PCPrays

So 2009 is over (Okay about 38 hours left).  It’s been a big year for Nyssa and my self.  One of the nice things about having a blog is that you can look back at all the old post.  Anyways, I wanted to do that today and thought I would take you (dear reader) along with me..

January

• I was excited about changing a WordPress theme for my web page  :)  I have now made a bunch of changes to my theme and even made my own for Christmas.
• I see I also wanted to go for a hike..  But I was stuck at work (Sounds like today)
• We (in America) had the Inauguration of President Barack Obama
• Spent a lot of time fixing up the house.
• Nyssa’s Grandmother went to the hospital.
• Nyssa also found out that she was with child this month but we did not tell anyone yet…

February

• Gary (My Father-in-law) sent me a link to a thing called “The Bacon Explosion”..  I can not thank him enough
• We moved into our house (how exciting was that!)
• Nyssa’s Grandmother passed away.
• We got our first peak at Marci who we were calling “Peanut”.  And we told people about our new baby in the oven

March

• I posted my first link on how bad the book “The Shack” is.
• Nyssa woke up bleeding and we feared that we might have lost “Peanut”.  But everything turned out okay
• I started the “Bible” series of posts.  Genesis 1:1 on March 14th..  9 months later and I’m on Genesis 13…
• Nyssa was not having a good first trimester with “Peanut”.
• I way underestimated the amount of work required to install wood flooring
• Aunt Lana, Kelly and the kids came down for a visit
• Went camping at Withlacoochee State Forest!

April

• Started my Photobucket account (hey it was a slow month)

May

• Swine Flu scare started
• It did not seem real to me that in about 144 days I would be a daddy
• Found out that Peanut was/is a girl!
• Had a party at my house.  Got to cook the Bacon Explosion.  It was awesome!

June

• My mom finally graduated from High School!!
• Working on the new web page for the church
• Came up with the name Marci Marie Robart
• Celebrated Nyssa’s mom’s birthday.  And got to see my cousin John for the first time like like forever
• My boss (Alan) was on the radio talking about small business
• 100 Days to our due date!
• New Church web page went live
• I started to plan (sorta…  kinda…  okay not at all) our camping trip to Jacks River Falls

July

• Went to Jacks River Falls..  Had a great time (- the getting lost part)
• Installed a sliding glass door with my dad
• My grass was growing like crazy..

August

• Nyssa and my birthdays
• Started working on the Christmas theme for the church’s (and mine) web page
• Dr. Barrett told us Marci would be 2 to 3 weeks early

September

• Nyssa was in an auto accident
• OMG, so when is this baby going to be born…

October

• Marci was born!
• Started putting up new fencing around the house
• My Granddad was in the hospital with a mild case of Pneumonia
• Had a Reformation Day Party
• I wondered why so many people are worried about Halloween but not about sound doctrine (ie “The Shack”)

November

• I started to think about how fast this year was going by
• Bob Robertson Passed away
• Went to see the David Crowder*Band

December

• Mr. Tanner and Ms. Jones passed away..  And I found it funny how much death has surprised me this year
• Marci’s first Christmas
• Stinky found out she’s having a boy!

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So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.

Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord. And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.

Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

How often are we willing to make a sacrifice like this?  Abram could have taken the best land for him self and told his nephew Lot to take the other land.  Do we think that Abram did not see “that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord”?

Maybe Abram learned something in Egypt.  Maybe after all of that he learned that The Lord will take care of him.  I’m not sure but if Abram was scared of the Pharaoh and so he lies about his wife and say that she’s his sister (okay that sister part is sorta kinda true) not his wife.  So the Pharaoh takes his wife and is going to sleep with her (maybe even does) and then God puts great plagues on Pharaoh’s house because he’s sleeping with Abram’s wife.  At this point I’m sure Abram must have thought “If Pharaoh would kill me just to get to Sarai, what will he do now?”  But Pharaoh let’s him go.  Do you think that Abram learned that God can control even the heart of Pharaoh (Exodus 4:21)?

Maybe Abram now had the faith to believe that as long as he was where God wanted him to be that he would be safe.  That it was God who blessed him and gave him success.  So maybe it did not matter to him if he had the land of “the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord” or not.

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And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Luke 2:8-14

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Thus says the Lord:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.”

Jeremiah 31:15

A Sermon by pastor Dave Martin.

To be honest this passage is not something that I have spent a lot of time thinking about.  The first thing is we need to know what Jeremiah is talking about.  Ramah is a little town just outside of Jerusalem (about 3 miles north) and it is the place where during the Babylon invasion the captured Jews were taken to either be 1)killed or 2)take away as exiles to Babylon.  Rachel is the mother of Joseph and Benjamin and is used as in this passage as “a mother of Israel” figure.

Okay so what does this have to do with Christmas?  Matthew quotes Jeremiah in his gospel.  In it he says…

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

Matthew 2:16-18

So we see that just as the Babylons killed and sent the Jews into exile from Ramah so the Jews sent God’s own son into exile and killed children in the town of Bethlehem (about 5 miles south of Jerusalem).

Not all but a lot of the Jews during Jesus time thought very highly of themselves.  They were Abraham’s offspring; God’s very own and special children and as such they believed they were better then the other people.  During the time of Jesus birth the Romans had control over Israel.  Now the Jews expected the Messiah to come and deliver them from the evil Romans.  After all they were God’s special people and they were better then everyone else…

Now I don’t want to focus of the Jews to much because thats not the point that I get from it.  Rather I want to now look at the church.  We are now God’s chosen people and the question is do we think we are better then other people?  Do we thank God that we are not like the sinners in the world?  Not like the gays or not like a young unwed mother or not like an abortion doctor..  Do we have pride in our own righteousness?  If so then we have fallen into the same sin as the Jews 2010 (I think 2014 is more accurate but 2010 is close enough) years ago.

This Christmas let us remember why Jesus came into this world.  He came for sinners.  He came for the broken for the captives.  He came for all people to tell them that no matter what they have done (or thought) that they can be forgiven by faith in him and that he will free them from their bondage from sin..

He came to free me from my bondage to sin.  He came to free me from the pride, lust and hate that fills my heart.  He came to give us fellowship with Himself.

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