"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:14-16
Our faith in Jesus should not only be visible within the walls of the church, but should extend to wherever we are, and into the ordinary activities of the world. A Christian whose effectiveness stops at the church door is of not much use to anybody. Christianity should be visible in the way we treat a shop assistant across the counter, in the way we order a meal in a restaurant, in the way we treat our employees or serve our employer, in the way we play a game, drive our cars, and in the language we use.
If you get nothing ells get this, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
As you look at the beautifully wrapped gifts under your tree this year, remember that the most important gift of all - the One that was wrapped just for you - is the Christ Child Himself.
Do you know what a "Candy Cane Really is"? Many years ago a candy maker wanted to make candy that would symbolize the true meaning of Christmas-Which is "Jesus" The hard candy was shaped like a " J " to represent that Jesus is our rock of all ages. The candy was white, that stands for the pureness of Jesus, and the red represents the blood that Jesus shed to save us from our sins. So the next time you see a candy cane, take a minute to remember the real meaning of 'Christmas'
“Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken” … And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. - Isaiah 40:5; John 1:14 Someday all flesh will see Jesus in His full splendor, and the appearance will be terrifying to those not cleansed by His blood, but a welcome sight to those who’ve given Him their lives.
"Often, the most extraordinary opportunities are hidden among the seemingly insignificant events of life. If we do not pay attention to these events, we can easily miss the opportunities." --
If you want to do something you’ll find a way, if not you’ll find an excuse.
The Unspeakable Gift
Long ago, there ruled in Persia a wise and good king. He loved his people. He wanted to know how they lived. He wanted to know about their hardships. Often he dressed in the clothes of a working man or a beggar, and went to the communities of the poor. No one whom he visited suspected that he was a wealthy, educated man, let alone their ruler.
One time he visited a very poor man who lived in a cellar. He ate the simple, spare food the poor man ate. He spoke cheerful, kind words to him. Then he left. Later he came back to visit the poor man again, this time dressed in his finest. "I am your king!" he said, and waited. He thought the man would surely ask for some gift or favor.
Instead, the poor man fell to his knees and said, "You left your palace and your glory to visit me in this dark, dreary place. You ate the course food I ate. You brought gladness to my heart! To others you have given your rich gifts. To me you have given yourself!"
The King of glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, gave Himself to you and me. The Bible calls Him "the unspeakable gift!"
Our arch-enemy is to be cast into hell—and it will take only
one angel to bind him!
~A. Lindsay Glegg~
The greatest hope you have is that you are going to be with Jesus some day. The greatest hope you have is that everything you have read about Him in the Bible is going to come to pass in your own life. You have a reason to live and you have a purpose to keep on keeping on. Without Jesus Christ in your life, you have no hope, no future, nothing good to look forward to
A number of years ago I was given the responsibility of leading the Men's Ministry at our church. I began by praying for the Lord's leadership and guidance, for His intention regarding the men of our church. The Lord then revealed to me His vision. One of the cornerstones was a verse from Joshua 24:15, "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." There are two principal components of this verse: first, the choice of who will be served; and second, leadership of the household begins with us, individually. The Lord spoke to me about how to get men involved in His Word every day: "Write a Scripture-based daily devotional. It will help you.
"The start is what stops most people." ~ Don Shula
“My father taught me to always do more than you get paid for as an investment in your future.” – Jim Rohn
“It takes time to build a corporate work of art. It takes time to build a life. And it takes time to develop and grow. So give yourself, your enterprise, and your family the time they deserve and the time they require.” – Jim Rohn
“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” Jim Rohn
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“Good people are found, not changed. Recently I read a headline that said, ‘We don't teach people to be nice. We simply hire nice people.’ Wow! What a clever short cut.” Jim Rohn
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“Learn to help people with more than just their jobs: help them with their lives.” Jim Rohn
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“We must learn to help those who deserve it, not just those who need it. Life responds to deserve not need.” Jim Rohn
Learn something new every day. If you don't, you're falling behind.
