Christmas Sacrifice

The madness has begun! I watched on TV this morning as thousands of people stood in line to get in a store to buy a gift for someone that they loved. It is amazing the sacrifices that people will make to see the smile on some one's face that they love on Christmas morning. That thought took me in two directions. (1) The sacrifice Christ made to bring glory to His Father and (2) why aren't we willing to make those kind of sacrifices when it comes to our relationship with the Lord? It is amazing people will sacrifice sleep, money, and time to get that special gift but will not do that to draw closer to the Lord. The Lord sacrificed His life to bring us into a right relationship with the Father yet we complain when we are asked to sacrifice anything for Him. What would you do to bring a smile to the Father's face? Would you stand in line to give your tithe at church Sunday? Would you "camp-out" to be the first one in church on Sunday? God gave the greatest gift to you, what have you given to Him?

GROWING

I have been preaching about the growing Christian. It is obvious that a church cannot grow if Christians are not growing. (I am talking about a "true church"). There are several components of growth. First, GOD must be at the center of all that we do! Next we must be READY to grow by planting the Word in our heart and breaking up the "hard ground" of sin and pride in our life. The third step is taking advantage of the OPPORTUNITIES that God places in our life. We must begin to see every person as a person who either needs Christ or encouragement in his walk with Christ. The fourth step is WORK! It takes work to grow as a Christian and to grow a church for God. This involves our time, talent, passion and resources. The last step is the SPIRIT of God. As "good ole' Baptist" we tend to leave the Holy Spirit out of our lives and our churches-this dangerous! I believe that is why we are weak and our churches are "dead". Are you growing as a Christian? God wants us to grow!! I was just thinking!