, Christian
congregations are preparing for our Savior to come to us. Mid-week worship is preparing people to
receive Jesus in His Christmas coming.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day worship services celebrate the gift of
our Savior. Home devotions can help us
receive Jesus. Christian Christmas music
can help us find God’s gift. God works
through personal prayer time and comes to us.
The shepherds teach us that, while our Heavenly Father has given us the
greatest Christmas gift ever, we need to focus on finding and receiving that
gift of His Son, our Savior.
One of my recent devotional prayers asked God to help me
in this search. “Father in heaven, . . . light my path and show me the activities and
obligations I can say ‘no’ to. Help me
release the burdens that preoccupy my mind and keep you at bay. Come near!” (Pocket Prayers by Max and
Andrea Lucado, page 28)
Jesus really is “the reason for the season.” Even more, Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” (John 14:6) How will you search
for Him this Christmas. As the angels
proclaimed, Jesus has come “for
you.” I pray that you find and receive
Jesus, and His love, and forgiveness, His peace and His joy!
A Child of God, Searching for Jesus – the
Reason to CELEBRATE Christmas!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. In order to
remember and to celebrate the birth of Jesus, St. John Lutheran Church in
Palmer offers many worship services. Here
is a list:
·
A Service on the Longest Day of Darkness –
Wednesday, December 21, at 6:30 p.m.
This worship service is for everyone, but is especially intended to
bring comfort to those facing a “blue Christmas” because of trouble or loss.
·
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
o Family
/ Children’s Christmas Eve Service at 6:00 p.m.
o Traditional
Christmas Eve Candlelight Services at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m.
·
Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25, at 11:00
a.m. (ONE SERVICE ONLY!)
·
Wednesday Worship, December 28, at 6:30 p.m.
·
New Year’s Eve Worship, Saturday, December 31,
at 6:30 p.m.
·
New Year’s Day – Baptism of Jesus Remembrance,
January 1 at 8:15 and 11:00 a.m. (There
will be a baptism at the 11:00 a.m. service.
P.P.S. Here are
some pictures from our Advent worship service and dinner theater on Wednesday,
December 14. https://photos.app.goo.gl/2MtFkWKW5dSpd3oAA
P.P.P.S. Here are
some pictures of some of the Christmas decorations and nativity scenes at our
home this Christmas. (We did not even
put out all our manger scenes.)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/QyZY4YM2XS5KGZCA9
P.P.P.P.S.
The snow just kept coming! I estimate we
have perhaps received about 5 feet of snow at hour house since November
30. Longtime Alaskan, Arlene Fox, told
me she had never before seen this much snow this quickly. Here are some more snow pictures.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/E1PqV8uKYpLw5N7T7
P.P.P.P.P.S.
I had hoped to fish on Monday, December 19.
But I saw temperatures at -15 F.
That’s not so bad, but the wind was blowing, and I had some household
chores to do. NO FISHING this week . . . so far!
*****
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired at the end of August 2019
from serving as senior pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion previously
entitled, "Thoughts from the Pastor."
When I retired many asked me to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued writing. However, with life's changes I now call this
weekly devotion "Journeys Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer senior pastor at St.
John, I felt it right to only send this message to those who asked to receive
it. (Though I am now serving again
part-time at St. John as assistant to the pastor.)
So, if you
stopped receiving these devotions and wondered why, now you understand. And, if you are now receiving these devotions
and do not wish to receive them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove
your name from my distribution list. My
e-mail address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer
is that these devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our Lord,
Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father, Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus, St. John Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
“1 John 3:1 How great is the love the
Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that
is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 a)
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