Movement to The Manger

Merry Christmas!

From the "Movement to the Manger" writers,

Chad Norris 

Dave Rhodes

RIch Butler

Steve Keyes

Bring It {Christmas Eve}

Our Christmas Eve service will be 5:00 – 6:00 pm. We will observe communion. No child care for this service, but nursey rooms are available as needed. 

I LOVE Christmas EVE! Growing up, it was always my favorite night of the season – it’s when we opened our presents from grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It was a great night or fun, laughter and feasting. Quite a bit different however from the FIRST Christmas eve… Maybe in deep labor, no room in the inn… – a feeding trough would become a makeshift crib, rags used to wipe the animals would be his infant clothes. A barnyard stench hung heavy in the air, thick with flies. Dark and dirty – far from home. Far from what most women expect with their firstborn child! Labor all right…a labor of love…

In our story: What did she bring?

                                      Weariness and Pain 

Then that moment finally arrived – The moment I’ve personally experienced 3 times in my life – when your wife begins to push and push and push… and you hear that FIRST cry from your newborn child – NOTHING in the world can compare to this amazing feeling. The child is finally …… HERE –  

What did she take away?

                                   Thanksgiving and Worship 

Luke 1: 46-47 And Mary said, I'm bursting with God-news; I'm dancing the song of my Savior God. God took one good look at me, and look what happened— I'm the most fortunate woman on earth! What God has done for me will never be forgotten… The Message 

JESUS is HERE – here with US… Tonight and tomorrow let that amazing thought ring in your mind – WOW… God THANK YOU… thank you for sending JESUS to be my Lord and Savior!!! HALLELUJAH! I worship YOU! 

Question: Are you weary and stressed over the holiday season so far? For MANY people, Christmas is often more painful than joyful because of unpleasant memories, loneliness, or past disappointments. Is that you? Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them with Him. Let him wash over you with his peace… 

Application: We want YOU to bring it – TONIGHT – “COATS AND CANS”

Bring any winter coats and canned goods that we can donate to Heritage Baptist Church in the inner city of Greenville. Tonight’s Christmas Eve service will be the LAST chance for you to “BRING IT”. 

Steve Keyes

 

Bring It {Day 17}

It wouldn’t feel like the holidays without a little Christmas travel on the itinerary. It seems like everyone is going to or coming from somewhere. Airports are booked solid. Roadways are jam packed. And everywhere you go there is most likely someone asking the question, “Are we there yet?” They are the four words every parent dreads. They are four words asked most often by children. They are the four words that send shivers down your spine and push your emotions into overdrive—especially when they are asked for the 100^th time on a five mile stretch. But in every Christmas season, they are the words that come to mind at some point for all of us.  

Are we there yet? It seems like we have been shopping for weeks. Are we there yet? It seems like the Christmas tree is dying. Are we there yet? I’m tired of singing Christmas carols? Are we there yet? Someone get these people out of my house. Are we there yet? I want to open my presents.  Are we there yet? I wish I had someone to spend the holidays with. Are we there yet? I’m sick of turkey. Are we there yet? How many times can I hear this same story over and over and over. And so it goes every Christmas season. There comes a point when you just want Christmas to get here so that everything can just get back to normal. 

These are also the words that must have been in Mary’s mouth that first Christmas. I know we’ve all been stressed. I know that we could all probably use a little more sleep. But Mary had a challenge that first Christmas that few of us if any have ever known. She made the Christmas journey from Judea to Bethlehem pregnant, without the luxury of a luxury vehicle. The words weary, tired and poor do little justice to describe the pain, agony and discomfort (a term that those who have never been through child birth use to describe child birth at childbirth classes) that must have been present that first Christmas night. Months of embarrassment, harassment, strange looks and hushed words must have taken a toll on Mary as people whispered about her strange pregnancy. An interrupted childhood, a distressed engagement, a shorter than short honeymoon and no doubt a make shift wedding probably were not the kinds of things that she had wished for this Christmas. Yet, this was her lot. And in spite of it all she found joy in Christmas. The one person who had every right to ask the question, “Are we there yet?” took time to find to treasure the moment that changed everything. Think about the way the Bible describes Mary as shepherds came to celebrate the birth of her son. 

“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19, NIV) 

The challenge this late into the Christmas season is not to let the season pass you by. You probably do have too many people in your house. You probably have taken on too much responsibility. Your kids probably aren’t acting the way you want them to. You may even be trying like Mary to make room for some uninvited guests. But don’t let this week pass you by. Find something to treasure. Find something to ponder. We are almost there. Don’t miss the journey in trying so hard just to get to the destination. 

