Author: preacherphilstevens

No that isn’t a misprint. All of the bumper stickers that you see that read “Jesus is the reason for the season” is only half the story. Don’t believe me? Keep reading.

The story of Christmas starts many years before the actual birth of Jesus. The day sin entered into the world through the sin of Adam, God told him and the world, that a Redeemer would come. The sin that entered into the world separated us from God. This sin caused death, sickness, and even negatively affected nature itself. When sin entered the world it was, and still is, the most devastating and destructive issue mankind has faced. As if the news couldn’t be worse it does get worse, mankind can do nothing on their own to rid themselves of this cancer. Many have tried to rid themselves of this curse by performing good deeds, but to no avail.

Thankfully, God is fully aware of the problem and the solution. His plan was to send His only Son as the Savior. 2,000 years ago Matthew writes, “She (Mary) will bring forth a Son, and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Mat. 1:21) The reason Jesus came to the world was to  eliminate the sin that destroyed us. He came to restore the lost relationship between us and the Father. You see we have thought Jesus is the reason for the season, but if you were to ask Jesus what is the reason for Christmas, He would say that YOU are the reason for the season. He was born, lived, and ultimately died to free us from the sin that destroyed us.  Jesus came because of His love for you and the only way for Him to restore you was for Him to come, to die, and to raise from the dead to destroy the works of sin.

I guess this means we need to get a new bumper stickers that read, “YOU are the Reason for the Season.” Then again, maybe not.

Hard to believe we are entering the holiday season, Thanksgiving and Christmas are now upon us. All the commercials and holiday movies, even social media will have you believe this season is always filled with love and good times. In fact, many times, we compare our lives to what we see on TV, and we wonder if there is something wrong with us.

The problem is that for many of us the holidays are filled with depression and heartache. We dread the memories of the past, we enter the holidays without someone special in our lives, and it certainly doesn’t feel like the “most wonderful time of the year.”

We are familiar with the pain. My prayer for those who are hurting this holiday season is that you know our Savior is also familiar with pain. It was our pain, our separation, even the death of relationships which is why Jesus came. This holiday season we are thankful for His coming. We celebrate His arrival of His birth at Christmas, but the reason He came was to reverse everything sin destroyed in our lives. This season may we gain new perspective and be thankful for all He has done to make all things new.

This week we experienced another horrific tragedy as a man stepped into a church and began to fire his gun indiscriminately at church members killing 27 and injuring so many more. The pastor of the church lost his 14 year old daughter in this shooting. It was also reported a 6 year old boy was shot 4 times. One family lost 8 of its members in just this one moment. Want to know what sin looks like? Will this be the incident that humbles and brings us to repentance?

Sin separates, destroys, and kills. It is why pastors, preachers, and believers in churches around the world will beg and plead with their congregations to stay away from sin. This message isn’t to keep people from something, but so that people can experience healing and life found only in a loving God who gave His own life to eliminate sin.

The horrors of this week will continue until we come to the realization that Jesus is the only cure for the epidemic of sin sweeping our nation. There is no amount of rehabilitation. There is no 12 step program. There is ONLY the gospel, the good news of Jesus who alone can forgive and take away sin. He is the “way, the truth, and the life. No one gets to the Father, but through Him” (John 14:6).

“Going through difficult times is fun” said no one, ever. We practically do everything we possibly can to avoid them, if we have any choice in the matter. This doesn’t stop hard times from coming mind you. Hard times frustrate us, cost us financially, hurt relationships, and sometimes, they even end those relationships. No one signs up for difficult times. Unfortunately, it is in those difficult times we often see God working the most.

What if we had a different perspective on the difficult times we go through? What if there could be a sense of joy knowing that in the trying times, you could grow closer to God? Maybe you would see others grow closer to God. What if we saw God work and move in our own lives through those difficult times. Isn’t there a sense where there isn’t anything you wouldn’t go through to see God move in your life or in the life of someone else?

“Count it all joy when you go through various trials . . . knowing the trying of your faith works patience. When patience is full, you will be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4) There can be a sense of joy when you know that the difficult times are not a complete loss. Hard times remind us this world is not our ultimate home. They remind us God has something better. He also reminds us that He can make ALL things new.

Many years ago there was a man named James and he happened to be the (half) brother of Jesus. He didn’t become a follower of Jesus until after he saw Him raised from the dead (I’m sure that probably convinced a lot of people). Shortly after the he saw the risen Jesus, James was elevated quickly. After a sermon where Peter preached, 5,000 people decided to become followers of Jesus and a church quickly formed. James was chosen to be the 1st pastor of this church. Shortly after, a Council was assembled to help guide and give wisdom to this new movement, James was added to this very select group of people. James was what we would have considered a “Big Deal” in the 1st church.

Unfortunately, not everyone was happy with this new movement. Rome felt extremely threatened and sought to extinguish it as quickly as possible. They took Christians and burned them at the stake. They threw them into arenas where they were eaten by animals for sport. James most likely knew and loved many who had been killed for their faith. In response to those who were hurting, he wrote the letter we call “James.”

