Super Bowl

So unless you live under a rock, then you know that the Super Bowl is almost here. My beloved Steelers are going for an unprecedented 7th title and I am so excited!!!! I hope that you take your Sunday night and watch the game with some friends, like i will be doing with the SFUMC Youth. Enjoy the food, fellowship, and football, and most of all…Go Steelers!

Let’s go Black and Gold

So a little more info about me, that most people know, but others may not. I am a ginormous Pittsburgh Steelers fan. So much so, that while we were dating I convinced Sarah, that she also should be a fan of this amazing franchise. Now she sports steelers gear, even a steelers purse!

Today is a big day for Steeler nation. Tonight the Steelers take on the Jets for the 2011 AFC Championship, and a chance to play in the game of all games, the super bowl. This is my number one favorite game every year no matter who is playing (as i think it is for most Americans) but this year with my steel men still alive, it is becoming more and more exciting. So I wanted to write a little post about my fandom, and my hopes that when I go to bed tonight it will be with a smile of victory. (Not that I will have won anything, but as a super fan, I will feel as if I have won when they have won!)

So here’s to you Mike Tomlin and all your men. I hope you can bring the Heinz Field fans, and all the Steelers  fans around the globe a win tonight.

Game day attire: Sporting the jersey of my favorite defensive player Troy Polamalu!

December 25…Psalm 98

Merry Christmas! For those of you who have stuck with me through this process thank you so much. I have enjoyed it, and I hope you have as well. Today I leave you with Psalm 98.

¹ Sing to the LORD a new song,

for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
² The LORD has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
³ He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.

⁴ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
⁵ make music to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
⁶ with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
shout for joy before the LORD, the King.

⁷ Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
⁹ let them sing before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.

 

Praise the Lord, for He Is Born! Merry Christmas!

December 24…Matthew 2:19-23

Yesterday’s blog ended on a sad note. King Herod killed a ton of babies. Today, our reading begins with Herod’s death. The king who had done his best to prevent the King of Kings from growning up was no more.  So, an angel appeared to Joseph once more. In a dream, the angel told him it was time to leave Egypt. They had been there long enough. So he  got up packed up once more and headed out of the land of the Pharaohs. Weirdly enough, he heard a rumor that this man named Archelaus, who was Herod’s son was now the king of Judea. Well, we know how Joseph felt about Herod, who tried to kill his son, so you can imagine that he wouldn’t have been to hip on Archelaus. Even more, he was warned in a dream not to go there, which means this guy must have been bad news! So, instead Joseph took his family and headed to the district of Galilee, to a town called Nazareth, which is funny since the prophets long before had said that the Messiah would be called a Nazarene  (someone from Nazareth). And that’s where Jesus lived. he grew up in the town of Nazareth, doing the Nazareth-y things, that little Nazarites do.

And now, we only have one day to go.

 

Merry Christmas Eve Everybody!

 

If you are free today, and in Somerset, stop by Somerset FUMC, for our Community Christmas Eve Outreach Dinner. We would love to serve you, pr have you serve alongside us!

 

 

December 23…Matthew 2:13-18

If you have made it this far, then you know by now Jesus has been born and laid in a manger. Shepherds, and Wise Men, and only God, Mary, and Joseph, know who else has come to visit the new born baby King of Kings. We also know that King Herod was a bit jealous of the new baby he had never met, because rumor had it that this baby was basically going to ruin Herod’s life. So that is where we stand.

Joseph, who had now grown quite accustomed to seeing creepy angels got the pleasure of seeing another one. This time the angel told him it was time to go. He had  to pack up and head out of town. Where were joseph and his new family headed? Why to Egypt of course. The land of the pyramids, the Sphinx, and something else…Oh yeah, the longstanding  imprisonment of the Israelite people! Why were they running away in the middle of the night, you might ask? No big deal, just the fact that the local king wanted his new born son dead. Gheesh!

