Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Our Divine Benefactor

Pastor Sherry’s Message for February 21, 2021

Scriptures: Gen 9:8-17; Ps 25:1-10; 1 Pet 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15

         Back in ancient times, when a person could no longer repay their debts (they were forced into bankruptcy), a list was made of how much they owed to whomever, and this list was posted in a public place.  The idea was to punish them by humiliation.  The list was posted with a nail at the top and at the bottom.  If the bankrupt person had a wealthy friend, that friend might feel moved to wipe out the debt.  If so, the friend would remove the bottom nail, fold over the parchment, re-secure the list with that nail, and write his signature across the document. This action signified to all that the wealthy friend would cover all his debtor friend owed.  How fortunate for the debtor!

         This is exactly what Jesus Christ has done for us.  Like that ancient debtor, we too were/are over our heads in what we owed God for having sinned against Him.  But in our case, Jesus is our wealthy friend, our Divine Benefactor.  His death atoned for (covered the cost of) our sins.  By going to the Cross, our sinless Savior signified that He had taken on our punishment.  Since Scripture tells us the wages of sin is death, Jesus’ substitionary death by crucifixion totally wiped out our debt to God the Father.  From the Cross, Christ wrote paid across the list of our sins. Jesus, our Divine Benefactor, did for us what we could not do for ourselves.  What a blessing!  What a testimony to God’s love, grace, and mercy!

         Our Scripture passages today all speak of God’s love, grace, and mercy.  On this 1st Sunday of Lent, let’s be Bereans (the original folks from Missouri, the “Show me State”) and examine them to see.

         A.  Genesis 9:8-17.  After flooding the earth and wiping out all life forms except those in the ark, God establishes a covenant with Noah, his sons, their wives, all future humans, and all animals.  God Himself promised Noah He would never again judge the earth with a worldwide flood.  People then must have been pretty bad to have brought on such a drastic punishment!  Out of all the persons on earth, only Noah, his wife, and his 3 sons and their wives, were righteous (Would we have made it into the ark?).  Of all the persons on earth then, only8 were spared.  YIKES!  Did God have to make a promise to Noah?  No!  He’s God.  He’s not beholden to anyone.  Nevertheless, He made Noah an unconditional promise to never punish humankind with another flood.  This is why Biblical scholars believe the next big punishment will come by fire, wind, plagues, and/or earthquakes.  God then went on to sign this promise with the symbol of the rainbow.  This symbol has been co-opted by the LGBTQ movement; but it was originally meant as a symbol of God’s covenant commitment to us.  This passage demonstrates God’s love, grace and mercy to humankind (and to animal-kind, as well).

         B. Psalm 25:1-10.  This psalm was composed by King David as a plea for God’s mercy and for deliverance from David’s enemies.  It’s written as an acrostic, with each verse beginning with the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet. An American example of this might be the following:

                          A-All of us look to God,

                          B–because He loves us and is powerful.

                          C—Consequently we can trust in Him to care for us, etc.

In this psalm, David expresses his confidence in God to care for him in his time of trouble.  

         Verses 1-3 articulateDavid’s plea that God would thwart his enemies, especially those who transgress against him without reason or justification.

You might be able to think of someone like that in your life.  Two families in our congregation are currently being pestered and annoyed by a mean and vengeful neighbor.  They aren’t even aware of what they have done to set this unforgiving and unhinged man off.   Notice that David doesn’t gossip or talk ugly about his enemies, but just takes his complaint about them to the Lord.  This is what we need to do about this aggravating and threatening neighbor.  Pray for him.  Pray for a change in his heart and in his thinking.  As Paul says, this kind of response will heap burning coals on his head.

         In verses 4-5, David moves to asking God to teach him God’s ways.

He wants to be led by God’s Truths.  He obediently waits upon the Lord for guidance.  In verse 6, David asks God to…remember Your tender mercies and Your loving kindnesses.       But, in verse 7, he beseeches God to please forget his sins.  Even though Jesus has not yet come to redeem David’s sins, David is hopeful he will receive God’s pardon by asking.

Finally, as he also wrote in Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life…, he sums up his confidence and trust in the Lord.  David’s faith and certainty in the Lord are a great model for us.

         C.  1 Peter 3:18-22 returns us to the theme that Jesus died for to make atonement for our sins.  Peter reminds his readers in verse 18àFor Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.  Eugene Peterson paraphrases it this way in The Message:  that’s what Christ did, definitively:  Suffered because of others’ sins–the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones.  He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.  Once again, we are being reminded that Jesus paid the price for our sins.

         Then Peter makes reference to Noah.  He surprisingly claims that God worked through Noah for 120 years to bring the lawless and the sinful to God (construction of the ark apparently took 120 years).  Some scholars believe Peter may have instead been referring to the interval between Jesus’ death and resurrection, suggesting that Jesus went into Hades to preach repentance to those of Noah’s time who had not submitted themselves to God during their lives.  Whatever the case, Peter restates that only 8 persons were saved from the flood.  Noah and his family went through a symbolic baptism.  During the flood, their sins–not their bodies–were washed away, as are ours when we are baptized into Christ.

         As a man who once abandoned Christ, Peter wants us to realize that it is Jesus’ death and resurrection that save us.  Again, as Peterson summarizes verse 22àJesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies.  He’s standing right alongside God, and what He says goes.

         D.  Mark 1:9-15.

         John Mark very concisely sets out Jesus’ baptism, His temptation in the desert for 40 days, and how He emerges from this time of       testing to begin His ministry.  Like His cousin, John the Baptist, Jesus calls folks to repentance.  But He goes beyond John the Baptist in that, rather than state that Messiah is coming, He declares (v.15)…the kingdom of God is near.  In other words, God is near them in the person of Jesus; or, God rules and reigns on the earth through Jesus.

         I have preached to you several times already about Jesus’ baptism and temptations.  Today, let me just emphasize that He was probably temped all 40 days in the wilderness.  Scripture only makes mention of 3 big temptations, but I believe we can rest assured that Satan was relentless with Jesus—just as he is with us!  Is it only me, or do you find that the evil one tempts you daily, almost constantly?

         Then, having resisted these temptations, Jesus initiates His ministry with power!  He doesn’t falter or flatter.  He says, essentially (again, re Peterson)àTime’s up!  God’s Kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message [the Gospel; the Good News].  What is that Good News?  It is that…

                          1.) God loves us with a steadfast and generous love.

                          2.) So much so that He sent His only Son to take on the penalty for our debts.

                          3.) We don’t have to work our way into God’s favor.

                          4.) We enjoy God’s favor due to the selfless, saving death  of Christ.

         Today is the 1st Sunday of Lent.  Our Scriptures remind us that Jesus Christ is our Divine Benefactor.  He paid the price for our sins so that we don’t have to.  He paid the price for our sins because we, like the massive debtor of ancient times, could not do so for ourselves.  As I said on Ash Wednesday, Lent is a time to re-evaluate our relationship to God, to take a searching moral inventory (Step 4 of AA) of our sinfulness, and to repent and to ask God’s forgiveness.

         Because of our Diving Benefactor, Jesus, we can trust in God’s love, grace, and mercy towards us.   Whether you choose to give up something for Lent or to take on a new spiritual discipline, let’s be sure to express our gratitude to God the Father for sending us Jesus Christ, our  Divine Benefactor    .  Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ!                                

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Sacrifices Pleasing to God

Pastor Sherry’s Message for Ash Wednesday February 17, 2021


Scriptures: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17; Ps 51:1-17; 2 Cor 5:20b-6:10; Matt 6:1-6,16-21

The story is told of 2 African chiefs who came to a missionary named Chalmers. They approached him to request Christian teachers for their villages. He apologized, saying he had no one to send to them. Two years passed and the chiefs appeared again with the same request. This time, Chalmers went back with them himself. What he saw at the first village stopped him cold in his tracks. All the people of the village were silently on their knees. It was a Sunday, so Chalmers asked what they were doing. The chief replied that they were all praying. Chalmers then noted, “But no one is saying anything.” The chief then replied, “White man, we do not know what to say. For two years, every Sunday morning we have met here. And for four hours we have been on our knees and we have been praying like that; but we do not know what to say.”

This is a true story, but one that’s hard for us to imagine, isn’t it?  I don’t know about you, but stories like this of faith and piety or persistence in seeking God make me ashamed of myself by comparison. Would I, would you, willingly spend 4 hours on our knees seeking God, especially if we did not know how to pray?  I believe this kind of faith and persistence is pleasing to God.  I believe it blesses His heart.  We too can bless God’s heart—and open our own hearts up to improve our spiritual connection with Him.

A. Joel 2:1-2, 12-17:Joel is prophesying to the Southern Kingdom that “the Day of the Lord”—the day of judgment–is coming.  In the short term, Judah will be overrun by locusts, bringing on a widespread famine; but this was a metaphor for the long-term prophesy that the Babylonians would eventually invade and take over the Promised Land.  So his message—from the Lord—is that they need to repent while they still have time.  They can avoid locusts, famine, and a Babylonian takeover if they will return to the Lord (stop their worship of idols), confess their sins, and declare a holy fast to demonstrate their renewed commitment to God. Joel reminds them—and us– that God will give them another chance.

