A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a gift of…
from Isaiah 11
We have all received a gift…a gift of HOPE, a gift of PEACE, a gift of JOY, a gift of LOVE through the life of Christ. We celebrate this advent season looking at the Gift that has come, the Gift that has changed our world, and how we can, in return, offer the Gift and our gifts to the world around us. Join us this Advent season as we experience and offer hope, peace, joy and love.
The Star Song………………………………………………………………. Jordan Conley
A Gift of Generosity …………………………………………………………Allen Bartlett The Communion Set………………………………………………………...Allison Hammons Gratitude for Luke’s Account………………………………………………John Arnett Lessons of Generosity………………………………………………………Bob Pessolano
Helping the “Preacher Boy”………………………………………………..Dale Tucker Grateful for Life……………………………………………………………. John Arnett Aunt Bev…………………………………………………………………… Bobbie Thomason
A Gift of Song……………………………………………………………… Margaret Graves Comparison is the Thief of Joy …………………………………………….Rowan Claypool
A Gift of Generosity……………………………………………………….. Darrell Adams Unknown Journey………………………………………………………… Erin McGee Ferrell Gracious Mentoring………………………………………………………. Dale Tucker Give Generously……………………………………………………………Greg Robertson This Strange Generosity……………………………………………………Doug Lowry
Share our Abundance……………………………………………………… Chris Jones Giving = Love in Action…………………………………………………….. Melanie Claypool
The Gift of Family……………………………………………………………Debbie Brashear Gratitude and Giving………………………………………………………...Brian Williams The Next Right Thing………………………………………………………..Alice Adams Extending Hospitality to the Stranger……………………………………..Gail Tucker
O beautiful star of Bethlehem, Shine upon earth until the glory dawns Give us a lamp to light the way Unto the land of perfect day O beautiful star of Bethlehem Shine on
I don’t know how old I was when I started loving this song, but I still remember asking Diane, the pianist at our church, if we could, “sing that star song again.”
As I got older, I wondered why I loved such a simple song. After all, maybe the Magi they didn’t see anything at all. Maybe Matthew made the whole story up, as some modern scholars have suggested.
In his book, The Hungering Dark, Frederick Buechner writes, “Who knows what the facts of Jesus' birth actually were? …The longer I live, the more inclined I am to believe in miracle, the more I suspect that if we had been there at the birth, we might well have seen and heard things that would be hard to reconcile with modern science. But of course that is not the point…the Gospel writers are not really interested primarily in the facts of the birth but in the significance…how their whole lives were charged with new significance.”
This Advent, I hope we don’t get caught up in the questions of what did or did not happen when Jesus was born. Whether or not the Magi saw a star, our lives have been illuminated by the light that Jesus brings.
O beautiful star of Bethlehem, Shine On.
We have different gifts, according to the grace given to us… If it is contributing to the needs of others, let him/(her) give generously. Romans 12:6, 8 (NIV)
Growing up I always had an interest in vehicles. My father let me shift gears (3 on the column) years before I got behind the wheel at age 15. My father taught me how to drive a stick shift. My first car was a used 1965 Mustang with 3 on the floor.
After Eileen and I married and moved to Decatur, Georgia, we attended First Baptist Church Decatur. They had a tour bus and I obtained permission and a license (chauffeur) to drive it. I don’t remember how many times I drove the bus, but I felt like that was a gift I had.
Years went by and we ended up in Louisville after I purchased an environmental cleanup company. They had trucks pickup trucks, vans, dump trucks, vacuum trucks and tractor trailers. I obtained a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) in 1986 when a new law became effective, and I was grandfathered because I still had a chauffeur license. I do know how to drive a 12-speed tractor trailer.
We became members at Crescent Hill Baptist Church in 1995. Shortly after that, I was asked to volunteer to drive a church van to pick up older adults for church because they no longer drove. Then when the Karen came to Louisville in 2007, I drove a van to transport them to church. Their numbers increased and CHBC borrowed a mini-bus and later purchased a 24 passenger bus to assist in transportation. I felt gifted to drive one of the vehicles.
