I’m of two minds about Christmas music . . . on one hand, I love reserving Christmas music for only Advent/Christmas, but the messages of some of the Christmas hymns, like “Joy to the World” in particular, seem appropriate all year long!

Our mission of “Loving God . . . Loving Others'' comes together in a special way each Christmas with our “Christ Birthday Offering.” In the past, we’re received offerings for our Hispanic sister church, Fuente de Salvacion, for Matt McGraw and his work in Turkey, for Joel Aycok’s water filter ministry in Honduras and the Tatums in Costa Rica.

And in this time of such deep polarization around the world, maybe the power of these texts and a robust message of Christmas might inspire folks to crawl out of their trenches for a lasting truce.

The rhythms of the year reflect the saving events in the story of God’s people, and living our lives by those rhythms shape us into God’s people because they constantly remind us of who we are and Whose we are.

I can tell you, those two ladies lived out Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all our might!”

How do we strike a balance between being involved citizens and being believers? As one writer I read asked, “Are we citizen-disciples or disciple-citizens?” Which comes first? What is the role of Christians in politics?

I want each of you to be able to “rightly handle the word of God,” so no matter what situation you may find yourself in, whether it’s reading a book, a Facebook post, a podcast, YouTube video, visiting preacher or just a well-meaning friend’s comments, you can weigh what they say against the Word of God for yourself and have the confidence to know whether or not it aligns with the scripture.

We’re tempted to think of God’s presence as being limited to the church building or to our services – and that’s where the Psalmist begins. The temple is where God is praised as the one who answers prayer, and forgives transgressions, and those who live there are blessed.

Balance is important in everything. For some, SEC football is almost a religion (I doubt that’s true for anyone reading this, but you probably know someone), and if you know the roster of players better than you know the roster of disciples, if you know the words to “Dixieland Delight” but don’t know the words to “Joy to the World,” or if the first thing you think of when you hear the phrase, “Hail Mary” is of a last ditch, long forward pass, should you maybe rethink your values?

It was this matter of caring for those in need that caught the world’s attention and it was through their not running from those in need that they were truly able to be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world.”

Because it all boils down to why we exist to begin with: “Loving God . . . loving others.”

Faith is the life that begins with our belief that Jesus is Lord - belief gets us in the door, but it doesn’t stop there. It includes the sort of loyalty we see in John 11, when Jesus says he’s going back to Jerusalem, and the disciples say, “Waitaminute – they want to kill you,” but Thomas says, “Ok, let’s go so that we can die with him.”

Why? Why Passover over Yom Kippur? That’s one of the things Sunday’s sermon is about! We’ll take a look at the final Passover Jesus spent with his disciples and consider the reason Jesus chose to die on Passover rather than the day we might think was the more obvious, the Day of Atonement.

A land is only holy because of God’s presence now, not because of God’s presence in the past. Going to see the places where God has worked in the past is one thing; it’s edifying, educational, inspiring – all that and more. But, being a part of a land where we can see God’s hand at work now is quite another.

It’s the Word of God, and no matter how often you read it or how well you know it, you’ll never exhaust it!

Our music should be an expression of who we are, a people loved and redeemed by God. That’s not saying that everything has to be religious. But the story of our life, every aspect of our life, is shaped by the grace of God, and that has to reflect the songs we sing and listen to all of our days.

Just as the light of day spreads out over the earth, so God’s glory is exalted over all the heavens. In light of the greatness of our God, we know we can trust him with whatever we’re going though. We can turn to him in times of trial because we know the Object of our faith is not a “religion,” but God in his steadfast love and faithfulness. As Lamentations 3:22-23 (the source of one of our favorite hymns) remind us, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

We want to be a place where God’s will is done. We want to be, like that little country church in the movie, a place where people can look at us and declare that here – even in a strip mall in a small rural community – is the kingdom of God.

We’re part of a long tradition. We’re continuing a story that began thousands of years ago, and part of our Christian culture includes the contributions made by those faithful believers who have gone before us – the songs and hymns of that great cloud of witnesses who left us the wonderful gift of song.

What do you believe should be on a list of essential facts that every Christian should know?