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David Crowder’s “I Am” has been on my playlist a lot lately. The words are powerful.

I am holding on to you
I am holding on to you
In the middle of the storm
I am holding on – I am

No matter where your life has taken you, you can hold on to a faithful and unmovable God!

At the end of this digital church service there’s a place for comments. We’d love to hear from you. What did you take away from the service? What spoke to you? How can we do better?

Thx!

Last week we looked at the response Mary and Zechariah had to everything God was doing in their lives. Today we continue our look at the story of Jesus through the Gospel According to Luke, the third book of the New Testament and we get to see the birth story of Jesus.

Before we begin let’s just address the title of this post.

Every year I hear the complaints about the “war on Christmas” and “let’s keep ‘Christ’ in Christmas. But Xmas means Christmas. In the ancient world, when every word was written with a quill and ink, people would often abbreviate names by using the first letter of the name. It saved…

If you’re not accustomed to people singing over you then this passage may weird you out a little bit.

I grew up with it.

Every night at bed time my mom and dad would sing a “goodnight song” to my brothers and me. In fact, our bedtime ritual was not complete without the song.

And then after nightmares I remember my mom coming to my room and singing over me to calm me down and help me get back to sleep.

In fact, it’s become part of how my wife and I put our kids to bed now. We sing over them as a way of saying, “I love you and will be here in the morning.”

Now understand that you have a heavenly parent who cares about us more than human parents care for their children.

And He is singing over YOU!

Last week we looked at the story where the angel Gabriel tells Mary that she has been chosen to be the mother of Jesus. Today we continue our look at the story of Jesus through the Gospel According to Luke, the third book of the New Testament and we see Mary responding to the angel’s message. Then John is born and his father, Zechariah, responds to the angel’s message and the fulfillment of the promise God gave.

In many churches today the singing of songs is often taken for granted as “it’s just what we do” without much thought being put into it. We get together. We sing some songs. We listen to someone talk. We pray. We go home. For many people the singing might be as vibrant as Monty Python’s Knights of the Round Table rejoicing over the demise of some hated minstrels.

But that isn’t what’s…

The way we talk is not always the same as the way we actually believe.

We may say the words, “Nothing is too difficult for God” but often we don’t really believe it. We live in such a way that we end up relying on ourselves more than we rely on God.

But nothing is too difficult for Him. That question to Jeremiah was a rhetorical question. When God asks, “Is anything too difficult for me?” the implied answer is a resounding

NO! Nothing is too difficult for God.

May we learn to live this truth every day. May we come to rely on Him more than we rely on ourselves.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed with our cares and concerns.

Too easy.

But the Bible declares time and again that God will sustain us if we can learn to rely on him.

Some Christians take this too the extreme and believe that God wants us all to live in mansions and have huge bank accounts.

This is not biblical.

Many good Christians have lived modest lives. Many good Christians have lived through persecution. Casting our cares on God doesn’t remove the difficulties of life.

Casting our cares on God gives us the strength and motivation to keep going.

He’s on our side, no matter what this world throws at us.

When you know who handles your defenses it takes a load off your mind.

No fear!

Last week we looked at Zechariah and Elizabeth, a couple disappointed by life because they couldn’t have kids, find out from God’s angel that God was going to bless them with a baby (John the Baptist). Today we continue our look at the story of Jesus through the Gospel According to Luke, the third book of the New Testament and we see a similar story. The angel Gabriel is making another birth announcement, but this time he’s talking to Mary.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. Then…

So…do you impress yourself? 😉