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Psalm 98:4-6 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn– shout for joy before the LORD, the King.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King!
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room And heav’n and nature sing…

Yes, I know it is not yet Christmas time. It is not even Advent yet, although I have seen Christmas decorations on homes and in stores since September. But this hymn was not originally written as a Christmas hymn. It fits that season well, but did you ever stop to think about the things this hymn does not mention: shepherds, angels, wise men, the stable, Mary, Joseph, Bethlehem, the manger. None of those things are in what most people think is a Christmas hymn.

The emphasis is on the joy that Christ brings to this world, and that certainly started with His birth. God’s people, at least those who faithfully believed His promise, had been waiting for centuries for God to reveal Himself. It finally happened when “the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us.”  The Lord is Come! But the Joy that is ours is more than just His birth. We have Joy because of what He did while He was here on earth.

Psalm 98 is a song of rejoicing that God has protected His chosen people. It also anticipates the time when He will be accepted as God by the whole earth. The hymn author, Isaac Watts, was known for writing what he called “New Testament hymns.” He would take an Old Testament text, something written before Christ was born, and reflect on what it means for those of us living in the New Testament age. “Joy to the World” turns Psalm 98 into a New Testament song of praise. It exalts the salvation that started with the birth of our Savior and King. Listen to how this Psalm begins:

Psalm 98:1-3 Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

The key here is the recognition of God’s activity. He is the one who has done marvelous things, having rescued and worked salvation. Just as that was true throughout the Old Testament, it is true for us. We have not saved ourselves or accomplished what was necessary to pay for sins. God has. He did everything, marvelous things. It started with the birth of Christ, and was played out through His life of perfect obedience, His suffering and dying in your place, and His resurrection as the Conqueror! God did this for you and now He has made this salvation known to you, showing it to all people in fact, so that whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish, but have eternal life. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. There should truly be “Joy to the World” for this reason.

Recently I came across something I had clipped out of a church newsletter forty years ago. The title was “A Prayer for More Rattlesnakes” by T.A. Raedeke, D.D.

Once upon a time there was a family of wayward members of a church. At one time they were active members but they had lost all interest and had fallen away. The deacons had talked to the father and three sons – Jim, John and Sam – about their condition. The preacher had visited them and many of the members had tried to get them to come back to church, but all had failed.

One day when the boys were out in the pasture, a large rattlesnake bit John and he became very ill. A physician was called, and after an examination he pronounced John to be in critical condition. The doctor said, “About all you can do now is pray,” and then went on his way. The father called the preacher and told him of John’s condition and asked him to pray for John. This the was preacher’s prayer.

“Oh wise and righteous Father, we thank Thee that in Thy wisdom Thou hast sent this rattlesnake to bite John in order to bring him to his senses. He has not been inside the church house for years, and it is doubtful that in all that time he has felt the need of prayer. Now we trust that this will be a valuable lesson to him and that it will lead him to genuine repentance.”

“And now, O Father, wilt Thou send another snake to bite Sam, and another to bite Jim, and a BIG ONE to bite the old man. We have been doing everything we know for years to restore them but to no avail. It seems that all of our combined efforts could not do what this snake has done. We thus conclude that the only thing left that will do this family any good is more rattlesnakes. So Lord, send us bigger and better rattlesnakes. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

I’m sure you all know people who need a rattlesnake, a wake-up call, something that will cause them to turn back to God. Don’t give up on them. It will not be too late until they die.

God has sent His messengers, like John the Baptizer, to call people to repent and turn back to God.

Luke 1:17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

He continues to send those who have turned to Him to be His witnesses to those who still need to turn to the Lord. Let Him use you as a “rattlesnake” and an wake up call, pointing people to Jesus and His love, ensuring they will be with us in the throng around the Lamb in His kingdom singing His praises.

1 Kings 8:58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers.

The perfect pastor preaches exactly twenty minutes, then sits down. He condemns sin but never hurts anyone’s feelings. He works for 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. in every kind of job from preaching to custodial services.

He gets paid $3000 per month, has good clothes, a nice family, a complete library along with his own computer and all the resources he needs, drives a new car and gives $1500 a month to the church. He also generously supports all the local charities with his time and his money.

He is in his early thirties and has been preaching for 40 years. He is both tall and short, thin and heavy set, and very handsome. His hair is parted in the middle, the left side blond and straight, the right side dark and wavy.

