“De-Christmas-ing”

Posted on 2011/12/27 by Shawn Thomas

Today we are “De-Christmas-ing.” I got that word from a good friend of ours at church who put all their Christmas decorations away yesterday, and reported about it on Facebook. I decided that’s a pretty good term. I like Christmas decorations, and enjoy putting them out. But after Christmas is over, I am pretty much ready to get the house back to normal. In the days leading up to Christmas, I have presents hidden all over my closet for Cheryl & the kids: underneath and behind my suits, stuffed under my socks in the drawer, and just covered up by coats against the wall in my side of the closet. It is kind of nice to get those spaces back! And honestly I just like the way our home is set up, so I enjoy getting it back to “normal”.

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Heralds of the Advent: Isaiah 9

Posted on 2011/12/26 by Shawn Thomas

One of my favorite editorial cartoons ran a number of years ago during the last recession.  Like many cartoons, it appeared in two parts.  The first showed a man sitting in front of a Christmas tree that was packed underneath with presents.  In the next, there were not nearly as many presents – and there is a newspaper on the floor with the headline, “Leaner Sales”.  But with the absence of the presents, now you could see that there was a Nativity Scene under the tree!  The man says: “Where did that come from?”  And his wife replies: “It’s been there all along” – the implication being, it had been crowded out by all of the presents which were under the tree during the more prosperous times.  I love that cartoon, because it portrays so vividly how we often let materialism crowd out what this season should really be about: the birth of the Child Whom we need much more than any other gift. 

     On this Christmas morning we will finish our series, “Heralds of the Advent” by turning to Isaiah 9, where we find that God’s great gift to us would be a Child, a Son.  We have seen the past couple of weeks that these prophets, Isaiah and Micah, wrote 700-750 years before Christ was born, and predicted things about Him which would come to pass in the birth of Jesus Christ.  Micah predicted in Micah 5:2 that He would be born inBethlehem. Isaiah predicted in 7:14 that He would be born of a virgin.  Both of them indicated that He would be much more than a “mere” child, but that He would be God Himself who would come to earth to save us.  Today we turn back to the Book of Isaiah, chapter 9, where we find that God’s answer for man’s problems would indeed come in the form of a Child – a very special Child – and he describes for us in this verse what this One would be like, and what He would accomplish for us.  He is truly the Greatest Christmas Gift.  I don’t know what kind of gifts you opened up for Christmas last night, or this morning – but this gift is greater; this is the One you need more than anything else!  Let’s look together at Isaiah 9:6, and the Gift God gave us in His Son: Continue reading →

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“Martin Luther’s Christmas Sermon” (compiled)

Posted on 2011/12/19 by Shawn Thomas

     Martin Luther was the man God used to spark the Protestant Reformation in the 1500’s.  As a young man, Luther had done his best to justify himself by his works, but never found peace with God until the Lord touched his heart with Romans 1:17 (which quotes Habakkuk 2:4) “The just shall live by his FAITH”.  Luther became a mighty preacher and writer – often times very plain spoken (in fact, he said many things that you all would probably throw me out of this pulpit for saying – but I am going to avoid that tonight by not mentioning what those are!)

     The following “message” was never preached in one setting by Martin Luther.  Rather this is a compilation of things that Luther taught from the different Christmas passages in Matthew and Luke. As you will see, he sometimes “filled in the blanks” in the account with his opinions or imagination.  I’ll let you sift through the good and the bad here.  But there are also some GREAT applications that I hope you’ll let God speak to your heart about, through “Martin Luther’s Christmas Sermon”! Continue reading →

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A very specific, personal decision …

Posted on 2011/12/16 by Shawn Thomas

Friday is our son Michael’s last day at school. Yeah, I know, it is the last day for a lot of kids – it’s Christmas break! But unlike a lot of other kids, when break is over, Michael is not going back. He is going to be educated at home. Since Mike has attended our church’s First Baptist Academy, and I am the pastor of the church, I wanted to explain our reasons to anyone who might be interested in why we are taking this particular course of action.