Question: What can you treasure this Christmas season? What can you ponder this Christmas? Find some time to quiet and still your heart before God. Let him open your eyes to what you might have missed along the way. Treasure it. Ponder it. And “BRING IT” with you to the Christmas Eve service to celebrate with all the others who are treasuring and pondering this Christmas season. 

David Rhodes 

Bring It {Day 16}

It’s FINALLY here – CHRISTMAS WEEK! Kids are out of school – YEAH (from the kids) Yikes (from the parents). Many of you will be traveling out of town this week -–let your journey remind you of the travel of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem to take the Roman census.

(Luke 2:4-5)  So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 

Yesterday we looked in depth at this “man of mystery”: JOSEPH – We talked about how he responded in a VERY tough situation: Mary was….. pregnant! 

I can’t imagine how hard the conversation would have been between Mary and Joseph when he found out she was with child and he KNEW it was NOT his baby! So what did he bring to the story:

                                       Insecurity and Doubt

 
Joseph thought they should break off the relationship, but almost INSTANTLY, in the story we see what he will take away FROM the story:

                                        Faith and protection 

The Angel of the Lord assures Joseph that this is the holy plan of God and Joseph submits to God’s will, no matter HOW it might appear to others. Joseph will protect Mary’s reputation and the life of his newborn son with his very life! He will watch him grow up and learn his carpenter trade – a worker of wood… 

“Like father, like son” – have you ever heard that old saying? It’s so many times true, isn’t it? But not for Joseph… quite the opposite actually:

                                     “Like son, like father”  

Joseph WAS like his son, Jesus. He had his ear turned towards heaven, accepted the will of God and fullfilled His purpose in life… A man of Faith and Protection… Like Joseph today, let’s be LIKE JESUS during this season…  

Question: How much like Joseph are you? Full of insecurity and doubt? Name some of them before the Lord and ask Him to take that burden from you. Would people that know you BEST say you are “like Jesus”? Why or why not? 

Application: We want YOU to bring it – each week – “COATS AND CANS”

Bring any winter coats and canned goods that we can donate to Heritage Baptist Church in the inner city of Greenville. This Wednesday night’s Christmas Eve service will be the LAST chance for you to “BRING IT”. Our Christmas Eve service will be 5:00 – 6:00 pm. We will observe communion. No child care for this service, but nursey rooms are available as needed. 

Bring It {Day 15}

During this season we’ve done something at CRCC that we’ve never done before – we’ve not TAKEN an offering by passing a plate during worship. Instead, we’ve asked people to leave their seats, stand on their feet and BRING IT – go to one of the offering stations around the room and place their gifts in the baskets. Getting UP to BRING IT has some Biblical backing for sure…

(Deuteronomy 16:16-17)  Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the LORD empty-handed: Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.

Once we know that everything we have COMES from God, then it should not be so hard to give and bring back to Him all that we have.

David wanted to build a temple for the Ark of God – but God told him that would be done by his son, Solomon. David did challenge the people to give and did they ever “bring it” – 

(1 Chronicles 22:14)  "I have taken great pains to provide for the temple of the LORD a hundred thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver, quantities of bronze and iron too great to be weighed, and wood and stone. And you may add to them.

This today would be about $57 billion today! The blessing you’ve been given is a blessing you must bring to someone else… So prepare to come this week with something to BRING. As you place your offering in the baskets, step back and spend a moment to think… reflect… thank God for ALL YOUR BLESSINGS!

While you are down at the offering station, tell the Lord you are also bringing your WHOLE SELF to Him during this Christmas season… Here I am to worship, here I am to say that you’re my God!

Question: Which are you MOST like: selfish and stingy OR generous and giving?

What is it you tend to hold onto the most? What has God given to YOU that He might be impressing you to GIVE to someone else?

Steve Keyes

Bring It {Day 14}

Last night my family and some friends made our yearly trek to HollyWild.  HollyWild is an animal farm that houses famous animals that are seen in movies and major motion pictures.  Every year they have Christmas lights, petting zoos, bonfires and overpriced jump machines.  We have a 4 year old, so this is her highlight every Christmas season. Tonight was a mess.  It was foggy, rainy and extra stinky.  We barely found the place, we complained the whole time and we strained to see the exhibits because of the fog. But...then again it's like this every year we go.  Every year our car gets muddy and we leave covered in hand sanitizer so we do not get salmonella from feeding the goats out of our hands.