Giving of both time and money has always been important to both Eileen and me wherever we are.
“Love’s the only house big enough for all the pain in the world.”
Martina McBride, Love’s the Only House
Prayer: Most gracious Creator, help us to be aware of our unique gifts that You have given us, and to use them to spread your love. Amen
So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
When I was 3 years old, my family moved to eastern Pennsylvania. My life long Baptist parents couldn’t find a church in the area, so they did what any good Southern Baptist did back then they called the Home Mission Board who sent a missionary to plant a church. They and other displaced Baptists started meeting in homes. When we outgrew the living rooms, they sent a three room trailer along with chairs, hymnbooks, and Sunday school materials donated by churches across the country. We even had a communion set. As we continued to grow, we found a vacated Lutheran church building and a week before the move, there was a storm and our little trailer was flipped upside down and destroyed. When the storm passed, church members began salvaging what they could from the wreckage and were surprised by how much was still usable. The chairs, the newly-arrived VBS materials, even the communion set were virtually intact as if God said, “you’re done with the trailer now; keep growing.”
What does this have to do with generosity? When I moved to Louisville over 30 years ago and told my mother where I had started to attend church, she reminded me of this story. The communion set that had made it through the storm had been donated by Crescent Hill Baptist Church. We never knew whether it was purchased new or whether it was an old set that the church outgrew; all we knew was that it was what our new little church needed, given by a church that has shown generosity to me for over 50 years.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for your people who show generosity to people they don’t know. Let us never forget the impact our gifts can have. Amen
After carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, I have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus… Luke 1:3
Luke wrote his account of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus about 80 CE, and we can speculate that the source of his information was either an earlier interview he had with Jesus’ aged mother, Mary, or someone who had talked with her. As we know by reading Luke’s Gospel, he was an excellent writer, and likely had a wonderful imagination. Edith Hamilton reminds us in her book, Witness to the Truth, that “if we had Paul alone to tell us about him, we would know scarcely anything” about Jesus’ life.
In recollecting the conversations he had with Mary or her friends, Luke likely remembered several key points:
1) She recalled God speaking to her and Joseph (through a dream or vision) that he should not divorce her when she got mysteriously pregnant, and that somehow this child would become the actual embodiment of God on Earth and should be named Jesus.
2) She recalled her cousin Elizabeth’s telling her of unusual experiences with her pregnancy.
3) They traveled to Bethlehem because of the census and ended up staying in a stable.
4) There were some shepherds who visited them and told stories of strange visions.
5) Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day at the Temple in Jerusalem.
With this information Luke was inspired to weave the tale that we have come to know as the Christmas story. Mary could have mentioned the angel Gabriel or this could have been Luke’s invention. Luke likely wrote the Magnificat closely following the words of Hannah written by the author of the book of Samuel, and he probably imagined what Zechariah, Simeon, Anna, and others might have said. He developed a great story about the shepherds and the angels. (The author of Matthew wrote about the wise men and Herod, but that wasn’t what Luke remembered.)
Of course, we don’t know how much of the Christmas events are Luke’s inventions or an accurate recounting of Mary’s experiences, but I believe the events did happen and were not just Luke’s fabrication in order to give his Greek friends an explanation of Jesus’ link to the gods. However, belief in the Christmas story and the virgin birth are not essential elements of our faith. Rather, the story, with all its embellishments, brings us Hope that ours is a God who is working with us for Peace, Joy, and Love in this world.
Prayer: Thank you God for the Gospel writers and especially Luke, whom you inspired to take the time to record the life of your embodiment, Jesus, in this world.
And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Hebrews 3:16
My paternal grandparents emigrated from Brazil to Pennsylvania in 1916, and lived with our family for as long as I remember. I learned much about generosity from my family, but most of all from my grandmother. She taught me two important lessons about generosity that have stayed with me through the years.
