Central Baptist Church of Westerly
16 Elm Street, Westerly, RI 02891
Phone: (401) 596-4929
Check out our blog at Central Baptist Life
16 Elm Street, Westerly, RI 02891
Phone: (401) 596-4929
Check out our blog at Central Baptist Life
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God is always working behind the scenes
December 11, 2019
Dear Friends,
My wife, Lori, had an early morning appointment in
Providence. I dropped her off and then headed over to
the Providence Place Mall. It was early so I figured I
could get my walking done and do some window shopping
for Christmas too. It was a practical way of tackling two
goals with one trip. It was the perfect plan and offered a
great start to my day.
As I began my walk, I noticed something that I had never
seen or thought about before. There were people doing
all kinds of tasks. It brought to mind the Keebler elves
from an old television advertisement. They were scurrying
about, dusting bannisters, cleaning windows, organizing
displays and making preparations for the busy day ahead.
Most of us never see these workers. They are waiting in
the wings and work in the wee hours of the morning. They
come in to make sure that everything is perfect for holiday
crowds that will swarm the mall in the days leading up to
Christmas. As such, we take them for granted. We simply
go about our business as if the preparations just magically
happened.
That's true of a lot of things. As I'd come in and plop my
stuff down in the hallway, I remember my mom asking, "
And who do you think cleans the house while you are at
school?" "You do," I'd reply as I went to pick up my
things. Our parents did a lot of things that we took for
granted. It's only when we grew up and had children of
our own that we realized how much they did.
The same could be said of God. He's always working
behind the scenes. He is preparing the way for something
big to happen. When it happens in our lives, we often write
it off as coincidence. Yet, when we look back on these
seminal events that shaped and changed our future, we
can see the hand of God at work. It's kind of like that poem,
"Footprints." God was there all the time. We just weren't
aware of it.
We see this clearly in the Christmas story. The Prophet
Isaiah tells us that a virgin will conceive and bear a son.
The Prophet Micah tells us that the savior will be born
in Bethlehem. Jeremiah says that a savior will come from
the line of David. All these prophesies, taken alone, don't
add up too much. When you put them together though,
you see the Master's hand at work.
God had this plan from the very beginning. In the Gospel
of John, Chapter 1, we read, "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning..." Then he goes on to
say in verse 14; "The Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us." That is where we first get to hear
about the Christmas story.
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke elaborate on the
particulars. The rest of the New Testament reveals the
love of God and the salvation that Jesus brought, the
Good News of Great Joy.” One thing is sure. It wasn’t a
coincidence. It was a plan laid out from the beginning of
time. So celebrate it this Christmas and praise God for
bringing all the pieces together of this wonderful love
story we call Christmas.
God bless! See you in church.
Cal
December 11, 2019
Dear Friends,
My wife, Lori, had an early morning appointment in
Providence. I dropped her off and then headed over to
the Providence Place Mall. It was early so I figured I
could get my walking done and do some window shopping
for Christmas too. It was a practical way of tackling two
goals with one trip. It was the perfect plan and offered a
great start to my day.
As I began my walk, I noticed something that I had never
seen or thought about before. There were people doing
all kinds of tasks. It brought to mind the Keebler elves
from an old television advertisement. They were scurrying
about, dusting bannisters, cleaning windows, organizing
displays and making preparations for the busy day ahead.
Most of us never see these workers. They are waiting in
the wings and work in the wee hours of the morning. They
come in to make sure that everything is perfect for holiday
crowds that will swarm the mall in the days leading up to
Christmas. As such, we take them for granted. We simply
go about our business as if the preparations just magically
happened.
That's true of a lot of things. As I'd come in and plop my
stuff down in the hallway, I remember my mom asking, "
And who do you think cleans the house while you are at
school?" "You do," I'd reply as I went to pick up my
things. Our parents did a lot of things that we took for
granted. It's only when we grew up and had children of
our own that we realized how much they did.
The same could be said of God. He's always working
behind the scenes. He is preparing the way for something
big to happen. When it happens in our lives, we often write
it off as coincidence. Yet, when we look back on these
seminal events that shaped and changed our future, we
can see the hand of God at work. It's kind of like that poem,
"Footprints." God was there all the time. We just weren't
aware of it.
We see this clearly in the Christmas story. The Prophet
Isaiah tells us that a virgin will conceive and bear a son.
The Prophet Micah tells us that the savior will be born
in Bethlehem. Jeremiah says that a savior will come from
the line of David. All these prophesies, taken alone, don't
add up too much. When you put them together though,
you see the Master's hand at work.
God had this plan from the very beginning. In the Gospel
of John, Chapter 1, we read, "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning..." Then he goes on to
say in verse 14; "The Word became flesh and made his
dwelling among us." That is where we first get to hear
about the Christmas story.
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke elaborate on the
particulars. The rest of the New Testament reveals the
love of God and the salvation that Jesus brought, the
Good News of Great Joy.” One thing is sure. It wasn’t a
coincidence. It was a plan laid out from the beginning of
time. So celebrate it this Christmas and praise God for
bringing all the pieces together of this wonderful love
story we call Christmas.
God bless! See you in church.
Cal
| Pastor Cal Lord's Weekly Epistle |
| Pastor Cal's Weekly Epistle Every week Pastor Cal writes a weekly column for the Spirit Page of the Norwich Bulletin. He also sends it out to members and friends of the church via e-mail. E-mail him at calstigers@gmail.com if you want to be added to the weekly list. |
| Pastor Cal's Archived Epistles |