What are you Waiting for?

December 11, 2016 Third Sunday of Advent What are you waiting for? Matthew 11:2-11 I was hoping to take this week and next week off, but then I realized that if I didn’t preach today, then I would miss my only time this year to wear my pink dress. So here I am. And as you know we are having a little problem with the heat, so make point and move on, so that we don’t have to be here too long in the cold. And today to the point is that we are here to celebrate joy. The four lessons of advent are hope, peace, joy and love. Today we remember joy. I don’t know about you, but I am having a little trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year. The commercials are going full blast, and everyone has their lights up, and the Christmas trees are up, but for some reason, I am just not feeling it. I guess the good news is that joy and Christmas spirit are two different things. When we sing Joy to the world – that is not an invitation to have fun at a party, it is a call to new life. A life that only comes from Christ. Joy only comes when you have been in the midst of your darkest hour, and you realize that things are getting better, not because anything that you did, but because of God’s grace. We lite the pink candle today – to symbolize that we can see the lite at the end of the tunnel, we have been dark for two Sundays,andtoday weget a little bit lighter. But then next Sunday – we are back where we started from in the darkness. It Doesn’t Get Any Better In 1964 my boyhood home burned. We were on our way to spend Christmas with my mother and father, and the word reached us that the flames had engulfed most of the home, although the structure was standing. When we arrived at Texarkana, it was late in the afternoon, and the December sun was already toward the horizon. I entered the house with a cousin to inspect the damage and became aware of the fact that it was difficult to see. I said to her, "I think I shall wait and come back in the morning, when the light will be better." I shall never forget her reply: "Bill," she said, "it doesn't get any better!" At first I did not know what she meant; only later I realized that the fire had brought to the inside panes of the windows a kind of smoke and resin film which very effectively shut out most of the light, even when the sun was shining brightly. Those words have been burned into my consciousness ever since: "Bill, it doesn't get any better." I have thought of the times in my life when circumstances would not and did not get any better, at least on their own terms, and I have thought of the times in the lives of friends and loved ones where this was true. How is it possible to have faith when things do not get better? Blessed is he that taketh no offense when things do not get better. John dies in the prison, and we can understand his struggle. William B. Oglesby, Jr., Pastoral Care Issues In The Pulpit, Anthology - edited by Gregory J. Johanson, CSS Publishing Co., Inc. That musthave been how John the Baptist felt when he was in prison locked up for speaking the truth. Last week I didn’t preach from the gospel story. But in the story –John the Baptist was running around the wilderness in his loincloth telling everyone to repent for the Lord is near. Even all of the politicians came to him to be saved, and John says who invited you brood of vipers. He spoke of another coming after him that would do greater things. Well this week, John the Baptist is sitting in prison. He talked to much truth, and the king put him in jail, and is about to kill him. John is starting to wonder if all of his talk wasworth it. Was speaking to truth really worth going to jail for? So he sends one of his disciples to speak with his cousin. And he asks a question that is still relavant to us today. Are you the one,the messiah or should I be waiting for someone else. Are you the messiah or should I be looking for someone else. We still ask that question a lot. We asked that question of Obama, we asked that question of Hillary Clinton, we asked that question of Donald Trump. Are you the one that is gonna save us, or should we be waiting for someone else. We keep asking the question and no matter what they do or don’t do- we feel that they have failed. They did not make a difference in our lives at all. And we like John sit in our prison feeling despondent and discouraged. When the Real World Rears Its Head Why in the world did John the Baptist question if Jesus was the one? Maybe he forgot. Maybe he did recognize Jesus at his baptism, and now, a few months later, he just forgot. You have to wonder, however, what could make a man forget that Jesus was the Christ. That seems pretty unforgettable. The best way to answer that may be to look at what makes us forget who he is. Maybe that will help. Shelly was a new Christian. She had just gone through a religious experience that totally changed her life, and as a part of her new life she wanted to become a part of the church. She was running on high speed, and had high hopes. She was going to save the world, or at least the part of it she could reach. She watched her language. She pronounced Jesus with seven syllables, and made sure to use the word "blessed" at least once in every sentence. She started attending Bible studies and promptly made everyone there uncomfortable. But she meant well. No one could blame her for her enthusiasm, because she had just recognized who Jesus was, and we could all remember how that felt. Then Shelly came to a church board meeting. She bowed her head during the opening prayer, and then studied the minutes of the previous meeting like they were Holy Scripture. She listened intently to the various committee reports, and nodded as though she understood it all. Then came Phil. Everyone knew what happened when Phil opened his mouth, you just never knew what the topic would be. Everyone knew except Shelly. Tonight the topic was the new church budget. Phil started out on the money being wasted on those expensive children's bulletins "that don't do anything anyway!" and ended up reminding everyone of how different it was back when Pastor Ludlan was there. Everyone grinned at each other. "There goes Phil again. He'll get tired in a minute and wind down." Everyone but Shelly that is. She was amazed. This was the "church." The bubble had been burst, and the air fizzled out all over the room. That was the night Shelly began to wonder.... John B. Jamison, Time's Up!, CSS Publishing Company. Jesus handles the situation in a great way. He doesn’t really answerJohn – he tells his disciples to report what they saw. They saw lives changed. They saw blind people able to see, deaf people here,dead people rise and poor people get some good news. Barbara Brown Taylor says "People who were blind to the love loose in the world have received their sight; people who were paralyzed with fear are limber with hope; people who were deaf from want of good news are singing hymns. In other words the proof is not in who Jesus says he is, it is in what he is able to do for others. But I think Jesus teaches another important lesson. He says Happy are those who don’t stumble and fall because of me. In other words – don’t put your trust in any man, not even me. But trust in God. No man is going to save you, not even Jesus. We tend to get discouraged, even by Jesus. We get upset when Jesus does not save that loved one, or pay that bill, or prevent that circumstance. We all have asked Jesus are you the one, or should I be waiting for another. We have to remember that Jesus does not come to save us from circumstances,Jesus came to being us salvation for our soul. And sometimes it is our circumstances that help us to appreciate our salvation. A Place of Dreams There was once a woman who was disappointed, who was disillusioned, who was depressed. She wanted a good world, a peaceful world, and she wanted to be a good person. But the newspaper and television showed her how far we were from such a reality. So she decided to go shopping. She went to the mall and wandered into a new store - where the person behind the counter looked strangely like Jesus. Gathering up her courage she went up to the counter and asked, "Are you Jesus?" "Well, yes, I am," the man answered. "Do you work here?" "Actually," Jesus responded, "I own the store. You are free to wander up and down the aisles, see what it is I sell, and then make a list of what you want. When you are finished, come back here, and we'll see what we can do for you." So, the woman did just that. And what she saw thrilled her. There was peace on earth, no more war, no hunger or poverty, peace in families, no more drugs, harmony, clean air. She wrote furiously and finally approached the counter, handing a long list to Jesus. He skimmed the paper, and then smiling at her said, "No problem." Reaching under the counter, he grabbed some packets and laid them out on the counter. Confused, she asked, "What are these?" Jesus replied: "These are seed packets. You see, this is a catalogue store." Surprised the woman blurted out, "You mean I don't get the finished product?" "No," Jesus gently responded. "This is a place of dreams. You come and see what it looks like, and I give you the seeds. Then you plant the seeds. You go home and nurture them and help them to grow and someone else reaps the benefits." "Oh," she said, deeply disappointed in Jesus. Then she turned around and left the store without buying anything. Adapted by Susan R. Andrews, as told in Spiritual Literacy: Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life, F. and