The Best Christmas Ever!

This past Sunday, (1st Sunday of Advent) I preached a sermon based on Jeremiah 33:14-16 in which the prophet announces a word of hope to the people of Israel during one of the lowest points of their history, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Empire. Jeremiah is in a prison cell when he announces this word of hope!

The word of hope is two-fold: 1) God has not forgotten the covenant promise that was made on behalf of Israel. And 2) a day is coming when God will make all things new and the people of God will be able to live in safety.

In my sermon, I referred to Tiny Tim, the crippled boy in the Christmas classic, "A Christmas Carol" and how he represents the positive Christmas spirit even though everything around him seems to be so hopeless. The prophet, Jeremiah, is a lot like Tiny Tim, who in the face of so much despair and hopelessness, offered a word of hope to the people of Israel that their best days were ahead of them and not behind them!

During the sermon, I showed a clip from the Patrick Stewart version of "The Christmas Carol" in which Tiny Tim shows us the hope of the Christmas spirit. Here is the clip (this is a longer clip than what was shown this past Sunday morning.)



Below is an excerpt from my sermon, "The Best Christmas Ever" in which I shared how this will be our best Christmas ever and how 2010 will be our best year of ministry ever here at Lancaster First United Methodist Church.

November 29 Sermon Excerpt from "The Best Christmas Ever" by Pastor Robert McDowell

This year, I invite us to not think of Christmas as a brief celebration that comes and goes but as the birth of new hope and new possibilities.

More specifically, here is why I think this will be our best Christmas and our best year of ministry ever here at First United Methodist Church. And I invite you to join me in praying about these new possibilities.

The first possibility that is waiting to be born through the life of our church is an exciting ministry initiative in which God is calling us to reach Lancaster and our surrounding community with the love of Jesus Christ.

This is a ministry initiative that is so huge that it will take every single one of us to pull it off. In fact, this is a ministry initiative that is so beyond our capabilities that we will have no choice but to trust and depend on God to accomplish our mission.

In addition to the wonderful ministries our church is already doing in our community, imagine our church setting aside the 2nd Saturday morning of every month to gather at our new Crossroads facility for a devotional and prayer, and from there, go out into our community and share the love of Jesus Christ through word and deed. Whether it is in distributing food and clothing, or in hosting neighborhood parties, or by visiting in nursing homes, or by helping at one of the schools, or by handing out tangible reminders of God’s love to people on the street, imagine our church being involved in this kind of intentional outreach on a monthly basis in 2010.
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Many of us have seen or heard about the new advertising campaign of the United Methodist Church, called “Rethink Church.” “Rethink Church” captures what is at the heart of what it means to be the church. More than an advertising slogan, “Rethink Church” focuses on the heart and soul of our Wesleyan theological heritage and what it means to be United Methodists which is all about putting our faith into practice.

A couple of years ago, I bought a treadmill, and the guy who sold it to me mentioned something about his church and after I told him that I was a pastor he said, “Let’s have lunch some time.”

So we met for lunch one day and I asked him to tell me about his church. And he said, “It’s an interesting story because a few years ago, our church was about to close. Our pastor at that time announced he would be leaving and since we were declining in numbers and having a hard time financially, our denomination was thinking about closing us. But at the last minute, they decided to give our church one more try and they sent us a new pastor.”

And he said, “God has really blessed us because we’re now worshipping over 500 on Sunday mornings and we’re reaching new people in our church. It’s been a huge turn around for us.”

So I asked him, “What is the reason your church has made such a dramatic turn around?” And he said, “It was all because of one question that our new pastor asked our congregation when he first came to our church.”

At this point, I was on the edge of my seat, curious to know what that pivotal question was.

He said, “All this pastor asked us was, ‘If our church would cease to exist, would our community miss us?’ And he kept asking us this question again and again. And that’s when we decided to become more intentional in serving the people outside of our church walls. And the more we served in our community, the more that people in the community wanted to check out our church and we’ve been growing ever since.”

After our conversation, I picked up the check and said “This one’s on me. Thanks for sharing your story.”

As we rethink what it means to be the church, I invite us to think about this same question. “If our church would cease to exist, would our community miss us?”

Now, here’s the strategy I have in mind with this 2010 ministry initiative. On Valentine’s Day, which will fall on a Sunday this year, our worship theme we be, “A Heart for Lancaster.” On that Sunday, we’ll have the opportunity to hear about our 2nd Saturday ministry initiative plan and how we can become involved. 2010 is going to be our best year of ministry ever.

But that’s not all. Not only are we going to expand ministry in our community through this monthly ministry initiative, we’re also going to celebrate Christmas in July. How does that sound? Just think about it. We won’t have to go up to Frankenmuth, Michigan in order to celebrate Christmas this summer. We can stay right here in Lancaster, Ohio!

When I was at a sermon planning retreat a couple of months ago, I noticed that July 25 will fall on a Sunday this year. July 25 and December 25. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.

Now, I know this falls during the first half of the Lancaster Festival but what would it look like if we offered the Lancaster Festival crowd the opportunity to celebrate a July Christmas with us on that summer Sunday morning?

But it gets even better. When I thought about July 25 falling on a Sunday and how fun it would be to sing Christmas carols and hear a Christmas sermon, and drink hot chocolate during 90 degree weather, I thought of something even better. This is what is really special about a Christmas in July.

What if we continue the same Christmas spirit that we have in December and apply it to our July Christmas as well? You know, for most churches, July is one of the lowest giving months of the whole year. Church Treasurers dread when July 1st rolls around and they stay grumpy until late October when things pick up. Now I know this isn’t true of our treasurer because she is one of the most positive people I know!

But what if we received a Christmas offering on Sunday, July 25 that would be earmarked for missions and helping the poor? And what if that offering was so amazing that it would even surprise us? People would wonder how our church was able to pull off such a large offering to help those in need in the middle of summer. You might get that in the month of December, but can Christians be that generous in July? I think so.

Picture our church celebrating Christmas in July and receiving a December size offering to help missions and those who are in need. This is going to be the best Christmas ever!

I had some more ideas to share with you this morning but that might be enough for now. And here’s what is really exciting to me. Who knows what else God has in store for our church in the coming year? You just never know with this God we serve, a God who speaks a surprising word of hope of new possibilities just when we began to think that things can’t get any better.

Last year, a long standing member of the church I was serving, came up to me after one of our Christmas Eve services and she said, “Pastor Robert, that was probably the best Christmas Eve service I have ever attended. And I’ve been attending these all of my life. Everything from the music, to the candle lighting, to the way the service flowed, to even your sermon.”

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted, “What did you mean by ‘even my sermon?” No response. She kept on. “That whole service was just really special tonight,” she said. And off she went into the night.

God is about to do something new and wonderful through our church this Christmas and this coming year. New ministries are about to be born. More people will come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and become connected to a loving church family who will help them grow in their faith.

Ministries that help to feed the hungry, care for people in need, and offer the good news of Jesus Christ will be blessed by an unexpected mid-summer financial gift.

So here’s what I invite us to do on this 1st Sunday of Advent, this season in which we anticipate the birth of Jesus Christ, this season that holds so much hope and promise. First of all, pray about these new ministries for 2010 and how God might use us as a church. Secondly, think about the question that my friend shared with me. “If our church ceased to exist, would our community miss us?”

And last but not least, circle Sunday, February 14th, Valentine’s Day, on your calendar because on that Sunday, we are going to launch our “Heart for Lancaster” ministry initiative.

This is going to be our best Christmas ever! 2010 is going to be our best year of ministry ever!

In the words of Tiny Tim…“God bless us every one!”