How to do Christmas "right"

The key to doing Christmas “right”

As a kid, Christmas in our home was always a special time.  My family didn’t have a lot of money, but my parents always made sure that our Christmas was done “just right”.  They were excellent at building our anticipation for Santa’s arrival.  We sent letters to the North Pole, stayed up late on Christmas Eve watching classic Christmas movies and then woke up early Christmas morning to find that Santa had enjoyed his cookies and milk and left gifts for each of us under the tree.  

Years later, when I had kids of my own, I was determined to replicate the same experience for my kids.  I went above and beyond to give my kids the full “Santa Experience”.  My kids loved it!  However, having received the Lord as my Savior, I felt a bit convicted when making Christmas all about Santa.  I decided to include Jesus in our traditions through the reading of the Christmas Story on Christmas Eve.  I even added a nativity scene to our decorations.  I wanted to make sure that my kids enjoyed a Christmas filled with Santa and yet also knew all about the miracle of Jesus’ birth.  The changes seemed to satisfy the conviction I had been feeling.  However, as my relationship with the Lord grew, I realized there was so much more.  I learned that Christmas isn’t only about celebrating Jesus’ birth, it’s celebrating what Jesus is doing right now.  My husband and I began to look for ways in which our family could serve others during the holidays.  We want our kids to experience and celebrate what Jesus is doing RIGHT NOW.

Although I will always cherish the Christmas memories I have from my childhood, I now believe that doing Christmas “right” is really all about celebrating what Jesus is doing “right now”.  

-- Julie Tamez 

Are you shining your Light this Christmas?

Jesus said “You (and I) are the light of the world…”

(Matthew 5:14-16 ESV)

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Many years ago, I took my family camping to a place called “Twin Lakes” just outside Bridgeport, Ca. As many of you know, camping without the proper equipment can be uncomfortable, dirty, gritty, and chaotic. But most of us also know that all those encumbrances and how we respond to them (good or bad) creates a bonding with our family members that becomes deeply engrained in our family memories. One such memory includes the glow of the camp fire. I can remember my beautiful daughters and their mother (she’s beautiful too) all wrapped in blankets fending off the coolness of the night air. We talked in whispers, gazed at the black night pierced with bright shining specs of chrome-like light, and talked about how big and wonderful our creator is. All the while, I was consciously aware of the darkness just outside the glow of the subsiding campfire. Being a rookie at camping “lions, tigers and bears’ lurked just outside the perimeter of the glow. I was so grateful for the light.

Today, I am grateful for a different kind of light. It’s the light that Jesus brings into His world. A light that He shares with me that burns within me like the comforting glow of a campfire. Jesus declared in John 8:12, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." This verse reminds me that in my professing to having seen His Light and embracing it, He has imparted to me that same light to shine for others who are experiencing the darkness and chaos of camping in this world. After all it’s only for approximately 70 years and then, or not, (depending on your belief) “in the world to come, He will be the lamp in the midst of New Jerusalem, a light to all nations, and "the nations will walk by its light" (Revelations 21:24).

--Pastor Mike Valdez

A NEW way to celebrate 4th of July!!

        July 4^th is a national holiday that I have always enjoyed. It helps me to remember the birthing of our great nation and experience something I have always enjoyed…fireworks! Loud fireworks! Big beautiful blue, green, red, and white fireworks!

        In years gone by, my Father would take me and the rest of my family to see fireworks set off at the end of Santa Monica Pier. I loved it!  As I grew older I also had a pretty good seat at Westchester Park near the Los Angeles International Airport. Then in 1976, when I moved my family here to the Santa Clarita Valley, I was able to sit on the hood of my car near Placerita Jr. High and watch the fireworks set off from Hart park.

        I enjoyed all of these individual experiences throughout my life time. But the one thing they all had in common was that I always found myself far away from the action- two blocks over and away from launch or bundled up and viewing the spectacle from Palisades Park bluffs in Santa Monica. Some may ask, “Are these the only events that you have attended?” I would answer… “Probably not, but they are the ones that are most memorable.”

        That is until I became involved with the fireworks show at Richard Rioux Park in Stevenson Ranch. I contend there is no place better place in the Santa Clarita Valley to view a better fireworks display. See the beauty of their various colors, feel the concussions rock the earth, hear the deafening explosions, and smell the exploding powder. I have been involved in this great event for seventeen years. Our church has donated thousands of soft drinks and water bottles; and sold enough glow necklaces to keep the company in business. The atmosphere is kick-back, family orientated with a live band. Traffic is well directed for easy in and out.

         If you and your family are looking for a great way to conclude this year’s 4^th of July, I invite you to join me at Richard Rioux Park. Gates open at 6:00 pm. Bring a blanket, beach chairs, munchies, family and friends. The fireworks normally begin at 9:00 pm with a traditional sing along of “American Pie” by Don McClean. We then settle in to enjoy a memorable, loud, earth-rocking fireworks display. Hope to see you there!

  

Balancing Truth and Life for Spiritual Transformation in the Community Group Setting

Balancing Truth and Life for Spiritual Transformation in the Community Group Setting

There are two ends of the spectrum that a community group can fall into—truth and life.  The job of a community group leader is to balance the two so that no group leans to one side more than the other.  For it is in the balance of the two that spiritual transformation happens.

What do I mean by “truth” and “life”.  Truth groups focus on doctrine, right and wrong answers, and the accumulation of information.  Although never said verbally the group axiom is “He who knows the most, wins.”  Leaders expect group members to come prepared with all Bible reading completed and answers filled in.  The group time is dominated by a preoccupation with “finishing the lesson”.  After all, the more you know, the more raw material the Spirit has to work with when changing someone’s heart.    Life groups focus on telling stories, sharing, engaging one another. Everything is rooted in experience.  This is the “tell-my-story, help-me-with-my-problems, can-I-talk-about-my-issues, pray-for-me group.  Members are rewarded for being “real”—even if they are really wrong. 

Spirtual Transformation is where “Truth” meets “Life”.  It is about truth that engages life and produces spiritual growth in the community of Christ followers.  Truth must become personal and relational.  For you as a community group leader the challenge is walking the tightrope—to stand between the tension of truth and life and do both. That is, to make sure truth is very present in your meetings, but also make sure that truth is brought to bear on life in community.  You must call members to open their lives to one another so they can be changed.  Our community groups are seeking to take the abstract truth given in a Sunday sermon and make it real, relational, and practical for people.  And to further wrestle with and come to a greater understanding of the truth that is revealed in God’s word.