The Greatest Story Ever Told (Part 3): “Anticipating Christ’s Return” (Audio)

This podcast was recorded December 27th, 2009 and is part 3 of our special Christmas series taught by Pastor Aaron Dailey entitled, The Greatest Story Ever Told. This sermon discusses the anticipation of Christ’s return.

Christmas Day Bike Giveaway

On Dec 12th we were busy taking pictures of local families for Help Portrait. When I say local, I mean local local, as in families that live in the surrounding blocks. We have really felt convicted that we haven’t poured into the immediately surrounding community. The community we are in is a pretty rough one, a lot of broken families, drug abuse, prostitution. We’ve always felt like we were planted here for a purpose, but recently that purpose has become more concrete and we’ve started to act on it.

So the same day Help Portrait was in full swing a local company donated 15 kids bikes to us, a total surprise and huge blessing. We started brainstorming ideas on what to do and we thought, “why not just walk through our neighborhood on Christmas day and hand these out to kids?” Wasn’t a typical church outreach plan, or typical for us either. We weren’t going to invite them to a service and make them wait to the end, or give them away to all the kids in our church. Though we love our kids too, we thought we’d demonstrate it to them differently.

We felt a greater blessing for our kids would be for them to come with us and help us give them away. So on Christmas Day a handful of families loaded the bikes into a truck and we took the caravan through the neighborhood. We met a lot of the families in the neighborhood and they greeted us with tearful thank you’s and the kids were overjoyed. About 10 minutes into it word had spread quickly and kids were running out to greet us.

It was truly one of the most amazing experiences and opportunities we’ve been apart of, we were so blessed and thankful to be able to do it and share in the lives with the families around us. We really look forward to doing this every year, but also doing a lot more on a regular basis with these families. We are actively praying about where God would lead us and where and how he’d have us serve our local community. Thank you to everyone who took part in this, it truly was special.

The Greatest Story Ever Told (Part 3): “Anticipating Christ’s Return ” (Video)

This podcast was recorded December 27th, 2009 and is part 3 of our special Christmas series taught by Pastor Aaron Dailey entitled, The Greatest Story Ever Told. This sermon discusses the anticipation of Christ’s return.

My Christmas Wish

So here it is, Christmas time again. As much as we try to keep our focus on Christ and his birth during this time of year, it seems we still manage to get caught up in the commercialism of the season. Christmas trees attract our attention; shopping for gifts becomes a pastime; and many of us look forward to a couple of extra days off from work to spend with our families. I, too, enjoy these same things myself. I look forward to pulling out my Christmas socks to wear and driving in my neighborhood to admire the houses all decorated with splendid light displays. Nonetheless, I was challenged today when the question was posed, “has Christ been forgotten and selfishness crept in?” Our first reaction to such a question would likely be that we, as Christians, haven’t forgotten Christ! Of course not! However, listening to our Pastor this morning preach about Immanuel, and the meaning of the name, challenged me even further, and brings about my Christmas wish for you.

Isaiah 7:14 foretells the birth of Christ, and that “…His name shall be called Immanuel”. Isaiah 9:6 says, “His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace”. Now, we know that Christ wasn’t actually named any of those names, but was named Jesus. But He is known by those names, as well. When we consider the name Immanuel and its meaning, God is with us, we come to a point that we really have to ask ourselves if we have forgotten Him. The question posed today was, “If God was right next to you, how would you behave?”

My Christmas wish for you is one that carries through the entire year. My wish, and my prayer, is that we all remember that Christ is with us – every day. His spirit indwells within us; he is standing right next to us when we avoid that person we don’t want to make eye contact with. He is right next to us and hears us scream at our children. He is watching our response when we are asked to give. Have we forgotten this when we chose not to share His good word with our neighbor, or when we curse at the drive who cut us off? My wish for all of us is that we conduct ourselves in such a way that if Jesus were standing next to us, he would smile and pleased; every day of the year.

Merry Christmas to you and to your families. Rejoice with gladness from the abundance in your hearts.

The Greatest Story Ever Told (Part 2): “The Wise Mens’ Journey” (Video)

This podcast was recorded December 21st, 2009 and is part 2 of our special Christmas series taught by Pastor Aaron Dailey entitled, The Greatest Story Ever Told. This sermon discusses the wise mens’ journey.

The Greatest Story Ever Told (Part 2): “The Wise Mens’ Journey” (Audio)

This podcast was recorded December 21st, 2009 and is part 2 of our special Christmas series taught by Pastor Aaron Dailey entitled, The Greatest Story Ever Told. This sermon discusses the wise mens’ journey.

The Greatest Story Ever Told (Part 1): “The Incarnation” (Video)

This podcast was recorded December 13th, 2009 and is part 1 of our special Christmas series taught by Pastor Aaron Dailey entitled, The Greatest Story Ever Told. This sermon discusses the incarnation of Jesus.

The Greatest Story Ever Told (Part 1): “The Incarnation” (Audio)

This podcast was recorded December 13th, 2009 and is part 1 of our special Christmas series taught by Pastor Aaron Dailey entitled, The Greatest Story Ever Told. This sermon discusses the incarnation of Jesus.