She lived in Pennsylvania for forty six years, but still spoke English with a pronounced accent. She also never became totally acclimated with the American way of life. However, she practiced generosity by her actions. I witnessed her on many occasions taking meals from our table and sharing them with the less fortunate who sometimes came to our house. She willingly and gladly fed them the same food of which we were partaking.
During my senior year in high school, I worked on the Yearbook staff. I solicited contributions for ads in the yearbook. She made a donation, but wanted it entered as “Anonymous.” I was proud of her and wanted her to receive public credit for this donation. She insisted that it remain anonymous. The lesson she taught me is that the act of generosity is important In and of itself. It does not require notoriety or acclaim.
Prayer: Gracious God, you shower us abundantly with many gifts. We pray that you touch our hearts and encourage us to likewise share our gifts with others for the common good of all.
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty … They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. 1 Timothy 6: 17 19
I was sure I wanted to go to college but was unsure as to how my parents could afford to send me, with Dad being a Baptist minister in modest sized congregations. Baptist colleges were expensive!
My mother worked in the law office of Alfred Featherston who also attended First Baptist Church of Murfreesboro, Arkansas. I had “surrendered to preach” at 17 years of age and that church had “licensed” me to preach. Thus, I was allowed an occasional opportunity to practice on Sunday nights and at other small churches in the area.
When Mr. Featherston heard that I hoped to attend Ouachita, only 40 miles away, and was a good place for a “preacher boy” to get a good education, he told my parents that if I continued to pursue my calling, he would cover the difference each year between the cost and what my parents could pay.
This significant gift allowed me to participate in campus life and to preach weekend youth revivals. Otherwise, I would have needed to work on the grounds crew or in the school cafeteria to help cover the costs. It freed my parents and me from worry and debt that would have taken years to pay off. This gift was because a Christian layman saw a need and used his resources to help someone pursue their calling to be a minister. I learned that there were others who were quietly helped by Alfred Featherston.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, you have heard of our need and have sent unexpected help and helpers; may you lead us to be such helpers to others.
All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. John 1:3 4
Eternity and Infinity are difficult concepts to comprehend and our understanding is limited to a four dimensional world of space and time. But before the Big Bang some 13.5 billion years ago there were an infinite number of similar expansions and contractions of universes. In this meditation, however, I deal with our Earth which first appeared about 4.5 billion years ago.
Although carbon is the fourth most common element in our universe (next to hydrogen, helium, and oxygen), Earth was initially too hot for any of the carbon atoms and carbon containing molecules to survive. It wasn’t until about 4 billion years ago that the Earth was cool enough for carbon molecules (infalling from various planetismals, asteroids, and cosmic dust) to survive in the water. Some of these carbon molecules were nucleic acids (Uracil, Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Thymine) that pre existed even the Big Bang and combined to form RNA and DNA nucleotides that led to what we know as the building blocks of Life. In that sense we were, indeed, created out of carbon containing dust.
As life progressed and providential interventions allowed photosynthesis to happen about 3.5 billion years ago, shrubs, trees, and flowers emerged. Eventually, and probably with another providential nudge, Homo sapiens evolved some 300,000 years ago, and, as people learned the survival value of caring for each other, civilizations developed about 40,000 years ago. In 1915, the phrase “Reverence for Life” stuck Albert Schweitzer like a flash and became his mantra.
So here we are, the result of an amazing recurring process overseen by what I choose to call the Life Loving Presence in the universe. Most of us call this God. The question arises, then, as posed in a sermon delivered many years ago by Dr. Claypool, “Is God Personal?” Each of us has to wrestle with that question. Does this amazing Life sustaining Force care about me? This is the deist’s dilemma, and many of us, including Claypool, have our own experiences which answer, “Yes.” In addition, we all have access to the sketchy record of the physical embodiment of that Life Loving Presence, namely, the person of Jesus who, using the only anthropomorphic words people could understand, characterized God as our Father who cares about each of us, and offers to us the difficult to understand gift of Eternal Life.