The quality of faithfulness is essential to God’s being.
~Frank Retief~
Gloomy seasons of religious indifference and social sin are not exempted from the divine purpose. When the altars of truth are defiled, and the ways of God forsaken, the Lord's servants weep with bitter sorrow, but they need not despair, for even the darkest eras are governed by the Lord and will come to an end at His command. What seems defeat to us may be victory to Him.
Though enwrapt in gloomy night,
We perceive no ray of light;
Since the Lord Himself is here,
'Tis not fitting we should fear.
by Alistair Begg.
If our view of God is different from or smaller than the Bible’s, we shall be astray in all our thinking and living.
~Robert M. Horn~
Whatever you are going through in life, remember this: you have a Savior. He has put your sins as far away from you as the east is from the west.
Christ means "anointed one." Another word for that is Messiah. Jesus was the fulfillment of God's promise to send His Son as the Messiah. This is a simple reminder that God keeps His promises. God said that He would send a Messiah, and the Messiah came.
Lord means that we have a sovereign God who is in control of our lives.
So set aside the things you have become preoccupied with and remember that you have a Savior. You have a Lord. You have a Christ. And you have His promises.
Greg Laurie
The Christian experience, from start to finish, is a journey of faith.
~Watchman Nee~
Jesus' own life was an example of praying persistently. At times, Jesus was up before dawn for extended prayer with the Father. "Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed" (Mark 1:35). On another occasion, He prayed the entire night through. "Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God" (Luke 6:12). In addition to His rich private prayer life, Jesus prayed regularly in public as well. "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes…Then He took the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them… Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me" (Matthew 11:25; Luke 9:16; and John 11:41-42). If Jesus, the Son of God prayed habitually, how clearly we are to do the same.
Bob Hoekstra
When that little voice inside says, "Say something about Jesus!" Do it.
Christians acting like jerks is the devil’s best advertisement for atheism. But when we call upon God and make concerted efforts to live in humble love and unity, people will see Jesus. By His grace, some will believe in Him.
Randy Alcorn
The incarnation is not a subtraction. Jesus doesn't cease being God by becoming a man.
Jesus is truly God and truly man.
Dustin Benge
“The Past is frozen and no longer flows, and the Present is all lit up with eternal rays.” - C.S. Lewis
"The church’s greatest impact on the world comes when it is committed to faithfully preaching, teaching and living out the Word of God in the church and culture." - Brian Brodersen
“[Christmas] means not just hope for the world, despite all its unending problems, but hope for you and me, despite all our unending failings.” ― Tim Keller
"There's no such thing as a perfect pastor. There's no such thing as a perfect sermon. But all must see our progress. A congregation will forgive almost any failure in the pulpit if they see us growing." - David Short
"And often, in coming down to this pulpit, have I felt my knees knock together – not that I am afraid of any one of my hearers, but I am thinking of that account which I must render to God, whether I speak His Word faithfully or not." —Charles Spurgeon
Interesting: Because of the sins of his family, Jacob lost many years with joseph. Hard years. Grieving years. Special irreplaceable years. Stolen from him. But God overruled sin. Jacob enjoyed 17 years with Jospeh and… his grandkids! God is at work.
Some day you will read in the papers that D. L. Moody, of East Northfield, is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. DL MOODY
"To those who preach: In your Christmas sermon tomorrow, be sure to preach the cross. Jesus did not come to create a holiday. He was born to die for sinners." - Steve Lawson
People that only see Jesus as all-tolerant, only-affirming, and non-judgmental don’t want to acknowledge that He also said thinks like: You’re w/ Me or against Me (Mt 12:30) I’m the only way (Jn 14:6) Repent (Mt 4:17) Obey Me (Jn 14:15) Go and sin no more (Jn 8:11)
Ever wonder how your favorite celebrity preacher finds time to write so many books? It’s simple: he doesn’t. Most Christians would be stunned to know just how widespread ghostwriting is.
