Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

O Holy Night Follow-up

Philippians 2:5-30 – The Message

5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

Christmas Eve 2025 is past with the beautiful music of the carols, special music, solos, choirs, a moving message by the pastor, and the ringing sounds of “Silent Night” sung by the congregation with each holding the candlelight of Christ in their hands. And prayerfully many carried that light with them in their hearts as they left for the sharing of gifts, food, fellowship and family.

Christmas Day continued the time of celebration, and maybe even some travel to be with family and friends as the joy of the celebration of Christ’s birth continued. Now, the beautiful wrapping paper is gathered into the trash, dishwashers wait to be emptied, leftovers consumed, while this momentous pause of celebration fades into our memories. Is that it? Today does life now simply resume to where it was, as if nothing had happened?

This year I suggested our entire congregation be invited to sing “O Holy Night” as led by the soloist, for I believe it is such a moving hymn: and don’t we all just want to sing along? And so we did – wonderfully, as it turned out.

“Oh, holy night. 
The stars are brightly shining. 
It is the night of our dear savior’s birth. 
Long lay the world in sin and error pining 
‘till he appeared and the soul felt it’s worth. 
The thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices 
for yonder breaks a new and glorious dawn.”

Words that are so truly spoken. It was a holy night – a night different from any other, even the stars poured forth their light. This night was “holy” because the God of creation left the splendor of heaven to enter his created world: in purple majesty? Robed in splendor and riding in a chariot of gold? On roads carpeted with diamonds and pearls? Did Christ come to a castle with vast riches and servants to address his every desire?  

No! This King of kings. This Lord of all creation stepped out of heaven’s glory. He became a completely helpless infant, delivered by a young teenage mother and a bewildered step-father (the Holy Spirit was his father). He was not laid in a soft and luxurious cradle but a cattle trough in a stable meant for sheltering the livestock from stormy weather. The baby Jesus was wrapped is swaddling cloths – there was no baby shower of gifts awaiting him. He was wrapped in strips of cloth as he would be after his crucifixion. He was wrapped in cloths to protect this ultimate perfect sacrifice of God for our sins in the same manner the shepherds who gathered round him would wrap their perfect lambs to protect them for sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem. This child, Jesus, is the perfect lamb of God, come to restore us to right relationship with his heavenly Father.

Is not all this news causing us to “fall on our knees” in awe and worship? Don’t we hear the angel voices? What a holy night! This night of Christ’s birth is, indeed, divine.

Verse three sums up his life:

He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break, Truly for the slave is our brother,
and in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim!

Don’t let this past Christmas Eve and Christmas Day just be for you and your loved ones just one more Christmas celebration. Rather, let the wonder and glory of it all, the humble birth, the humility of God in the infant Jesus, this child’s life becoming a fully human man full of grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness, who came not to judge the world but to redeem it, to restore it to right relationship to God the Father. He came to transform us from our sinful, prideful, selfish, hurtful selves into persons of his original design and intent – to be as Christ to one another and to the world.

May it be so in your heart and life, today, tomorrow, and forever. Praise be to God!

Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

We wait . . .

“…they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31, ESV

On this 12th day of Advent, we are thirteen days from our Christmas celebration of Christ’s coming. God’s own son, Immanuel – God with us – born in a humble stable in Bethlehem. December 25, is the day settled upon by Christ’s Church to mark Jesus’ arrival two-thousand years ago.

Looking up the word “wait” on the Internet yielded many meanings. This one – “wait” used to indicate that one is eagerly impatient to do something or for something to happen. As a child I remember being eagerly impatient for Santa’s delivery of toys and gifts, the joy of being surrounded by discarded gift wrap all around the Christmas tree.

Zechariah waited in silence, unable to speak, after the angel announced to him that he and his wife Elizabeth in their old-age would finally conceive and bear a son – and name him, John. That John would prepare the way of the Lord. On the day of John’s birth Zechariah was asked for the child’s name. He wrote John on a tablet and immediately his voice returned. Nine months of silence, quiet contemplation, and now the fulfillment, of God’s promise through the angel.

Mary also received an angelic announcement of her pending conception of God’s own son by the Holy Spirit, and waited nine months, and then thirty years as God’s promise was fulfilled. Joseph too had to wait for the fulfillment of a dream that his betrothed was pregnant by the Holy Spirit and would give birth to God’s Son. All Israel – all the world – waited in great anticipation that God would intervene to bring his light into this dark, dark world.

