Jesus and Me ... and the Cats

Luke 1:26-33 "I'm making a list and checking it twice, Gonna make sure I'm getting something nice. Jesus Christ is coming to town." That doesn't sound right, does it.  Maybe this year is the year we focus less about what we expect to find under the Christmas tree and more on expecting a miracle. Christmas is the celebration of the miracle of Christ's birth.  It's Jesus' birthday, but why do we spend money like it's ours? Driven by materialism and consumerism, we've managed to push Christ out of Christmas and replace it ourselves.  And we're paying the price for it. Debt, becuase of culture values self-gratification, holds many people, including Christians , captive today.  Becuase of Christmas spending, many of us begin the year with a whopping  credit card bill.  In 2005, for the first time in U.S. history, Americans reached a negative savings rate.  Americans were spending $1.22 for every $1 earned.  As of July, 2014,

Matthew 25:1-13 I Thessalonians 4:13-18 Whenever people get together, there's going to be stories.  Stories are important.  They define who we are as human beings, they bring family history alive and they pass along important life lessons.  It is no different with the parables, the teaching stories of Jesus.  For the next three weeks, we're going to be looking at the parables in of Matthew 25 which define the Kingdom of Heaven and teach us the important lessons of what is expected of us as citizens of the Kingdom.  They are not easy stories to listen to or to think about, but remember that even hard words from God are gifts of His love to us. Listen, and I will tell you the story of ten bridesmaids.  They were chosen for the honor of welcoming the bridegroom and attending the wedding feast.  They were to wait outside the house and greet the bridegroom with lighted lamps upon his arrival.  Five were wise.  They came prepared with both lamps and oil.  The other five were

Revelation 7:9-17 I John 3:1-3 I begin each funeral with these words:        "Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and I am life.  Those who believe in me shall never die.  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.  I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I hold the keys of hell and death.  Because I live, you shall live also.'"* The greeting that follows begins with, "Friends, we have gathered here to praise God and to witness to our faith ..."*  To witness to the mystery of our faith which we proclaim each time we gather at the Lord's Table --  Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.  This faith we celebrate until the time that Christ returns and we join together with the communion of saints at the heavenly banquet. So, on all Saints' Day, we gather to praise God and to witness to our faith as we celebrate the gift of God's grace through Jesus Christ. *   The United Methodist Hym