A Christmas List For Family and Friends

Message for December 02, 2012 at First United Methodist Church of Wister, OK
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Rev Ed Harwood

For as long as I can remember, I've heard people complain that Christmas is too commercial. Too many people are caught up in the material things of the holiday. It has probably always been this way. As long as Christmas has been celebrated, I'm sure there have been people warning us about the dangers of it becoming too commercial. This advent season I want to focus on a more "Simple Christmas." This month I want to focus on making this a Christ-centered Christmas—one in which we grow closer to him and connect with our loved ones on a deeper level; one in which we learn to avoid the craziness of days like “Black Friday” and then “Cyber Monday” and discover what Christmas is really all about.

Today’s message is all about connecting with our family and friends. Let’s not worry so much about what you need to buy and what you need to do, and spend some time focusing on the people you will be seeing during the holidays.

Today we'll look at a passage of scripture from a letter written by Paul to the church in Thessalonica. They were a group of believers that Paul loved very much. In this letter, he pours out his heart to them. We need to share our hearts with the people that we love in the same way.

“How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?” (v. 9)

I thought about ways to share our hearts with others that we love and making a list come to mind.

1. This week make a list of the most important people in your life.

• Your wife,

• Your husband,

• Your children,

• Your parents,

• Your brothers and sisters,

• Your friends, and on and on.

• Thank God for bringing them into your life.

• Tell them how much they mean to you.

Paul was grateful for his relationship to the believers in Thessalonica, and he expressed his gratitude to God, and he expressed his appreciation to them. He took the time to say, "Thank you...I appreciate you...You fill my life with joy."

This seems like such a simple thing, but we find it so hard to do.

This week I thought about an old joke but it might even be a true story. This woman said to her husband, "You never tell me you love me," and he said, "Look, I told you I loved you when I married you twenty five years ago. Until I take it back, it's still in effect."

During this season go to the people on your list and you can use words similar to Paul’s: How can I ever thank God enough for all the joy you have brought into my life?

2. Then Paul said, “Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.” (vs. 10)

He wanted to meet with his friends in Thessalonica and build up their faith. He knew at that particular time that was what they needed most.

As you think of all the people you love, take some time to think about something you can give to each one—something they really need. I'm not talking about:

X-Boxes, Nintendo’s, iPads, iPods, and the many more toys today.

I'm talking about something much more personal. There is something you can give to each one on your list:

A word of encouragement, a smile, a hug, a pep-talk, an apology, a compliment. Ask yourself, "What does this person need most? What can I say to them? What can I do for them. How can I give them a lift?"

I read a story about a missionary school teacher in Africa who had been teaching her students about Christmas, and told them how we give gifts to one another at Christmas time. A few days later one of her students brought her a gift—a beautiful seashell. She asked him where he got it and he said, " I walked to the beach and picked it out for you." The school was several miles from the ocean, so she knew it had been a long walk for him. She said, "You shouldn't have gone so far to get a gift for me." The student said, "The long walk was part of the gift."

This is what Paul did for the Thessalonians’. He said, "May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones." (vs. 12-13)

A Cheerful Countenance

Proverbs 15:13 says, "A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken."

What’s another word for a cheerful countenance? It’s a smile. Someone said the following and I think it is incredible:

It costs nothing, but creates much good. It enriches those who receive it without impoverishing those who give it away. It happens in a flash, but the memory of it can last forever. No one is so rich that he can get along without it. No one is too poor to feel rich when receiving it. It creates happiness in the home, fosters good will in business and is the counter sign of friends. It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad and nature’s best anecdote for trouble. Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen. It is something of no earthly good to anyone until it is given away willingly.

I love that. When you dress up in the morning, don’t forget to put on a smile and don’t be ashamed of your sense of humor! Why not try it right now even if you're all by yourself. Now, don't you feel better?

Follow Instructions

It’s easy to think that we have no need for instructions for our lives, only to later realize that we’ve messed things up. Which is exactly why Jesus advised that following His instructions is the way for wise people to build a safe, solid, and significant life (Matt. 7:24-29). He had just told the listening crowd to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile, to forgive enemies, and to sell treasures so that they could give to the poor (5:39-44). But just getting the instructions isn’t enough. The key is to follow them. “Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock” (7:24).

Those who don’t follow the instructions are, as Jesus put it, “foolish” (v.26). To the world, forgiving your enemies and giving to the poor may seem like a silly way to build a life, but, take it from Jesus, it’s the wise way.

Ed

Willing to Die for Your Wife

Ephesians 4:25-27 says, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

How many editorials have you read that say that Southern Baptists think a husband ought to be willing to die for his wife? Not many, I'm sure. They probably have focused more on the consensus that women are to submit to their husbands. But, you see, that's only one side of the coin.

Husbands are to lay down their lives for their wives. Now, a husband may never be called to physically die for his wife, but God is calling every husband to die to his ego, pride, ambition, and anything else about himself that he places above his wife.

Now, how is he to love his wife? Passionately. What do I mean by that? Well, I’m not talking about sexual passion, though that certainly is one of the gifts of marriage. But I am talking about a passion that says I am willing to die for you.

When a man loves his wife passionately, there’s nothing too precious for that man to give up for his wife, except his relationship to Almighty God. And most women don’t mind being in submission to a man who loves her enough to die for her and shows it by the way he lives for her.

Adrian Rogers