The Women’s Bible Study on Saturday morning has become a special part of my spiritual life. We are dong an in depth study of the Gospel of John. Chapter after chapter we have seen how God revealed his son Jesus through the observations of his disciple John. We have been able to catch a glimpse of Jesus and his life and work on earth. So the question arises of what does this all mean to me? How can the the scripture come alive in our individual lives?

Let’s look at this idea through the familiar passage of the 23rd Psalm. It was written by David and is the best known of the messianic psalms. It pictures the Lord as a shepherd. This metaphor is picked up in the New Testament in John 10: 11 where Jesus is called the good shepherd. So what do we know in the 21st century urban America about shepherds? Let’s see:

The Lord is my Shepherd - that’s a relationship!
I shall not want - he provides my needs.
He makes me lie down in green pastures - he gives me rest.
He leads me beside the still waters - he refreshes me.
He restores my soul - he heals me emotionally and spiritually.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness - he guides me.
For his name sake - he gives me purpose for my life.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death - he knows that I will face difficulties in life.
I will fear no evil - he will protect me.
For You are with me - he is faithful.
Thy rod and staff comfort me - he disciplines me.
He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies - he gives me hope.
He annoints my head with oil - he consecrates me.
My cup runs over - he gives abundantly above my needs.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life - he blesses me.
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord - he provides security.
Forever - he will be with me for eternity.

So we can not only see Jesus in this scripture, we can also see ourselves. What a gift! What joy! Praise be to God!

Christmas 2009 has come and gone. It was filled with joy and beauty, but also had moments of sadness when a snow storm caused us to have to cancel our Christmas Sunday service. We ministered to the hurting among us with the Blue Christmas Service. We had wonderful music programing thanks to Greg Lowther, our new organist. The Christmas pageant exceed our expectations with our young Holy Family and live baby Jesus (Ethan). The brunch following the pageant got rave reviews as the Sheltons worked their magic in the kitchen yet again. The Advent Bible studies prepared our hearts and minds to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus. The manger was filled once again with mittens and scarves for the needy, and we filled 18 boxes for Operation Christmas Child. It was a wonderful time. But now it is almost January.

January is not a time when we usually think about Christmas unless the after-Christmas sales make us think about buying gifts for next year and putting them away. Several people have suggested to me that we have Christmas every month by planning ahead to fill even more Christmas boxes for 2010. If we do a little each month, we can probably at least double the number of boxes we fill. So I challenge you to do just that. Start now and let’s see what we can do.

It might interest you to know that in our collection area, 14,824 shoeboxes were turned in. It was good to play even a small part in that effort. We were part of the mission outreach to children by Samaritan’s Purse lead by Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billly Graham.

So Merry Christmas in January 2010.

Fall has been lovely in New England this year. The colors have been vibrant. Even after the leaves are on the ground, their colors are beautiful. Pumpkins are plentiful, and mums abound. God is so good to give us such beautiful colors to enjoy. With the beauty of fall we often forget the harshness of the winter which lies ahead.

The reverse is true in the spiritual realm. Halloween comes, and the children enjoy “Trick or Treating.” But the underlying focus of Halloween is death and evil things. But the day following Halloween is All Saints Day. We have not given this day much attention in in our Protestant tradition, but it is worth looking at.

All Saints Day is a day when those of the faith who have gone before us are recognized and honored. We particularly note the many martyrs who have died because of their faith in Christ. The statistics on this are staggering. Consider that in the past 20 centuries 70 million have died for their faith. Contrast that with the fact that in the 20th century alone 45 million died. That is over half in one century compared to the total of the previous 20 centuries. Approximately 1,600 people have died every year since 1990. For these the cost of discipleship has been their lives.

So let us not take lightly the gifts God gives us nor the costs of following him. May we live each day in a way that honors Christ.