Monday Reflections...the sermon post and some special pictures to me

The first picture is my big brother Matthew and his beautiful bride, Patti.  I was so thankful to get this.  It might be the best Christmas present of the season right behind Stephanie coming back home to Maine from Florida.  My older brother gave me a love of music, of hard work, and of the great outdoors.  He still climbs the mountains and encourages others to do the same.

This picture is of a very faithful attender, elder, and friend named John.  He faithfully leads a small neighboring church service before coming to his own church to guide the sanctuary Sunday School class through another passage of the Bible.  I am so thankful for the saints, like John, that God has brought across my path these many years of being in the pastorate.  They have names like Carl and Barb, Doris and Mildred, Clem and Junior, Tim and Becky, and Jim, and Jeanette.  Some are with the Lord now but all are still cherished by me.

This last one is from our recent Christmas Eve service.  The beautiful glow from the Christ Candle gives enough light to see the ones gathered all around it to sing "Silent Night."  It is special services like these that highlight our church year.  We do something different to help center our lives back on why He, Jesus the Messiah, came.  Jesus, the Light of the world, made it possible for us to see God.  

Let me close out this year of 2019 which some questions I found online that are very challenging.  It would be good to answer some of them and follow them up with some actions that could make quite a difference in 2020.

10 Questions for 2020

• What’s one thing you can do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

• What’s an impossible prayer you can pray?

• What’s the most important thing you could do to improve your family life?

• In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year?

• What’s the single biggest time-waster in your life, and how can you redeem the time?

• What’s the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

• For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

• What’s the most important way by God’s grace, you will try to make this year different from last?

• What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

• What single thing can you plan to do this year that will matter most in ten years?  In eternity?

Let’s make our 2020 bring glory to our God!

Adam