In v.13b he writes, He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love…[and] He relents from sending calamity.  In other words, God loves them and wants them to draw near to Him, to avoid His judgment.  Our culture today is in a similar fix.  We have stopped worshipping the One True God.  Instead, we have made idols of money, influence, power, materialism, our own intellects, sex, etc.  Like those long-ago Judeans, if we want to please God, we need to humble ourselves before Him, admit our sins and failures, and ask His forgiveness.

Thankfully, it’s still not too late to avoid God’s wrath and discipline, but they—and we–need to get busy!  We need to ask ourselves, in the past year, have we been more concerned with the things of this world than with the things of God?  This past year, this year of Covid-19, has the Lord always taken 1st place in our hearts?  Or have we allowed other priorities, and our fears, to crowd Him out?  Have we been so focused on those priorities and fears that we have neglected to nurture our vital relationship with Jesus?  Have we abandoned meeting with Him in daily prayer and Scripture reading?  Have we locked the doors to our heart, assuming that our faith will remain intact until we have time to give it?  Unfortunately, death can come to us too quickly for us to react and ask God to save us.  We need to make the decision to draw near to God right now.

         Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a period of spiritual house-cleaning lasting 40 days.  Scholars have traced its observance to the early 100’s    (attested to by Irenaeus of Lyons).  The 40 days are a reminder of the time Jesus fasted in the wilderness.  Ashes are applied to the forehead to remind us of the truth from Gen 3:19 when God told Adam and Eve, Remember you are dust and to dust you will return.  The ashes are a sign of our repentance and our sorrow for our sins.  As such, they remind us of the need to maintain our commitment to love and please Almighty God.

          B. David’s evidence of his sorrow for his sins in perfectly recalled in Psalm 51.  The prophet Nathan has confronted him about his sins of covetousness, adultery, and murder related to the beautiful Bathsheba.  His resulting lament to God provides a perfect example of how we should feel about our own sins.  (1)He takes personal responsibility—he admits he is guilty and does not blame others, including Bathsheba.  (2)He humbly pleads with God to(a) forgive him and (b)give him a pure heart, saying, in v.10, Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast [right] spirit within me.  David ended his life as a man after God’s own heart.  This means that despite his sins, he pleased the Lord.  We too, following David’s humble and heartfelt example, can please the Lord.

          C. Paul calls for us to be reconciled to God in 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10.  We do this by remembering that Jesus, who was sinless, took on all our sins so that we could stand before God with clear consciences and clean hearts.  Paul also tells us we do this by not allowing anything to displace our focus on God.  Do you recognize the common theme throughout these passages?  (1)Remember what Jesus has done for us;

                          (2) Keep God 1st pursuing Him like those African seekers;

                          (3) Humble ourselves with frequent sin inventories;

                          (4) Seek God’s face and ask His forgiveness.

          D. In Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21, Jesus tells us how to best go about fasting and doing good in God’s name.  We are to fast and practice good deeds quietly, without any fanfare. He assures us that even if no one else notices, God does.  If we play to the crowd, we receive our reward, from onlookers here on earth.  But tostore up lasting treasure for ourselves in heaven, we want to be “stealth-givers” and silent, non-complaining fasters. This is not how we get ourselves to heaven–Jesus has already done that for us.  But giving and fasting this covert way both blesses God’s heart and draws us closer to Him.

         Again, today we begin the season of Lent. As usual, I am asking us all to fast something.  It can be food or drink, or TV, or social media.

But it can also be a habit, something that calms you or brings you pleasure;

When we resolve to let go of it for 40 days, we demonstrate to God our commitment to get our hearts right with Him.

          Rather than fast, you may choose instead to add a spiritual practice that will draw you closer to Christ.  You may wish to do a Bible study, or to read a set of Lenten devotions.  Or you may want to increase your time spent in prayerful conversation with God.  Whether we give up something or add something, let’s realize that in doing so, we are making the kinds of sacrifices that please our God.

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

We Do Not Lose Heart!

Pastor Sherry’s Message for February 14, 2021

Scriptures: 2 Kings 2:1-12; Ps 50:1-6; 2 Corinthians 4:1-6; Mark 9:2-9

               This past Wednesday, I preached the funeral of D.W. Williams, a 94 year old member of this congregation.  After the service ended, one of his nephews—a man about my age—approached me for conversation.  It turns out he works for Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse organization in North Carolina.  He told me he is in charge of the distribution of the Christmas shoeboxes we help with annually to a large section of Africa.  In fact, on his last trip over, he contracted the Covid virus in Rwanda, but said he got excellent medical care.  We chatted at length about how fabulously God works through those gift boxes to bring so many children to a saving belief in Jesus Christ.  My particular favorite tale was of the young boy who desperately wanted a black shirt and a black cap.  Those two items were among the bounty in the shoebox he was given.  Only God could make such a thing happen!

         From there, he segued into telling me that not every member of his family at the funeral service was a professing Christian.  This is often the case, so I was not surprised.  It almost seems easier to reach children in Africa, who have so little–with some small gifts—than privileged and highly educated adults in the U.S.

         Paul speaks to this phenomenon—and our response to it—  in his 2nd Corinthians (4:1-6) passage today.  Paul begins by affirming that we have all been given the ministry of proclaiming the Gospel.  We may do this by preaching and teaching, like me, or like Ken and Jenn who evangelize in Eastern Europe each summer.  Or we may share our faith with friends who are open to it, through conversations or writing books—like Jenn or like my son, David.  Or we can reach others by writing and singing worship songs, like Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, or other contemporary Christian singers and composers.  Or we may witness to others by simply trying to live out a life pleasing to God, letting what we do and what we don’t do be our model to others. I don’t believe we are called to stand on street corners and wave our Bibles at passersby, or to go door to door to try to convey the Gospel.  Jesus didn’t do this.  He spoke to those who were open to His message, and he told the disciples to share with those who were interested, but to shake the dust off their feet and move on when they encountered those who were not. 

         Next, Paul says our ministry is best served if we live lives that demonstrate Jesus’ transforming effect on us.  Listen to how Peterson’s The Message paraphrases v.2:  We refuse to wear masks and play games.  We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes.  And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves.  Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.  In other words, we are not hypocrites.  We are not posers or fakers.  We believe the Word we present.  The fellow at the funeral said he could tell I believed in Jesus as I preached.   Though we’re not perfect, the way we live should, as much as possible, reflect well on Christ.

         However we go about it, Paul says (v.1)…we do not lose heart.   We don’t look at our lack of results and give up.  I could tell by watching peoples’ faces and by observing their body language (at the funeral) who was open to the Gospel and who was not.  We remember that even Jesus did not convince everyone in His day.  We remember that we are called to share our faith, but the results are up to the individual and to God.

         And we don’t contort God’s Word to justify things we want that God does not condone.  We don’t add to God’s Word.  For example, you’ve probably heard folks say that, “God helps those who help themselves,” but this proverb comes from Benjamin Franklin, not Scripture.  In addition, we don’t take anything away from it, even if    we don’t always understand or like God’s message.  For example, our culture is at odds with God on the issues of marriage, life, and homosexuality.  God has said that marriage is between one man and one woman, only.  Similarly, God is the giver of life and we are not free to justify the killing of unborn children.  Finally, I have read Romans chapter 1 in the original Greek.  It is very clear there that God is opposed to homosexual acts—both those done by men and by women–just as He is to heterosexual acts of fornication.  I cannot honor God and “shack up” with a man.  The only legitimate place for sexual activity is within marriage.  We must remember, though, that we love the sinner while not excusing the sin.

         Paul goes on to say (vv.3-4) that not everyone is going to understand God’s message.  Paul blames “the god of this world” for blinding people to the truth of the Gospel.  He writes, The god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.  Satan applies scales to their eyes so they cannot see/perceive the Truth.

Haven’t you heard nonbelievers say, “I read the Bible but I cannot understand it.”  Or, “There are things in the Bible that I just cannot believe.”   When we don’t understand, we ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us (which is one of His jobs), or to lead us to a pastor or a Bible study to help us get it.  I recommend any Beth Moore study, or for folks to tune into Dr. David Jeremiah or to Dr. J. Vernon McGee, both of whom are excellent at explaining God’s Word.  Again, as Peterson presents it, If our message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in any way.  No, it’s because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention.  All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness.  They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see.  They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get. 

         Consider today’s Gospel lesson (Mark 9:2-9): John, James, and Peter actually get to see Jesus in His glorified or heavenly state.  Scales removed, or vision transformed, they see Jesus as God’s Divine Son.  There is an otherworldly glow or aura about Him.  He is encompassed with bright, almost blinding light—not light that shines down on Him but light that shines forth from within Him.  If that weren’t enough, they encounter God the Father.  Much as He did in the 40 years of the Israelites’ desert wanderings, He manifests as cloud and fire or bright light.  Additionally, He speaks and they hear, Mark 9:7: Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them and a voice came from the cloud:  This is my Son, Whom I love.  Listen to Him!  Literally, John, James, and Peter see the Light of Christ.  They hear God’s voice and they later, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, faithfully recount this experience.

