Let's Strip Christmas

This year I really felt God speaking to me about but Christ back in CHRISTmas. So in church we ran an event called Christmas Stripped where we had some acoustic worship and just focused on Jesus and what he calls us to do and what his coming into the world meant for us all.

I had the pleasure of speaking at this event and now as we enter the post christmas period as the trees and the lights start to disappear can we be challenged to continue the Christmas message beyond the 6th January? 

Christmas is a time of HOPE for so many people. For children the hope of what santa is going to bring, for others its about the hope of catching up with friends and family. For some its just the hope of getting some time out from the daily grind. But what exactly does the word Hope mean for us and what can we do with that Hope we have been given and how can we share it with others?

I a bit of a statistics geek at times and I love to google things to see what more I can learn. What shocked me the most was when I put the word hope into google it brought up this weird analysis thing. This analysis program was able to trace the use of the word hope over a period of a few hundred years. How it did this i'm not sure I can only assume it was done through its use in speeches, publication etc.

What I found was the following 

Hope -  The use of the word hope was really high in the 1800’s and even into the earl 19th century. From the early 19th century on the use of the word hope got less by the 1980’s it’s use was at it’s lowest ever and stayed that way 2001 when it started to rise again. Now the use of the word hope is rising at a rate that looks to be quicker than it fell.

So we need to ask ourselves why did the use of the word drop? Did people feel that there was no Hope? What has happened to start this dramatic increase in the use of the word?

The dictionary has the following to say, Hope - a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen. / a person or thing that may help or save someone. / grounds for believing that something good may happen.

Back when Jesus was born the people of the world had a desire for things to change and they believed that God was going to step in with his own message of Hope and turn things around. They longed for a change in the way their county and its people operated. They didn't know how God was going to do it or even when they just new he would.

Today over 2000 years later we know what he did and we know how he did it. We have the Hope that God sent and we can take that same message to the people in our communities, the difference being we already have what Jesus offers, yet we still struggle to move. What can WE do, us as individuals to help those in our communities who have lost hope?

This Christmas the church I work for have been bringing Hope to people of East Belfast through collections for charities such as Storehouse and the Welcome Organisation. The response we had from the members of our congregation was phenomenal and I was so proud to have been associated with people who gave so freely and generously at a time when it can be all about Me and what I can get. For me that was them taking time out of their lives and sacrificing some of their money to pick up something extra in their shopping to make something good happen for those who maybe feel they have no Hope left.

I believe that this was a real WWJD moment. An example of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Each and every one of us have a different interpretation on what we feel it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, what it means to bring Hope to people. One thing I have noticed though is we all have that same desire to make things better for others

I remember back in March 2013 reading a story on Facebook. For those of you with good memories you'll remember that was the Spring of the really bad snow. I came across this story on Facebook about a young person. Its very important to me I tell you this guy was a young person as they get so much bad press, especially when it comes to looking out for people and the elderly.

Anyway back to the story. I came across this photo of this young person and an elderly gentlemen. It turns out they were both waiting at the bus station when the bus company announces theres no buses running.

The guy looks at the man and he looks like a lost puppy standing shivering and he realises the guy can't get home. He has no money . So the guy says to him he will call him a taxi and the old man says no because i have no money. The younger guy says don't worry, I'll pay. So they get in the taxi and they both travel to the older mans house. Once they arrive they both get out of the car when the older man gives him a hug, he says he felt like crying. The old man had got home safe and the younger guy said it was the best £25 he had ever spent.

The best thing about Facebook is it tells you where the post was sent from and the guy had mentioned the place where the old man lived. So I did a bit of google mapping and that guy had travelled 29.4 miles to get that guy home. The map software reckons it would have taken 40 minutes. That was the kindness one stranger was willing to show another just to bring them hope and give them help.

I don't know if this guy was a christian or not but that shouldn't matter. The question for us is would we be willing to be an example of Christ and do that for someone?

By doing small random acts of kindness like this for people we help to change their lives in a small way. In a way we help make history, not in any big way that the world will remember, but in small significant points for people that they will remember forever.

This Christmas and into 2014 could we make history for people by doing what Jesus calls us to do and therefore make it HIStory?