However.....

This year was different. As we were driving out, we passed full-size paintings of Jesus being baptized,  Jesus feeding the multitudes, Jesus surrounded by children, pictures of Jesus in his resurrected body high above the clouds, and many other pictures of the amazing life ofJesus.  In that moment I realized that the messiness of the night was a perfect setting for the timeless story of our redemption.  Jesus was born into our mess!  He was nestled as a child in the lowliest bassinet, strangly resembling a feeding troth.

Isn't this the story of Christmas? God sending his Son to invade the mess that we had made.  His birth was just the prophetic declaration that things were now in the process of being cleansed.  We are still in that process because of the manger.  We are still looking through the window of the nativity, reveling in the fact that God moved into our brokenness so that He might begin the restoration process.

Questions: 
* What mess do you need Jesus to cleanse?
* How do the conditions of the birth of Jesus, relate to your life?
* What's your story of personal redemption? Tell it to your children and your children's children!

Rich Butler

Bring It {Day 13}

Is there anything more torturous than Christmas Eve?  Santa is on his way with all of his little toys and you just can’t stand it.  One time I swear I heard the bells jingling from his hands.  I ran into my room and tried to make myself go to bed.  I laid there all night just dreaming of Christmas.  I can still smell my grandmother’s house right now as I reflect on it.  Is there anything like being a kid at Christmas? 

Why is it that when we are younger, we want to be older and when we are older, we want to be younger?  I don’t get it.  I would do anything to go back and be a kid again at Christmas.  Anything!  There is nothing like waking up on Christmas morning and running into the den to see what presents you could tear in to.  Anticipation.  Intrigue.  Mystery.  Excitement.  I don’t know about you but I refuse to grow up.  I simply don’t want to grow up.  I think growing up is a frame of mind.  Who says that I have to grow up? 

As Christians I think it is important to never lose sight of childlike curiosity and intrigue.  Remember when the story of Jesus walking on water made you almost jump out of your shoes?  Fire from heaven.  Ax heads floating.  Joshua conquering land and enemies.  These are stories of our faith that make us dream again.  Maybe we should treat Christmas this way.  Excitement and intrigue.  Here is what I’ve decided to do this Christmas Eve.  I am going to have our entire family camp out in our room.  My wife does not know this yet so keep it quiet.  We are going to have an old fashioned camp out in our room and I am going to sleep on the floor with our kids.  Why?  BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT KIDS LIKE TO DO.  I DON’T WANT TO GROW UP.  Now some of you are reading this and thinking “give me a break.”  I just simply want to be a kid again this year.  Last year I was way too “grown up.”  I’m done with that.  I am going to run downstairs like a mad man on Christmas morning.  I am going to let loose.  Maybe I need to grow up.  I don’t know.  I just simply feel compelled to be a ten year old this Christmas!

Think about it for a second and maybe you will find that you are way too old.  Ask the Holy Spirit to give you eyes to see Christmas through the lens of a child again.  You might find yourself falling back in love with the whole idea all over again.

Question: What can you do this year to be a kid again?  Get creative and remember Matthew 18:2-4.  Go read it and think about Christmas as well.  Jesus loves kids.  Let’s all be children this Christmas.

Chad Norris

Bring It {Day 12}

They call it Black Friday. It is the day that the Christmas season actually begins. Never mind that the stores have been playing Christmas music for two weeks leading up to it. Never mind that the stores have been decorated for a month before it. Because it is on this day, that shoppers turn out in forms unheard of to mere mortals. Women line up outside store fronts early in the morning and sometimes through the night for the doors to open like Star Wars fans awaiting the next George Lucas prequel. Disney World has seen no line like Wal-Mart has standing in front of it on this chilly day of Fall. People push and shove and fight and quarrel all in order to get the best deal on or first opportunity for purchase of each season’s “have to have it” new toy. And we keep doing it, year after year after year—at least some of us do anyway.

There are some of us who choose not to go out on this day though. They are those of us for whom Black Friday need not be so depressingly named. Because it us who have the battle wounds and past experience to keep us from venturing out on this first day of Christmas season. Some call us men. Our wives call us boys. Either way, call us what you will, we choose not to play the game. For us, we would rather pay double the price than stand in quadruple the line. We would rather convince our children that what they really want is the same toy that is easily available. We choose to eat leftovers, watch Television, throw the football—anything but go out. We choose to let the Christmas season come to us instead of spending our Friday chasing after it. If we wanted to see a fight we would go to a hockey game, not Target.

