World today is focused on the Commercial Christmas season. What used to be a season that started the day after Thanksgiving now begins in late summer. Stores make 50 percent of their profits during the Christmas season. Many retail businesses depend on the Christmas season to survive economically.
As Christians, we know the focus of Christmas is on the greatest gift that anyone has ever received – Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-16
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Bear Grylls is a survivalist. Survivalists focus on how to survive extreme conditions. These survivalists learned an important lesson about getting through difficult situations. When the people came together and became a team, they made it through those difficult times. Two is better than one. One hundred is better than one.
Pastor Danny shared about his high school tennis team beating the best tennis team in the conference. Danny’s team was filled with emotion and won two out of three matches. They worked well together.
Our culture thrives on being different. There are many different political beliefs. We have blue states and red states. There are Liberals and Conservatives. On Sabbath mornings, we are on the same team whether we are liberal or conservative.
General Patton was a war hero in World War II. He led his troops by instilling in the soldiers under his command the concept of the Army being a team. He taught them we work together, we eat together, we fight together and we exist together. We as Christians have a General. His name is Jesus Christ.
Genesis 2:18
And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
Adam was much better with a partner. God has a plan for each one of us. Pastor Danny shared about how God called him. Danny said he was working as youth pastor at a Korean church in Mountain View, CA. Danny struggled with the idea of being in the ministry and learned that God looks for the open minded, the open hearted, and the trusting soul.
The more teachable we are the more capacity for being a servant for Jesus Christ. Serving God expresses our Love for God in our spiritual lives. It shows the love we have in our hearts for God. Our spiritual worship is vital to our growing in Christ. Through service, we grow our spiritual nature.
Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Our church has many volunteers. When a church has a very active children’s department, that is a growing church. There are small groups, community services, Bible study groups, fellowship meals, church grounds and many other areas where the church needs volunteers.
Abraham Lincoln was put in office as President of the United States at a critical time in our nation’s history. He had weaknesses. He lost election after election. Many did not like him. He was used by God and is now remembered as a great president.
You can watch Danny Kim’s sermon on Vimeo Pro: