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Before you get so busy and stressed out with buying gifts, parties and preparations, keep in mind what it’s all about. What is THE RELEVANCE OF CHRISTMAS? GOD CAME TO EARTH. When Gen. Douglas MacArthur landed at the Island of Leyte on Oct.20, 1944, fulfilling his promise to return, that was big news. That is nothing compared to the news when God invaded earth. It was big news when man landed on the moon and walked there. It’s bigger news when God landed on the earth. (See Jn.1:1 & 14). Jesus Christ is God Himself. It was God that came to earth!
God invaded earth. That is the relevance of Christmas. We must remind ourselves that Jesus did not begin His existence in the manger at Bethlehem. He was without beginning. Jesus even declared in John 8:58John 8:58
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
WP-Bible plugin – “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!” If you were God and were going to come to earth, of all the ways you could choose to reveal yourself, would you come as a baby? As a human being? God did. The reality of Christmas was that Jesus Christ was a real man, flesh and blood, bones, hair. He was a real person, not a myth, fable, or a nice story. The reality is that God came to earth and God became a man. Why would He? If God had wanted to communicate with dogs, He would have become a dog. If He wanted to communicate with birds, He would have become a bird. But God wanted to communicate with people so He became a man.
A few years ago, the singer, Joan Osborne sang a hit song that asked, “What if God was one of us?” Her lyrics posed the question, “If God had a face, what would it look like?” This song expresses the human longing to see and know God. However, Joan Osborne never answered her own question concerning what God would look like if He walked the earth. But the Bible does answer that question—God was one of us and He looked like Jesus. Oh yes, God was one of us, but even better . . . He was fully God and fully man.
Our God has not remained remote and unapproachable – He has come to us in person. He did not just write us a letter. He did not just send us a representative. He did not just speak His laws from a mountain. He came to us as one of us. The Infinite became an infant. The Eternal One became a little one. For what? To die for our sins! Jesus didn’t stay in a crib in a manger. He grew up went to a cross and voluntarily laid down His life for us. He didn’t have to. He was God. He could have called 10,000 angels and stopped the process at any point. He did not have to go to the cross. Nobody put Him there without His permission. But He did…because of His love for us (Jn.3:16)
Christmas is JESUS. The best gift you could give to anyone this Christmas and to every season of life…is His love!
Announcements:
If you still have your H4U ID with you, please return it at the office. We will recycle it for the next H4U.
Final Sunday to order Calvary Chapel T-shirts! Please order at the back after the service.
We are now accepting donations, in cash or in kind, for our yearly Christmas gift-giving for our outreaches. This year we will be preparing a TOTAL OF 350 FAMILY PACKS, so we need the following:
The 350 packs of bihon are already covered.
Deadline will be on Dec. 18. Distribution to the outreaches will be on Dec. 20.
If you have some old but usable clothes that we can give to our Outreach Pastors and their families, please submit it at the office.
“The tour of all tours”, in my opinion, is how I describe our recent Israel trip. You don’t just get to see and experience the life and culture of another country and race, but to be able to walk where Jesus walked, to be in an actual location where most of the Bible took place. And to mingle and interact with the Jews, is indeed a special thing. The reality though, is that most of them do not accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah, as I mentioned in my previous pastor’s note. This is no surprise for Paul the apostle did mention of Israel’s hardening in part (Rom.11:25), but one day all Israel will be saved (vs.26).
It’s so exciting to walk where Jesus walked, but it made me think of a deeper issue: Are we willing to walk how Jesus walked? The apostle John wrote, “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” (NKJV – “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”) I know that in and of ourselves we cannot perfectly walk as Jesus did. But as we abide in Him and His words abide in us, then we bear the fruit of becoming like Him. And soon we see how we learn to walk as He walked.
So how did Jesus live? I believe it’s summed up in Eph.5:1 – “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Jesus exemplified perfect love. Jesus walked in love for us by meeting our greatest need: He gave Himself as a sacrifice for us. Paul says that this act was like a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. We are not loving as Jesus loves unless it is costing you something – your rights, your patience, your time, your resources…etc.
You know, people don’t always need a sermon on the love of God – sometimes they just need a friend that will hold them tight, who will put their arms around them! To walk like Jesus means that love translates into action. So, who do you know that needs love today? Maybe, it’s a friend that was just fired from the company. Could it be the stranger on the street, the kid addicted to drugs at the local jail? You can fill in the blanks. Loving others means seeing them as people and not things nor obstacles that hinder. You see them as yourself with the same problems, difficulties, yearnings and heartaches. They are no longer people doing something to you but someone you can do something for.