M. Brussat, editors (New York: Scribner, 1996), p. 359. The joy that we remember today is the joy of salvation. The joy of transformation. When we are able to change ourselves – we have the power to change the world. This Christmas season, be the one someone else is waiting for. Serve others,give them hope, show them peace,be the joy that you are seeking. Are you the one for which we are waiting, or should we wait for another? Amen. Extra illustrations……. It Takes Time for Truth to be Accepted On December 6, 1865, just months after the Civil War ended, the 13th amendment outlawing slavery was ratified and became of the law of the land. But that didn't mean every state approved the ratification of the amendment. Mississippi's state legislature, for example, was dominated by whites bitter over the defeat of the Confederacy, and they rejected the measure. 130 years passed before Mississippi took action. By 1995 Mississippi was the only state in the Union that had not approved the ratification of the 13th amendment. Finally, on Thursday, February 16, 1995, the Mississippi Senate voted unanimously to outlaw slavery by approving the ratification of the 13th amendment to the Constitution. Senator Hillman Frazier, a member of the Mississippi's Legislature's Black Caucus, said, "I think it's very important for us to show the world that we have finally put the past behind us." Just as there was a delay in some states ratifying an end to slavery in the United States, so there is often a delay accepting the presence God's kingdom coming ever new here and now. Advent is a reminder we must never stop trying, never stop hoping, never stop preparing for the in-breaking of God's kingdom either into our own hearts or in our community. God's kingdom will one day hold sway over the entire world. When that day comes, my prayer is we will be prepared for its glory. Author unknown. Source: Faith Lutheran in Akron Ohio. Advent III To review the Ratification of Constitutional Amendments http://www.usconstitution.net/constamrat.html#Am13Full of Fear The world is full of fears, and most of us, if we are honest about it, are forced to admit that there have been times in our lives when we were afraid - I don't mean a little bit scared. No, I'm talking about those times when we were truly, knee-knocking, scared spitless. We may or may not have been in a life-threatening situation, but we can all remember a moment frozen in time when we were gripped by an all-encompassing fear, a fear that blinded us to everything else around us. I bring all this up because I have heard other pastors preach on this text from the Gospel of Matthew before. And in some of those sermons, John the Baptist took a lot of heat from the preacher for his "lack of vision." I think a terrible injustice has been done here. You see, it is my belief that John the Baptist was in the grip of the kind of fear we've been talking about. Wouldn't you be afraid if you were alone in a cold, dark, damp prison cell, not knowing what's going to happen next, but keenly aware of the animosity your captor feels for you? Johnny Dean, Are You the One? When the Real World Rears Its Head Why in the world did John the Baptist question if Jesus was the one? Maybe he forgot. Maybe he did recognize Jesus at his baptism, and now, a few months later, he just forgot. You have to wonder, however, what could make a man forget that Jesus was the Christ. That seems pretty unforgettable. The best way to answer that may be to look at what makes us forget who he is. Maybe that will help. Shelly was a new Christian. She had just gone through a religious experience that totally changed her life, and as a part of her new life she wanted to become a part of the church. She was running on high speed, and had high hopes. She was going to save the world, or at least the part of it she could reach. She watched her language. She pronounced Jesus with seven syllables, and made sure to use the word "blessed" at least once in every sentence. She started attending Bible studies and promptly made everyone there uncomfortable. But she meant well. No one could blame her for her enthusiasm, because she had just recognized who Jesus was, and we could all remember how that felt. Then Shelly came to a church board meeting. She bowed her head during the opening prayer, and then studied the minutes of the previous meeting like they were Holy Scripture. She listened intently to the various committee reports, and nodded as though she understood it all. Then came Phil. Everyone knew what happened when Phil opened his mouth, you just never knew what the topic would be. Everyone knew except Shelly. Tonight the topic was the new church budget. Phil started out on the money being wasted on those