Robin Williams, a comedian and actor, died this week. I have enjoyed Williams in TV shows and movies. Williams won two Emmy awards and five Grammy awards and set records for the most-viewed comedy show on TV and the highest grossing comedy tour. He seemed to have a lot to live for, but on August 11, 2014, he took his own life.

Williams’ death was a sad reminder of a very real truth. You never know what people are going through, and you never know who needs your encouragement and support. Our youth are exposed to  things that we could not have even imagined when were in school. We have members who are ill. We have people in our congregation who seem to be doing well financially, physically, mentally, spiritually but might be nearing a dangerous point in any of those areas.

We are the church. We have a responsibility to carry on Jesus’ message – that all the hope and love we could possibly need are available through God. We, as Christians, have agreed to be God’s ambassadors of love and hope to the world. How are we doing? Are we sensitive to what’s going on in each other’s lives? Are we gracious and supportive of each other? Let’s commit to show each other the love and hope of God, and when we get that down, let’s spread the love and hope around, beyond our walls. Our lives and so many others depend on it.

Today I will preach at my father’s anniversary for about the tenth time. I have particularly enjoyed this time of year for the past few years.  Very shortly we will celebrate my father’s many years of service to one particular body. I enjoy observing and listening to him and others recount wonderful memories. It blesses me to be an integral part of the celebration.

This time of year causes me to become excited about my own anniversary. On today, every year for four years, I begin to look forward to celebrating my years of fellowship with United. Joyfully, this year I celebrate four years as part of this family. And this year I celebrate with a special addition to my family and to our United family. As this has been a year of many changes, I hope to change up the way we celebrate the anniversary of my union with United this year.

God often encouraged the Israelites to remember the landmarks of life. I consider the joining of myself and United as a great landmark in my life. I am excited to be so near to commemorating our union again, and I hope to celebrate with the jubilance and energy the occasion deserves. I thank God for the wonderful family that you have been to me and my family. Thank you for so much for your continuous love and support.

When I first met my wife she was deathly afraid of spiders. Upon the sight of a spider, she would scream and say, “Come and get this thing!”  In most cases, she would leave the area until the spider was killed and removed.

A few days ago I witnessed one of the most interesting things I have ever seen.  As my wife, a friend and I were planting flowers in our yard, a brown recluse spider emerged from the dirt.  My wife didn’t scream and yell, “Get it!”  To my amazement, she calmly said, “There’s a big, brown recluse spider.”  I spotted it and smashed it with a shovel.  A few minutes later my wife simply said, “There’s another brown recluse spider.”  No screaming or yelling.  She simply stepped on the spider and killed it with authority.  I was so proud of her!  That, my friends, is a victory.

My wife was able to move beyond her fear of spiders. She was on a mission and decided she wouldn’t let anything or anybody stand in her way of getting the job done.  As we celebrate communion today, we must proclaim as the songwriter said, “Because He lives all fear is gone.”  We must move beyond our fears to be in a position to do the work in ministry God called us to do.  I’m inspired by my wife to become even more fearless in my laboring for the Lord.

We planted shrubs in the front of my house this week. After planting, we looked at our work proudly for a while and then commented on how small the plants are and how much smaller they look after being planted than they looked in the pots.

Isn’t that just like our experience building man and advancing the kingdom? We have a great idea, a vision. We put on an event or start a ministry or begin a new sermon series or Bible study and afterward think: wow, the turnout for my event was a lot smaller than I expected or people did not respond or learn or change as I hoped they would. We work hard, and our results are at times smaller than we envisioned they would be.

While my plants are small now, I know that with many days of watering and nurturing over time they will mature and add beautifully to my home. They already add something appreciable even with their small presence. I challenge us, United, to commit to watering and nurturing our ministry, our United family and our community continuously until we see maturity. I am encouraged by the small changes I see in us and around us. Those of us who are active in the church are often tired from working multiple jobs, but I encourage you to see beyond the small plants that exist now to the beautiful, mature landscaping we are creating. I am so excited about what’s ahead, United!

This week we celebrate the birth of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Before he won a Nobel Peace Prize and led a world-changing movement for civil rights, Dr. King said to his congregation at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, on January 1, 1956:  “There is no better way to begin this year than with the conviction that there is a God of Power who is able to do exceedingly abundantly in our lives and the life of the universe…The God that we worship is not a weak God.  He is not an incompetent God and consequently, he is able to beat back gigantic mountains of opposition and to bring low prodigious hilltops of evil.  The ringing cry of the Christian faith is that our God is able.”

