Recapturing the Spirit of Christmas

A Christmas Carol by writer Charles Dickens is by far one of the most famous and common of holiday stories.  The selfish and greedy Ebenezer Scrooge hates Christmas with its frivolity and excesses.  Eventually, his journey with the three spirits of Christmas past, present, and yet to come, help him to see beyond the surface trappings of the holiday to experience the true meaning or spirit of Christmas.

I can’t help but wonder, however, if the accusations of Ebenezer Scrooge may not actually be justified with our modern-day holiday observances.  It is no secret that there have been public attempts to undergird the very foundation of the holiday and removing Christ from Christmas completely.  In essence, public celebration of the holiday is moving toward nothing more than those frivolous and “meaningless” absurdities despised by Mr. Scrooge.

Like Scrooge, our society desperately needs to recapture the true spirit of Christmas.  It is a spirit of hope—hope in the coming of One who embodies the spirit of the season—the One who will bring ultimate peace and joy.  It is Love come down to us in a manger; crucified, died, and buried—Love risen, ascended and interceding.  Yes, the essence of the spirit of Christmas, is the spirit of Christ.  Please journey with us this Advent season as we beseech our God to rekindle the true spirit of Christmas not only in our own hearts, but within the hearts of all mankind.   May we then, vow with Scrooge to, “honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year,”  and pray in confidence with Tiny Tim, “God bless us, everyone!”

Thank you...

All Saints Sunday Reflection

As we reflect on where the church has come from and where we, the church are going, I was inspired by this post from Phillip Heinz and wanted to re-post it here.  I follow his blog Living the Lectionary and wanted to pass on a link to it.

On All Saints Sunday we will sing these lyrics to the tune of Wild Mountain Thyme (Lord of the Rings) “There are saints who light the darkness and the world cannot contain them for the love of God sustains them and they will never be forgotten; we are blest to have them with us and we praise the God who made them. There is no way to repay them and so we simply do applaud them as they shine like the sun.” (John Ylvisaker – Shine Like the Sun) The saints who light the darkness are ever close in our memory and yet always beyond our imagination as they dwell in the place of perfection while we struggle (hopefully well) in the place of “not yet.” By that I mean we can sense the saints who light the darkness when our hearts and minds quicken as we anticipate joining them in the future final peace. Even so in the here and now we are the poor in spirit, mourning meek who hunger and thirst for things to be more just and fair and right than they are. But before we claim the gifts of being “blessed are you…” we are duty bound to confess that we are not passive participants in the things that are less than blessed. Hating violence we none-the-less revel in a really well produced shoot em up on the silver screen. Desiring equality we still cling to positions of power. We are less than merciful, hardly pure in heart and believe peace can only be achieved by an aggressive posture backed up by the ability of our firepower to shock and awe. I am not playing politics. I am suggesting you and I live in the difficult “not yet” place where “blessed are you” is not as neat as the beatitudes. So what do we do? Maybe we begin by applauding the ones we cannot repay because we believe they made it to the other side despite the fact that they were no better than we are. Which means the one who deserves our applause is the God who made them.

A Good Laugh

Occasionally, it is good to laugh at ourselves.  Thought I would pass this one on courtesy of Dick Mills.


The elderly priest, speaking to the younger priest, said, ''You had a good idea to replace the first four pews with plush bucket theater seats. It worked like a charm. The front of the church always fills first now.'' 

The young priest nodded, and the old priest continued, ''And you told me adding a little more beat to the music would bring young people back to church, so I supported you when you brought in that rock 'n roll gospel choir. Now our services are consistently packed to the balcony.'' 

''Thank you, Father,'' answered the young priest. ''I am pleased that you are open to the new ideas of youth.'' 

''All of these ideas have been well and good,'' said the elderly priest, ''But I'm afraid you've gone too far with the drive-thru confessional.''

''But, Father,'' protested the young priest, ''my confessions and the donations have nearly doubled since I began that!''

''Yes,'' replied the elderly priest, ''and I appreciate that. But the flashing neon sign, 'Toot 'n Tell or Go to Hell' cannot stay on the church roof!"

Why do we worship?

THE REASON WE WORSHIP is only made clear when we understand what worship is. Many beautiful definitions of worship have been rendered, such as "love responding to love," "the Spirit of God in man respond­ing to the Spirit of God in God," "an atti­tude of the heart," and others. All of these are valid and beautifully describe the act of worship, which is an act of the inner man. According to chapters1 and 2 of the Song of Solomon; worship is the most intimate of all levels of communication with our God. This communication is initiated by the Spirit of God calling us to worship. We respond with manifestations of our love and adoration for Him.

