Christmas is Over... You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet!

By Ron Hutchcraft

"But wait! There's more!"

No, not the line at the end of a TV infomercial...

But the line that lingers at the end of Christmas. Despite all the great that Christmas offers - there's more! So much more!

All those people in the Christmas story - Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the Wise Men - they had been living with anticipation of the coming of the Messiah.

And He came. God in swaddling clothes.

But that's only the beginning. He is coming again!

"All the peoples of the earth will…see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30).

The final chapter of this world's story will not be written by someone in Washington or Beijing or Moscow. It will be written by the One whose birth split history in two! The One the Christmas angels called the "Savior, Christ (Messiah) the Lord."

Yes, it's beautiful and important to look back at His First Coming.

But now we are the ones living in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. His Second Coming. The destination that is to define our journey. The hope that is to determine our priorities. The glory that brings purpose to our pain.

Looking beyond Bethlehem, we see Jerusalem, where He will return.

Beyond the stable, our eyes are on the skies.

Beyond the manger, we see the Mount of Olives where "on that day His feet will stand" (Zechariah 14:4).

Beyond the helpless Baby, we stand in awe of the conquering King.

And beyond a handful of shepherds bowed before Baby Jesus, we see the whole world on their knees before the King of all kings! "God gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and earth and under the earth" (Philippians 2:9-10).

Speaking of His First Coming, the Bible says, "The grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people... when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us..." (Titus 2:11; 3:4-5).

Grace came the first time. Glory comes the second time!

And were it not for that grace, Jesus' return would mean nothing but eternal judgment. But because of that grace - that amazing grace - we are "saved." For the Lord of history became the Savior on the Cross. Taking our place, taking all the hell for all our sin on Himself. So He could say to us after our last heartbeat, "Today you will be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).

Christmas beckons "come, let us adore Him." His Return calls us to "come, let us be ready for Him." The Bible suggests there will be two responses when Jesus breaks into the history of every one of our lives - confidence and shame (1 John 2:28).

For those who belong to Him and are living for Him, "Oh, YES!" For those who have never trusted Him as Savior - or aren't living His way - "Oh NO!"

For those of us who have a relationship with Him, Jesus says, "Be careful or your hearts will be weighed down" with things that don't really matter. "That day will close on you suddenly like a trap... be always on the watch" (Luke 21:34-36).

As our heart looks to our King's coming, it challenges our perspective on a lot of things. Our priorities - living, giving, spending on what will matter when we see Him. If it isn't going to matter then, how much should it matter now?

Our purity is illuminated in the light of His Return. "All who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:3). What would I be ashamed of if He returned today?

And the coming of Jesus calls us to a sense of urgency about the lost lives around us. The lives who will be lost forever when He returns to earth or comes for them at the end of their life. Is my fear of what might happen to me if I tell them about Jesus greater than my fear of what will happen to them if I don't?

This past couple of weeks, I have stood looking at the manger, in awe of His grace. But today, I stand looking up, in anticipation of His glory. And looking in the mirror asking, "Am I ready?"

For that day when "the Lord will be king over all the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and His name the only name" (Zechariah 14:9).

Let's pray-

Father, all those people in the Christmas story had been living with anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. He came in swaddling clothes, and lying in a simple manger! But that's only the beginning, as He is coming again for those who believe in Him and have put their faith in what He did on the Cross so many years ago!

If it were not for that grace, Jesus' return would mean nothing but eternal judgment. But because of that grace - that amazing grace - we can be "saved" and look forward to meeting Him in peace.

As our hearts look to our King's coming, it challenges our perspective on a lot of things. Our priorities - living and our spending time on what will matter to Him now and then.
The coming of Jesus calls us to sense the urgency about the lost souls around us. The lives that will be lost forever when He returns to earth or comes for them at the end of their lives. Will we extend the invitation to them to believe in Him, or will we be afraid to speak up?

