I am so proud of our team that portrayed the birth of Christ at our second annual Living Nativity! And I’m grateful that we were asked to be a part of the annual Mingle With Kris Kringle event in downtown Cedar Springs.
Pictures don’t really do it full justice, but it’s a start, so click here to see the pictures and a couple of videos too.
This is the time of year for gift giving. Everyone is out looking for the perfect gift to give to a loved one, co-worker, or friend.
Can you imagine going through all of the work of finding the right gift, paying your hard-earned money for it, wrapping it up, delivering it to the recipient, and then watching them set it aside unopened?!
Or how about the one who opens the gift, but doesn’t show any gratitude at all?!
Or the one who says a sincere “Thank you!” but then puts the gift on the shelf and never touches it again?!
Christmas is the time we think about the greatest gift of all—God’s gift of His only Son. But this isn’t the only gift God gives. In fact, He is a lavish Gift Giver. So the key questions are:
I’m starting a brand new series this Sunday, and going all the way until Christmas morning, looking at God’s Gifts. We’ll see what the Bible says about these gifts, including how to show our gratitude, and how to use them in a way that honors the Gift Giver.
I hope you can join us!
Now that Christmas is over, are you thinking to yourself, “Finally! I can get back to my normal routine”?
For some people, the past weeks have been a hectic whirlwind of activity, and the days leading up to Christmas seem like a blur. So now what?
I guess it depends on your attitude about the season. Was it just a regular, it-comes-every-year Christmas for you? Or was it an exciting CHRISTmas: the time to reflect on the birth of Christ? For those in the second category, we cannot—we dare not!—go back to a “normal” routine.
For those that encountered Jesus on (or near) the day of His birth in Bethlehem, look how they responded:
The Shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.
Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and praised God.
Anna broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.
The Magi were overjoyed, and they bowed down and worshiped Him.
My prayer for myself—and for you, too—is that our encounter with Jesus this Christmas was so real, that we will continue to glorify God, and worship Him with overflowing joy, for the rest of the year. Let’s not just get through Christmas, but let’s make sure the reality of CHRISTmas continues to resonate throughout the year.
Over the past couple of days, anytime I’m driving anywhere near a store, I’m slowed down by so many last-minute shoppers.
I understand that some shoppers procrastinate, some family members are hard to shop for, and some folks wait so long to share their wish list with you. But as I’ve engaged a few shoppers in conversation, one thing I’m routinely hearing is, “I’ve got to get just one more gift for….”
One more gift.
Just one more.
And maybe one more after that.
I’m not knocking generosity, but I would like to point out that there is something called Enough.
Maybe instead of buying one more gift for someone special, you could exchange your shopping time for conversation time.
Maybe instead of one more gadget, you could go on one more date.
Maybe instead of more presents, you could give more presence.
Why is everyone hungry for more? “More, more,” they say.
“More, more.”
I have God’s more-than-enough,
More joy in one ordinary day
Than they get in all their shopping sprees. (Psalm 4:6-7).
The greatest joy comes not from giving great gifts, but in being a gift to someone else. Enjoy God’s presence, and then give a present of your presence to a special someone!
Being the techy guy that I am, I really enjoyed this modern portrayal of the nativity.
Enjoy…
Merry Christmas!
Virgin birth? The accuracy of the biblical account? God in flesh? These are all intriguing questions that crop up especially around the Christmas season, which is why The Case For Christmas by Lee Strobel is a timely read.
Lee Strobel investigates the fantastic claims that Christians make about the birth of Jesus Christ with all of the cool-headed dispassion of a newspaper journalist. Beginning with his own skepticism about the miracle of the virgin birth of Christ, Mr. Strobel seeks out the sharpest minds who have thoroughly researched the key areas surrounding this subject. In a book that reads a little like a detective story, we get to sit in on some of the fascinating interviews Mr. Strobel conducted for this book.
Whether you are an atheist, a doubter, or a wholehearted believer, there is much to ponder in The Case For Christmas. At only 96-pages long, you can read this book prior to Christmas Day, and gain a better appreciation for the true meaning behind CHRISTmas.
So glad this didn’t happen in our Living Nativity…
But on a bright note, the Cedar Springs Post had a couple of nice things to say about us (you can read the article here). And if you missed it earlier, the pictures from our Living Nativity are all uploaded here.
I’m so proud of our team for putting on an incredible Living Nativity in Cedar Springs this past weekend!
It was a rush job to begin with (see a previous post where I talked about God moments by clicking here), but then so many people stepped up big time!
You can see all of the pictures Delbridge Langdon Jr took by clicking here.
I want to give some shout-outs to our cast:
I also want to recognize Joe Palmer for his incredible set design, and Claudia Owens (my favorite Mom) for making all of our costumes.
And finally, thanks to the Calvary A/G family for praying for us and talking it up, and thanks to Chris Burns, the Cedar Springs City Manager, for inviting us to present the Living Nativity.
It was a great night, and I hope we can do this again and again for many more years.
Merry CHRISTmas!
Last week I was at the B2B (Business-to-Business) meeting in Cedar Springs. We were talking about events that bring people into the downtown area, like the Spook-tacular, at which we did our Light The Night carnival. The next item on the agenda was the upcoming Mingle With Kris Kringle event.
Out of the blue I was asked, “Hey, do you think you could setup a nativity scene?”
I wanted to say yes, but I was mulling over my response for a second. Someone else offered, “Yeah, just grab a couple of sheep and you’re good to go!”
<POW!> The proverbial light bulb went off, and I immediately said, “Yes! We’d be happy to do that!”
Right away I began texting a bunch of people in our church:
In a matter of just a few moments I got back a whole lot of Yeses. We’re under the gun to get everything done (we have to present this on December 3), but we’re going to make it happen.
Just imagine if I hadn’t been at that meeting … or if I hadn’t got so many yeses … or if I hadn’t wanted to take the risk … none of this may have happened.
I truly believe my steps are ordered by God. He places me in the right place at the right moment. So those moments are God moments where I get to say a wholehearted “Yes!”
When was your last God moment? How did you respond?
I read something very interesting: Next to Christmas, more money is spent on Halloween than on any other holiday event. Halloween?!? Wow! We’re in the midst of planning our church’s role on Halloween night, so I’ve been thinking quite a bit about engaging our culture.
It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
So here’s how I think followers of Jesus Christ should light a candle to engage culture:
(1) Have the right motivation. In Jesus’ inaugural sermon, He said He was coming to preach the Good News about God’s love. He purposely left out the part of Isaiah’s prophesy that talked about God’s coming judgment. There will be a time for that, but for now, our motivation should be to make known the favor of the Lord.
(2) Get out of your box. If you only hang around with Christians, your ability to effectively engage culture will be diminished. If you never get around others, it’s sort of like salt that sits in the saltshaker too long. Paul told the Athenians that he had been walking around their city looking at their culture.
(3) Listen. As Paul talked to the Athenians, he quoted their poets to them. He knew what they were listening to because he was listening too. What are people watching on TV? What movies are they talking about? What music are they listening to? You can find the key to their heart by knowing something about what interests them.
(4) Collaborate. There are lots of other faith-based organizations, non-government organizations, and churches that are already active in your community. Join forces with them.
(5) Just be there. Go to local restaurants, cheer on the local sports teams, join a rec league team, attend the city council meetings, volunteer at a shelter or food pantry. Just be there! After a while, people will begin to ask you why you are so involved, and you’ll have a great platform to speak to them.
It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.
Are you engaging your culture? It’s time to go shine!
Craig T. Owens 