Prayer: Our Father and Life Loving Presence, we thank you for this Life and help us to embody love for each other which is the only way we’ll survive on this Earth. And thank you for the gift of Eternal Life that will continue even after this four dimensional life of ours is over. Amen
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. James 1:17
Many of you may have had a favorite relative. Mine was a mischievous, chain smoking aunt who was always a force to be reckoned with. My Aunt Bev loved me fiercely, and I felt like I was her favorite niece. She gave me all sorts of delightful gifts. She was also a musician and had a deep and beautiful voice. As a preteen, she was hit by a car. Although injured badly, she did recover, and the man who hit her, feeling terrible about it, insisted on giving her anything that she wanted. Well, she wanted a piano. She got it. She loved that piano and became quite a talented pianist. That piano was her most treasured possession.
Later, her husband was an officer in the Air Force and was sent to Iceland. Our family did not know it, but that military po sting would change our lives forever. We spent the Christmas before they left at their house. The next morning when we woke up, there was a gigantic red bow around the piano along with a note that the piano was to be a gift to our family. I immediately began taking piano lessons in January at the age of 9 and fell in love with it! Both of my sisters also took lessons when they became old enough. Our house was filled with the sound of practicing for many years.
My aunt Bev was unable to have children and adopted two German orphans and loved them dearly. Later, she cared for my uncle throughout his slowly debilitating battle with MS. After his death she was a favorite Middle School History teacher for many years. She had many tough times and sorrows, but she was a survivor and was always a giver never a taker. I loved her so much and can still hear her raucous laughter and powerful voice from those family Sunday dinners. I always had her love and support for as long as she lived. Aunt Bev had the gift of generosity.
Prayer: Generous God, who taught us to give by sending your son among us, help us to give with the generosity of love that Jesus showed to us.
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. Psalm 104:33
My dad was a man with many responsibilities in his life as seminary president and senior pastor of our church in Recife, Brazil. Despite his busy schedule, our family shared most meals together. However, our best family times were during rides in the car on Saturday afternoons once dad had finished working on his sermons for the next day.
Mom and Dad loved to go for long drives out in the country or to a beach out of the city. I don’t remember much about our destinations but I remember our time shared during the drives. Dad would lead us as we sang hymn after hymn. He had a beautiful voice and seemed to know all the hymns by heart. I first learned to love the hymns in Portuguese.
Many of the hymns we sang have the same tunes of the hymns I have learned to love the words to in English. Many years later, as I drove back and forth to Valdosta, GA (660 miles) when my mom was approaching her final days, I listened to and learned from Darrell Adam’s CDs the words of hymns that comfort me. The gift of time and love of hymns from my parents has stayed with me. I think of these each time I sing the words to “Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go”. My favorite line and one that sustains me is: “I see the rainbow through the rain”.
Prayer: God, Thank you for songs that help us keep on singing. Amen
Over the last few years I have become increasingly aware of my need to separate my sense of joy from the noise of the secular world. One aspect is simply the torrent of hatefulness that seems to surround so much of our civic discourse but also includes some more personal, self induced downers. One self inflicted tactic is the “comparison trap” which I will contend is the thief of joy. Seemingly, whenever we compare ourselves to others, we come up short. Seeing comparison in this light illuminates the potentially destructive and more modestly depressing feelings we get when we compare our circumstances to others. Inevitably, the comparison is unfavorable. We choose to measure ourselves ONLY against the taller, stronger, smarter, and wealthier (let’s go ahead and add the better looking to the list, too).
But what is God signaling us about comparisons during Advent? The story of Christmas is the antithesis of comparison in the usual form. Every aspect of the story is the opposite of our instinctive comparisons. It throws in our faces the futility of seeing things as we usually do. The Christmas story is humble, modest, and unpretentious. A pregnant teenager traveling to Bethlehem by donkey, a savior born in a manger with animals all around, and danger so great they were forced to flee to Egypt for safety. How are we to view it as the arrival of the long -awaited Messiah, the arrival of the King of the Jews? It is simply not on the terms or in the style we expect. It fails by comparison, if you will.