expensive children's bulletins "that don't do anything anyway!" and ended up reminding everyone of how different it was back when Pastor Ludlan was there. Everyone grinned at each other. "There goes Phil again. He'll get tired in a minute and wind down." Everyone but Shelly that is. She was amazed. This was the "church." The bubble had been burst, and the air fizzled out all over the room. That was the night Shelly began to wonder.... John B. Jamison, Time's Up!, CSS Publishing Company. And best and most miraculous of all, tell John that this is not the work of one lonely Messiah but the work of God, carried out by all who believe, and there is no end in sight. Tell him I am the one, if you must, but tell him also that yes, he should look for another, and another, and another. Tell him to search every face for the face of God and not get tripped up on me, because what is happening here is bigger than any of us. What is coming to pass is as big as the Kingdom of God."(4) One Hasidic story tells of a pious Jew who asked his rabbi, "For about forty years I have opened the door for Elijah every Seder night, waiting for him to come, but he never does. What is the reason?" The rabbi answered, "In your neighborhood there lives a very poor family with many children. Call on the man and propose to him that you and your family celebrate the next Passover at his house, and for this purpose provide him and his whole family with everything necessary for the eight days of Passover. Then on the Seder night Elijah will certainly come." The man did as the rabbi told him, but after Passover he came back and claimed that again he had waited in vain to see Elijah. The rabbi answered, "I know very well that Elijah came on the Seder night to the house of your poor neighbor. But of course you could not see him." And the rabbi held a mirror before the face of the man and said, "Look, this was Elijah's face that night."(6) Which leads me to one last question: Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else? Are you the one? Are you the one? Amen! Children’s sermon…… Exegetical Aim: Knowing Jesus is God's promised one who was to come. Props: I do not use any props in the text but a letter with your name on it or other items that identify you may be used. Work them in at the appropriate time. This Children's Sermon must be adapted to fit each person’s family name and vocation if someone other than the minister is giving it. If you are a teacher by vocation bring something that identifies you as a teacher and tie it in to the story. Lesson: Good Morning! I have a question for you this morning. And I am not sure you are going to know the answer to this one. Are you ready? (response)Ok, here goes. Who am I? (the preacher) Yes that's what I do; I am a preacher. How do you know that I am preacher? (response) What does a preacher do? (response) Ok, that's a pretty good answer. But, let me ask my question again, who am I? I mean besides a preacher, Who am I? (Brother Brett) Yes, my name is Brett. Does anyone know my last name or first depending how they know you? (response) My last name is Blair. Brett Blair is my name. How do you know that I am Brett Blair? (response) 'Cause I hang around a bunch of other Blairs. A lady named Cyndi Blair--she's my wife by the way--and a little girl named Hannah Blair--she's my daughter. We are all Blairs. What name do you think is written on our mailbox? (Blair) When I get the mail out of he mailbox who do you think the mail is addressed to? (Blair) Ok, I am a preacher and I am Brett Blair. That much we know. Let me ask you the question one more time, Who am I? Besides a preacher and guy that goes by the name Brett Blair. Who am I? (response) Let me give you a hint: You are one too. (response) You may need to guide them here. We all believe in Jesus Christ. So, Who am I? (a Christian) They may give various synonyms--work them toward the proper title. That's right. I am a Christian. Now comes the real question. How do you know that I am a Christian? (response) Let them work on this for a minute and don't let yourself off the hook too quick What does a Christian do? (response) Application: Who is Jesus? (God's Son) How do you know that he is God's Son? (response) There is this fellow in the Bible who asked that very question. His name was John the Baptist. And he believed in Jesus Christ too. But he didn't get a chance to spend very much time with Jesus. So, he wasn't sure he was God's Son. So he ask a couple of his friends to go talk with him and ask him, "Are you the one, are you God's Son, or should I look for someone else?" Lean forward and whisper loudly with surprise: You know what Jesus said to John? (response) He said, "You go tell John what you have seen and heard me do. When I touch the blind cover your eyes? they can see again uncover your eyes. When I touch the crippled continue touching the appropriate body parts they can walk again. When I touch the sick they are well again. When I touch the deaf they can hear again. The good news of God is being preached to the poor! You go tell John that.How do we know that this little Christmas baby is God's Son? (response) Because when he grew up to be a man he did all these wonderful things. Let’s Pray: Lord, we see all the wonderful things that you did and we know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Amen. Christian Globe, , by Brett Blair