Still there is something profound about these courageous women (and some men) who choose to brave this first day of Christmas unjoy and unpeace. They do so not because they enjoy standing in lines and fighting for parking spaces. They do it because something bigger than those things compels them to do so. Be it their love for their children or just their love of a good deal, these Christmas warriors journey into the darkness and come out on the other side yes beaten, yes torn but still alive.

And it is these warriors that bring to mind our third character in the Christmas story. His name is Joseph. He was the original Black Friday warrior of Christmas. Christmas did not start out so cheery for him. His introduction to it was a pregnant fiancée with whom he knew one thing for certain—that he was not the father of her child. Like most men on this kind of Black Friday, his first reaction was to stay inside. Who would blame him for not wanting to venture out into this chaotic Christmas carol? Yet, his story does not end here. It could have…but it doesn’t. In faith this Christmas hero lays his insecurity and doubt on the line to take on the Christmas madness. He comes out on the other side beaten, torn but alive. And the reason we know his name today is because he chose to do. This guy was no average Joe.

Think about his Black Friday introduction into the Christmas season as you read these words:

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be with child.” (Matthew 1:18, NIV)

Question:
*How would you have handled this Black Friday introduction to Christmas?
*Would you have ventured out in faith or stayed back in doubt?
*What challenge are you facing this Christmas season?
*How can you “BRING IT” to the manger and find faith in the midst of the madness?

David Rhodes

Brint It {Day 11}

“Wise Guys and Starry Skies” – that was the name of a children’s musical I saw several years ago. The kids dressed up like the “wise men” were decked out with bejeweled robes, scraggly beards, and crowns bigger than their heads. These “3” guys have certainly been made famous over the years. Yesterday at CRCC, David Rhodes taught us that the wise men BROUGHT their curiosity and gifts to Jesus. What did they take away? Inclusion in the Kingdom of God!

(Matthew 2:1)  After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem

These men would have been Arabs from the region of the world called “Persia”.
They were probably the very FIRST visitors to encounter Jesus as OUTSIDERS to the Jewish traditions. FOREIGNERS to all things Jewish for sure. Even though every manger scene includes these guys AT the manger – we know that they didn’t even arrrive until several years later – maybe when Jesus was just a toddler. Doesn’t that sound STRANGE? “Jesus was a TODDLER”…

This was perhaps the first GLIMPSE that Jesus was to be the Savior NOT just for the Jewish people, but for the…. WHOLE WORLD! Today the story of Jesus has gone around the globe fulfilling the promise of “every tongue, tribe, and nation” that are WELCOME to the family of God.

Question: How well do you handle people who are different than you? How open are you to seeing them as equals in the eyes of God? How about reaching out to someone that is FAR different than you?

 

Application: We want YOU to bring it – each week – “COATS AND CANS”
Bring any winter coats and canned goods that we can donate to Heritage Baptist Church in the inner city of Greenville.

Steve Keyes

Bring It {Day 10}

December is always a very tough month of gift giving (not JUST because of Christmas gifts) Here’s my situation: Becky’s birthday, Christmas, and our anniversary are all in the SAME WEEK. So being the logical person that I am, I’ve often thought, “Hmmm… how about one gift for all “3” occasions”? NOPE – doesn’t work that way, sorry! Since our anniversary is on Dec. 21, I have told her we need to MOVE it to Sept. 21, so we can somewhere in the fall to celebrate, because during the week of Christmas, we never do it at all…

I’ve been told by “experts on this subject” to NOT buy any gift for your wife that has to be “plugged in” – I took a chance last year, violated this, and bought her an IPOD shuffle. She actually LOVED it and uses it almost every day. She does talk QUITE A BIT LOUDER when she’s wearing the headphones, but that might come in handy the older I get as hearing starts to fade.

This Sunday, David Rhodes will be talking about our next character in the story: The WISE MEN – those guys known for BRINGING their gifts to Jesus. Probably the 3 most famous Christmas gifts in history.

(Matthew 2:11)  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

What did they bring to the story and what did they take away? I think you’ll be amazed! Don’t miss this Sunday!!!

Question: What’s the best gift you EVER received for Christmas? WHY? Are you a “gift giver” naturally, or is this a struggle for you? What gift you need to give this year is causing you the most worry and stress? Why?

Steve Keyes