         Back to Paul, in verse 7 he says, But we have this treasure [the Gospel] in jars of clay [our ordinary/ human minds and bodies] to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are simply messengers of the Gospel to others.  How amazing of God to trust its transmission to us!

         In verses 8-9, Paul reiterates the troubles we may encounter when we share Christ with nonbelievers (as per Peterson): You know for yourselves that we are not much to look at.  [Again, the power of the Gospel comes from God, not us.]  We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken.  What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, He does in us—He lives!

         The nephew at the funeral commended me for preaching the Gospel even though unbelievers were present.  As I stated last week, I can’t not preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was my first ordination vow.

It is also commended to us by Scripture (2 Timothy 4:2), where Paul tells the young pastor Timothy, Preach the Word; be prepared, in season and out of season [the Gospel is clearly out of season in our country today, isn’t it?]: correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

         I believe that time is now.  Many, even in our denomination, have abandoned the wisdom of God for their own faulty perceptions.  In over 40 years of counseling others, I have heard people justify all kinds of sinful things: murder, theft, not repaying debts, committing adultery, and even abusing children or the elderly.  Human beings are remarkably good at justifying whatever they want to do.  But we have a standard, and that standard is the Word of God, the Bible.  May we not be justifiers of immoral behavior, our own or that of others.  May we stand fast for the Gospel!  May we not lose heart, but continue to place our trust in Jesus Christ.  Amen!

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Our God Does Not Forget Us!

Pastor Sherry’s Message for February 7, 2021

Scriptures: Isa 40:21-31; Ps 147:1-11; 1 Cor 9:16-23; Mk 1:29-30

If we were having a conversation, I would ask you to tell me if you have heard this story before.  But, we’re not, so please bear with me if this is a repeat.  It’s the truestory of the Cambodian man whose testimony I heard in a college chapel service and found to be riveting!

In the 1970’s, he was a 16 YO brilliant student, already in medical school at that young age.  One day, he and his friends were recreating in a city park when truckloads of Kmer Rouge soldiers (under the dictator PolPot) descended upon them.  He witnessed his friends to either side of him being shot to death. (They held University ID’s, and the communists were bent on getting rid of all intellectuals, doctors, etc.).  He was spared because—through a bureaucratic snafu, he had as yet no university ID [1st miracle].  Nevertheless, he was taken to prison camp with many others.  The word had spread there that they were all to be executed (You may remember a movie which documented those events called, “The Killing Fields”).  He found himself blindfolded and lined up and realized the executions were being carried out to his left.  He said he cried out to God, “If You exist, spare my life and I will serve you for the remainder of it.”  By a 2nd miracle, they ceased the executions just before they reached him.

         In a 3rd miracle, he escaped into the jungle.  While running by night and hiding during the day, he met a fellow he called, “The Jungle Man,” a 4th miracle.  “The Jungle Man” was a Christian who shared with him his faith in Jesus.  He taught him one Bible verse–probably John 3:16.  (Just think, if you were running for your life, which one Bible verse would you have wanted to have memorized?)  They had to separate for safety, but the Cambodian gradually made it to a refugee camp across the border into Thailand.  In a 5th miracle, he encountered “The Jungle Man” at the camp community water faucet.  “The Jungle Man” then taught him another Bible verse.  Daily, he learned a new verse and shared with whoever-camped-in-his-area would listen. No one had a Bible, but many were hungry to learn of Christ.  There is no telling how many were saved by learning those verses and sharing the love of Jesus with other refugees.  Not so ironically, they took in Living Water around a simple water faucet.

         In a 6th miracle, the Cambodian found sanctuary in the US, in Denver, Colorado.  There, he completed college and seminary—though he didn’t share how that had come about.  Nevertheless, it is clear he honored his promise to God to become a pastor.  I have no idea how many Cambodian refugees found their way to that Denver seminary, but in a 7th miracle, the Cambodian man met there and married a Cambodian Christian woman.

         They completed their studies and returned to Cambodia to preach the Gospel to their countrymen (now a communist country).  They were both arrested on arrival, imprisoned, and denied much food or water.  Like Paul in our 1st Corinthians passage, he believed he could not stand to not preach the Gospel.  Like Jeremiah, he felt his very bones would have to cry out God’s word.  His confinement left him despondent and frustrated with God.  As he grumbled one day, his dear wife reminded him, “Husband, didn’t Paul preach to the walls when he was imprisoned?”  So he began to preach to the walls.  It turned out they were bugged!  Several communist guards who were listening were actually converted! [8th miracle].  In a 9th miracle, they came to him and said,”We can’t let you go, but is there something else we can do for you?”  I might have asked for more food or water, but in his zeal, he asked them to bring people to his prison door so he could preach to them.  He reported that the guards actually went out into the streets and brought people in by gun point!  [10th miracle]  Eventually, he and his wife were released [11th miracle],  and he founded a Christian Seminary in Cambodia. By the time I heard him, he had been leading teaching crusades for Jesus in soccer stadiums in Cambodia, still a communist country [12th miracle].

         I was very touched by his testimony (which I heard in the late 1990’s). It was clear to me that God protected and provided for him over and over again in miraculous ways.  He knew for certain that God had saved him, several times over.   The Cambodian man’s experiences are dramatic and extraordinary, but as our Scriptures today attest, we too can be assured of God’s love, grace, provision, and protection.  Let’s focus on 2 of them:

               1.) Isaiah 40:21-31.  Isaiah is probably my favorite book in the Old Testament.  It is certainly quoted in the New Testament more than any other O.T. book.  Beginning with Chapter 40, the Prophet Isaiah is foretelling the return of the Israelite remnant from their Babylonian Captivity.   Now scholars believe Isaiah prophesied from 750-700BC.  In previous chapters, he predicts the Southern Kingdom, including Jerusalem, will be taken intocaptivity because they abandoned God and worshipped pagan dieties.  God then removed His protection from them and allowed the Babylonians to capture and deport them in 586BC.  Now, in chapter 40, Isaiah predicts that 70 years later God will bring them back home.  This had been meant as a punishment for their spiritual adultery.  In His mercy, however, God fully meant to later restore them.  In fact,God assures them in this message that, when the time comes, they will be able to pack up and set out in confidence.  WHY?

         a.)Because of His power and His sovereignty.  Afterall, He is (v.22) enthroned above the circle of the earth.  The sky and its stars are His canopy, His tent.  In Verses 22-24, he says essentially that God rules and overrules the decisions and the actions of rulers.  They only come to power because He allows it.  And when their reign ends, they disappear like dandelion seeds dispersed by wind.

         b.) And because He does not forget about us or fall asleep on the job! In verse 27, we learn thatGod knows where they are and what they need (He knows this about us too).  In verse 28, he proclaims that The Lord is the everlasting God.  This means He’s not dead! He’s not even retired!

He hasn’t abandoned us or left us to fend for ourselves.  Psalm 121:4 echoes this:  He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep….Later, in verses 7-8, the psalmist declares, The Lord will keep you from all harm—He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.  I don’t know about you, but I find deep comfort and reassurance in these passages.

         c.) Finally, if we wait upon Him (hope/trust in Him), God will renew our strength.  Isaiah 40:29 says, He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  And in verse 30 (saving the best for last; this is one verse I would memorize to share), But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint.  Do you know that God gave the Israelites strength to walk back to Jerusalem from Babylon, a journey on foot of 1678 miles!  He did the same for the Cambodian pastor.  Like Paul, the Cambodian fellow felt compelled to preach the Gospel.  Like Paul, God gave the Cambodian the power to preach and an audience to preach to.  So too can we assume He will also strengthen us if we ask.

         2.) Mark 1:29-39.  Look at the renewed strength Jesus gave to Peter’s wife’s mother!  She was sick, He healed her, and she popped right up and fixed Him supper.  From the perspective of one laid low this past week by a reaction to the Covid vaccine, I can now appreciate more fully how complete was her healing.  I spent two days in bed recuperating, while she immediately felt good enough to get up from bed and cook.

         The same was true for Jesus.  He taught at the Synagogue, chased out some demons, then He healed untold numbers of sick and demonized after sundown (once the Sabbath had ended).  Surely He was tired!  But rather than sleeping in late the next day, He got up early and went off alone to pray.  He knew that it was His connection to His Father and the Holy Spirit that renewed His strength.  Sure, He was/is God and we are not.  But He was/is human too, with human needs and frailties like ours.  I think Mark is emphasizing for us what Jesus modeled:   the necessity of a prayer connection with Our Heavenly Father, our Source and our Strength.                                                  

         Over the course of this next week, I urge you to focus on the encouragement our God gives us for those times we grow weary or overwhelmed.  We tend to think, “I can’t!” or “It’s awful!”  and forget that God is able.  Like with a deck of cards, pick a worry, any worry:

         a.) Your health; the Covid or other illnesses or concerns.

         b.) Your finances; the direction of the economy;

         c.) The moral decline of our culture;

         d.) The bad behavior or poor choices of a loved one;

         e.) The bad behavior or poor choices of our political leaders;

         f.) A mental condition or an addictive pattern with which you currently                     struggle, etc.