Have Hope

December 4, 2016 Romans 14 Second Sunday of Advent Have Hope One brief, sunny morning a woman looked out her living room window and was amazed to discover a dead mule on her lawn. Immediately she called the sanitation department and asked them to remove the carcass. But by the time the work-crew arrived, she had changed her mind. She gave the men $100.00 each, instructing them to carry the mule upstairs and to deposit it in the bathtub. After they had dutifully followed her instructions, one of the workers asked why she wanted the dead mule in her bathtub. She said, “Well, for 35 years my husband has been coming home at night, throwing his coat on the rack, grabbing the newspaper, plopping into the easy chair and asking, ‘What’s new?’ Tonight, I’m going to tell him.” What’s new this Christmas? Every year we plop ourselves down in the Christmas calendar and ask: What’s “hottest?” Who’s got the most popular gift? What’s the best of the best? What toy/gizmo requires a five-hour wait in line? Every Christmas season there is some new sound, or flavor, or decoration, or game, or cell-phone “app” that defines the cutting edge of “cool.” And probably the memory of waiting in line, clawing through a crowd, falling into debt, will linger longer than the “new,” “cool,” “hot” thing you suffered for. But wait a minute? Isn’t the exact opposite equally true? It’s the “old” stuff that we hanker after and hunger for. We hang the ratty old homemade ornaments on the tree. We crave the same old cookie recipes. We want to hear the old arrangements of the familiar carols we heard as kids. The candlewax spotted tablecloth is reinstated. That strange cheeseball thing reappears. So much of the joy of Christmas Is the sameness of it all — Always the wreath upon the door, The festoons in the hall; The mistletoe hung overhead, The squeals at getting captured: The sparkling tree that holds its viewers Silently enraptured. The same beloved ornaments, The candles and the bells; The same old Christmas stories That Grandpa always tells The same old battered angel Once again adds to the joy — It’s stood atop the tree each year Since Grandpa was a boy. The merry family gatherings — The old, the very young: The strangely lovely way they Harmonize in carols sung. For Christmas is tradition time — Traditions that recall The precious memories down the years, The sameness of them all. Helen Lowrie Marshall (1904-1975) So which is it? Sameness or Newness? The Christmas spirit tells us that we need to stick to tradition, but the bible reminds us that Christmas is not about staying the same, it is about doing things differently. It is not about putting out the same old Christmas decorations, it is about the world being shaken upside down and us having to put it back together again. Perhaps Donald Trump’s winning is a part of God’s plan to shake the whole world apart, and for the faithful people to put it back together again. But I don’t want to talk about politics this morning, I want to talk about out faith. About our faith. About our preparations for the Christmas to come. In the midst of tradition, what will we do next. Usually on the second Sunday of Advent, I always stick to the gospel lesson of John the Baptist telling us that that kingdom of heaven is near, or the old testament lesson of Isaiah telling us of a new world with Emmanuel – God present. But this year I want to reflect on Romans. It has a powerful lesson for us today. An Advent message. A message guaranteed to shake up our Christmas preparation. Paul encourages us to have hope. But not just any hope, but hope through endurance and encouragement. And that encouragement can only come through reading the scriptures. Not just reading them, but thinking about them and applying them to our lives. More importantly applying the bible to the way we treat one another. Paul says to welcome one another the way Christ welcomed you. Imagine hope like one artist does, as a woman sitting on a rock, battered a nd bruised holding a harp and all of the strings are broken except one. The strings represent the elements of our lives, like our family, our job, our friends, our resources. Even though