 He had a burning desire to work with the youth and spends all his time with the older folks in the congregation. He always has a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him dedicated to his work. He makes fifteen visits a day on his members, spends his time evangelizing the lost in his community, and is never out of the office.

This may or may not match your definition of a perfect pastor. Everyone has their own ideas about what a pastor should do and who he should be.

The congregation I am helping this month in Frankfurt is currently searching for their next pastor. So are the many of the congregations in the U.S. where those of you reading this attend. The number of pastors in our church body has been declining sharply for many years now. What can you do?

Pray. If you have a pastor, thank God for him, ask God to strengthen, bless, sustain and uphold him as he strives to serve you, your congregation and your community. Give your pastor support and encouragement in his work. And ask the Lord of the harvest to lead more workers to serve Him in this way.

You can also consider serving in ministry yourself. You can encourage others to ask themselves if God is calling them to this task. You can support our colleges and seminaries that train church workers.

For the record, there is no perfect pastor. What you should hope for and expect from your pastor is that He keeps pointing you to the Cross and the empty tomb, sharing the message of God’s love for the world in Christ Jesus that bought us back from sin and death so that we could have the assurance of forgiveness for sins and life eternal with Him.

A member of a congregation who had previously been attending worship services regularly suddenly stopped coming to church. After missing services for several weeks in a row, the pastor decided to pay a visit to this member.

It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home, alone, sitting in front of a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for the pastor’s visit, he welcomed him and led him to a seat near the fireplace, and waited. The pastor settled into his chair making himself comfortable, but said absolutely nothing. He just sat there watching the flames at play around the logs in front of him. After a few minutes, he grabbed the fire tongs and carefully picked up a brightly burning ember, setting it down at the end of the hearth away from the rest of the fire. The pastor set back in his chair again, still silent.

The two men watched the ember together. As the lone ember’s flame diminished, there was a momentary glow, and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and “dead as a doornail.” Still no words were spoken between the two men since the initial greeting.

The pastor rose to leave, but before doing so he once again grabbed the fire tongs. He took the cold ember and placed it back in the fire.  Almost immediately it began to glow with the light and warmth and fire of the coals all around it. As the pastor walked toward the door, his host said, “Thank you so much for your visit, and especially for the fiery sermon. I’ll be back in church next Sunday.”

Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Psalm 122:1 (ESV) I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

Today is election day in the United States. By the time some of you read this, most likely all the results will be in and winners have been declared. Some will be elated, others despondent. Some ambivalent, others despairing, and some will not care one way or the other.

Despite one side declaring doom and gloom and the other declaring the end of all problems on earth, the results are always somewhere in the middle. And regardless of who holds power here on earth, we know the one who holds the universe in the palm of His hand.

Robert Browning wrote a poem entitled “Pippa’s Song.” While you may not be familiar with all of it, it has this phrase that you have probably heard: God’s in His heaven–All’s right with the world!  The poem conveys the message that as long as things go the way we expect them to, we can attribute that to God being in control and doing His job. But what about when things don’t turn out the way you had hoped? Does that mean God is not in control?

 When Jehoshaphat, one of the kings of Judah, was facing invasion by a vastly superior army, he prayed to the Lord.

2 Chronicles 20:6. “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.

His words leave no doubt that for him, God’s presence in heaven is equal to God being in control and ruling over all things. Jehoshaphat understood that God rules everything. And this attitude was not limited to Jehoshaphat.

• After he had safely crossed the Red Sea and escaped from Pharaoh, Moses offered a song of praise that concluded with “The LORD will reign for ever and ever.” (Ex 15:18)
• Job speaks of God’s as being able to topple the strong, make the wise man foolish, and nations prosper or fall according to His will (Job 12).
• In a sermon he preached in Athens, Paul spoke of “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth…”

God does rule.  God reigns. God’s In His Heaven. So does it follow that All’s Right With The World? We definitely have evil all around us. We encounter it every day.  What makes the difference is that at one point God came down from heaven to be among us and take care of that problem for us. When Christ died, bearing the sins of all men, yours and mine included, He took care of the problem of evil once and for all. He defeated the Devil. It did not end with His death. Had He remained in the tomb, Satan would have been victorious. But Christ declared His victory by rising from the dead and showing that the Devil had no power over Him. Through faith in Christ, you share in this victory. You rule with Him.

