Each family has their own holiday traditions.  For some, it’s a special meal cooked with ancient heirloom recipes, for others, it’s a gift exchange or extended family get-togethers.  As a young family, we are still shaping our annual Holiday traditions.  Every year is a chance to evaluate last year’s events and choose to repeat them or to try something new.  It’s never too late to start a new family tradition.

Gather your family and have a discussion about what kind of things you enjoy doing together.  Which traditions are meaningful and rich and should never be changed (like grandma’s green been casserole )?  What kind of new family activity would you like to try this year?  Maybe you’d like to synchronize your watches for 0500 hours and form attack squad for Black Friday.  Maybe you’d like to visit your nearest Feed My Starving Children facility and pack meals for the hungry together. Maybe you’d like to designate some family shopping time for gifts to the poor.

Faith is more often something you catch rather than something you learn.  This holiday season, find activates that bring your family together so that faith can be shared through your stories and your adventures.  It doesn’t have to be quiet and candlelit, and it doesn’t need to be expensive or have a high entertainment value.  It does have to be meaningful and full of conversation.  Talk to the ones you love and find out what is meaningful to them as we approach the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child.

Isn’t that what we all want out of life? Something for free. Something that’s easy. I totally agree!  Life is difficult.  Life is costly.  The world around us keeps demanding our time, our effort, our money and our attention.  How many times a day do we complain about a challenging situation that can only be solved by more time, more effort, and more money?

When I think about the lives of people in the Bible, I wonder if they struggled with these challenges.  I know Peter didn’t have an Escalade and a corporate ladder to climb, but he did have a boat and a fishing business to run.  I know Mary didn’t have soccer games and dance lessons to drive to, but she did have a family, a house to keep clean, dinner to cook, and clothes to wash.

You and I are defined not by who we are when life is free and easy, but by the way we choose to respond in our most difficult moments.

Take a minute and evaluate your most difficult moments.  Are they the huge project deadlines at work or the flat tire when you are late for an appointment?  Are they the tensioned relationships with your coworkers, teachers, coaches and extended family?  Maybe your most difficult moments are when you open your bills or when you are laying awake at 2:00 in the morning because of the impending stress of doing life in a way that meets everyone’s expectations.

Now take a minute and think about a loving God who is on your side.  Forget about God’s expectations of you and focus on God’s gifts in you.  Where are the areas of your life that God is drawing out the best in you?  Where do you shine?  Where do you think God is taking you to start or continue something amazing?  Don’t let your brain tell you the answer is only within the walls of the church building.  God is a part of every aspect of our lives, our work, our teams, our classroom, our shopping, our recreation.  Even in the most secular parts of our lives, God is there, polishing us to be beacons of His light to a world struggling with how to meet difficult moments.

To have passion for something is to believe in something so much that you are willing to suffer for it.  In the very act of giving our time, resources, and effort to something other than ourselves, we experience a gift far greater than any prize won from a spinning wheel.

Faith is believing and at the same time knowing that God wants the best for you in every situation.  The journey of faith is not a straight and level road, but often it’s full of dips and rises, roadblocks and pitfalls. God is here. God is with us.  He will help us meet those challenges by giving us strength, wisdom, good character, and inspiration.  And there’s probably some free pens and pork chops along the way.

The Banner:
Exodus 17:15
Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-nissi.
(which means “the Lord is my banner”)

The Cord:
Ecclesiastes 4:12
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

The Stars:
Philippians 2:14-16
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.

The new logo is currently available as a fundraiser to youth and adults on Track Jackets and Hooded sweatshirts in five color choices until Sunday, September 28. This is an excellent tool for evangelism and a cool way for youth to share their faith at school and in public.  Please pre-order your selection at the Welcome Desk or on the first two Wednesday nights of Living Water/WAVE: September 17 and September 24.

Most people don’t think twice about what they call their fountain drinks–until it’s time to travel. The controversy of Pop vs. Soda in America is mainly defined by region.  “Soda” is generally a coastal term while “Pop” is most popular in the northern, middle states.  In the Deep South, every kind of soft drink is called Coke.

When I travel, I like to communicate in the language of the local region. This assures that people understand me, and that my drink order has been correctly communicated.  I really appreciate the diversity of regional language and culture.  If we all spoke and acted the same-what fun would it be to travel?

Martin Luther also believed in speaking the language of the people.  During the time that he was exiled to the Wartburg castle in Eisenach, Germany, (May 1521-March 1522) he translated the New Testament from scholarly language (Latin) to the vernacular, or language of the people (German).  Previously, only priests and scholars had the privilege of reading the Bible.  Imagine what it must have been like to be able to read God’s stories in everyday language for the very first time!

Maybe for you or for someone in your life, it is for the very first time.  It can be as confusing as trying to order a Diet Dr. Pepper Coke in Boston or a Pepsi in Atlanta. 

When you tell others about the Bible, what kind of “regional language” are you using? Are you speaking with students? Are you speaking with the golden generation? What are you doing to speak the “language of the people?”

If someone is teaching you about the scriptures-  What are you hearing that describes that person’s unique perspective about God’s story? It might not be something you’re familiar with, but if we all spoke or acted the same, what fun would it be to meet new people?

• The average American drinks more than 53 gallons of carbonated soft drink each year, more than any other beverage, including milk, beer, coffee or water.^ 

^The ADA’s “Report on Soft Drinks and Oral Health Effects” presented to the 2001 House of Delegates.

• According to the United Bible Society, as of December 31, 2007, translations of the full Bible were available for 438 languages, translations of one of the two testaments in 1,168 additional languages, and portions of the text existed in 848 additional languages. This means that partial or full translations of the Bible exist in a total of 2,454 languages.

^ United Bible Society (2008), Statistical Summary of languages with the Scriptures.

Revelation 7:16-17 (New International Version)

16Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
17For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”