“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

This is a sober passage of Scripture. It means that if you assume you understand the will of God, without studying Scripture, you are wrong. Our way of thinking, our way of planning, and figuring things out is not like the Lord’s way. We are wrong to assume that our way of living life is right or wise because we are all sinners and corrupt in our ways. God’s ways are not only different but higher – meaning better in every degree. The ways of the Lord are pure, just, gracious, merciful, and establish rather than tear down. My encouragement to you is to read and study the Bible – God’s revelation to us. Studying the Scriptures, chapter-by-chapter, and day-by-day will transform your pattern of thinking (Romans 12:2) to be like the higher ways of the Lord. When your thinking changes, your actions will follow. 

I want to challenge you this Christmas to be more intentional about reading and studying the Bible in the new year. Consider some of these patterns in making your plan over the next few weeks:

• Always quiet your heart and pray before reading God’s word. Whether you’re in a coffee shop, the office on lunch break, at home with loud kids, or in a quiet place – always pray and ask the Holy Spirit to illumine (bring understanding to) the words of Scripture (John 14:15-31). Without the Spirit of God giving us understanding, we will not understand, believe, or be impacted to obey the Word of God.
• Strive after a pattern that may seem overwhelming – seek the Lord by reading Scripture morning and evening. You must make time somewhere in your day to meaningfully read the Scriptures, but I also encourage you to read a few verses at the opposing time of day. If you study the Scriptures in the morning, read a Psalm or Proverb before bed. If you study the Scriptures at night, read a Psalm or Proverb over breakfast. In this way, the Word of the Lord is always before you. 
• Do not only study specific passages but take time to read full chapters and books of the Bible. It is vital to understand how God has been working in history over time, to rightly understand how He continues to work in our day. As a follower of Christ, it is sinful to have access to the Bible, but remain ignorant of its contents because you just don’t really care what is there. Set a new course! Pray for discipline, wisdom, and illumination. Read long passages of Scripture. Read continually. Soon you will make up for lost time and understanding, and find the joy of understanding the high and glorious knowledge of God.
• The journey of learning never ends, because the Lord is infinite and we can never master Him. Seeking the Lord is a relationship that will never grow old – but only sweeter and more rewarding (Colossians 2:3). There is always another facet to the beauty of the Lord – wisdom to which there is always another degree – truth to which there is always another precept. 
• When possible, do not read the Bible on a digital device. I’m not anti-technology. I’m pro-concentration. Digital devices are full of non-stop distractions. When we take even ten minutes to read the Scriptures, it should be prayerfully and with minimized distraction.

In closing, I offer you a powerful word from German pastor and martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 

“The Lord stands above the new day, for God has made it. All the darkness and confusion of the night with its dreams gives way to the clear light of Jesus Christ and his awakening Word. All restlessness, all impurity, all worry and anxiety flee before him. Therefore, in the early morning hours of the day may our many thoughts and our many idle words be silent, and may the first thought and the first word belong to the one to whom our whole life belongs. “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Ephesians 5:4)…There is such a thing as rising early for the love of God. That was the practice of the men of Holy Scripture.” 

May Christ be praised this Christmas,

Pastor Vic 

“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

I want to express my joy and thankfulness over being a part of such a tremendously generous congregation! God loves a cheerful giver because it demonstrates that your heart loves God and people instead of the things of this world. It shows that you value people over things – as Jesus did.

Over this past month, you have given close to $9,000 to help Ben and Trisha Pennington toward their goal of adopting siblings from India! You have given all that was necessary to purchase a reliable car for Jen and Sophia! You have purchased gifts for all the needy students presented to our church by principal Bartoszek! You donated a huge amount of clothing to the Salem Elementary School clothing drive! This is an amazing amount of generosity, for which I praise the Lord. It tangibly demonstrates our love for orphans, our love for our own church brethren, and our love for the needy in our community. It demonstrates the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst to bear in our hearts the fruit of sacrificial love.

One of the beautiful things about sacrificial congregational giving is how the Lord works it all out proportionally and intentionally. Each need was presented, I asked you to pray about giving, you prayed and obeyed to give what was laid on your heart. Through the joint obedience of us all, the needs were met! God puts the pieces together in His perfection and grace. You only need to be concerned with obeying what God has laid on your heart. When we all obey, the Lord Jesus brings about wonderful things, for His glory. May the Lord bless you for your generosity this Christmas!

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ESV Bible App

I would like to recommend to you the ESV Bible App (available for Apple or Android). This Bible app is simple, free of ads, has a readable layout, has a very functional cross-reference system, and an excellent search function. We all read the Bible on our devices at some time during the day. It is important to get an app that is free of ads and distractions so you can focus on understanding God’s word and hear His voice of guidance and conviction. It’s important to have an easy search system, so you can find verses that you can’t remember the reference for. It’s also very important to have a good cross-reference system that works in a digital format. Give it a try!

Merry Christmas,

Pastor Vic

Advent

“I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11

Merry Christmas to you! The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of year, but it is a busy season and one in which we have to be especially intentional about keeping Christ our Savior central in our thinking. One way I suggest that you do this is through daily advent readings. I commend to you Paul David Tripp’s, Come Let Us Adore Him: A Daily Advent Devotional. The readings begin December 1 and continue throughout the month. I understand that December is underway, but please don’t hesitate to jump in as you are able. This book, and other advent readings, will daily work to focus your attention on the saving work of our Lord Jesus, instead of the overwhelming push of marketing materialism that sweeps over us this time of year.