Worship, then, becomes the consumma­tion of our relationship with God Just as intimacy completes the marriage bond. Taking this thought further, if we don't worship, our relationship with God is incomplete. The methods and elements of our worship are really not the most critical issues. God is not as concerned with the "how of worship" as much as He simply desires our worship to be "in spirit and in truth" or truthfulness (John 4:24).

When we approach God in honesty and with a pure heart, we demonstrate to Him a willingness to forsake all else to spend time with Him. He honors our attempts by showing us His great heart of love and compassion, completing the intimacy we so desperately need.

Dave Collins

Music Ministry Network

Dear Choir Members,

With Special Thanks

Serving Up Grace

Serving Up Grace

This summer, we will be launching an eight-week campaign entitled "Serving Grace."  This church-wide focus hopes to push many of us out of our comfort zones by seeking a zeal and boldness in our daily living to live and proclaim the gospel message.  For many, asking strangers or even friends to come to church is filled with fear and trepidation.  This fear can be allayed by remembering that it is not our job to convert sinners; that is the role of the Holy Spirit.  We, respond to Great Commandment (love for God) in obedience to the Great Commission by preaching the gospel, baptizing, and making disciples.  On the day of Pentecost, the church was empowered with boldness.  (Acts 2:31)  We often pray for those to whom we want to share the gospel, but often fail to pray for ourselves. Let us then, over the next few weeks, entreat the Lord for our own boldness.  Some of you may feel inept at sharing the gospel for one reason or another or may feel you are not "called" to that, however, everyone can strive to work past our fears to simply invite people to church.  I agree that Scripture (through Paul) infers that some (not all) are called to be evangelists.  But, I believe this passage is speaking about evangelism as a vocation. I would argue that Scripture is replete with the concept that sharing the gospel should be everyone's avocation within the context of their "coming and going."  To that end, I felt it appropriate to revisit the basics of the gospel every Christian that should understand and be able to articulate below.  I challenge you to make this part of your devotional life over the next couple of months, committing as much of it to memory as possible.  Internalize it; breath it; live it!  And may the Lord our God grant you the zeal and boldness of Pentecost.

The Gospel Plain and Simple

A.   Grace - God's favor on us though we don't deserve it.  He offers Heaven to us free.  We could never earn or deserve Heaven in and of ourselves, therefore the only way we can get to Heaven is if it is given to us.  (Rom. 6:23, Eph. 2:8-9)

B.  Man - The reason we cannot attain Man is a sinner and cannot save Himself; God does not see levels of sin.  To Him, sin is sin.  Scripture tells us that we would have to be perfect (without flaw) to attain the riches of Heaven ourselves, thus by ourselves, we are lost.(Rom 3:23, Matt 5:48, Prov 14:12)

C.  God - the laws of existence are wrapped up in who God is.  God cannot just ignore our sin and let us "slide by" because one of His traits is perfect justice;  He must punish sin.  Fortunately for us though, God is also perfect love and merciful and does not want to see us punished.  Therefore He provided a way of escape for us.  (1 John 4:8, Ex. 34:7)

D.  Jesus Christ - God became a man, and being perfect he "earned" the right to Heaven.  Because He loved us, He gave His prize to us.  Because Jesus was God, he was more valuable than just one man for one man.  As the God/man He was infinitely more valuable than all of creation and thus provided salvation for all mankind. (John 1:1,14, 20:28)

E.  Faith - Faith is an obscure word often misunderstood.  It involves a much deeper degree of our lives than thought.  It is more than mere intellectual assent or just believing in the existence of God.  It is more than mere temporal assent that is placing our trust in God to take care of our "temporal" wants and needs.  It is trusting God with our lives by our obedience to Him.  Basically, what He asks of us is love:  love for Himself, and love for our fellow mankind. (Acts 16:31)

2014 Lent Materials

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For those of you desiring to commit yourselves to extended times of prayer and deepening your walk with Christ, the church has provided two materials to aid you.  The materials are available at the Ministry Center Counter in the foyer of the main building.  You can download the brochure from our blog, however, the printed devotional booklet entitled "The Lord's Prayer for Lent" may only be picked up at the counter.  Digital copies of the devotional booklet are available for immediate download at a cost of only .99 cents.

The observance of Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the church's journey to Easter through prayer and fasting.  On this day, we remember our mortality; that we are created beings drawing our life and existence from an eternal holy God.  We remember that it was out of the dust of the earth that we were created and to that dust we will return.  Thanks be to God that through the life-giving sacrifice of God's son, Jesus Christ, the same power that brought him back from the grave is available to us.  God's call for us to be holy is now possible through the power of his Holy Spirit whom Christ sent when he ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father.  As we mark ourselves with the sign of the cross in ashes, we are reminded that that underneath this temporal sign is eternal mark of God claiming and naming us as his children.

Wednesday, March 5, we will gather for a brief service will consisting of songs, scripture readings, prayer, imposition of ashes, corporate confession, and Eucharist (that is, communion).  Elders will be present for personal prayer, laying on of hands, and anointing with oil.

