This Christmas I took up pen and paper and wrote this short piece for my son. I hope it blesses your heart.

The Christmas Promise When you look around during the Christmas season you see all the trappings with such worldly reason. You read the papers and listen to the news, you read your bank statement and you may get the blues. There is a ton that goes on in this holiday scene. If you get to involved it might make you scream. I wonder just maybe if we were willing to try could we pull away the trappings of this holiday nigh and get to the root of what brings us all here, the Christmas promise, the reason for cheer. Let’s peel away the trees and lose the bright lights. Let’s get rid of the sales that starts all of the fights. We can lose the turkey and the dressing and pie. We can easily get rid of that red suited guy. Let’s get to the root. Lets get there with haste. Lets lose sight of the gifts and the finances we’ve faced. Let’s imagine and stretch till we stand in the sight Of a baby and a manger on that first Christmas night. It occurs to me now that this Christmas promise so dear would not have occurred except God had drawn near. The angel’s amazed could not fathom God’s plan. Be born in the flesh to die for man? Imagine with me the most modest of scenes. Just you and the Christ child and this promise He brings. That though you are sinful and struggling in the fight. He saw worth it all to be born that sacred night. He was born not for treasure or power or reign, He wasn’t born for kingdoms, or crowns for to gain. But for one specific purpose was He born on that night. To live till He die saving us from our plight. So this Christmas remember when you get a chance think. Of that night long ago when the world was on the brink. That God promised you a gift that’s oh so dear. It is that gift we should celebrate all through the year. The gift of His Son. The gift is for many yet is fashioned for one. A gift of new life and the hope that will come. That none who accept Him will He ever shun. For you in the manger many years ago God made a promise that His Son did show. The promise to love you and care for you right. To be God with us starting that first Christmas night. The promise to save you and to make all things new. The promise to comfort us whenever we’re blue. The promise to give you a hope and a truth. The promise to stick with us when we are uncouth. The knowledge to know and the faith to believe that God will never forsakes you. From you He’ll never leave. It’s the Christmas promise.

This is a phone call that a dj received in Houston. I think it's worth hearing this wisdom from such a young child.

So what does it mean to overcome evil in the context pf Romans 12:14-21? I was amazed at what I discovered as I did the study of the passage. In addition to the sermon I showed a video. The video isn't capable of being shown due to copyrights.  Enjoy.

With the busyness of the ordination service and the holidays upon me I  have got a little behind on my sermon uploads. I will hopefully get the majority of this caught up over the next two days.

The sermon I have placed here is the sermon taken from Romans 12:13. I was impressed by the nature of the original Greek used here that later became interpreted as our English word hospitality. I thought it was extremely interesting how God declares we are to protect strangers and we are to provide for them. I was especially convicted of the truth of this trait in the House of God. As I was studying I was also deeply disappointed by the prospect of how far the churches have seperated themselves from true hospitality and today it seems they are more interested in entertaining strangers with good food, good music, and good times. I don't think this is wrong necessarily but it shouldn't be at the expense of protecting them from worldliness and providing for them the bread of life, Jesus Christ.

As you listen to the sermon a technical problem must have occurred. The first couple minutes are missing but not enough to take away from the overall message. May God bless you as you listen.