Let’s remember that none of these issues is a surprise to God. None of these is too difficult for Him to handle.  None of these is outside His expertise or His control.  This week, let’s practice trusting in the God of Isaiah, of St. Paul and of the Cambodian pastor.  Our God is never asleep at the wheel!  He knows what is going on in our lives and what we need.  When we trust in Him to provide and protect, He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Despite How It Looks Now, Jesus is in Control

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 31, 2021

Scriptures: Deuteronomy 18:15-20, Mark 1:21-28

In 1970, a KGB agent (the Russian version of our CIA), named Yuri Bezmenov, defected to the West. There is a 1985 YouTube video of him talking about the communist strategy for taking over the U.S. 35 years ago, he said the strategy had been plotted for years and had already begun to undermine our country. He claimed there are 4 steps to a communist takeover of America:

​1.) The 1st is what he called “demoralization.”

He said, “Marxism-Leninism ideology is being pumped into the soft heads of at least three generations of American students, without being challenged or counter-balanced by the basic values of Americanism and American patriotism…The demoralization process in the United States is basically completed already [1985]…Most of it is done by Americans to Americans thanks to lack of moral standards.” This process seems to render facts and truth as irrelevant, because, as Bezmenov asserted, a demoralized person is not capable of ascertaining what is true from what is false. Such a person has no standard by which to discern truth. He went so far as to claim, “Even if I take him [a demoralized American] by force to the Soviet Union and show him a concentration camp, he will refuse to believe it until he is going to receive a kick in his fat bottom. When the military boot crashes him, then he will understand, but not before that.” And then it would be too late.

2.) The 2nd stage is a period of “social chaos,” usually lasting 2-5 years. The media, some politicians, and academia join to incite and downplay chaos. Riots, as we saw this past summer, are redefined as “peaceful protests.” But persons who express outrage against this chaos are redefined as “bigots,” “extremists,” and “insurrectionists.” During this time period, the government will promise all kinds of freebies to American citizens as it becomes bigger and more intrusive.

3.) Stage 3 instigates a crisis leading either to “civil war or “foreign invasion.” This stage is said to last from 2-6 months. Bezmenov maintained that the “useful idiots” who helped bring this crisis about will then become disillusioned and will then either be killed off, imprisoned, or exiled by those in authority.

4.) Bezmenov referred to the final stage as “normalization.” The U.S. will have become communist. Based on the experiences of other countries, like Grenada, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and China, it appears to take about 20 years for the country to accept this as the new norm.

I don’t know about you, but I find his experience and his predictions to be chilling. I started my career path as a high school teacher of US History and US Government. Though I later moved on to become a licensed psychologist and then an ordained pastor, I have never really forgotten my interest in American governance and have continued to observe our cultural trends.

As I considered Bezmenov’s descriptions and predictions, it occured to me that–35 years after his interview—his assessment and predictions appear to be accurate. It looks to me as if we are already in Stage 2 Chaos. As a nation, we have sidelined our moral compass, Jesus Christ. And we are watching those in power currently “restructuring” how we see and do things politically, economically, militarily, and governmentally. This can be both overwhelming and distressing to us.

But in these uncertain and rapidly changing times, we need to pray for our nation and to keep our eyes on–and our faith in–Jesus.This is what our lessons teach us today.
Deuteronomy 18:14-20 Moses is prophesying the coming of a prophet greater than he was. 1st he tells the people to obey the prophets. Why would this be his concern? Because authentic prophets convey messages from God (they are essentially God’s mouth-pieces).

The marks of a true prophet are that what he/she says is consistent with Scripture, and that what he/she foretells actually happens. 2nd, he wants them to get into the habit of listening to the prophets—God will send them a number of good ones—so they will then be prepared to hear the Ultimate Prophet when Jesus arrives. Jesus Christ is the Ultimate Word of God. He is God’s fullest revelation of Himself to us. As the Son of God, He has authentic knowledge of God the Father. He represented the Father openly, honestly, and truthfully. In John 5:30, He says, By Myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent Me [totally obedient to the Father]. In John 7:16, He makes a similar point, My teaching is not my own. It comes from Him who sent Me [He says what the Father approves]. As the Son of God, He has authentic authority to speak on the Father’s behalf. In John 5: 36-37, He adds, I have a testimony weightier than that of John [the Baptist]. For the very work that the Father has given Me to finish, and which I am doing testifies that the Father has sent Me. And the Father who sent me has Himself testified concerning Me [The Father voiced His full approval of Jesus at His baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration]. He goes on to say in John 11: 37-38, Do not believe Me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe Me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I in the Father. Finally, He asserts in John 14:10, Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me? The words I say to you are not just My own. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work.

So Moses is telling the people, before he dies, that Jesus is coming as the greatest of all prophets; and that they need to be prepared to listen to and obey Him.  He will be and is our moral authority.

​Our Gospel lesson, Mark 1:21-28, focuses on Jesus’ authority. 

You may remember that Mark (actually, John Mark) was Peter’s disciple and probably wrote down for Peter what is essentially Peter’s Gospel. Peter wanted to get the Good News out to the Romans, so, this is a Gospel of action. You may notice the words Suddenly and immediately are frequently used in this Gospel. Mark’s (Peter’s) Gospel focuses more on the works of Jesus rather than on the thinking behind Jesus’ works (the Apostles John and Paul tend to focus on the latter). Peter knew he would have to convince Roman soldiers of Jesus’ authority. After all, Caesar called himself, Lord; so, why should they believe Jesus is Lord?

The 1st way a Roman (& we) might come to accept Jesus as Lord is if He has authority over the supernatural. Mark will also go on to demonstrate that Jesus had authority/power over nature (storms at sea; walking on water; feeding 5,000, then 4,000 with next to nothing on hand). Jesus also had authority to heal peoples’ physical bodies (the blind, the deaf, the lame, the palsied, lepers, feverish or hemorrhaging women; even resurrectionsfrom the dead). Finally, He also healed people from dysfunctional emotional conditions.

So, the first miracle Mark reports is of Jesus casting a demon out of a man, in church, on the Sabbath. Jesus teaches at the synagogue in Capernaum because He’s been thrown out of His home town, Nazareth.

He makes Capernaum the base of His operations. The demon(s) in a man in the synagogue call out, What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? [Yes!] I know who you are—the Holy One of God! Notice, the demons recognize Jesus’ true identity as God before the humans do. But Jesus doesn’t want the demons to lead folks to Him. Their agenda is from Satan and is evil. Their agenda is to pull us away from God. He tells the demon(s) to be quiet—the Greek expression He uses is actually, Be muzzled!–and come out of him. He sets the man freefrom demonic oppression. The man may not have known he had a demon in him. He didn’t even ask Jesus for help. By casting the demon(s) out of him, Jesus demonstrates that He both discerns the presence of evil in a person and He has the power to make evil spirits leave. In other words, when He says hush, they have to hush; when He says go, they have to go.

In His first miracle recorded in Mark, Jesus reveals that He has power over the spiritual realm.  He is going to tear down the spiritual walls that separate people from God and from each other.  He is going to war against and defeat dark forces.  The Romans were superstitious, so this would have been astonishing to them.  They believed they had to appease/bribe the gods to keep them on their side.  But here is Jesus, just speaking a word, and vanquishing a foe that only God could command.  This would have stopped most Roman soldiers in their tracks.

Let’s also remember Paul’s teachings in Ephesians 6:12: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Our battles are not with people per se, but rather with the demonic forces that are behind and drive their hateful, seductive, or destructive behavior.

I think we need to be aware of what is going on currently in our country, but we need not be afraid.  We worship a Jesus who has authority over all things and all events. The political and social turmoil in our country is not beyond Him.Either He will, through our prayers, subdue it; or He will allow it to continue to play out as a prelude to End Time events.  Either way, we can rest in the fact that our Lord is in control.

We also worship a Jesus who is the Voice of Authority, the final authority. He has already defeated the Devil on the Cross. Because of Christ, we can trust that He has things under control, despite how it looks to us. Because of Christ, we can leave fear behind and step out in freedom to do God’s work, in God’s way, in this world. Because of Christ, we can pray with confidence that His will would be done in our country as it is in Heaven. Amen!