I Jn 3:16-18Jn 3:16-18
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
WP-Bible plugin – “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” May we walk as Jesus did in the power of the Holy Spirit!
Announcement:
August 19 was “Araw ng Wika”, celebrating our national dialect, the Filipino language – that we are to love it, be proud of it, and preserve it for it’s one of our identifying marks as Filipinos. In the same way, Christians have one identifying mark regardless of one’s race, color, or church affiliation – LOVE. Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
One of the ways we express love is through kindness. What is kindness? Someone once said, “kindness is simply love with its work-clothes on.” It’s love when it goes to work. It does not mean to FEEL kindly or to feel kindness; it means to do acts of kindness to people. If you love them, you will demonstrate it tangibly by showing them kindness.
A missionary returning after serving many years in the jungles of New Guinea was asked, “What was it like? Tell us what you found there.” “Found? I found a mission field that looked more hopeless than if I had been sent into a jungle of tigers.” “What do you mean?” “The people there were so fierce & degraded that they seemed utterly devoid of moral sense. If a mother were carrying her little baby & the child was crying & wouldn’t stop, she would throw it into the ditch & let it die. If a man saw his own father break his leg, he would just leave him to suffer by himself. They had no compassion whatever. They didn’t even know what the word meant.”
“Well, what were you able to do? Did you preach to them?” “No, not at first. I thought it better to show them my faith by my works! When I saw a baby crying, I picked it up & consoled it. When I saw a man with a broken leg, I sought to mend it. When I found people distressed & hungry, I took them in, comforted & fed them. Finally they began to ask, ‘What does this mean? Why are you doing this for us?’ Then I had my chance. I told them about Jesus, & many of them came to know & love Jesus, too.”
Beloved, kindness will influence more than eloquence! Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read! Kindness is almost a lost art today, isn’t it? So many people are rude & self-centered, worried about themselves and not concerned about others.
How about in your family? Are you showing kindness towards your family members? Because I want to tell you how you are at home is how you really are. If you are not kind to those people in your family, any kindness you show to those outside your family is basically hypocritical. Husbands, how about it? Are you showing kindness toward that lady you are married to? Wife? Parents? Children?
Kindness starts at home that spills over to the church and then to the community. And then and only then, that the world will know that we are truly His disciples! May we speak the language of love from now on.
ANNOUNCEMENT:
We’re inviting you to our MID-WEEK STUDY every Thursdays at 5:30 pm. We are finishing up our studies from the book of Isaiah.
Come and stand in the gap with us as we intercede for one another. Join us every Tuesday at 5:30 pm, here at CCD for our INTERCESSORY PRAYER MEETING.
Youth Camp 2008
COME, FOLLOW ME
“Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” 1 John 2:61 John 2:6
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
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VISION:
Jesus came and walked on this earth leaving us a shining example of absolute obedience to God the Father. Our desire is that the youth would understand the crucial truth that those who profess to be His followers and to abide with Him must walk with Him, following His pattern and example. Jesus lived a victorious life on earth and promised that if we accept His invitation to follow Him in obedience, we too will live victoriously!
PRAISE:
After more than 7 years of opening our youth camps to other Calvary Chapel churches, the Lord impressed on our hearts that this year needed to be different. Our youth group was going through a rebuilding stage and we felt strongly that the Lord was moving us to focus on the young people in our own church. We were excited to have a smaller group that would allow for the opportunity to break down barriers and build unity among our youth. That was our hearts desire and the Lord granted us that and so much more.
We learned to follow the footsteps of Jesus through 6 powerful sessions entitled:
We also enjoyed an exciting two-day Sports Fest and Relay Obstacle Course, sweet worship, interactive workshops and Purity sessions, bonfire fellowships, and so much more.
On the last day of camp, we were blessed and moved by the heartfelt testimonies of the youth who stood up to praise God for what He had showed them and to encourage each other to keep following Jesus no matter what! Every camp is an awesome experience with Lord and the youth go home on fire and excited.
But, after a few weeks or months the ‘experience’ can be pushed into the past by problems, pressures, friends, etc. That is why our camps are planned out to be more than just an experience with God but to be a life-changing encounter that would be a turning point in their lives.
We praise the Lord for the awesome work He did through this camp and we give Him all the glory and honor!