We ask that You please impress upon our hearts the importance of doing our part in the saving of souls by praying, giving our finances and speaking up when the Holy Spirit impresses us to do so through various means of ministry.

In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

#68 Testimony of a businessman- Merlin R. Carothers' quote from his book, Power in Praise (pp. 133, 134)

"A Christian businessman made a deeper commitment of his life to Christ, and shortly thereafter found himself laid off from his highly-paid job as an executive. The man searched for another job, but cutbacks in the industry made positions scarce.

His family suffered from the financial stress, and his anxieties increased as the bills mounted and his prayers seemed unanswered.

He had been unemployed for a year when he heard me (Merlin Carothers) speak one Saturday night about being thankful for all things. It suddenly dawned on him that God probably had a good reason for not having led him to a job, and he began to thank God for his unemployment and for every hardship he and his family were suffering as a result.

All day Sunday he continued to praise God, and he discovered that his fears and resentments concerning the situation were decreasing. In their place, he felt genuine joy.

Early Monday morning the phone rang. Another executive wanted to know if he could go to work for him.

"Yes, I'm available," said the man.

"How soon can you start?"

"Tomorrow."

"Then be here at 9 am, ready to start."

His new job gave an excellent salary, but more important, he was in direct contact with groups of businessmen daily. His witness for Christ led one man after another to accept the Lord as his Savior.

The businessman told me, "As long as I carried a spark of fear and resentment over my situaiton, I was blocking God from doing what He wanted with my life. As soon as I was able to trust Him and praise Him for my life exactly as it was, He was able to take over and place me where He wanted me."

1366-1370 One-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more verses this week- or to review them from when they were first posted-

1366- Is. 5:19b "Let the counsel of the Holy one of Israel draw nigh and come,

that we may know it!"

1367- Zech. 2:10 "Sing and rejoice . . . for,, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst

of thee."

1368- Ps. 8:4 "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that

thou visitest him?"

1369- Pro. 1:5 "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels."

1370- Is. 25:1 "O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for

thou has done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth."

#68 Hymn- Be Still, My Soul

This hymn was written in the 1750s by Katharina von Schlegel, a German woman who was well-versed in the Bible. The hymn was written during the German Pietist movement, a response to the early Reformation's focus on doctrine over transformation.

A Special word for us:

A Message on prayer:

“The more you hear others joining in prayer for the same needs, the stronger your faith tends to become. You become encouraged by the way God is giving faith to them. You become more persevering and more constant in prayer for the need as you find others persevering for the same concern. Heart warms heart. Prayer kindles prayer.

Faith strengthens faith. Courage and expectancy rise, and you are able to plant your feet on God’s promises with new firmness and determination. Others ‘amen’ your prayer, and you ‘amen’ theirs, and step by step you both grow in assurance, lay hold of the throne of God, and are able to agree in prayer (Matt. 18:19).

(From page 132) of MIGHTY PREVAILING PRAYER by Wesley L. Duewel)

Pre-service prayer is very important. If your church has a group that gather before the sevice to pray, be sure to join them! Your pastor needs the support of fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit to preach and to guide the service!

Some encouraging words:

We have One alone who can help us navigate the challenges in life. Jesus can tell us the loving and wise instructions of God. In Mark 9:7, we are told to listen to Him by the Father. To live wisely and avoid crashing and burning in this life, we're to listen to Jesus as He speaks through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. Our listening to Him will make all the difference!

Church Notes: EMBRACE LIFE

The benefit of society is propriation of children, God's remedy of lust

and mutual society living with family and friends.

How are we to bless others through our marriage?

1) Praising God through our marriage and the purpose of pregnancy.

2) Declare with humility, that God sees us and has a definite plan for each of us.

3) Declaring God's might and worth of testimony and praise in all our situations.

4) Pray prophetic words over the children. Speak Life into them!

5) Have more kids!

In Singleness too, He is to get all the praise!

Let our lives testify of God's Goodness:

1) Be filled with the Holy Spirit continually

2) Speak blessings to each other