For me growing up and finding out who I was as a Christian there was one song that really helped me come to grips with what I believed God was calling me to do and saying to me. It was History Maker by Delirious. You see I believe we all have that “thing” within us that desire to be someone that does something different, someone that changes history and we can even if its just for one person.

Over the Christmas period we spend time reflecting on the promise of Jesus Christ and the Hope that he was going to bring the nations, but how much of that Hope do we share with people?

Could we use the Christmas season make History by putting in a space and making his HIS STORY instead of ours?

Last year I preached a sermon called Fabulai Est Vestri, which translated means The Story is Yours. I also wrote a blog about it, give it a read.

When Jesus came, Hope came into the world, he died for our sins and then he told us to go into the world and tell people about him he started writing the story. Now it's up to us. He has handed the baton on to us. So this year what are you doing with your story?

The Challenge for us all is that we’ve all spend time worshiping God, praying, trying to remember the true meaning of a Christ filled Christmas. We all want to be History Makers but sometimes we struggle with how to do that.

At times we feel we aren’t good enough, we recognise that we fall short but we refuse to see the good in ourselves. We think someone else will do it because they can do it better, but what if you are God's appointed, chosen person for that exact moment and exact time. Are you going to tell him he got it wrong because last night you did something you shouldn't have? Or are you going to get up, brush yourself on and realise you are a work in progress? A work in progress he loves dearly.

Reaching out for people doesn’t have to be as complicated as we make it.

We are all saved by Grace, God knows that we will fall short, but he wants to use us anyway.

As I was preparing this message I think I had one of the busiest most insane weeks ever. The week started with me preparing to go into hospital to have a lump removed in my neck. So I was already freaking out (I'm going to blog about that later, so stay tuned) I had so much to do and I really wanted to speak at this event and believed God wanted me there to. The week got weirder but in a good way. I went into hospital and was on my way home again 40 minutes later. The lump had vanished. I'd gotten my miracle, God was good. The following days where very busy and extremely hectic in the run up to Christmas. 

However I managed to fit in a drive with a really good friend of mine and we were driving along and listening to some old school worship songs, of which History Maker was one. We both just felt God in the car and couldn't believe how much he was speaking to each of us through the songs and the other. Later in week on one of my regular drives to good old Portadown I felt God telling me to put History Maker on again and everything for the Sunday would fall into place.

Up until then I had been having trouble separating my thoughts and Gods thoughts and putting them into a logical order. So I did.

During the song Martin Smith stops singing and he says these simple words

“Being a History Maker is very little about doing this, but it’s about everything that is going on inside here” Then he reads these verses from Psalms

Psalm 24:4-5

New Century Version (NCV)

4 Only those with clean hands and pure hearts,
    who have not worshiped idols,
    who have not made promises in the name of a false god.
5 They will receive a blessing from the Lord;
    the God who saves them will declare them right.

He is talking about what is going on in your heart. If you want to be a History Maker if you want to make a change for Jesus in this world then you need to get your heart right.

He continues “Being a History Maker is about the choices you make and not about the songs you sing”

As I come to the end of this blog I ask you to see if we can put that into action, can we start sorting our hearts? Can we start being vulnerable with those we trust and asking them for help?

For far to long now we have allowed things to come between us and Jesus and I include myself in that. As you close this blog and go back to your daily life, do it remembering the promise that we were given when Jesus Christ came to earth, Let’s not let ourselves and our struggles hold us back. Can we recognise that we are God’s creation? He loves us, He wants the best for us, He knows we fall short but he sent Jesus for us anyway

Let’s continue this day, this week, this month, this year wanting to share the amazing news of that first Christmas and every Christmas after it with those around us. Let’s bring them Hope.

Wherever we go God is with us and we need to remember that.

I just want to finish with this from Psalms and I pray that God has spoken to you through this, and if you want to talk more I would love to hear from you.

Psalm 23

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Lord the Shepherd of His People

A Psalm of David.

23 The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell[a] in the house of the Lord
Forever.

With God as our Shepherd who then can we fear? He’s got it covered.

Let’s go out and make History by making it HIS STORY