It’s his introduction that gets me. He could have opened with “My name is James and I’m the pastor of the largest church in the world,” but he didn’t. Or maybe, “I’m on the Jerusalem Council and you need to listen to me,” but he didn’t do that either. Instead, he introduced himself in a way that humbles us all, “James, a servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ …” Want to help the hurting?, become a servant. James didn’t want to be recognized by the titles given to him by men, but to be known by the greatest title ever given by God, a Servant.

From the statistics I have found it is rare to find a church whose main source of growth is through people who are choosing a new life, becoming believers, and following Christ, but that is exactly what is happening at Winfall Baptist Church. A church that just a few months ago was averaging around 30 to 40 people had 73 in Sunday worship yesterday. Though for many, church growth can come from so many different avenues (people leaving other churches being the most popular) Winfall, on the other hand, has seen their growth come from new, first-time followers of Jesus. Within the past 9 months, Winfall will have baptized 10 people and seen multiple people come to rededicate their lives to Christ.

When you are looking at a group of 30 and tell them we will have a goal of seeing 5 people come to the know the Lord by the end of the year; you wonder if you have been “overly-optimistic.” Not very good at math, but that would be over 10% growth from just new-believers. What has happened since, has truly been God’s work in our little church. We will have seen 10 baptized, our church almost double in attendance, and many lives rededicated to God.

We would want you to know it is not due to our vast resources, we don’t have any. It isn’t due to the pastor or any member, we are just being obedient. We attribute this growth to God, and Him alone. This past week in our Revival meetings the pastor stated he was tired of reading the stories of great men and their amazing “God-Stories” that we want our own “God-Story.” Well, I think we just started Chapter 1. God has a whole lot more in store for this church.

Do you feel like God is always late? You need to know you are not alone, in fact, you are in good company. In John 11 there is a story where Jesus’ good friend, Lazarus, had died. When Jesus finally got to town a woman named Mary asked, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Essentially, Jesus you were late. You weren’t here when he was sick, you could have healed him. You were weren’t here when He died, you could have raised him. Now you are here and it’s too late, its been more than 4 days.

This morning we all read about a mass shooting in Las Vegas where more than 50 people were killed and more than 500 were hurt. I have been looking at pictures and videos and my heart is literally breaking. Do you think God was late? It is during times like this where it is most difficult to see Him, but you need to know that the events of this morning, and the people affected, are on God’s heart.

In Revelation 6 there is a group of people who were persecuted by the world for their faith in Him. They cried out to God, “How long before you judge and avenge us …” They felt God had forgotten about them. What they saw as silence and inaction caused them to believe He didn’t care. We later find out God was preparing a special place for them. A place in His immediate presence where God will ultimately, “wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

I certainly won’t pretend to know how God is going to work through this tragedy, but I absolutely know that He will. For all of those affected, one day God will wipe every tear from your eyes as well. You have not, and will never be, forgotten by Him.

I read that our beautiful Sun will literally burn out in about 5 billion years (give or take a year). You probably haven’t thought about it, prepared for that event, or even care. Its so far into the future we can’t wrap our minds around it. I just wanted to let you know that when the Sun does, in fact, burn out I know that I will be alive. In fact, not only will I be alive I can even tell you where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing. I have a hope and a future that stretches way beyond my own lifetime on this earth and it’s all because of what Jesus has done for me.

Jesus said He was preparing a place for me. He is preparing a place and He is coming back so that where “I am, you will be also.” (John 14:3) He promises eternal life to all who believe. (John 3:16) Who is this Jesus that I put so much trust in? He is the One who died in my place to pay for my sins. He is the One who raised Himself from the dead to show He is even more powerful then death itself. My faith is firmly placed, and my hope is in knowing Him. (John 17:3).

Maybe you have lost hope in the future because you have believed the pain you are feeling right now is always going to be there. You believe things are never going to get better. This is the lie Satan will tell you all day long if you will believe it, but God wants you to have hope from your despair. He wants you to live a life of joy. Put your faith in Him and watch your hope rise!

A chess champion who enjoyed art was in a museum and found himself fascinated with a particular piece of art. In this painting two were playing chess. On one side of the chessboard was the devil smiling from ear to ear; Demons behind him were rejoicing. On the other side of the chessboard was a man, sweating buckets, pulling his hair and behind him were people crying. The painting was entitled “Checkmate.” The painting intrigued the chess champion and his eyes were drawn to the chessboard itself. He was so focused on the chessboard he brought his own chessboard to the painting and duplicated the pieces and positions from the painting to his own board. After analyzing his board, he began to smile. He looked up at the man in the painting and said, “I know you can’t hear me, but if you could, I would want you to know you haven’t lost this game. You still have another move, and you can still win this game.”

It is easy to get our eyes focused on our circumstances and believe this is the end, game over. We look at the doctor report, the bank account, a broken relationship and we believe there is no way I can come back from this. We lose hope; the devil has won.

You need to know something very important, God ALWAYS has the last move. Jesus ran to those who were in need. He healed the blind and literally raised the dead. Unfortunately, there were people in His day who plotted and eventually killed Him by nailing Him to a cross. It was over. He was dead. The “game” was over. No one can raise themselves from the dead; that’s impossible, but God always has the last move. Even in the most impossible of circumstances Jesus did, in fact, raise Himself from the dead.

Your situation may seem like the end, but God loves you and He will have the last move in your life as well. Trust Him and believe, you will never regret the day you gave Him your life and the last move.