For me the worst part would have been the unknown. They had no idea how long they were going to have to live in Egypt. They stayed until Herod died, but when they left they didn’t have any idea when that was going to happen. All of this happened in a way that another prophesy was fulfilled, where Hoseah had said, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

And then came the saddest part of the Christmas story. Herod figured out that the Magi had tricked him, and in a fit of rage called for every little baby boy who had a chance at being born near the time of Jesus to be murdered. When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. I don’t want to be a downer, but that is how today’s story ends. Herod murders a bunch of babies, and we know, that he didn’t get the one that he wanted. Jesus, was safe, and grew up to be the man we have read about in the rest of the gospels.

Well we only have two more readings together. It has been a fun journey. Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

December 22…Micah 5:2-5

Today we look at a passage referenced in yesterday’s reading. Micah was a prophet of the old testament. It seems that he was alive, and prophesying along the same time as Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea. He basically prophesied of the destruction of Israel, and it’s coming redemption. This section from chapter 5 verses 2-5 is about redemption.

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”

Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.

He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.

And he will be our peace ..”

And out of Bethlehem did come a ruler with very old  origins (like beginning of time!). He did shepherd his flock, and still is. And, we can live securely in Him, for he is great. And most of all in this time of year, He is our peace! Peace be with you.

 

Merry Christmas Eve Eve Eve!

 

December 21…Matthew 2:1-12

Today we look at Matthew 2:1-12. This is the story of the Magi, the “Wise Men,” the “Three Kings of Orient are bearing gifts!” This is probably the most incorrectly recited part of the Christmas story. Before  you read the passage think about what you know about the Magi. You will probably say there were three of them, and that they showed up at the manger on the night Jesus was born. You probably think this, because it is what we always see. We see a nativity set, and who is in it? Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, a shepherd, and angel, some animals, and 3 wise men that look like kings. That is a nativity set. However, that is most likely not what happened. Let’s read together, and we will look back at this.

Magi from the east came to Jerusalem, looking for the “King of the Jews” that they had read about in prophesy from long ago.  They saw a star rise in the sky and followed it. There was already an earthly King at that time named Herod. How do you think he felt when these wise men came asking about some new king he had not heard of. He was probably scared that the thing he held most dear, his kingship, would be taken away from him. So, Herod calls together all of his brightest people asking where the prophesy says the Messiah was supposed to be born. Someone who knew the prophesy spoke up that it was supposed to be in Judea in the town of Bethlehem, which is what the prophesy says, and what Jesus fulfilled.

 

So, Herod started to plot. He knew the Magi were headed to see this new “King,” so he called them to him. He asked them when they had first noticed this new star, and sent them to Bethlehem with his blessing, simply asking them to return to him and tell him what they had found. he said that if they were right and there was a new baby King, that he would want to go worship Him. Secretly however, Herod was thinking, if I can find this baby, I can kill him, and i will have nothing to worry about.

So the Magi left Herod with his blessing. From this point they continued to follow the star they had noticed, until it led them to the place where the baby was. Just the sight of him gave them an overwhelming sense of joy. When they got to “the house,” that’s right, house, not hotel, not manger in a stable, but in a house. Do you have a house in your  nativity set? I sure don’t! Anyways, they saw the baby, and his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him.  They gave him some gifts, three in fact, which is why we often assume there were three wise men. A fair assumption, but not necessarily what happened. There could have been two or two hundred. We know there was more than one, and that’s about it. (By the way, it is not really necessary to the Christmas story to know that there could have been more or less than three wise men, but I find it interesting.)

 

So after a long journey the wise men had found what they were looking for. After worshiping the Messiah they decide it is time to return home. They had told Herod they would return to him and let him know what they had found, but they had a dream that doing so was a bad idea, so they went home a different way. Which, in the end was best, since Herod only wanted to know where Jesus was in order to kill him.

So there you have it, the wise men in your nativity set are in the wrong place! You need to get a little matching house and an arrow that says some time later pointing from the manger to the house, an aged Mary, Joseph and Jesus playing at the house, and that’s where you put your wise men. Or you can not do that, but whatever! Merry Christmas (almost!)