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The God of Second Chances

Pastor Sherry’s message for January 24, 2021

Scriptures: Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Ps 62:5-12; 1 Cor7:29-31; Mk 1:14-20

         Our culture tends to believe that success is good but failure is bad.  Furthermore, we should avoid failure at all costs.  This can lead, however, to some really bad decisions/actions on our parts.  I read this week about the Darwin Awards.  Very cynically, these are given to people…“who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it—usually doing so in an extraordinarily stupid manner.”  I don’t know who these Darwin folks are, but they scan the news, looking for foolish ways that people accidentally kill themselves.  They have been making these posthumous awards annually since 1994.  One recent winner was a 19 YO male from Houston.  He had bragged to his friends that he could win at Russian Roulette.  His gun was a semi-automatic. Apparently he either didn’t know or didn’t remember that it automatically inserts a bullet in the chamber whenever it’s cocked.  In other words, his chances of surviving pulling the trigger were zero, and he indeed died.  A second recent winner was a Malaysian executioner.  Imagine putting that on your resume:  “From 2001 to 2008, I was an official executioner.”  It seem she wanted a friend to take a picture of him standing on the gallows with a noose around his neck.  However, he hadn’t first checked to see if the trap door was locked in place.  When he stepped on the platform with his head in the noose, the trap door opened and he was hanged!  The Darwin Folks would have us believe these two got what they deserved and we are better off without them.

               In a similar vein, do youremember France’s Maginot Line of WWII? The French had heavily armed and barricaded the border they shared with Germany, thinking this would save them from a Nazi invasion.  What they failed to consider is that the Nazis would first invade Belgium, then cross into France from that border, breaking into France to the west of and avoiding the Maginot Line altogether.  I’m sure students of military history have decried France’s misplaced trust in this impaired defensive strategy as a huge and costly mistake.

         Currently we are dealing with the “Cancel Culture.”  If the press or social media discover one bad thing you have done in your past, they come after you with no mercy, shaming and embarrassing you in public.  There is no grace and no mercy.

         Cancel Culture, the Darwin Awards, and even the experience of the Maginot Line would have us all believe that it is fatal to make a mistake. Such a belief is both unchristian and totally at odds with our God!  He often views failure/mistakes as a way to bring about good:

         (a) Failure keeps us humble;

         (b) Failure reminds us we are neither perfect nor gods;

         (c) Failure allows God to mold and shape our character;

         (d) Failure helps increase our dependence upon God.  When we see what a mess we have made of our lives, we realize we need God to guide and protect us.

         Two of our Scriptures today reference a godly response to failure.  In our Old Testament lesson, we catch up to Jonah (3:1-5, 10) post whale experience.  You probably remember that God had given the prophet the assignment to evangelize the Assyrians.  But Jonah was horrified at the prospect and immediately ran in the opposite direction.  Maybe he or his family had been victims of Assyrian raids, as they were feared all over the ancient Near East for their ferocity in battle.  The tales told regaling the revolting and brutal things they did to those they fought and defeated would strike terror into the hearts of any listener.  It is said that piles of human skulls sat outside the gates to all their cities.  Perhaps Jonah ran from the missionary task because he instead wanted God to justly punish them (like the Cancel Culture, he wanted to exact revenge on his enemies).  Or perhaps he just couldn’t get his mind around the fact that God meant to show them—even them!–mercy.  Or maybe he was just simply afraid of them!  Whatever his rationale, he headed to Spain, got caught in a violent storm, was thrown off the ship by the crew—who were sure someone on board had offended the gods–and swallowed by a giant fish/whale.

         Our lesson today picks up with Jonah having been miraculously vomited up onto the beach, only to have God again tell him to go to Nineveh, the capitol of Assyria.  And, having learned his lesson—it’s not healthy to defy God—he goes. Archeological digs dating from the 1950’s tell us the city was apparently 27 miles in circumference (2.5 mi. long; 1.33mi. wide).  It was probably like many of our large cities, in that one suburb ran into another in a big urban sprawl.  It apparently was so large that it took Jonah several days to walk through it, proclaiming his message of repentance.

         Now I don’t know about you, but I have often wondered why fierce Ninevites would pay any attention to a lone, bedraggled Israelite.  But imagine how Jonah might have looked after having spent 2-3 days in a whale’s digestive juices.  Other folks who have been recovered from the stomachs of large fish (and some have over the years), have been found to be hairless.  Like persons who have undergone chemotherapy, they lose the hair on their heads, faces (including eyebrows and eyelashes), and their bodies.  Jonah probably didn’t wear a wig, so his totally hairless appearance, and lack of a beard, would have surely grabbed peoples’ attention.  No doubt the stomach acids altered his skin color as well.  He probably looked orange, the original “Orange Man.”  The folks of Nineveh had never seen anyone like him, so they probably stopped to gawk.  While he had their attention, he told them they had 40 days to change their ways or die! Pagan folks (& some Christians too) are often superstitious.  They would have figured Jonah was someone special, so they all—even the king—immediately fell into repentance.  They were profoundly impacted.  Several hundred thousand people came to grief over their sins and desired to know and follow God.  J. Vernon McGee, my favorite Bible commentator, calls this the largest revival in history.

         This story is such a wonderful demonstration of God’s mercy.  Look at how grace-filled He was toward these horrible Assyrians! He gave them a second chance.  Look at how grace-filled He was toward His disobedient prophet! I’m always amazed at how God uses and redeems our rough experiences, when we allow Him.  He even used Jonah’s altered and strange appearance as a means of attracting an audience willing to listen to this wandering Israelite.

         And these are not the only examples of God’s extension of second chances to folks in Scripture:

         (1) Jacob stole his brother’s inheritance, yet God made  him a patriarch of the faith;

         (2) King David committed adultery and murder, and yet God later—following David’s repentance–made him a man after His own heart.

         (3) Peter denied and abandoned Christ when He needed  him most, yet Jesus made him an Apostle and very likely the first Bishop of Rome.

         (4) Saul, who zealously murdered Christians, encounters the Risen Christ, and becomes Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles.

         (5) In Jesus’ story of the Prodigal This son, who according to ancient Near Eastern tradition, should have probably been snubbed by his offended father, is gladly embraced.  Any on-lookers would have expected the father to kick this money-grubbing, insolent, disrespectful son to the curb, but his father greeted him with  kisses.  Their neighbors would have expected to see the son beaten, but instead his grateful father produces a celebratory banquet.

All of these examples demonstrate that our God is a God of grace and forgiveness.   He patiently waits on us to come to our senses and come to Him.   Unwilling that any of us would miss out on His love and mercy, He offers us a 2nd chance, and sometimes even more!

         Our psalm today is Psalm 62, written by King David in his elder years. As you read it, you may be surprised by David’s themes as he wrote this after having survived a palace coup by his favorite son, Absolom.  Over time, and without David’s knowledge, Absolom had curried the favor of former friends of his father’s, and even a portion of the Israelite army no longer loyal to the King.  Absolom and his cronies entered Jerusalem by one gate, while his elderly and grieved father is forced to flee (with his court, advisors, and army personnel still loyal to him), by another.  So, as David composed this psalm, he is feeling rejected and betrayed by his favorite son, and overcome by grief.

         Yet notice how he focuses not on his pain, but on his relationship with God.  He expresses his trust in God!  Though he has been forced from his capital city in defeat, instead of being caught up in bitterness or a desire for revenge, he expresses optimism and praise to the Lord!

         (1) In v.9 He says he doesn’t put his trust in the fickle mob, not in men, but in God;

         (2) In v.10 He says he doesn’t trust in material things;

         (3) In v.11 Instead, he says he trusts in God because God has the Power!

         (4) In v.12 Instead, he says he trusts in God because God is merciful.

         These are such good lessons for us in these uncertain times, aren’t they?  When wild-eyed and unhinged political zealots are calling for revenge and retribution toward their enemies; when the Covid-19 has morphed and ramped up its killing capacity yet again; when the economic future seems uncertain; when we see our civil rights being challenged and increasingly curtailed by big tech, big business, big media, and big government; and when another caravan of thousands of migrants seems poised to storm our borders; in all of these situations, we need to put our trust in God.

         Like Jonah, we can be obedient and stand back and watch Him do miracles!  Like King David, we can trust in Him despite our circumstances…remembering that God has the power to protect us, remembering that God is merciful.  Unlike the people who give out the Darwin Awards, the Nazis, or the Cancel Culture, our God has shown time and time again that He believes we can change—with His help.  He doesn’t demand that we be perfect (the more I feel pressured to be perfect, the more mistakes I tend to make).  He just wants us, like King David, to trust in Him.  And He wants us, like the prophet Jonah, to obey Him.  Thank you, Lord, for being the God of 2nd chances!  Amen!

