Light the Night

The Bible, in the book of Isaiah Chapter 9, gives a prophecy of the first Christmas.

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as a people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.  Isaiah 9:2-3

I have watched an incredible Christmas celebration every year since I have been a pastor.  People facing death become more fully alive every day of this season as they see a great light.  They are the fortunate ones because they alone really acknowledge the truth that “all of our days are numbered and we are all destined for eternity.”  Their witness increases tenfold and no bad news can eclipse their light because the very presence of the Savior is the source of their light. 

This Sunday is going to be a very special Sunday as we kick off our Christmas campaign to bring joy and light to this world through the wondrous message of Jesus Christ.  I have a very special illustration which expresses our church’s mission to try to build the greatest caring network the world has ever seen.  Our Music Pastor, Rhonda Jones, wrote a beautiful love song for my recent book Ulysses Dream. This Sunday the song will be performed by Keaton Markey and Noe Phillips with the choir backing them up. 

Ulysses Dream captures the story of God’s grace working in the life of a girl living in the city dump of Honduras.  She enters an adventure to become a citizen of the United States and falls in love with a First Nations warrior named Ulysses.  He becomes her champion until she discovers the hero inside of her because of her relationship with Jesus Christ.  The book Ulysses Dream will be available for sale (hopefully to be purchased above peoples tithes and offerings), and all money from the sale of the book will be given to retire the remaining debt that our church needs to resolve before launching our next big dream. The book will also become available in an audio version through Amazon, Apple, and others by December 14^th.  The audio version is read by renowned Spanish actress Yareli Arzimendi who has starred in, produced, and directed many movies and television shows.  We will listen to a two-minute clip from this captivating recording.

My text will be Isaiah 9 which will announce a bold new moment in our lives:

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the Lord almighty will accomplish this. 

Every day is a new beginning and every morning is the whole world made new.  Just as described in 2 Corinthians 5:17.

This weekend will be a historic service – one that will never be forgotten.  Maybe the most moving worship in the history of Washington Cathedral.  Don’t miss it.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Big Faith In A Behind the Scenes God

I, like many of you, love a great action movie full of stunts and special effects. Every once in a while a great film comes around and will buy it on DVD so I can watch it long after it’s left the theaters. Most of today’s movies come with special features on the DVD like “deleted scenes” or a “behind the scenes look” at how the special effects were done. I never watch those features. Why? Because it erases all of my awe and wonder of simply enjoying the movie. I don’t need to know how the stunts were done. Rather, I just need to believe that somehow, someway they made something impossible look real and then I get the benefit of engaging in the story of the film.

Thousands of years ago, the prophet Isaiah foretold of a day in which God would give Israel a Messiah. A king of all kings who would deliver them from oppression and free them once and for all. 700 long years would pass before Isaiah’s prophecy would come true in the birth of Jesus.

700 years of waiting and hoping while God worked behind the scenes.

What was God doing all this time? Who knows. Why did it take so long? Your guess is as good as mine.

Scripture is full of stories where people waited on God. Waiting seems to be inseparable from our faith. We pray and seek God for answers and then almost always, we wait. Sometimes we wait a very long time and yet God comes through. Why? Because it’s His nature to be faithful. Leaving us stranded with unanswered prayers or empty hope is NEVER a part of God’s plans!

When we’re in that place of waiting on God, the point isn’t to try and figure Him out when He seems silent or becoming anxious over wondering if He’s doing anything at all. The point is to live in His peace, while knowing that the waiting is for our benefit.

After all, God said through the prophet Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Are you frustrated with God today? Wondering if he’s listening to your prayers? Are you finding yourself living in more anxiety than peace?

Try this little practice: find a time and place of solitude this week and begin to recall (even if it means going back to your childhood) when God answered your prayers. Often, when we remember His faithfulness in our past, we can be at peace in our today while we wait and He works behind the scenes for our good.

Grace and Peace.

Pastor Rex

Photo Credit

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1V_qtyg8AI

Easter an end or a beginning

Written by Fiona Monaghan Three years before the first Easter, Jesus stated his mission with the reading of the proclamation in Isaiah 61:1-2:

¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. ² He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.

As the time came for him to leave, Jesus had gathered faithful men from all walks of life and it was finals week, crunch time, feet to the fire time. He knew his time was short, that the end was fast approaching. He had said all he could say. His teaching had offered a great hope, that this life is not the end. The way it should have been before sin entered this world and set humans at odds with their Heavenly Father where the choice instead of what is best became what is best for me. From this premise every war, every argument, every hurt would come.

He had made enemies within the Jewish Leadership, and they were going to use all the power at their disposal to bring about his demise. He had left it all in the hands of a few disciples and his teachings would either take off after his death or die in the dust.

As history has shown, those disciples with the help of God’s Holy Spirit did take those teachings and spread them far and wide. We now have proof that what Jesus started back 2000 plus years ago was truly a force to be reckoned with. It is the only religion that has a God coming down to man.

A way was provided for reconciliation to be acquired and it isn’t all up to us and the power of our own will to earn our salvation. To be made right with God and be adopted into His family is a gift freely offered. We celebrate Easter not because of the death of a great man, but because that great man conquered death and rose from the dead on Resurrection Sunday!

Death is no longer is a thing to be feared but a doorway to something much better and greater than we can even imagine…

Wouldn’t this Easter be a great time to really take a deep look at this gift of eternal life and all that it entails? For those of us with faith to be more appreciative of it and be willing to share it and for those who are still seeking something to believe in. Jesus’ gift is still extended to all. Take this weekend to celebrate and acknowledge the great gift we’ve been given this Easter!

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