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Written by Paige Vanosky from The Village Church

Father, as we reflect on a busy but joyful holiday season, we stop to give you thanks for the miracles we have just celebrated: the miracles evidencing your power and love celebrated as Hannukah and the resulting peace that set the stage for the starlit birth of Jesus, your long-promised Savior. These celebrations allow us to remember how much you love us. They remind us that despite our obstinate ways and despite not seeing you at work in the world, that you are at work, committed to your plan to eradicate evil. These celebrations of your love and care enable us to overcome the fear and discouragement we are prone to have as we look at events both far away and close to home. The Christmas season allows us to remember that you know what is going on, that you care, that you are at work, and that you do fulfill your promises. Please humble us, Father, so you can show us how to be a part of your healing plan for the world. Father God, we celebrate you and give you thanks for all you have done and all you promise to do in our world and in our lives. May we live a life that celebrates you.
In your blessed name we pray, 
Amen.  

The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” [Zephaniah 3:17]

Written by Celeste Bailey of the Village Church

This Christmas my thoughts drift to the situation in Lebanon, the country where many of my paternal relatives and dear friends live. The Lebanese people have endured so many hardships since the beginning of the civil war in 1975, the period where my family and I escaped. Even though the Lebanese people are known for their resiliency, a time comes when a feeling of despair sets in. I was wondering how the children are faring amid the war, so I turned to SAT-7 stories. (SAT-7 is a core mission at the Village Church.) I found an article with a music video of kids singing “Your Peace, Jesus, Is Our Joy”. According to the article, while filming the video, the crew could hear bombs exploding in the distance but that did not deter the kids and their parents from doing the project! One young girl said, “What we are doing here, we do it to glorify the Lord.” Listening to them lifting their voices with the message of peace in the midst of chaos offers a sense of hope that many fellow Christians, not only in Lebanon, but in the Holy Land, Iran, and other places will not dim their resolve and faith in our Lord and Savior.   

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. [Romans 12:12]

Written by Kathy Loftman from the Village Church.

It was midnight after the Village Church Christmas Eve Service. Most all the congregation had filed out of the sanctuary. The organ was playing the postlude, a beautiful, almost haunting piece that sounded like a carillon. The room was darkened and still. I intensely felt God’s amazing presence as I had never felt it before. It was beautiful, overwhelming, and awe inspiring. This was His special night of celebration. This moment is one of those few special “snapshots” of life that I shall never forget. I felt alone with God, the beautiful organ piece, and the light dimly shining through our beautiful stained-glass windows. I shall forever treasure my special time in the presence of God.

God my maker, who giveth songs in the night. [Job 35:10]

Written by John Bunyan (1628-1688), an English writer and Puritan preacher, best remembered for his work “The Pilgrim’s Progress.”  This is an excerpt from “Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, from “The Complete Works of John Bunyan (Philadelphia, 1874).

One day as I was passing into a field, … suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul, “Thy righteousness is in heaven”… I saw with the eyes of my soul, Jesus Christ at God’s right hand; there, I say, is my righteousness; so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say to me, “He wants my righteousness,” for that was just before him. I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, not yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, “the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Now did my chains fall off my legs, indeed; I was loosed from my afflictions and irons; my temptations also fled away; … now went I home rejoicing, for the grace and love of God…I saw that the man Christ Jesus, as He is distinct from us, as touching His bodily presence, so He is our righteousness and sanctification before God. Here, therefore, I lived, for some time, very sweetly at peace with God through Christ.

It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. [1 Corinthians 1:30].

Written by Vickie Stone from the Village Church. The writing was inspired by the book “Intimate Moments with the Savior,” which was written by Ken Gire.

I recently sent a delicate porcelain creche to my 10-year-old great niece for her birthday.  I thought Mady would enjoy setting it up each Christmas and it will probably be her first “grown-up gift”. In her birthday card I shared how the nativity reminds us of the night of Christ’s birth. Then I found myself really pondering that night, thousands of years ago when a weary Joseph was turned away by the innkeeper but offered use the stable. How Mary must have nodded, eager to slide off the donkey and massage her swollen ankles. I can imagine Joseph creaking open the stable door as a chorus of animals protest the intrusion, the pungent stench overwhelming. Such a shocking place for a woman in the throes of childbirth; far from her home and family. Far from what she had expected for her firstborn. Mary winces, fighting another contraction and Joseph desperately looks around the stable with no time to spare. He spots a feeding trough that will have to make do for the crib. Some hay will serve as the mattress. Blankets? He grabs some rags hanging out to dry and as Mary doubles over with the latest labor pain, he races for a bucket of water. Mary’s anguished scream cuts through the silent night and she pushes with all her strength. Joseph puts the garments beneath her and with a final push her labor is over, and the Messiah has arrived. The baby coughs and Joseph instinctively turns him over to clear his throat. When the baby cries, Mary lays him on her chest as his tiny head bobs and he gropes to nurse. Mary marvels at the tiny hand, a hand that sculpted mountains clings to her finger. She looks at Joseph and through teary eyes they smile. Together they stare in wonder at the infant Jesus.  Where one would expect angels, there were only flies. Where one would expect heads of state, there were only donkeys, a few haltered cows and some sheep, a tethered camel and the scurrying of barn mice. Except for Joseph, there is no one to share Mary’s pain. Or her joy. Yes, there were angels announcing the savior’s arrival – but only to a band of blue-collar shepherds. And yes, a magnificent star shown in the sky to mark the birthplace- but only three foreigners bother to look up and were following it.  Thus, in the little town of Bethlehem… that one silent night… the royal birth of God’s son tip toed quietly by… as the world slept.