PASTOR: as you prepare for Christmas services, don’t try to “wow” the folks with some new twist on the story, or tie yourself in knots worrying if you made a good impression. Love people and preach the incarnation. God entered human history. That’s all the “wow” needed.
“Because Christ loves us, he became man for us, slumbering in the manger of Bethlehem.” — Charles Spurgeon
"Although [faith] never exists alone, and is always joined with love, by which it works, yet it alone justifies-- is the act of embracing and applying to itself the merits of Christ." - Zacharias Ursinus. Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, 337.
Another proof of the conquest of a soul for Christ will be found in a real change of life. If the man does not live differently from what he did before, both at home and abroad, his repentance needs to be repented of and his conversion is a fiction. Charles Spurgeon
“Heavenly Father, may you grant us to comprehend your holy Word according to your divine will, that we may learn from it to put all our confidence in you alone, and withdraw it from all other creatures.” — Zacharias Ursinus
Free will carried many a soul to Hell, but never a soul to Heaven. Charles Spurgeon
The merit of Christ was not the first cause of God's love, but the manifestation, fruit, and effect of it. —Puritan Thomas Manton, Works 2:341
No matter how dear you are to God, if pride is harbored in your spirit, He will whip it out of you. They that go up in their own estimation must come down again by His discipline. Charles Spurgeon
“Only those who are born again can claim the babe in Bethlehem.” — Charles Spurgeon
You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you. -John Bunyan -
No men can be lords of our #faith though they may be helpers of our joy. -John Owen -
"Christ became a man for you; be a man for Christ." -Charles Spurgeon.
“The birth of Christ should be the subject of supreme joy.” — Charles Spurgeon
“Let no man dare to despise the poor, since the Son of the Highest was born in a stable.” — Charles Spurgeon
We know little of the meaning of that word 'the joy of the Lord is your strength,' unless we believe simply like children, and take the word to mean what it says, and are certain about it. - Charles Spurgeon
“It is a miracle of miracles that the Infinite should become an infant.” — Charles Spurgeon
Jesus was born so that you may be born again." -Dale Partridge.
“There is no such thing in the New Testament as a believer whose perseverance is so guaranteed that he can afford to ignore warning notes [of apostasy] which are sounded so frequently.” —Sinclair Ferguson, The Christian Life, Pg. 174
“The birth of Jesus is the grandest light of history.” — Charles Spurgeon
The knowledge of a proud man is the throne of Satan in his mind -John Owen -
You can do anything after you have #prayed but nothing until you have prayed. -John Bunyan -
"Jesus Christ is the greatest gift that God has ever offered or could ever offer to the human race." — James Montgomery Boice
You cannot love Christ if you do not love truth. Charles Spurgeon
"God would not have come down in the likeness of sinful flesh, in the habit of a man, but to raise up sinful man unto the likeness of God." — John Flavel
The truth of Christmas for the believer isn’t just a day on the calendar. It’s a lifestyle. God with us every single day.
“He, on whom all worlds are hanging, hangs upon a woman's breast.” — Charles Spurgeon
"Christ's merits, not faith, not holiness in us, must be the cause of our law-right to righteousness and glory: Christ alone gave the price of redemption for us; no garments were rolled in blood, for a patent and right to heaven, but His only" - Samuel Rutherford. Trial & Triumph
“The heart of man, without a supernatural work of the Spirit to subdue it, would never yield to [the gospel], because proud flesh and blood will always have something in itself to set up before God.” — Richard Sibbes
There is only one genuine cure for legalism. It’s the same medicine the gospel prescribes for antinomianism: understanding and tasting union with Jesus Christ Himself. —Sinclair Ferguson, The Whole Christ, Pg. 157
"That the Son of God, as to his divine nature, "is the same yesterday, today, and forever," is certain; and that the Godhead of Christ underwent no change when he was made flesh, is before proved." ~ Nehemiah Coxe
“Christians believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. Materialists believe in the virgin birth of the cosmos. Choose your miracle.” –Glen Scrivener
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