As we step deeper into our roles in the movement to advance the kingdom, remember Dr. King’s words.  Worship is an act, a lifestyle, that reminds us and tells others we believe that GOD IS ABLE!

He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. Psalm 18:16–17

“He delivered me from my strong enemy.” Oh, how you and I need a personal, vital relationship with God! Let’s come to grips with Him. He has delivered us from the enemy. Do you need help today? Do you need a partner today? I want to recommend One to you. He will never desert you. He will never leave you alone. He will never forsake you. He says, “…lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:20). That is the reason that I depend on Him more than I depend on anyone. That is also the reason you should depend on Him instead of depending on any human being. Psalm 118:8 says, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”

Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy. Philippians 1:4

This is a remarkable expression when we consider where Paul was when he wrote this passage. He was over in Rome in prison! A personal relationship with Christ brings joy to every believer’s life regardless of his/her circumstances. 

Despite that truth, we expect to experience joy through external means. We associate joy with emotion and pleasure and expect to experience joy through enjoying programs and banquets, but joy does not depend on external events or circumstances. Joy is determined by the inward condition of the individual. 

Joy is present where a person views life, in all situations, with the confidence that God is who He is and will do what He says He will do. You and I can only enjoy that view when we are firmly rooted in God’s will, as Paul was. In that place, in spite of less-than-ideal circumstances, Paul prayed for the Philippians with joy, with the delight that comes from confidence in The Lord. Like Paul, we should delight in our confidence in The Lord, not distracted by any displeasure in our circumstances but always joyfully embracing every opportunity to petition for or minister to others. 

And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me.
And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I? Mark 14:18–19

All of the disciples knew they were capable of betraying Jesus. If you have not discovered that you are totally depraved, that you are not a good person but a sinner, that you are thoroughly capable of turning your back on God, you haven’t discovered very much.

Unfortunately there are people in the church who don’t recognize that they are sinners and are lost. And there are saved people in the church who don’t realize they are capable of turning their backs on God. Each of us could ask, “Is it I?” The good thing is that only Christ Jesus can save us from ourselves. He made a way to save us by giving His life on Calvary. This day I pray you discover the fact that you need the Savior, and He will equip you with everything you need to stand up for him.

Psalm 94:16-19 (MSG)

Who stood up for me against the wicked?
    Who took my side against evil workers?
If God hadn’t been there for me,
    I never would have made it.
The minute I said, “I’m slipping, I’m falling,”
    your love, God, took hold and held me fast.
When I was upset and beside myself,
    you calmed me down and cheered me up.

Despite all the things that have occurred over the course of our lives, God saw fit to help us get through.  Without the help of the Lord, we wouldn’t have made it through.  We should be thankful that God kept His word to us that He would never leave us or forsake us.  When we look back, we are reminded of the many ways God protected us from those who would do us harm.  He protected us from dangers—seen and unseen.  As the Psalmist says, “If God hadn’t been there for me, I never would have made it.”  We made this far because God is always right there to help us when we stumble.  He is always right there to pick us up when we fall.  Know that you survived because God has something better in store for you.  With that said your Promised Land awaits you. Will you prepare yourself to enter the blessings God has in store for you?

As I read this passage, I can’t help but feel this is what Marvin Sapp was talking about when he said, “I’m stronger.  I’m wiser. I’m better, so much better.  When I look back over all He’s brought me through, I realize I made it because I had Him to hold onto!”  Somebody should say I never would have made it without the Lord!

Notice something wonderful about Matthew 1:23. “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” It looks as if there is a problem here. Can you tell me where Jesus was ever called Emmanuel? No, He is called Jesus because that is His name. He was given this name because He shall save His people from their sins. Christ, by the way, is His title; Jesus is His name. But it says here that He shall be called “Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

Here we have one of the most wonderful things in the entire Word of God. Let’s look at this. Emmanuel means “God with us.” He can’t be Emmanuel, God with us, unless He is virgin born. That’s the only way! And notice, unless He is Emmanuel, He cannot be Jesus, the Savior. The reason they call Him Jesus, Savior, is because He is God with us. This truth about the One who came down to this earth is one of the most wonderful things in the Bible.

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Heb. 2:9). He had to be a sacrifice that was acceptable. I couldn’t die for the sins of the world. I can’t even die a redemptive death for my own sins. But He can! How can Jesus be a Savior? Because He is Emmanuel, God with us. How did He get with us? He was virgin born. I say again, He was called Jesus. He was never called Emmanuel. But you cannot call Him Jesus unless He is Emmanuel, God with us. He must be Emmanuel to be the Savior of the world. That is how important the Virgin Birth is. 

Have a wonderful Christmas as you think about Emmanuel—God with us!