This season of the Christian year has, over the years, provoked so much beautiful Christmas music that one hardly knows where to begin. Even today in 2025 the world awaits. We wait for peace in Ukraine, in Gaza, between the U.S. and Venezuela and trading partners around the world, between tribal and religious factions, even divisions in Christ’s church in Africa. And we certainly wait with great anticipation for peace and unity in our nation’s capital as well as in every state, county, city, town, and school board. Even in our own families and, yes, even in many of our churches where there is confusion, stress, tension, and conflict that rages on.

Mary cuddled and nursed her little baby, filled with love and joy, but also filled with wonder about his future, not knowing that as she hugged him he would one day hug her from a cross and save her to eternal life. Joseph, still listening and following God’s directions, given to him in dreams, provided love and care to Jesus who would one day care for him eternally.

And so, we pray, O come, O come, Immanuel, and ransom captive ___________ that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to you, O _____________.

Fill in the blank as you are led by the Lord to do so. Certainly, Immanuel came for you, for your family, your church, school, city, state, nation, all of humankind. We wait knowing God’s promised Messiah came two-thousand years ago. We wait having experienced his coming to us by his Spirit as we were born anew, spiritually – made alive in Christ. And we wait with the joy-filled promise that Christ will come again to make all things new.

We, who believe, do not wait without hope and joy. We wait, in the midst of the chaos of this world and all that surrounds us, with the faith-filled promise Christ comes to us by his Holy Spirit, moment by moment, day by day, to empower us and support us, to guide and direct us as citizens of his Kingdom, and as his brothers and sisters to reach out in loving care, offering Christ’s gifts – free gifts – of grace, mercy, forgiveness, love, and acceptance to a world so much needing and desperately seeking the same.  

We wait. But not without the joy of God’s fulfilled and fulfilling promise of salvation. A joy we cannot hold hidden within us, but joy bubbling up and bidding us to allow it to escape our fleshly bodies to touch, heal, and embrace all with the light and love of our redeeming Lord. Go, praising and serving the Lord and one another.

Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

We Shall Behold Him, Face to Face

During the season of Advent we have long listened to Christmas Carols as we ramp up to Christmas Day. There are some churches and pastors who resist the singing of traditional carols during Advent, deeming them not yet appropriate. One problem is there are not a lot of truly Advent hymns. Yes, there are a few. While listening to “hymns of the season” this morning I was reminded of one very special song written in 1980 by Dottie Rambo.

Dottie was born Joyce Reba Luttrell on March 4, 1934, in Madisonville, Kentucky. She was inspired to start writing country music at age eight and after having an experience of Christ she was singing and writing gospel music by age twelve, when her father who disapproved of her singing Christian music, gave her an ultimatum: quit singing Christian music or leave home. She left and in the course of her lifetime wrote some 2,500 songs, of which, “We Shall Behold Him”, was one of her most famous. Two other notable songs were: “I Go to the Rock,” and “Sheltered in the Arms of God”.

Dottie married Buck Rambo in 1950, and together they formed the trio “The Gospel Echoes,” later known as “The Singing Rambos”. Tragically, Dottie died on May 11, 2008 in a tour bus accident. Many of her songs have been recorded by noted artists including, Sandi Patti, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, and Dolly Parton. Dottie specifically requested Sandi Patti to make a recording of “We Shall Behold Him.” A most stunning and inspiring recording it is. Hear it here: https://youtu.be/KZ3H3lg9NZM

Advent season reminds us of the world’s desperate need of a savior (that never changes) and leads us to celebrate the promised coming of Christ in the stable of Bethlehem on Christmas Day nearly two-thousand years ago. But Advent also points us to Christ’s promise to come again. (Matthew 24:30; John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) Christ came, not in judgement, but for salvation, “for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” While we celebrate the birth of the savior, Jesus, we also look with hope to Christ’s promise to “come again.”

One day we shall behold him, face to face. The Apostle Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 13:12, ”For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” We may not see his face fully now but we can know him personally, as friend, savior, and Lord. This inspired song by Dottie and sung by Sandi, helps lift my spirit to the wonderful presence of my Lord Jesus, though his face may not yet be fully “in my face” but I have the hope and joy today that one day I will behold him, face to face. May it be your hope and joy also. Praise be to God the Father. Amen.

Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

Pregnant with a promise

This past Sunday, November 30, 2025, we began a new year in the life of the church with the season of Advent. “Advent” comes from the Latin “adventus,” meaning “coming” or “arrival”. It is a time of waiting and preparing our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ (his first coming) and to anticipate his future return (his second coming).

We read in Luke’s Gospel, chapter 1:26-38, the story of the angel Gabriel coming to Nazareth to Mary, a virgin, pledged to be married to Joseph. Mary has found favor with God and will become pregnant with God’s son – pregnant with the promise of God. After inquiring how such a thing could be, since she is a virgin, Gabriel explains “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. For no word from God will ever fail.” (emphasis added) I may be a male, but, can I not also be pregnant with the promise of God? Let us ponder that thought a bit. Like Mary, I ask, with this twist, how can this be, since I am a male.

Can I be pregnant with the promise of God? Certainly not in the same way Mary was pregnant with God’s promised Son. The word Pregnant comes from Latin, and literally means “before giving birth” — prae-, like pre- means “before” and gnasci is a root that means “be born.” Pregnant can also mean “filled with something,” like inspiration or “rich in significance or implication,” like a pregnant pause before answering a question.

In John 3 the Pharisee Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the dark of night – to avoid discovery by other Pharisees? – seeking answers to the mystery of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus tells him that he must be born again. As he was born of flesh he must be born of the Spirit of God. God’s Spirit is the promise of God delivered at Pentecost and ever since to all whom will believe that Jesus is the promised Son of God and Savior of the world. The Spirit comes to us in faith, even as small as a mustard seed, which Jesus tells us in Matthew 17:20: “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Just as God’s Spirit came upon Mary and she became pregnant with God’s promised Son so, each of us is born a promise of God: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) When I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior and invited His Spirit to dwell in me and me in Him, in that moment I was justified as his son. My faith as a mustard seed began small but grew and continues to grow in sanctification and holiness as I move on to Perfection in Christ – being more and more like him, day by day, moment by moment. The promise of God in me can no longer be contained within me but continually births forth from me as God’s instrument inviting others to be born of the Spirit as well.

So, am I not pregnant with a promise? You? Have we – are we – giving birth?

Lord God, I pray your Spirit in me, and in all who claim your holy name, is pregnant with your promise and we are actively giving birth to your promised Spirit in our every action, thought, and word. Forgive us where we fail and renew in us your Spirit of faith. Come to us anew in this season of Advent in new and mighty anad powerful ways. To your glory and in your holy name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Posted on by Pastor Paul Yoder

Thoughts of Thanksgiving

“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.” ~ Psalm 69:30

That is just one of many scripture passages that remind us to praise God in all times and places.  Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States so our hearts and minds naturally turn to our annual Thanksgiving holiday celebrations. The gathering of family, whether close or from afar, around a roast turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato bake, dinner rolls, and, of course, pie. Oh, the pie. Your favorite? I love them all!

This holiday, while it can be filled with wonderful memories, may also be a challenge when this occasion is the first without the presence of a recently departed dear family member or friend. Yes, we miss those who were such a treasured part of who we are today, yet we can still praise God with thanksgiving for that important role they played in our lives. The Thanksgiving holiday was implemented to thank God for the harvest, but I think there is so much more for which to be thankful than just the fruit of the land. How about thanksgiving for freedom of faith and thought? How about thanking God for our wonderful parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters? Thank him for our education, jobs, careers – even retirement. Thanks be to God for our loving and caring spouse, children, grandchildren, and our extended family. Certainly thanks is in order for our health, in spite of whateve challenges may be ours. I bid you, continue this train of thought and continue to count your many blessings. We have so much to be thankful to our mighty, all powerful, all loving and caring God. And, how can we not Include thanksgiving for the awesome gift of salvation in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. Amen?!

Perhaps this traditional Thanksgiving hymn written in 1897 by Johnson Oatman, Jr. may be helpful for all of us as we gather around the table of plenty today: (sing it if you will)

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

1 When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

2 Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, ev’ry doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by. [Refrain]

3 When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings, money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high. [Refrain]

4 So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end. [Refrain]

May you have a blessed day of Thanksgiving today, and everyday forward. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.