He brings home the message in the last two verses of the chapter:
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
At Christmas, when we want to be reassured of God's presence, we can look to the cradle, a symbol of God becoming human, clothing Himself with flesh. We can also look to the cross, which is where Jesus gave His life so that we might come to know Him. When we feel alone, we can know the One who says that we are never alone, that He is with us. In our times of challenge or despair, we can trust in the Lord, who is loving and mighty, Who responds to the needs of His children, for His glory.
God is with us, Emmanuel. And, He has promised to be with us always. In Matthew 28, we read what is called the Great Commission, as Jesus dispatched His disciples to go forth and make other
disciples. Here is the passage concluding that chapter:
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
Our Advent series, 25: A Christmas Advent-ure, continues with another of Christ's promises. And, in verse 20, we see the promise of His presence. In this world, we know we have someone who walks with us, who empowers us, who is always with us. God has sent His Holy Spirit to help, comfort, and convict us. He is with us, even in this moment, calling us to love Him more deeply and to allow Him to work through us.
Where there are faithful believers, there is the potential for God to work. On this day when we celebrate the work of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and how God is working through the platform of sports, I wanted to point out that there are two NFL teams on which you have players who have been baptized and the video of the occasions have gone viral.
The most recent involves three players on the Dallas Cowboys. According to ChristianHeadlines.com, "Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens, safety Kavon Frazier, and linebacker Justin March-Lillard were baptized as a profession of their faith by team chaplain Jonathan Evans." As of this past Wednesday, the video has garnered almost two million views.
The information comes from a report on the Dallas News website. The baptism took place in the team's underwater treadmill pool.
Frazier is quoted as saying: "We all decided we wanted to get baptized again," adding, "I got baptized when I was younger. My mom made me get baptized when I was [3 years old]. I was always a believer but this is the first time that I really took it serious, or took God serious, and started fully trusting Him on and off the field with every situation."
This is reminiscent of a story from earlier this season, when, according to FoxNews.com:
“NFC East Champs! So proud of the resiliency of this team. Such a special group of men..." He added:
Well, there are several takeaways from these news snippets.
First of all, we recognize that each day, we can be challenged to be aware of and appropriate the presence of the Holy Spirit with us. He goes before us as we go about the business of fulfilling the Great Commission and the Great Commandment - in fact, He directs and empowers us to do so. And, we can know that when things don't necessarily work out the way we think that they should, we can recognize that how we respond to adversity can be a compelling testimony of God's presence. The worldly way of responding to trouble involves anger, self-pity, and bitterness, but the believer in Christ has incredible resources, such as the joy of the Lord and the strength that He offers in our weakness.
We can also adopt the view that God is writing a story, a story brought about by His constant presence with you; and He gives opportunities to share your story. We can take time to reflect on how we've seen God work in our lives and how the abiding presence of Jesus has sustained you.
Finally, we can know, especially in those times we feel may feel alone or despondent, we know we are not alone. In the Christmas season, loneliness can sometimes be intensified, and we can turn to the One who gave of Himself to give you new life to comfort us in our times of despair. If we buy into the attitude that we have been forgotten, we can look to the cross as a reminder that He has certainly not forgotten us.
+++++
God is with us, Emmanuel. And, He has promised to be with us always. In Matthew 28, we read what is called the Great Commission, as Jesus dispatched His disciples to go forth and make other
disciples. Here is the passage concluding that chapter:
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
Our Advent series, 25: A Christmas Advent-ure, continues with another of Christ's promises. And, in verse 20, we see the promise of His presence. In this world, we know we have someone who walks with us, who empowers us, who is always with us. God has sent His Holy Spirit to help, comfort, and convict us. He is with us, even in this moment, calling us to love Him more deeply and to allow Him to work through us.
Where there are faithful believers, there is the potential for God to work. On this day when we celebrate the work of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and how God is working through the platform of sports, I wanted to point out that there are two NFL teams on which you have players who have been baptized and the video of the occasions have gone viral.