Once you accept the merits of Christ as your own through faith, all is truly right with the world. More importantly, all is right in your relationship with God. Even when you sin and fall short of God’s expectations, you have the forgiveness of sins as sure as you know that God’s in His heaven. Jesus has already paid for sin, and you believe in Him. Therefore, when God looks down on you, he no longer sees men and women condemned to death. He sees men and women who are cleansed and saved for Jesus’ sake.

And because of your faith in Jesus that looks to Him alone for your forgiveness and salvation, you can live with the assurance and confidence that God’s in His heaven, all’s right with the world!

The weather in Germany is much cooler than it was when we left Texas!  The high temperatures here are less than the low temps were back home!

The cooler weather seems to put me in the mood for the holidays, and makes me remember things like

• a huge Thanksgiving meal with family and friends
• Christmas shopping (although more of that seems to be done online these days rather than in stores)
• all the parties and gatherings associated with the season
• Special worship services for Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas.

Those things have occurred in the past and will happen again in the future. I have to be careful not to focus only on the past and the future, because it is easy to forget all about the PRESENT!

This was a problem in Thessalonica that Paul addressed in his two letters to that group of believers. They had heard the good news of salvation and were looking forward to the return of Jesus. However, some of them went overboard, neglecting their daily tasks and jobs, and simply waiting for Jesus to come again. Paul tells them this is wrong. Of course we must look to the end of this life, being aware that Christ could return at any time. But that anytime may NOT be today or tomorrow or the next day. We need a proper balance in our lives: Looking forward to the future yet still living in the present.

If you spend all your time looking to the future, you probably won’t enjoy things as they happen because you will be anticipating the next thing!

You and I need to live each day as one who knows that Jesus lived and died and rose again for us. This is a month we think about giving thanks. Why not concentrate on expressing your thanks to God for all His goodness every day of this month?

When the Thessalonians were too wrapped up in the future, Paul exhorted them with these words:

2 Thessalonians 2:13–15  But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

Live joyfully in the present as we look forward to what is coming in this life and the life to come!

How can we be ” Good Church Members?” I hear people described as “good church members” all the time. But what exactly does that mean?

For a church to be successful and faithful in following Jesus, it must have a Biblical message with Christ at the center and an emphasis on evangelism and outreach. But it must also have “good members” whose lives match the testimony they give. Here are some characteristics of a “good church member.”

GOOD CHURCH MEMBERS ARE LOVING.
Jesus told His disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34–35)  True fellowship in Christ involves loving with a selfless desire for the good of others.

GOOD CHURCH MEMBERS ARE CARING
In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul compared individual believers to the parts of the human body and said:

1 Corinthians 12:25–26 “…there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Caring will include things like praying for one another, visiting the lonely, ministering to the sick, comforting the bereaved. Through these activities, we “bear one another’s burdens.” Wouldn’t it be great if every member of the church felt cared for?

GOOD CHURCH MEMBERS ARE FORGIVING.
This is an important element of Christian fellowship. Believers in Christ should be ready at all times to forgive those who have wronged them. Forgiveness is desirable in all relationships, but we need to place a special emphasis on it within the circle of believers. An unforgiving attitude can kill the spirit of the church and stunt its growth.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Everything we do as Christians should be in response to know God has forgiven us for Jesus’ sake.

GOOD CHURCH MEMBERS ARE FORBEARING.
We should patiently make allowances for the weaknesses of others. Irritability and impatience are out of character for the Christian.

Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

There will be those members who like to be in the limelight, those that are overbearing, those that always need a pat on the back, and those that wear their feelings on their sleeves. Rather than losing patience with them, mature Christians (good church members) will help them overcome their weaknesses.

GOOD CHURCH MEMBERS ARE SUBMISSIVE.
People are quick to quote the passage about wives being submissive to their husbands and often do so out of context. But they fail to note the preceding verse:

Ephesians 5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

There is always a proper line of authority to follow, whether it be in the church, at home, at school or on the job, Members of the church submit themselves to each other for the sake of Jesus. The key to this mutual submission is humility. No one, regardless of his or her position, should think that they are above receiving advice. Whatever a person’s authority may be, he or she should show a spirit of humility, a willingness to submit graciously, and an openness to wise counsel.

Knowing what God has done for us in Christ, we should all strive to respond by being “Good Church Members.”