I encourage you to use this book in private, or as a form of family devotions. Family devotions are tough when everyone is going in different directions, but strive and plan to get everyone together around the dinner table, or before bed. This book facilitates reading a few pages about the work and ministry of Jesus, reading a related passage of scripture, and praying along these lines. When your children are old enough, have them read the scripture portions aloud, and have them lead in prayer after you have given them direction. 

Intentionally focusing on the incarnation of Jesus throughout December will change the atmosphere of your home and spiritually instruct your children, or grandchildren. It is never too early to begin training your children to understand who God is and how He is at work in the world. I enjoy Rudolph and A Christmas Carol as much as anyone, but it is vital that you raise your children with a right understanding that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation of shadow due to change” James 1:17. 

A few (controversial!) points on this: First, it adds to the season for your children to know that Jesus loves them and has supplied all good things to them. It ultimately robs God of glory and thanksgiving due His name when our children believe that an elf, or Santa, or some other myth, is the source of blessing in our lives. The fun of maintaining a myth is fully eclipsed by the precious prayers of thanksgiving to God that children offer in joy over what they may receive. Second, these various Christmas myths often revolve around trying to bribe children into good behavior. This will not produce true heart change in your children, and will not ultimately work. Only when our children believe in Jesus as their Savior will true heart change be produced. No matter how young your children are, they are never too young to hear the good news of Jesus’s grace and love. Third, training your children to believe something is true, only for them to find out later it’s a myth, trains them toward doubt. The glorious truth of Jesus as our provider often takes root in the hearts of children, and unlike myths, Jesus is real! When we read the nativity story alongside Rudolph, as just another holiday story, it sows doubt and confusion in the hearts of our children. We will never have to back off the story of Jesus or say things that are not true as we rejoice over His coming!

Oh come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord,

Pastor Vic

Count Your Blessings

Psalm 69:30 “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18-19 “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.”

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and an important time for Christian reflection. A heart overflowing with thankfulness is a central part of the Christian life. It’s a significant part of our worship and a foundational aspect of our spiritual health. God would have us worship Him partly through giving thanks. In this, we recognize the good provision of God in our lives and show contentment with the station in life God has provided for us. When we do not give thanks from a truly grateful heart, we will very quickly spiral into a hardness of heart characterized by covetousness, jealousy, discontent, and general interpersonal distance from God and those around us. As it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, this attitude will quench, or choke out, the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Therefore, we must be intentional about giving thanks.

I encourage you over the next few days to make time to sit down with a sheet of paper in a quiet place. Pray and thank God for how He has met your needs, and ask Him to give you a heart of thankfulness. Then sit for a while and do the best you can to fill that paper with everything you can possibly think of that you are thankful for. When you’re finished, pray again and offer your thanksgiving as worship to Jesus for what he has done, and is doing in your life. 

Your thanksgiving list should be full of names, as the relationships that God gives us are the most valuable part of life. I next encourage you to text, call, or write many of those names to let them know personally that you are thankful for their friendship. In this way, thanksgiving turns into encouragement! 

Know that you, as a church, will be near the top of my list this year. It is a tremendous blessing to be with you all each week. I’m encouraged, instructed, and drawn closer to the Lord Jesus every week by being around you all. It is a small glimpse of what heaven will be like – many joyful followers of Christ together with Jesus, enjoying each other’s presence unhindered by sin or the pressure of time. What a joy that will be!

May you cultivate a thankful heart this week, and all year long.

Thankful for each of you,

Pastor Vic

Losing Your Life for the Sake of Christ and the Love of Others

By Justin Woodruff

Does the word “busy” characterize your life right now? I would imagine that most of us are under constant pressure to get things done, regardless of our stage in life. Even as you read this, I wonder if you are multitasking to be as productive as possible. If I’m honest, as I type, I have a list of 10 other things in my head that I need to get done today.

I want to be a good steward of what God has given me – but how do I effectively manage all of the competing priorities in my life? How do you?

Jesus Christ and his 12 disciples were busy. They were constantly swarmed by crowds of needy people as they proclaimed the Kingdom of God, healed the sick, cast out demons, rebuked hypocritical leaders, raised the dead, and fed thousands with five loaves and a couple fish. Makes my life look pretty tame.

Beginning in Luke 9:18, the disciples enjoyed a moment alone with Jesus. During their conversation, Jesus confirmed he was the Christ, the One they had been waiting for. Can you imagine their excitement? As his closest friends, surely their lives would be marked by success, wealth, fame and good fortune.

But in his next breath, Jesus said that He would suffer, be rejected and killed in order to accomplish His ultimate purpose. And to make things worse, if these men wanted to be his disciples, Jesus said they would have to deny themselves, take up their own crosses and lose their lives for His sake. Based on Peter’s response in Matthew 16:22, it’s reasonable to conclude this wasn’t what they were expecting to hear. In fact, this paradigm shift was something the disciples struggled to understand until after Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Yet, after they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, 11 of the disciples did exactly what Jesus said was necessary. They found their lives by losing them for His sake.

As Christians, we are saved by God’s grace through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. At the moment of salvation, we are given new hearts to understand our true purpose in life, which is to love God and others in everything we do. Our Christian response to busyness begins with persistently asking the Lord to reorder our affections and priorities according to what He says matters most. Our stewardship requires personal sacrifice.

But what does it look like to deny ourselves and take up our crosses as we follow Christ in the 21st century?

This weekend, we are going to spend some time talking about a new ministry at Spotswood West that centers around caring for orphans. For many, I suspect the thought of adding anything more to your busy lives seems overwhelming. Before we gather this Sunday, let me encourage you to take at least a few minutes to pray over Luke 9:23-25, and what it might look like practically to lose your life for the sake of Christ and the love of others. Not because you are saved by what you do, but out of an overflow of love in your heart for Jesus and desire to live with His purposes.