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The Work of the Kingdom: Matthew 9:35-38

Posted on 2011/12/11 by Shawn Thomas

Yesterday afternoon I went out to the Moss Bluff Christmas Parade to see any of our people who might be out there – and also to see if the Lord might lay on my heart any ideas for us to minister out there next year.  It was interesting; there were hundreds of people there – but relatively few from our church.  I did have the opportunity to meet several new people – including Gregg Cavener’s neighbor, who said that Gregg was the best neighbor you could ask for!  (That thought ought to challenge each of us: what would YOUR neighbor say to someone about YOU?!)  But as I walked back and forth along the parade route, I thought about the scripture passage I had already planned to use for tonight, from Matthew 9:35-38.  It speaks of Jesus’ reaction to seeing the crowds – crowds like were at that parade yesterday.  And it challenges us, here at the end of one year, and soon to begin another, to recommit ourselves to “The Work of the Kingdom.” Continue reading →

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Heralds of the Advent: Micah 5

Posted on 2011/12/11 by Shawn Thomas

When Mark Twain visited the Holy Land in the 1860’s, he did not find Bethlehem to be impressive.  In fact, he wrote later of its “mouldy domes and turrets” and disparaged its “noisy mob” and “leprous beggars.”  He said he was never so glad to get away from a place in his life.  And yet, years later he wrote to a fellow traveler on that trip, that he was glad that he had been to Bethlehem, and that it was indeed a special place to him, because despite all of its shortcomings, he knew that our Savior had been born there. 

     This morning we are beginning a 3-part series on Old Testament prophets who spoke regarding the birth of Jesus.  We have entitled the series: “Heralds of the Advent.”  “Advent” is a word which describes the coming of a great person – in this most famous case, the coming of Jesus Christ to earth.  Each of the next weeks we will look a different Old Testament passage which predicted the birth of Jesus.  The next two weeks, we will look at one from Isaiah 7, and one from Isaiah 9, and this morning we will focus on Micah 5:2-5. Continue reading →

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“The Real Thing: Love Triumphant”

Posted on 2011/12/04 by Shawn Thomas

I Corinthians 13:7-8

Archeologists in Italy have unearthed what some are calling the ultimate picture of love: an ancient farmer and his wife who were buried together, holding hands.  The wife’s head is turned, as if looking upon her husband.  When they were unearthed, they had been holding hands there together for over 1500 years – a touching picture of unending love.  While we may never really know all of that couple’s circumstances, in our passage for today we find the ultimate description of genuine triumphant love, which comes from God Himself, in I Corinthians 13:7-8. Continue reading →

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“A Christmas Carol”

Posted on 2011/11/27 by Shawn Thomas

“The movie was not as good as the book” is a cliché for a reason: they rarely ever are!  I have enjoyed several versions of “A Christmas Carol” in movie form, but none of them can capture the vivid descriptions, the folksy attitude, and the full spirit of Dickens’ book – though several of the silver screen versions come reasonably close.  Yet no movie quite captures the spirit of Charles Dickens.  His homey narration style is part of it – as if he were very personally guiding you through the experience.  Then there are the classic Dickensian descriptions which place you right at the scene!  His portrayal of the Christmas food which adorned the local grocers, “that people’s mouths might water gratis as they passed” literally made MY mouth water!  Many would imitate his style, but few can paint word pictures like Dickens!”  Phrases like: “Awaking in the middle of a prodigiously tough snore …” had me chuckling and clucking out loud throughout. Continue reading →

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The Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer

Posted on 2011/11/26 by Shawn Thomas

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  So A.W. Tozer opens his classic book, The Knowledge of the Holy.  Tozer, who pastored in the middle of the 20th century, spoke prophetically about how the church was suffering because she had lost a proper view of God.  In his conclusion, he asserted: “To regain her lost power the Church must see heaven opened and have a transforming vision of God.”  Tozer seeks to inform the reader of a Biblical view of God in 19 chapters, each briefly detailing a different attribute of God as revealed in scripture.  Tozer supplements his references to scripture with quotes from church fathers and philosophers, and closes each chapter with a hymn or poem – more often than not citing Frederick Faber, obviously his personal favorite.  The Knowledge of the Holy was not intended for professional theologians, but for individuals who might be undertaking a search for a deeper and more majestic view of God.  The book succeeds in giving a brief (4-8 pages each) and yet thoughtful and compelling view of God which is informative, inspiring, and surprisingly applicable. 

Following are some samples of Tozer’s quotes regarding the attributes of God: Continue reading →

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The “Thanksgiving Gift”

Posted on 2011/11/17 by Shawn Thomas

It is not that unusual for a tale to become twisted in its transmission, oftenThanksgiving Dining Room to someone’s detriment – but the slightly misunderstood story of “the Thanksgiving Gift” may just end up being to the benefit of all! Continue reading →

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