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

The God of Life

Pastor Sherry’s Message for January 17, 2021

Scriptures: 1 Samuel 3:1-20; Psalms 139:1-6, 13-18; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20l John 1:43-51

         I was fairly outraged yesterday when I received this bumper sticker in my mail.  It reads, “We Won’t Back Down,” and it’s from Planned Parenthood.  They were soliciting funds and suggested I contribute anywhere from $20-$100 for their cause.  (They must have gotten my name from a list of Florida psychologists; they clearly didn’t realize I am also a pastor.)  I wondered why they are asking for money when Planned Parenthood is already heavily supported by our federal tax dollars.  In fact you may know that some of their local offices qualified for government Covid-19 relief money, claiming they were a “small business.”  They insist they exist to provide quality health care for those unable to afford it.  Using current-day buzz words, they couch their appeal as…a way to address “racial inequity and justice”; and a means of providing nondiscriminatory, “sexual and reproductive healthcare.”  They strongly suggest that they are the primary advocates of those who suffer “systemic discrimination in the health care system.”  Now, to be clear, I have known of women who have gotten low cost mammograms from them.  But what is also true is that they exist primarily to provide abortions. 

         What they neglected to mention in the accompanying solicitation letter is that while white women have 37% of abortions annually, black women have 36%.  Since Black women make up only 13% of the American population (vs. non-Hispanic whites at 60%), this puts their number of abortions disproportionally much higher than whites.  At the current rate, there will be more black babies aborted than will be born by 2050. In fact, in 2020, more black babies were aborted in New York City than were born.  Rather than being supportive of racial equity, or racial equality, Planned Parenthood seems to be contributing to eugenics, the eradication of the race.  

         This is Right to Life Sunday, or Sanctity of Life Sunday.  We Christians tend to be pro-life because our God is the author and giver of life. We believe that God created humankind, and called us “very good,” the pinnacle of His creation. He formed humans from the dust and He breathed into us the breath of life.  We are pro-life because our God is pro-life.  Now let’s be clear, we are not against those who have had abortions.  No, not at all.  However, we believe aborting a child is a sin.  So anyone who has had one (or more) need only tell God she is sorry and ask for His forgiveness.  This should put an end to any lingering guilt, and reconcile the woman once again to God.  We are repelled by the sin but love the sinner.

         Let’s examine our Scriptures for today to see what they tell us about God’s attitudes toward human life.

         Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18 affirms that God knows us, each one of us-from “stem to stern,” top to bottom, inside and out….He knows what we think—who else can perceive our thoughts?—regardless of whether or not we express our thoughts verbally.  He knows what we do.  We cannot hide any of our cognitions or our behaviors from Him.  When we face Christ at the Throne of Judgment, there will be no jury of our peers and no defense Attorney using any means possible to plead our case.  Neither spin-doctoring, nor omitting some facts, nor outright lying will do us any good.  Our God is omniscient.  He knows.

         He created us and He knows us intimately—whether we acknowledge that fact or not.  He called us into existence.  We are here because God wanted us to be, whether our folks delighted in us or not!  My stepdad was constantly critical and disapproving of me.  My mother told me she didn’t like women which explained a lot about our troubled relationship.  So, when I first read and understood Psalm 139, I rejoiced because I realized it almost didn’t matter what my earthly parents thought about me.  God Himself called me into existence.  He wanted me.  He wanted you.  I find this very reassuring and hope you do too.

         Given that God knows us so well, it’s also true that He knows in advance how best to use our gifts and talents to advance His Kingdom here on earth:

         (1) Consider 1 Samuel 3:1-20 His mother, Hannah had begged God for a son.  She promised the Lord she would dedicate her son to God’s service if the Lord granted her request.  God did, and so she brought Samuel to Eli, the priest at the Tent of Meeting in Shiloh when he was weaned at 3 years old.

         In our passage today, Samuel (who was probably 12-13 YO by now), is sleeping in the Holy Place to ensure that the eternal flame did not go out. He hears a man’s voice calling him and thinks it’s his mentor, the priest Eli. By the 3rd time Samuel gets up to see what Eli    wants, the old priest realizes it is God who is calling Samuel.  He tells him (vv.9-10) …”Go and lie down, and if He calls you say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’”  So Samuel went and lay down in his place.  The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel!  Samuel!”  Then Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”  Samuel is ready to do whatever God asks of him.  The Lord gives Samuel a word of judgment against Eli, his mentor (& probably his friend).  He is to tell Eli that because he didn’t discipline his two sons, Phinehas and Hophni, his role as chief priest will be taken from him.

Phinehas and Hophni had been taking the best portion of the meat sacrifices—meant for God Himself–for themselves, and they had been seducing women coming to worship.  As per God’s judgment, the two die together, on the same day.  Additionally, Eli has been training Samuel for about 10 years but has not helped Samuel to develop a close relationship with the Lord.  Eli failed God in several significant ways.  Probably realizing this, Eli accepts God’s judgment. God then appoints Samuel to take Eli’s place as priest and prophet of Israel.

         Our God knows who is faithful to Him and who isn’t.  He rewards those like Samuel who are.  Those who aren’t are either punished or killed off (either in this life or the next).  This is a difficult lesson, but a true one.

         (2) In our Gospel lesson (John 1:43-51), Jesus calls His 1st Disciples:

                 (a.) Andrew, a disciple of John the Baptist’s, follows Him and 

                 (b.) Brings his brother, (Simon) Peter, telling him Jesus is the                                   longed-for Messiah.

                 (c.) Jesus calls Philip, who declares that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophesies.

                 (d) Then Jesus spots Nathanael.  Nathanael is skeptical at first but correctly discerns—under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—that Jesus is the Son of God and the true King of    Israel.

         Jesus says Nathanael is a “true Israelite,” remarking that Nat has “no guile,” unlike Jacob (the patriarch whose name meant “deceiver”).  Jesus thus reveals His prophetic abilities and forecasts that Nathanael will see many miracles as he lives and works with Jesus.

         Jesus references Jacob’s Ladder, the stairway to Heaven, which had appeared to Jacob in a dream as he was fleeing the Holy Land ahead of his murderous twin, Esau.  The dream reassured Jacob that God would be with him as he saw the ladder to heaven and angels rising and descending upon it.  Jesus brings up this ladder because He wants Nathanael (and us) to know that He is the ladder.  Jesus is the ladder or the bridge between God the Father in Heaven and humankind on earth.  Later, in John 14:6, He will make this plain when He says, … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

         Jesus, as God, knows our natures, our thoughts from afar, our abilities and our behaviors.  He knows us.  He loves us.

         (3) Finally, in our New Testament lesson (1 Corinthians 6:12-20), Paul warns us to be careful stewards of our bodies.  The context for this teaching is the Greek philosophy of the day rampant in Corinth, a Greek city.   Unlike the Hebrews–who believed that mind, body, and spirit are all connected and all good–the Greeks believed that only spirit was good, and that our bodies are evil.  This left the Corinthians with two choices:  Punish or deny the evil, sinful body (a tenet of the Stoics);or indulge in any and all sinful desires because what we do with our sinful, corrupt bodies doesn’t matter/isn’t important (a tenet of the opposite philosophy, the Epicureans).

         But Paul says both attitudes are wrong!  He asserts that our bodies, as God’s creations, have dignity (God pronounced them at Creation to be “very good!”).  Paul maintains, additionally, that we are to honor God with our bodies.  YIKES!  This is an astonishing way to think about gluttony and sexual sin, isn’t it?  We may be thinking they are just ways to indulge our sinful desires—who do they hurt but ourselves?  But Paul teaches us that–since our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (dwelling places of God)–they are to be kept pure.  Gluttony becomes a means by which we dishonor and hurt God.  Similarly, sexual sin (fornication, adultery, pornography, etc.) becomes a means by which we dishonor and offend God.

         This week, I read an autobiographical account by a biracial man named Ryan Bomberger.  He had been given up for adoption shortly after his birth.  Later on, at 13 years old, he learned that he was the product of his biological mother’s rape.  At first, he reports he was devastated to think he came about due to violence.   Then, he says, “…because I was so loved by my [adoptive] parents, I turned that pain into something very constructive.”  His shock was transformed into gratitude.  Gratitude that his biological mom didn’t abort him; gratitude that God placed him in a loving, Christian family in which he was the 1st of 10 adopted kids; gratitude that God called him into existence and that, despite being the product of a rape, his life had meaning and purpose.  (Again, Psalm 139àGod calls each of us into existence, regardless of the motives of our earthly parents.)

         Ryan and his wife, Bethany, have cofounded the pro-life, nonprofit organization known as “the Radiance Foundation.”  He says he belongs to the 1% that is used to justify abortion 100% of the time.  He is now a brother, a husband, an author, a singer and song-writer, a pro-life speaker, and an Emmy award winning designer.  If his birth-mother had aborted him, we would have lost his influence and his gifts.  Remember, Tim Tebow’s mom, a missionary, was told she should abort him in order to save her own life.  She would not do it.  Praise God because Tim, also, has had such a wonderful impact on people.  Each life is God-given.  Just as we see portrayed in the Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” when the angel shows the Jimmy Stewart character how each person he values would have been impacted had he not been in their lives, each life has a ripple impact on the social environment.  Who are we to question the purposes of God?