Jesus arrives to remind us that the false images we set up: taller, strong, etc, are flat wrong. Rather, we are challenged by this story to see God’s hand moving in our midst in His ways, by His methods to change the world. We need to be realigned this season that God is not constrained to our limited visions or our egotistical frameworks. He challenges our narrow, earthly prisms and asks us to think afresh and with open minds about “when did we see you, Lord?”
If we are not careful, we will spend the Advent season looking at the decorations on our neighbor's home and the dozens of family cars parked in their driveway gathered for a meal. By comparing ourselves to them, we miss the true opportunity of this season. The real chance is to find a larger share of Christmas joy less rooted on our earthly score card and more focused on God’s intervention into human history. It is His invitation for us to help establish His kingdom on earth. Now that is some Christmas joy!
After all you were called to be free; do not use your freedom as an opening for self indulgence, but be servants to one another in love. Galatians 5:13
In October of 2004 I went to Chiang Mai province Thailand with several members of CHBC: Marianne Taylor, Sharon Smith, Mitch Underhill, Annette Ellard, and Steve Clark. Our group would be observing the work of Ellen and Rick Burnette, founders of the Highland Development Project/UDHP where they promoted holistic development o f agroforestry, preserving water and forest resources, and culturally understanding social relations and human rights.
I’d never gone so far away or so deep into another culture. One day we traveled up a river for two hours in a long canoe powered by a Vo lkswagen engine, then a three hour walk to a wooden structure on stilts with a crude , narrow ladder for entering. We are welcomed and seated around a fire in the middle of the room. The headman grabs his machete and leaves to come back in a few minutes with fruit and heart of palm which he quickly prepares and gives us to eat. After eating he guides us into the jungle, showing where and how they grow rice and tea, identifying the many edible plants we pass by, and reseeding areas that were recovering.
This day and the others we had at UHDP, began a change in my life. The world got bigger but more knowable. The village headman, the Burnettes, and other locals at UHDP welcomed and included us. This is called accompaniment; coming alongside each other and fre ely sharing our knowledge and humanity. What can be more generous?
Prayer: God, help us use our freedom to understand our relation to each other near and far, make us instruments of justice and peace.
When you pass the water, I will be with you.
Isaiah 43:1-7
Born in Kentucky, the ocean is not something I grew up with. I’ve maintained a healthy fear of it even now that I live on the coast of Maine. Fear might have come from watching the movie, Jaws, or numerous times when I have gotten tossed in waves and currents and struggled to find breath and footing. My greatest fear is a crash landing into a deep ocean in the night. The dark unknown full of sharp teeth. The ultimate unknown journey came with a cancer diagnosis in 2018. The metaphorical dark waters surrounded me as I underwent a year of Breast Cancer Surgeries and treatments. I realized during that year that fear of the future was so much worse than the day by day reality of dealing with it. My grandfather always told me to not build a bridge and carry it around until I found a stream to cross over.
One year after Cancer diagnosis my husband and I traveled to visit our son in Hawaii. A plan had been made for the family to Night Snorkel with Manta Rays. A boat would take us far offshore and we would jump into the dark ocean and float around for an hour peering beneath the water.
Terrified, I agreed to do this. Comforted by the presence of many other tourists doing this same thing, we all jumped into the deep night ocean and held on to paddleboards affixed with underwater lamps. On the ocean floor divers sat with huge lights creating a cavern of light reminding me of a large room in a cave. Manta Rays gracefully swam feet from us, eating plankton attracted to our lamps. The dark unknown terror changed into a peaceful, beautiful, and graceful experience. Like the cancer year, filled with kind nurses, generous friends, and God’s presence at every turn. Once again, I was reminded that the fear of the dark night, the deep ocean, the cancer, and the unknown future is always worse than the actual journey.
