The Most Dangerous Baby on Earth!

Dear Crosswalkers,

I'm sure many of you saw the recent news item about the Cannonball that couldn't be stopped. The crew from the TV show Mythbusters fired a homemade cannonball in the bay area city of Dublin as part of an experiment. Unfortunately, it missed the target. Then it kept going, and going, and going. According to one account, it "tore through a cinder-block wall, skipped off a hillside … bounced in front of a home … ripped through the front door, raced up the stairs and blasted through a bedroom … exited the house, leaving a perfectly round hole in the stucco (see photo), crossed six-lane Tassajara Road, took out several tiles from the roof of a home … and finally slammed into [a family's] minivan." Yikes!!  The local police sergeant said, "Crazy, crazy, crazy. You wouldn't think it was possible." This one little six inch cannonball had an almost unbelievable journey with some remarkable effects!

At Christmas, we celebrate the fact that a little baby was born that had an incredible journey from heaven to earth and whose effect on planet earth was beyond calculation. In the Christmas story in Matthew's gospel, King Herod considered Jesus to be the most dangerous baby ever born. How could a newborn infant be a threat to a king? On the most elementary level, it was because the wise men were searching for the baby who was born to be King of the Jews. But on a deeper level, here's the prophecy of Simeon about the baby Jesus:

Luke 2:34-35 - Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”

And so it has been for 2,000 years... The baby born on Christmas has caused many to fall, but he has been a joy for so many others!  MAY JESUS BE YOUR JOY, NOW AND ALWAYS! 
 

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John

10 Big Lies Exposed by Christmas

Dear Crosswalkers,

This Sunday we will begin a mini-series from Matthew's gospel called "The Real Reason for the Christmas Season." We will feature Christmas songs and a very straightforwardmessage about what Christmas is really all about. It's called, "Why God invented Christmas," and if you have some friends or family members who need to hear the gospel, this would be a great Sunday to invite them to join you in worship! 

Recently I read a blog by James Emery White. He was issuing a warning to beware of the deceptive message that in encoded in American Culture. This deceptive message stems from the 10 big lies our culture insidiously wants us to believe. Obviously there are more than ten, but here is his list: 

1.   It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere, since all religions are basically the same.

2.   Christians are anti-science/anti-intellectual, and anyone who is a Christian must have checked their brains at the door.

3.   Marriage and family are purely social constructs and are therefore fluid and malleable by the current society.

4.   Personal significance and importance lies in gaining fame and wealth. 

5.   There are no absolute, transcendent truths in the moral or spiritual realm.  All such truth is relative.

6.   Sex is physical, not spiritual.  Do with it as you will.

7.   Science is the ultimate arbiter of truth and determinant for both fact and meaning.

8.   The separation of church and state necessarily means the separation of religion and the public square.

9.   Churches are man-made organizations that you can take or leave, inherently corrupt and compromising of true spirituality.

10. The Jesus of the New Testament is a fabrication and not historically accurate.  It should not be believed.

Perhaps you can think of some others. If so, why not email me and I'll add it to the lists for on-going study for the future. It is crucial that we stand for God's truth in a society that is becoming more and more hostile to it. What is remarkable is how the Christmas story in some way refutes most of these lies! Come this Sunday as we look at the truth of Christmas from a different perspective!

See you Sunday! 
 

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John

The Word of the Ages and the Word of the Year

Dear Crosswalkers,

This Sunday will be a Great Day of Worship filled with choices! At our 9:00 a.m. service we will feature the message How God’s Plan Unfolds in Your Life! This is based on the Parable of the Measure and the Parable of the Seed Growing Secretly. Fascinating insights await you from the teaching of Jesus our Lord! Then at 10:35 we will enjoy The Great Christmas Giveaway!  This is an inspiring musical performed by combined kids from Crosswalk and Sunnyvale Christian School. This is a muscial production that promises to rock the house! Two fabulous choices make for a great day at Crosswalk!

THE WORD OF THE AGES

The Word of the Ages is God's Word, the Bible. Here is the KJV of Psalm 119:105 - Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. While I'm personally partial to the modern and updated translations of God's word, I think we should all pause and thank God for the King James Version, which celebrated its 400th anniversary this year. Check this out: More copies have been made of this book than of any other book in the English language!  The "genesis" of the KJV began in March 1603. After a long reign as Queen of England, Elizabeth I finally died. The Scottish King James VI, her cousin, was the heir to the throne. At that time, Scotland was one of the poorest kingdoms in Europe. When James heard that he was at last going to inherit the throne of England, it was said that he was like "a poor man … now arrived at the Land of Promise." At his bidding, the new translation was published in 1611. You can read the fascinating back story in a well written article in the National Geographic magazine by following this link:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/12/king-james-bible/nicolson-text

Here is a quote from the article to see how the KJV has influenced our way of speaking:

"If a child is ever the apple of her parent's eye or an idea seems as old as the hills, if we are at death's door or at our wits' end, if we have gone through a baptism of fire or are about to bite the dust, if it seems at times that the blind are leading the blind or we are casting pearls before swine, if you are either buttering someone up or casting the first stone, the King James Bible, whether we know it or not, is speaking through us. The haves and have-nots, heads on plates, thieves in the night, scum of the earth, best until last, sackcloth and ashes, streets paved in gold, and the skin of one's teeth—all of them have been transmitted to us by the translators who did their magnificent work 400 years ago."

The article quotes the Very Reverend Dr. John Hall, dean of Westminster Abbey.  He is the man who conducted the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton in the abbey earlier this year (which, by the way, was a very biblical and spiritual ceremony). Speaking of the KJV, he says, "There are moments which move me almost to tears. I love the story, after Jesus has been crucified and has risen, and he appears to the disciples as they are walking on the road to Emmaus. They don't know who he is, but they talk together, and at the end they say to him, 'Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.' That is a phrase—so simple, so direct, and so powerful—which has meant an enormous amount to me over the years. The language is full of mystery and grace, but it is also a version of loving authority, and that is the great message of this book."

THE WORD OF THE YEAR

Back to our friends from across the pond, we have a news story regarding the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the granddaddy of all dictionaries. Every year they pick one word or phrase that best defines the most significant social change of the past year.  They call it"the word of the year." This year, OED experts from both the U.S. and from the U.K debated some popular new terms. The list included the following: occupy, podcasting, Arab Spring, and bunga bunga. However, they settled on the "squeezed middle." The OED defines it as "the section of society regarded as particularly affected by inflations, wage freezes, cuts in public spending during a time of economic difficulty …." An OED spokesperson and judge defended the choice, stating that "it's something that, in a way, we all feel we belong to." You can read the full article at this link:

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/11/28/oxford-english-dictionary-picks-squeezed-middle-as-word-of-the-year/

Of course, the Word of the Ages has a lot to say about whatever the Word of the Year happens to be. Staying with the KJV we have this verse: John 16:33- These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. The word "tribulation" is from a Greek word that means "pressure." It is used in secular Greek of a heavy weight that is used to press the oil out of olives. In the world we will always feel like the "squeezed middle!"  But as the world is busy squeezing us and pressuring us, we can be of good cheer, for the Lord has overcome this world for us! 

See you Sunday! 
 

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John