         This Right to Life Sunday, let us remember in prayer potential mothers and fathers everywhere.  Let’s pray that they would honor God with their bodies.  Let’s pray that they would be responsible about birth control, prior to pregnancy.  Let’s pray that they would honor the lives of their unborn babies once they learn they have conceived.  Let’s pray that they would trust in God to see them and their unborn child safely through.  And may they all come to believe that our God is the God of life!

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Let There Be Light

Pastor Sherry’s Message for January 10, 2021

Scriptures: Gen 1:1-5; Ps 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mk 1:4-11

Genesis 1:1-5 Imagine, for just a moment, that there were no light at all.  We would experience that deep darkness in which, like the blind, we could not see anything around us.  If you have ever visited one of the big underground caverns, you may have experienced them turning off all of the lights.  You would remember that you could not even see your hands in front of your face!  How disorienting!  We wouldn’t be able to see obstacles or dangers, like drops in the floor, dangers, or evil-doers.  We might find ourselves becoming very afraid.   This was exactly the situation before God began His great acts of Creation (but of course, no one but the Trinity was there).

Don’t you wish, however, that God had chosen to share more with us about the Creation events?  His account is remarkably brief…one chapter, 31 verses.  It is an abridged, “Reader’s Digest” version of what transpired.  The story is told that a newspaper editor got onto one of his writers for being too wordy in an article he was preparing.  “Cut it down,” he rumbled to the man.  “After all,” he continued, “the story of the creation was told in Genesis in 282 words.”  The reporter shot back, “Yes, and I’ve always thought we could have been saved a lot of arguments later if someone had just written another couple hundred.”

Nonetheless, God has given us the essentials:

1.) He created all things;

2.) He created them out of nothing (ex nihilo; He used no raw materials);

3.) Because He made all things, He is thus sovereign over, or more powerful than, all things.  Most pagan religions deify nature  (inventing gods of trees, rivers, the sun and moon, etc.).  But these 1st verses of Genesis tell us that all of nature was created by God. 

 4.) Additionally, verse 3 tells us He first created light, but does not reference the sun or the moon and stars.  Those familiar forms of light were not created until the 4th day.  Let There Be Light!  So, what light is He talking about? 

I think Rev. 22:3-5, describing the New Jerusalem, gives us a clue. No longer will there be any curse.  The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him.  They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.  There will be no more night.  They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.  So, either God shone His light into the darkness; or He may have been creating morality, good vs. evil; or He may have been creating the dawn of enlightenment/knowledge, the beginning of understanding God’s place in the universe as well as our own.  We really don’t know which—until we arrive in Heaven, it will remain what the nuns in my four years of Catholic Girls School referred to as a “holy mystery.”

         Psalm 29 Is a psalm of praise to God written by King David.  In it, David extols the power of God’s voice, which sounds to him like a thunderstorm.  God’s voice is powerful enough to break the cedars of Lebanon (the largest trees of that day, perhaps like our Sequoias).  God’s voice is powerful like lightening.  God’s voice is powerful like an earthquake.  David doesn’t directly say so, but we can certainly begin to comprehend the power contained in God’s voice.  It rumbles like thunder or like the roar of turbulent seas.  We know the Israelites heard God’s voice and were so frightened that they then said to Moses, in effect, “You talk to Him; His voice scares us.”  Certainly his voice would have to be powerful to be able to simply speak creation into existence.  This week a friend, Isabella, told me she had heard God’s voice.  She had made a total mess of her life when she was younger and was very distressed when she asked the Lord, “Are you there?”  (She was worried that He might have abandoned her because she had abandoned Him.)  She said she immediately heard, right by her ear, a soft, “caramel” voice say, “Yes.”  God may often thunder, but He also occasionally speaks softly.

         Because of His great power, God—David assures us in verse 10– …is enthroned as King forever.  He is eternal.  We can ignore Him if we choose, but He will never be replaced, dethroned, declared incompetent, or suffer a coup.  No one will successfully invoke the 23rd amendment against Him. Back in the ‘70’s or ‘80’s, they tried to say He was dead. I remember a Time Magazine cover that proclaimed, “God is dead!”  But they were wrong! We can depend upon Him being very alive and very much available to us.  And, verse 11àWe can depend upon Him to give us strength, and to bless us with His peace—even in the midst of political turmoil, plagues like the Covid, widespread fear and unrest, etc.

         Building on the fact that God is our creator (Genesis 1), and adding in Psalm 29, we can come to Him in faith, no matter our dilemmas; we can depend upon Him to hear and to help; and we can trust that He is both powerful and in charge, no matter what is going on in our families, communities, nation, or even internationally.  He is the Light of the World.  Let There Be Light!

         Acts 19:1-7 Doesn’t appear to fit with the Scriptures just cited.  Paul is evangelizing the city of Ephesus (3rd Mission trip). He had cruised by earlier, as he was winding up his 2nd journey.  But this time, he stays there for 2 years, teaching and preaching Jesus Christ.  When he arrives this second time, he finds some believers.  They had been brought to Christ by the preaching of Apollos.  Apparently Apollos had only learned of John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance, the preparation for Jesus’ coming.  So Paul asks if they have also been baptized into the Holy Spirit.  They didn’t know what this was.   In a sense reminiscent of “we don’t know what we don’t know,” they had not heard of Jesus because Apollos did not yet know of Jesus.  Thus, they were not saved, nor were they “in Christ.  Additionally, they were unaware of the Holy Spirit.  This, then, is where Paul begins with them.  Let There Be Light!  (the Light of Enlightenment).  Paul teaches them and then baptizes them into the Holy Spirit.  Even as “baby Christians,” they begin to speak in tongues and to prophesy.

         We too, if we are in Christ and have been filled with the Holy Spirit, can demonstrate the gifts of the HS.  God has Let There Be Light in and through us.  In other words, our all-powerful God empowers us to strengthen His church.  He empowers us to have a powerful impact on others.  As Scripture says, God is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine due to His power at work in us. 

This past Tuesday, I had my annual sonogram on my liver done at Shands Hospital in Gainesville.  A radiology tech there told me that benign cysts like mine are with aperson from birth and that they do not reduce in size.  However, my cyst has decreased by about half in the past two years.  She asked me what I had done to reduce it.  I responded that I had done nothing.  The unexpected improvement is due to Jesus acting through your prayers for me.  As an obvious non-believer, she was skeptical, but perhaps God will usemy testimony (my healthier liver) and your prayers to bring her to Christ!  Let There Be Light!

         In our Gospel lesson, Mk 1:4-11, John the Baptist baptizes for repentance from sin, announces Jesus is coming, and then baptizes Jesus.  Notice, he has been heralding the coming of Christ when Jesus shows up.  God thus demonstrates that John the Baptist is a legit prophet. He predicts what will happen, and it happens.  By the power of God, Jesus has taken on human flesh, humbles His sinless self, identifies with our sinfulness, and agrees to be baptized.

         The other two members of the Trinity show up as well:  The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descends upon Him.  Then God the Father speaks from heaven His approval of Jesus.  Let There Be Light!  This Jesus is someone really special!  Mark 1:11 records the Father declaringàYou are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.  Our powerful, Creator God has so loved us that (John 3:16)…He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

         This 2021 New Year, let’s not allow our attention to be focused on the events of this world, but praying for the world, let us focus on the power and strength of our God!  Let there be the light of Christ in our lives.  Let His light shine through us so that others catch it.  Lord, Let There Be Light in our dark world!  Let There Be Light!

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Change Someone’s Life

Pastor Sherry’s Message for the new year–1/3/21

Scriptures: Jer 31:7-14; Ps 147; Eph 1:3-6. 15-19; Jn 1:1-18

Recently, I listened to a book on CD in which a young woman (June) discovers a list written by a recently deceased friend (Marisa) entitled “21 Things I want to do before I turn 25.”  In a twist on New Years’ resolutions, June decides to honor Marisa by completing her list for her before what would have been the dead woman’s 25th birthday. Imagine finding such a list.  Imagine trying to check off each item in memory of your friend.

Now this was a list designed by a 24 year old who had just lost 100 pounds, and contained such entries as the following:

1. Lose 100 #, check;

2. Kiss a stranger;

3. Change someone’s life;

4. Wear sexy shoes, check (When Marisa died in a car accident, she was found wearing sequined silver heels);

5. Run a 5K;

6. Get on TV;

7. Ride in a helicopter;

8. Pitch an idea at work;

9. Take Mom and Grandma to see Wayne Newton;

10. Show my brother how much he means to me;

11. Watch a sunrise;

12. Make a big donation to charity.

The deceased had only accomplished 2 items prior to dying. As the friend, June, embarks on completing Merisa’s list, she discovers much more about Marisa’s character, and that the process of working to check off the items on the list actually changes June’s life, for the good. As you might expect, the items that meant the most to the June were those that made a difference in the lives of others.

Modern psychology confirms, with robust research findings, that doing something good for others is key to developing personal happiness.

Our God has known this for eons!  He has called upon us to love others as He has loved us; and He has not only taught us this precept, but He has demonstrated it for us, over and over again.

