Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful gift of love we are celebrating today. Merry Christmas!

“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

“And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.Continue reading

Angels All Around, Part 5

Angels All Around, Part 5

Before we bought our current church building, we were bursting at the seams, very ready for a bigger place to meet. The building we wanted was about three blocks to the west, but it was quite sought after by developers.

The ownership of this building was going to the highest bidder. Because it was such a desired property, many developers were bidding. No one knew anybody else’s bids, so it was up to each person to determine what they should bid on the building. That was an intimidating prospect for my husband and me, so we prayed about it at great length.

The week the bids were due, my husband was walking with an usher down the back stairway at church. Normally people weren’t there, but this Sunday morning, a man stepped out from beside the wall. My husband had never seen him before. He said, “Pastor Mac, I just want to tell you that you have an amount in your heart that you should pay for that building. The amount you have in your heart is the correct amount.”Continue reading

Angels All Around, Part 4

Angels All Around, Part 4

Acts chapter 8 shares with us another angelic account. A revival had broken out in Jerusalem and they were proclaiming the Gospel through the villages. An angel came to Phillip and told him to go a specific route to Jerusalem. He did and on the way, he met a man in a chariot. The man in the chariot was an Ethiopian government official in charge of the treasury. When Philip saw him in the chariot, he heard him reading from the book of Isaiah.

Philip asked the eunuch, “Do you know what you’re reading?”Continue reading

Angels All Around, Part 3

Angels All Around, Part 3

A couple years ago, a national publication told this story of an angelic encounter. Two construction divers were working on a bridge. It was cold outside so they were wearing their cold-water gear and cold-water suits. At the end of the day, they were driving home and noticed a bunch of rescue vehicles pulled off the side of the road by a pond. A young seven-year-old boy had been playing on the ice and had fallen through.

Rescue efforts were hindered because a creek ran through the pond. The creek made the ice unstable and had swept the little boy downstream under the ice. Because of that, the little boy was no longer directly under the hole in the ice and they couldn’t find him.

One of the construction divers put on his suit and gear and dived down through the hole in the ice. When he came up, he said the water was very murky and a very strong current was coming from the creek. It could have swept the boy anywhere so the search was hopeless.Continue reading