The Central Moment

Feeling down when other are celebrating? God is with you in your circumstance. He is the God who gives comfort and peace. He can be the reason you celebrate the holidays even during stress and loneliness.

As Christians, we are called to encourage and inspire others in their gifts. The story of Mary and Elizabeth is a powerful example that encouragement is a Spirit-inspired gift we can offer. How can you be an encouragement to someone today?

Jesus is the perfect gift. He does not forget us. He came to this world to give his life as the ultimate gift.

Christmas is all about God’s plan to be with us. One of Jesus’ names is Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” It isn’t just for Christmas time. God wants to be with you today and forever.

Christ is the light of the world. He came to free us from the darkness of sin and death. Christmas is a time to celebrate the light, hope, peace and love we have found in Jesus.

God’s Spirit guides us, creates divine appointments for us, and reveals Jesus to us. When Simeon saw the baby Jesus in the Temple, all of that Holy Spirit activity converged on one thing -- a crucified but risen Savior!

The Spirit of God who fills us also wants to speak through us. And when he does, he puts the spotlight on Jesus who is the center of history itself -- past, present and future.

There is no age or gender or racial discrimination when it comes to God giving us his Spirit. The Christmas story foretells it and in Jesus we can experience it!

The Christmas promise to Mary was a Son conceived of the Holy Spirit. That Son, Jesus, would grow up to teach about the possibility of new birth in all of our lives by that same Spirit! Have you been born again?

Amid the anxious and angry debates over abortion in America today, the Christmas story brings us back to a startling reality -- the baby in Elizabeth’s womb was a person who would be filled with the Holy Spirit even before birth!

Though our story may begin with tears, it can end with joy. Jesus not only gives and forgives, but he also restores. The place of desolation can become the home of abundance in our lives!

No one, believer or atheist, can get away from the goodness of God. Every good thing ultimately comes from him. Thankfulness is therefore one of the ways that we can live in the conscious awareness of Jesus’ love and activity in our lives.

We thank God directly by remembering his goodness and praising him. But we thank God indirectly by serving others and being generous with our time and money. How so? Because it causes others to thank God in return. Our generosity perpetuates thanksgiving!

The national hymn of Israel confessed the unfailing love of God. Declaring that truth in praise and thanksgiving gave place to the coming of God’s glory and his saving work on their behalf.

The gateway to living in the promise and presence of God is thanksgiving. It is like going on a divine treasure hunt. Thanksgiving remembers both what he has done for us and the covenant that he has made with us in Jesus.

Is there hope for restoration when the problems that ruined us are our own fault? Does the Lord’s anger in judgment last forever? Can he truly renew our days? The darkest book in the Bible says “YES!”

We can truly find the Lord in the seeming hopelessness of our pain. It is good to wait on him, it is good to hope in him -- his love won’t give out on us. These are the life-giving perspectives that ironically lie in the middle of the most mournful book of the Bible.

Like a jewel in a pile of soot, the middle of the book of Lamentations yields one of the most beloved hymns ever written. And underlying it is the loving sacrifice of Jesus himself.

The call to grieve over our sin is the pathway for God coming near to us. It’s more than hype, entertainment or celebration. It’s a humbling of ourselves before the God who can lift us up.

There is a time when people of faith need to weep, to wail and to grieve. Loss runs deep and sin runs rampant. Can we remain unmoved and unconcerned?

That day in Capernaum, when Jesus had set free a demoniac and healed a gravely ill woman, when evening came, the Miracle Worker showered the city with His glory.

Any middle eastern woman of the 1st century knew all about hospitality and her responsibilities for it. Peter and his friends were coming. Jesus of Nazareth, of whom she had no doubt heard, was coming with them. Peter’s mother-in-law was seriously sick and unable to respond – to host them … until Jesus arrived!

The synagogue attendees notice that the speaker, Jesus of Nazareth, spoke with unusual authority. The scope of that authority was about to be on full display and an unnamed man miraculously delivered.

Neither royalty nor riches can insulate from life’s trials and tragedies. A young son lay dying, an anxious father travelled the steep, rugged path to Cana of Galilee. There he found Jesus and asked Him to take control!

The idyllic picture of a young couple entering into marriage, traditional feast of celebration, and suddenly the scenario of lasting shame, ridicule, and ostracism confronts them. Then Jesus confronts the problem — and prevails.