all of the strings are broken, there is one that is not, and that is the one that she plays constantly. That one string represents Jesus Christ. When everything else in life is meant to be broken, Jesus is our hope, our strength, our endurance, our encouragement. The message of Romans however, is that hope is not just the foundation of our individual lives, but it is the foundation of our fellowship as Christians. And it is our fellowship that draws and attracts others to Christ. That is why he reminds us to welcome one another, the way Christ welcomed us. Our strength relies on the way we treat one another. Paul spells out the marks of fellowship what should be present in the way we treat one another. The marks of fellowship are consideration of one another, a place where scripture is studied and we are able to draw our encouragement from what we read, We should have fortitude, hope, harmony and praise. Where do we stand in the marks of fellowship? What do we do well, what do we need to work on, what needs to change? Christmas and advent is a time for us to examine ourselves and to walk a better way to Jesus. But in order for us to change, we have to be able to have hope. I think it was Winston Churchill who said that there are no hopeless situations, on hopeless people in those situations. Anything can change, if we just trust in God. If we remember that is why Christ came into the world, to remind us that anything can change in the presence of God. A miracle is just around the corner. We just have to believe, and live in that belief. I want to share with you stories about the power of hope and living hopeful life. SERMON ILLUSTRATION Trapped Ice Climber Remembers His Father's Words In June of 1992, Jim Davidson and Mike Price climbed Mt. Ranier. On the way down from the summit, the two climbers fell 80 feet through a snow bridge into a glacial crevasse, a pitch-black, ice-walled crack in the massive glaciers that cover Mt. Ranier. Mike Price died. In his book The Ledge, Jim Davidson tells the story of his miraculous survival and courageous climb out of the crevasse. Throughout the book, Jim reflects back to his childhood and young adult years, describing his relationship with his father. As early as Jim can remember, his father had shown what some considered an almost reckless confidence in his son. Jim worked for his father painting high, steep-pitched roofs and electrical towers as early as age 12. The work terrified his mother, but Jim's father kept communicating his belief that Jim could accomplish great things if he pressed through adversity and kept going. As Jim stood, bloodied and bruised, on the two-foot wide snow ledge next to the body of his climbing partner, he heard the voice of his father. The years of inspiration that Jim's father had invested in him flooded back into his mind and washed over him with encouragement. With minimal gear and no experience in ice climbing at that level, Jim spent the next five hours climbing out, battling fatigue and the crumbling ice and snow that threatened to bury him. Throughout his ordeal, Jim kept recalling the words of his father. Five grueling hours later, thanks to his father's words, Jim climbed out of the crevasse to safety. What words of encouragement has the living Christ offered in your life? How has your heavenly father encouraged you in your life. What obstacles do you need to overcome with Hope, endurance and encouragement. Another story… SERMON ILLUSTRATION Cook Offers Encouragement and Prayer at Children's Hospital A 2009 article in the Chicago Tribune told the story of Bettye Tucker, a Christian cook who works the night shift at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. She has been doing her job for 43 years—28 of them on the night shift. She sees a steady stream of parents in her job, many of them frightened and weary. On one particular night around the time the article was written, Miss Bettye (as she is referred to by all who know her) served food to a mother whose three-year-old fell out of a second story window that morning, another mother whose seventeen-year-old was battling a rare form of leukemia, and a third mother whose eighteen-year-old had endured seven hours of brain surgery. Their stories break the heart of Miss Bettye, and—as one coworker interviewed for the article says—"that's why she feeds every last one of them as if they had walked right into the 'too-small' kitchen of [the] South Side brick bungalow [where she lives]." A member of the hospital's housekeeping crew adds this about Miss Bettye: "You need someone to bring you life, and she brings it in the middle of the night." A picture of Miss Bettye that accompanied the article shows a woman with a beautiful smile. It's hard to imagine how much that smile would mean