The most recent involves three players on the Dallas Cowboys. According to ChristianHeadlines.com, "Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens, safety Kavon Frazier, and linebacker Justin March-Lillard were baptized as a profession of their faith by team chaplain Jonathan Evans." As of this past Wednesday, the video has garnered almost two million views.
The information comes from a report on the Dallas News website. The baptism took place in the team's underwater treadmill pool.
Frazier is quoted as saying: "We all decided we wanted to get baptized again," adding, "I got baptized when I was younger. My mom made me get baptized when I was [3 years old]. I was always a believer but this is the first time that I really took it serious, or took God serious, and started fully trusting Him on and off the field with every situation."
This is reminiscent of a story from earlier this season, when, according to FoxNews.com:
Marcus Johnson, a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, said he was baptized in a North Carolina swimming pool Thursday with the support of several of his teammates — and tweeted out a photo of the event.
“First time being Baptized! Corporate Worship is a beautiful thing!! Cleaned & Reborn in JESUS name!! #WholeHeartedly,” Johnson tweeted Thursday.The article also said:
Alongside Johnson during his baptism was quarterback Carson Wentz, tight end Zach Ertz, offensive guard Stefen Wisniewski, tight end Trey Burton, linebacker Jordan Hicks and backup quarterback Nick Foles, among others, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.Carson has been talking about his faith recently - you may know that the second-year Eagles' star is out for the season as the result of an ACL injury. A ChristianHeadlines.com story, integrating content from Faithwire, says that Wentz tweeted out:
“NFC East Champs! So proud of the resiliency of this team. Such a special group of men..." He added:
“And I greatly appreciate all the prayers! I know my God is a powerful one with a perfect plan. Time to just lean in to him and trust whatever the circumstances! #Proverbs 3:5-6”In a video, Wentz said: “I have a ton of faith in the Lord and in His plan, but at the end of the day it has still been a tough one...” He added:
“Maybe not all of you out there are Christians. But I can say with a hundred percent confidence as a follower of Jesus, I have the utmost confidence in His plan. His plan is perfect. If we got everything we wanted in life, it would be a disaster. I know Jesus is up there, looking down. He knows what He is doing. I am going to surrender to that to Him and trust Him in that.”Oh, and Nick Foles - he almost gave up on football a year ago, according on a CBSSports.com article, which reports that Foles did a devotional for the YouVersion Bible app, along with other Eagles players, including Wentz, From the video, he is quoted as saying:
"I kept reading scripture, I kept praying, I kept asking God -- and so many of us ask God for signs, we ask God, 'Hey, please just put it on the wall, like, I want to know,' but that's not how it works," Foles said. "He's not always going to do that. He was shaping me. He was bringing me down to my knees ... At that moment, through that prayer, He said, 'Hey, just take a step of faith. You're either going to stop playing the game of football and you're going to go onto a different area of your life and I'm going to be with you, I'm going to be the most important thing in your life, or you're going to step back into football and you're going to continue to play and I'm going to be with you every step of the way and you're going to play to glorify me."Now, all eyes are on Foles as he assumes the starting role he once held for the Eagles.
Well, there are several takeaways from these news snippets.
First of all, we recognize that each day, we can be challenged to be aware of and appropriate the presence of the Holy Spirit with us. He goes before us as we go about the business of fulfilling the Great Commission and the Great Commandment - in fact, He directs and empowers us to do so. And, we can know that when things don't necessarily work out the way we think that they should, we can recognize that how we respond to adversity can be a compelling testimony of God's presence. The worldly way of responding to trouble involves anger, self-pity, and bitterness, but the believer in Christ has incredible resources, such as the joy of the Lord and the strength that He offers in our weakness.
We can also adopt the view that God is writing a story, a story brought about by His constant presence with you; and He gives opportunities to share your story. We can take time to reflect on how we've seen God work in our lives and how the abiding presence of Jesus has sustained you.
Finally, we can know, especially in those times we feel may feel alone or despondent, we know we are not alone. In the Christmas season, loneliness can sometimes be intensified, and we can turn to the One who gave of Himself to give you new life to comfort us in our times of despair. If we buy into the attitude that we have been forgotten, we can look to the cross as a reminder that He has certainly not forgotten us.
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