Rumbles from The Past

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6-7

 

One night in a small town in modern day Israel thousands of babies were born.  One of them transformed the world.  If you look you can still see the ripples today from that night.

 

Grace is a mother of five wondering how to provide Christmas for her family with the means that she has.  Grace not only wonders about Christmas gifts, but even getting basic food supplies to support her family.  One Sunday Grace is informed that another family felt led to adopt her family for Christmas.  Grace can only cry as she looks at the food and gifts, and feels the ripples of a little child, who transforms lives today as he did thousands of years ago.

 

The news rocks Sandra’s world, her infant may have a heart problem.  She visits a new church that week and asks for a group of people she just met to pray for her son.  One of those people goes home and prays fervently for her son.  A few days later Sandra meets the person who prayed for her son, and shares the praise that all his tests were negative.  Sandra sees in her prayer partner something different, something bigger than both of them.

 

Ryan doesn’t get around as well as he used to because of shooting pain in his back and legs, forcing him to walk with a cane.  The other day that cane was stolen.  For a reason he doesn’t quite understand he pushes himself out of bed and into church Sunday morning.  After the service someone he barely knows donate a cane to him, and Ryan feels the ripples coming from a manger 2,000 years ago.

 

Tyson finds himself at some Christmas event at some church he’s never been to that his friends from school invited him to.  As he races from station to station someone stops him and asks, would you like to hear the Christmas story?  Tyson stops, he has not heard anything about Jesus and Christmas before.  In that room, the birth of a child 2,000 years ago comes to life and changes a life like it did that silent night years ago.

 

2,000 years ago a little child was born and history has never been the same since.  If you take time to listen in this Christmas Season, you too will see and feel it.  Jesus work that began so many years ago is not complete, it is just beginning.

 

Pastor Bill

 

Discussion Questions

  1. How have you seen God at work this Christmas season?
  2. How might you encourage others?
  3. Take time to share your stories with someone else.  Sometimes the sharing of these stories can be just as impactful for the person hearing them as the person who experienced them.