to a suffering parent or child. She says, "When I ask, 'How you doin' today?' and they say it's not a good day, I say, 'Don't lose hope.' When the nurses tell me it's a bad night, I say, 'I understand it's a bad night. But guess what? I am here for you. I'm going to get you through the night.'" Another picture shows Bettye sitting down, head bowed, over a meal. "I'm a praying lady," she says in the article. "I pray every night, for every room and every person in the hospital. I start with the basement, and I go up, floor by floor, room by room. I pray for the children, I pray for the families, I pray for the nurses and the doctors. … I say, every night while I'm driving in on the expressway, 'Oh, Lord, I don't know what I'll face tonight, but I pray you'll guide me through.'" The reporter behind the article, Barbara Mahany, offers these words about Miss Bettye: "Just might be, that divine helping on the side is the most essential item on Miss Bettye's menu. The one she stirs in every broth, and every whisper. The ingredient that makes her the perpetual light shining in the all-night kitchen." (5 reviews) This is the Christmas where everything will change. Because this is the Christmas where hope will be apart of everything that you do and every interaction that you do. Amen. Other illustrations…… SERMON ILLUSTRATION Trapped Ice Climber Remembers His Father's Words In June of 1992, Jim Davidson and Mike Price climbed Mt. Ranier. On the way down from the summit, the two climbers fell 80 feet through a snow bridge into a glacial crevasse, a pitch-black, ice-walled crack in the massive glaciers that cover Mt. Ranier. Mike Price died. In his book The Ledge, Jim Davidson tells the story of his miraculous survival and courageous climb out of the crevasse. Throughout the book, Jim reflects back to his childhood and young adult years, describing his relationship with his father. As early as Jim can remember, his father had shown what some considered an almost reckless confidence in his son. Jim worked for his father painting high, steep-pitched roofs and electrical towers as early as age 12. The work terrified his mother, but Jim's father kept communicating his belief that Jim could accomplish great things if he pressed through adversity and kept going. As Jim stood, bloodied and bruised, on the two-foot wide snow ledge next to the body of his climbing partner, he heard the voice of his father. The years of inspiration that Jim's father had invested in him flooded back into his mind and washed over him with encouragement. With minimal gear and no experience in ice climbing at that level, Jim spent the next five hours climbing out, battling fatigue and the crumbling ice and snow that threatened to bury him. Throughout his ordeal, Jim kept recalling the words of his father. Five grueling hours later, thanks to his father's words, Jim climbed out of the crevasse to safety. Children’s Sermon…… Object: the heartbeat of each child. Good morning, children. This is the first Sunday of the most exciting month. How many of you know what month this is? That's right, December. It seems that all of the other months, like January and July and October, are in the calendar so that they will get us to December. I know that you like December because of a very special day. What day do you like so much that comes in the month of December? That's right, Christmas. There is something else that gets us to December every year that is even more important than the dates or months on a calendar. I want you all to choose a partner and be very quiet so that you can listen for a steady sound. [Let them all select some partner.] Now, I want you to take turns and listen for a sound that you can hear in each other's chest. [Show them by letting someone listen to your chest and vice versa.] Do you hear that beat? What is that sound that you hear? The heart, that's right, and your heart sounds exactly like your partner's heart. Did you notice how steady it is? Thump, thump, thump, over and over again your heart beats out the same rhythm. We could call your heart "steadfast." Can you say that word with me? "Steadfast." We must be steadfast, too. Day after day, year after year, the Bible tells the same story of the wonderful things that God did and still continues to do. When we are sad, joyful, afraid, excited, or however we feel, we should read the Bible and listen to God's teaching. Even now while we are waiting for Jesus to come and be born in our world again, the place that we go to look for him is the Bible. The Bible gives us hope. So remember this: The Bible teaches us to be as steady and dependable as our heart is. God wants us to be in rhythm with him. The next time you listen to a heart beat, remember how good it is for us to be steadfast in God.