Helpful Guidelines for Platform Attire

On January 26, we provided all our teams with an overview of the visual image we have chosen for our platform image.  For almost one year we have prayed and deliberated over the this and are confident that these guidelines will help us as we encourage the continual improvement of our worship at FCNB.  Click here to view the Guidelines for Platform Attire

Why Establish Guiding Principles for Platform Attire?

The visibility of platform ministry requires that all of us participating need to seriously consider the things we wear. We want our clothes to represent who we are, but also who we are in Christ.   When selecting appropriate clothing for platform ministry, there are three keys to consider in making our choices:  Contextual appropriateness, modesty, and professionalism.

Clothing is one of the most elemental forms of nonverbal communication. Our choice of clothing is not only an expression of who we are individually, but also serves a variety of social and cultural functions.  Dress is often dictated by the situation.  However, because the social meaning of clothing is contextual and will be different from one place to another, our choices must be informed by our local social settings.

Because clothing is one of the fundamental ways in which we communicate with others, what we wear is not purely a personal matter.  It may be personal, but is never private.  How we dress not only affects us, but others as well.  1 Samuel 16:7 states that while God looks into the heart, people look at the outward appearance.  Thus, for those of us in platform ministry, we must be conscientious about what are we communicating regarding our beliefs, theology, and our view of this sacred encounter with God by what we wear in on the platform.

Worship is a sacred encounter, not an ordinary, common, or simple casual gathering.  While we can come boldly before the throne of God through the blood of Christ, we must still remember that God is wholly other and creator of all.  While the current trend of culture may lean toward the convenient, casual and comfortable, there is an element of awe and reverence that should be characteristic of our approach to God.  Scripture tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.  It is the doorway to knowing God and understanding him.  Without a fear of the Lord, we begin to treat God as common; we see Him for who we think he is, and not for who he truly is as revealed by himself through Scripture.

Because God is holy, he commands us to be a holy people.  The core idea of holiness is “set-apartness.”  While we are not to remove ourselves from the world, we are not to be of the world.  It will be the nature of our distinctiveness as Christians that will always set us apart or differentiate us from the world, or at least it should.  The Apostle Paul, giving instructions to Timothy for the Church, recognized the impact of attire in worship and acknowledged that some attire will be more appropriate than others at reflecting the holiness of God in our lives.  Current cultural trends in clothing also lean toward the immodest.  Modesty and style are important considerations in our choices of clothing and should lend themselves toward inspiring true biblical worship that focuses on God, not the messenger, while still coming across as relevant to the culture and people we are leading.

Finally, platform ministry should demonstrate excellence and professionalism.  Because cultural norms and trends do change over time, we must remain aware of the current cultural norms of appropriate professional dress.  Especially because of our climate, Florida tends to be somewhat casual even in the professional arena.  Casual yes, but careless, no. 

Towards More Effective Rehearsals

Come with an attitude to:

• Give your very best
• Risk making mistakes.  That's rehearsals are for!
• Optimistically try all music, and encourge others.
• Watch and respond to the director.

Understand the purpose of rehearsals:

• Rehearsals are not a time for personal rehearsal or to learn one's notes.  Learning notes is the responsibility of each choir member outside of rehearsal.  While some notes may be covered in rehearsal, the goal is to minimize this and work on the more important aspects of tone, blend, style, etc.  Respect your director by allowing him to do his job by doing yours; practice outside of rehearsal.

Remember good vocal habits such as:

• Keeping good posture...head as far away from the floor as possible.  This will mean shoulders back, and if seated, feet flat on the floor to eliminate slouching.  
• Breathing deeply...Chest and shoulders should not raise up every time you take a breath.  You should feel the rib cage expand all the way around, and also sense the muscles of your diaphram working too.
• Continually work on diction.  If it's important enough to sing, then it's important enough to be understood by the listeners.
• Listen carefully.  Speaking of listeners...please be one of those too.  Be aware of your blend.  Tone is important as well as pitch.  We will be continually working on these as a group.  Remember, if you can't hear anything but yourself, chances are, nobody else can either.
• Understand the lyric.  Remember to occasionally look again at the word and narrative of the song.  When you understand them and their importance, then the song can be communicated rather than simply sung with the right notes and rhythms.

Be positive:

• Don't expect every song to tickle your tickler or give you warm fuzzies.  We all have our own taste and preferences.  By singing different styles, hopefully, we will all be encouraged and inspired.  If you do not care for a piece, please do not affect the environment around you with negative comments.

Communicate properly:

• If you have a concern, please voice it only with those concerned and at an appropriate time.  Often, before or after a rehearsal or service is not always optimum for a pastor.  Consider making a phone call or scheduling an office visit.