Let’s see what our Scripture passages today have to tell us about God’s desire to change someone’s life—change all of our lives—for the better.

Our Old Testament lesson comes from Jeremiah 31:7-14.  Its context is a dark time in the history of Judah/Jerusalem (around 587 BC).

The King, Zedekiah, is a wicked nonbeliever.  Worse yet, he is a puppet who had been installed by Judah’s enemy, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  By this time, the Northern Kingdom (Israel) has already been destroyed and dispersed by the Assyrians (722BC).  As the chapter opens, King Nebuchadnezzar is engaged in a 30 month siege to overtake Jerusalem, due to Zedekiah’s foolish defiance.  Jerusalem had a water source, but cutting off food supplies led to horrible deprivation within the city.  Eventually the Babylonian dictator breaches the walls, destroys the city and the Temple, and—after killing the ill, the elderly, and those too young to survive the trip to Babylon—carts off the able-bodied survivors, leaving the city desolate, destroyed, and abandoned.

That is what is going to happen.  But Jeremiah is prophesying beyond this horrible event to reassure the people of God’s love for them.  Yes, their idolatry (spiritual adultery) brought on God’s just punishment.  But God wants them to know He will (used 15 times in this chapter) gather them up again and return them to “the Holy Land.”  Embedded in this message of comfort are indications of both Jesus’ First and Second Comings.  God will punish them, but He still loves them and will not abandon them. 

The Apostle John tells us in John 15:13, Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down his life for His friends.  In Jeremiah 31:13, the prophet asserts that God…will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.  This passage assures us that God does not give up on us!  God does not abandon us!  He will send Jesus Christ, who will change their lives for the better.  He has sent Jesus Christ, who has changed our lives for the better.

Psalm 147 is a hymn of praise to God, the Creator, for His special grace extended to Israel (and applied to us as well).  It affirms that God controls the universe and all that is in it.  It reaffirms that He loves Israel, His Chosen People.  A time is coming (2nd Advent of Christ) when God will again visit His people.  He will then bless them with peace, plenty, and protection/safety.  These actions will certainly change their lives for the better.

Our New Testament lesson is from Ephesians 1:2-6, 14-19.  Paul prays for this church out of his love for them (which he models for us).  He wants the Holy Spirit to strengthen them (and us) internally, spiritually, so that they might be rooted and grounded in Christ, and rooted and grounded in love.  He wants this for them so that they never doubt God’s love for them.  Finally he prays that they (and we) might be (v.19) filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  If they—and we—are internally strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit, rooted in Christ and grounded in love, as well as filled with the fullness of God, we are going to be radically different, phenomenally better persons!  Furthermore, the impact we will then have on others will also generate positive changes in them.

Our Gospel comes from John 1:1-18.  The Apostle John wants us to be assured that Jesus Christ was not just present at Creation, but that He spoke Creation into existence.  He wants us to know that Jesus both brings forth life and is Himself light.  John admits that not everyone—then or now–will believe in Jesus, but for those of us who do, we will become/we are children of God.  We will have seen God the Father in the face and actions of Jesus, His Son.  Finally, by implication, this faith of ours in Jesus will change our lives for the better.

George’s sermon last week, a “Hail and Farewell” to 2020, was very well written.  As we say goodbye to 2020 and embark on what will unfold in 2021, let’s be intentional about changing someone’s life for the better.  We can do so by being more loving, or by being more generous with affection, time, gratitude, oreven with money. 

Working Marisa’s list effected all of these changes in June. June became more confident; more other-centered and less me-centered; and she learned that doing good things for others made her life more worthwhile.  The novel was a secular one, so no mention was made of the redemptive love of Jesus. Nevertheless it revealed the tremendous impact one person can have when we resolve to make a positive difference in the life of another.

In 2021, we have the same opportunity as June.  Because we know and love Jesus, we can make an even greater impact on the people with whom we interact.  Our God has taught us to love others, and He Himself demonstrated time and again how to go about it.If we resolve anything at all this new year (if we even write a list of New Years’ resolutions), let’s try to change someone’s life for the good. Amen!

©2021 Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams

Posted on by Cheryl Norman

Birth Announcements

Pastor Sherry’s Message for Christmas Eve

Scriptures: Isa 9:2-7; Luke 2:1-20

I ask you to think tonight about birth announcements.

Remember when we used to get a small card in an envelope, telling us of a birth?  It would have a cute motif (bunnies, chicks, teddys, pink for a girl, blue for a boy); the baby’s name; his/her birthdate, length, birth-weight; and the tired but proud parents’ names.  Nowadays, the news appears in a more dramatic style:  Typically there is a picture of the newborn, or perhaps one of the baby and mom, or of the parents with the newborn.  My personal favorite was of a mom tenderly holding the baby’s tiny hand in her own.

Again, we are given all of the pertinent info, and we celebrate with the family who has brought a new little one into the world.

Now, contrast this with Jesus’ day, when they lacked cell phones that could take pictures, Shutterfly to reproduce them as cards, or even other kinds of cameras with which to capture a birth.  Scripture has only words with which to mark for us the sacred and phenomenally important event of Jesus’ birth—and yet, we get the point and are moved, aren’t we?

All of our Scripture passages tonight either foretell or describe Jesus’ Coming/Advent; but I am going to focus on two:  Isaiah 9:2-7 and Luke 2:1-20.

Isa 9:2-7 was written between 700-750 years before Jesus’ actual birth.  In it, the prophet predicts who Jesus will be/what He will accomplish.  Notice, he doesn’t mention anything about his weight or length.  Our Luke passage tells us His earthly parents are young, poor, and homeless.  Since Joseph was taking them to his place of birth, Bethlehem, we might assume he had some kinfolk there.  But apparently he did not (Perhaps they had died or moved away).  Not one family member was present to provide shelter for them in a guest room.  They had to make do in a shed/stable.

Isaiah focuses instead on the fact that Jesus (later known as the “Light of the World”) will bring light to a spiritually dark region, Galilee of the Gentiles.  The area around Nazareth was known for belief in a large variety of pagan gods.  As J. Vernon McGee (my favorite Bible commentator) says, “They had a lot of religion, but they never had Christ” (Luke, p.94).

Then Isaiah jumps ahead to Christ’s Second Coming, telling us the characteristics and the roles Jesus will demonstrate when He comes again as King of Kings and Lord of Lords: 

(Verse 6), and the government will be on His shoulders.  This tells us that Jesus will be strong.  He will have the strength, intelligence, and leadership ability to rule/govern the whole earth.  Wow!

He will be called Wonderful….  We will call Him Wonderful because, like His heavenly Father, He performs wonders.  He healed the sick and the broken-hearted.  He paid the penalty for our sins.  He restored  (reconciled) us to a good and an intimate relationship with His Father.  These are all significant because we could not have accomplished these things on our own.

(He will be called) Counselor….  He never said to His guys, “Fellows, what do you think I should do now?”  He did not need the counsel of another, because He was/is exceedingly wise.

(He will be called) Mighty God….  Like the Father, He is known as El Gibbor.  This means He is omnipotent, all powerful.

(He will be called) Everlasting Father….  He did not give birth to children from His own flesh.  But, again, like the Father, He is known as Avi adàthe Father of Eternity.  He is the creator of all things, even time, and events far off.  The Apostle John tells us in John 1:3, Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. AndPaul adds in Colossians 1:16, For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities. All things were created by Him and for Him.  Like a Father, He loves, provides, protects, and disciplines us.

(He will be called) Prince of Peace….In the Hebrew, He is called Sar-Shalohim. He will initiate peace and He will sustain peace.  Truly, there can be no peace, no lasting peace, until Jesus rules the earth.  When Jesus comes again, He will accomplish extraordinary things!

Luke’s passage (2:1-20) then records the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth event.  While we celebrate Jesus’ birth in toasty, comfortable homes, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph huddled in humble, uninsulated animalhousing.  While the future King of Kings and Lord of Lords should havehad the comforts of an opulent and warm palace, his quiet, humble arrival was nevertheless celebrated in a most spectacular way!  First one angel appeared to provide a spectacular birth announcement!  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.  Next, the angel invited the shepherds to come and see the One who would become Our Great Shepherd.  Then suddenly, loads more angels show up!  They form a heavenly chorus and proceed to praise God and sing…Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men [and women] on who His favor rests.

What a birthday celebration!  The shepherds do trek off to see the newborn Christ.  They are delighted with His birth!  After worshipping Him, they go tell everyone they know (quicker than a mailed announcement)–spreading the word that Messiah had come.

Tonight (Christmas Eve) and tomorrow (Christmas Day), let’s be aware of what we are celebrating–the birth of Jesus, our Messiah.  Over and over, God had his prophets foretell His coming.  Then, finally, (drum roll, please!) He arrives in the wee dark hours of Christmas morning.  Christ is the reason for the season.  Come, let us adore Him!

©Rev. Dr. Sherry Adams 2020