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. [Luke 2:6-7]

Written by Margot Wallace from the Village Church

As I watched the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Olympics, I was so inspired while viewing the French Cauldron rise in the sky! After watching each country sail down the Seine, I realized there appeared no trace of animosity.  Rather, each vessel held smiling faces, waving to others, happy to be present, and eager to perform!  At that moment, I realized that affairs in our world were not as hopeless as predicted.  Instead, here I saw instant comradery!  That unification was symbolized by the French invented hot air balloon floating above. The faith of the world – all the way from ancient Greece – moving forward to a more positive future!

Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind [Philippians 2:2]

Olympic Cauldron 2024 by Margot Wallace

Written by Garland Vance, a contemporary writer.

Have you ever had the experience of feeling God’s presence? It may have been in a powerful worship service. Or when you saw the Grand Canyon. Or holding your child for the first time. Or when you helped someone in need because you sensed God leading you to do so. Whenever it was, there is nothing more powerful and memorable than when you sense God’s presence. His presence can overtake your whole body and overcome all of your emotions … But there is a danger to this feeling of God’s presence. It can be like a drug. Once you have experienced it, you keep trying to get another fix. Instead of trying to feel God’s presence, learn to rest in the truth and reality of His presence. He is with you whether you feel Him or not. He is with you even when you do not want Him to be. Even when you can’t feel God’s presence, you can rest in the truth and reality that He is with you. Cultivate an awareness of God’s presence. There are dozens of ways to do this. But a few of them are: short prayers throughout the day, silence and solitude, memorization of Scripture, and talking with Him as you take a hike.

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. [Matthew 28:20]

Written by Walter Walker, a contemporary author.

Six Soviet cosmonauts said they witnessed the most awe-inspiring spectacle ever encountered in space: a band of glowing angels with wings as big as jumbo jets. Cosmonauts Vladimir Slolvev, Oleg Atkov, and Leonod Kiaim said that they first saw the celestial beings during their 155^th day aboard Salyat 7 space station. “What we saw were seven giant figures in the shape of humans, but with wings and mist-like halos in the classic depiction of angels. Their faces were round with cherubic smiles.”  Twelve days later the figures returned and were seen by three other Soviet scientists, including cosmonaut Svetlana Asvitskaya. “They were smiling,” she said, “as though they shared a glorious secret.”

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, [Hebrews 12:22]

Written by Wayne Jacobsen, a contemporary pastor and writer

God’s presence “feels like” different things to different people, and even different ways in different circumstances. I don’t want to describe it as a feeling, because it goes way beyond that. At its heart, it is a simple knowing that something greater than us is making His presence known in the room. That can be accompanied by supernatural events, a simple inner knowing, or the affirmation of what a number of people are sensing at the same moment…For us at that hospital bed it was a powerful sense of connection with Him and each other. It added a lightness to the room that was more spiritually seen than physically seen. It manifested itself in the lightness of heart and trust that we all sensed afterward, very different from when we went in. But it doesn’t always look like that, which is why I hesitate to define it. I find people recognize Him less when they are burdened down by expectations of what it should look like. Then we are looking for manifestations, rather than simply seeking Him. For many people it isn’t so much that God isn’t making Himself known, it’s that they haven’t yet tuned to His frequency to recognize His voice or His fingerprints in the simple realities around them. I think most of God’s supernatural working appears to be incredibly natural as it unfolds.

Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. [Psalm 51:11]

Written by Alan Goodman from the Village Church.

As a Christian, I am always amazed when I receive instructions from God to do things for people in pain/grief. I am certainly not a Pastor, but there have been many instances in my life when I felt COMPELLED to pray for the person after I get aware of the anguish and pain that is just in front of me. I know when I get these divine instructions from God. They come through loud and clear to me. I have asked people if they want me to pray for them RIGHT NOW. I have been totally surprised that through the tears and grief, all I have prayed for in a one-on-one setting accepted my prayer offer. When I do these instant prayer sessions, it is amazing to me that my own words just flow – not from me but from God. The people I have prayed for are not the only ones directly affected by these prayers.  Add me to that list of humans overcome with a power greater than I can ever be to even do this kind of thing! I am one Christian that certainly doesn’t understand a lot of things, but I sure know when God uses me for his Kingdom. Praise be to God. I have prayed for God to use me to further his kingdom as a servant. I know that has (and is) being fulfilled.

Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it. [Proverbs 8:33]