Yesterday’s sermon was on the theology of gift giving. It’s easy to slip into the expected Christmas rush with all the stress of shopping like a maniac and we can forget what it is we are doing. So here’s why we Christians can celebrate Christmas like no one else on the planet. We really do have a reason for all this.
First, the Magi brought Jesus gifts. And they brought Him expensive gifts. Matthew calls their gifts treasures. So gift-giving has always been associated with the story of the Incarnation.
Second, the overwhelming message of the New Testament is that God gives to us so that we Continue reading ‘Why do we give gifts anyway?’
I’m just throwing this out there . . . but here is a fun, cheap, easy, and generally awesome little boy gift. Since it’s a download, you can print out as many as you want, as many times as you want. Stick some in your son’s stocking, tie some on top of the new book for your nephew, give a set to the little boy you babysit . . . you get the idea. All you have to do is download, print on sticker paper like this, slice them apart, and you’re done. Easy peasy! Here’s all the info right here. (Pairs well with The Dragon’s Tooth which I’m sure you’re getting for lots of people on your list, right?!)
A family is a lot like a church. After all, a mother has a little congregation at home, as my mother-in-law kindly pointed out to me long ago. “You have three in your congregation, three in your little Bible school.” It seemed like a pretty big congregation to me, but some of you mothers have two, three, and four times that number in yours.
Mothers of children, let me tell you something. You are like a pastor to your children. You must feed them like a good pastor does. You must know how each one is doing. Each and every one. You must make sure each child is receiving love and attention, that each feels loved as a special member of this family/congregation of yours. You must see that each one is washed and clothed and fed. And you must be available at all hours to minister to these little or big ones. You may not ignore them or put them off. The way you love and teach them is showing Continue reading ‘Shepherd Mothers’
I do love Christmas so much. The whole thing. I love all the busy, all the shopping, all the ridiculous. I love that our tree looks like it got really dressed up and then fell down a solid flight of stairs. I love that I knew what I was going for this year, but instantly had to let it go when I opened the ornament boxes. Five children, all hands in. Tree decorated in possibly 4 minutes. Every last ornament on. No theme, no balance, no sense of enough is enough. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some Christmas throw pillows in there. The day after we got it decorated, Titus accidentally leapt off the arm of the chair next to it straight into the branches. He slid past several ornaments and four rounds of recklessly applied garlands, making a solid selection of the decor on the right side of the tree look rather adrift and certainly droopy.
Welcome to our home! I wanted to give you all a quick chance to see some of the neat things we’ve been doing to get ready for the holiday season. Yes, off in the distance that is indeed an overturned cereal bowl. No, it wasn’t empty. And yes! Glad you asked, that is an uncapped Crayola marker in the foreground. We were able to simply throw this together this morning without any advance prep! Come now, don’t feel bad. There is still some December left for you to catch up!
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