Prayer: Dear God, please walk beside us, beneath us, above us, within us through the unknown. In the pain, we feel your nearness. Alone, in the terror of the night, you cradle us. You are the lamp under the deep water giving us peace and showing us beauty and bringing us to awe. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with sacred writings. 2 Timothy 3:14-15
I arrived in Louisville in the fall of 1970 with a dented car, a suitcase and $50 to attend Southern Seminary. Shortly afterwards, I met Jim Ryan, a friend of my minister father in Arkansas, who had just moved to Louisville to work on a doctorate in education at Southern. He had just been called as the pastor of Franklin Street Baptist Church in Butchertown and needed a music and youth director…was I interested? In order to be close to the kids with whom I worked, I moved to Franklin Street, next door to the Louisville Outlaws which was an eye opener for a small town Arkansas boy!
Jim Ryan welcomed me as his assistant, mentored and encouraged me, and even allowed me to preach dressed as the Apostle Paul and another time from the top of a ladder! He stood up for me when the deacons were upset with me for letting our coffee house’s candle wax get on the basement carpet. It was a major draw for neighborhood kids. Not only did I learn about delinquent kids and troubled adults, I witnessed the amazing dedication of church members who continued to drive back to the inner city to work with neighborhood children and families.
It was at Franklin Street that I felt called to work in the inner city and this put me on the path to direct the Salvation Army’s Comprehensive Alcoholism Program (SACAP) and Wayside Christian Mission. God does move in mysterious ways with surprising opportunities.
Prayer: Holy Father, thank you for those who have graciously guided and encouraged us and for those seemingly random events that provide opportunities for growth.
Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.
Deuteronomy 15:10
When I think about Advent and my journey to generosity, I can’t but think of the blessings I received as a child of loving parents and grandparents. They always made sure that I had a nice Christmas.
As I have matured and made traditions with friends that are family, and how our church during the holidays have made an effort to help needy families in our community. Normally, two of us from a Sunday School class would go shopping for the children, and found things they have asked for from toys, to clothes, to gift cards for food. It always warmed my heart to find the items they had asked for.
On Christmas morning, I would pause to think of those children that we had bought for, and wondered how they were feeling as they were opening their presents.
May we during this Advent Season, be reminded of how blessed we are, and how we can help those less fortunate with what we have been given.
Prayer: Dear God, May we remember those who are less fortunate, knowing that it’s better to give, than to receive. Amen.
Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east and have come to pay him homage.
Matthew 2:2
Imagine it: a very young woman called to a generous motherhood with a new strangeness of body that generously nurses a baby.
Imagine it: a very young woman in a strange place, but not far from God.
Imagine it: a strange baby generously swaddled in a strange bed generous with his cries, far from home, but not far from God.
Imagine it: a young man, strangely betrothed but dutiful, coming to fulfill his enrollment duties. Imagine him in this strange place, utterly generous in committing to join with a woman and child of strange origin as family for the rest of his life. In a strange place, but not far from God.
Imagine it: a strange star bringing wise ones from the East, each bearing a generous gift. Wise ones from a strange place, but not far from God.
Imagine it: a generous display of angels, so brilliant that it utterly awes shepherds watching their flocks in the generous green hills. So far from the city, but not far from God.
Imagine it: a baby growing into the greatest expression of generosity the world will ever know. So close to God.
Imagine it: a strange God giving himself to live among strangers like us, to reconcile us to himself and to help us kindle our own generosity. A strange place, not far from God.
Imagine in these strange, bewildering times, times that seem so far from the Kingdom of God that we are the wise ones. This journey seems strangely arduous, but we are not far from God. We wise ones, made sage in God’s love through this baby, are called again to present our generous gifts.
Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. 2 Corinthians 8:12 (New Living Translation)
You’re walking into church one morning when a person on the street stops you to ask “Can you spare any cash?” You stop for a moment and the familiar response slips from your lips “Sorry, I don’t have any cash on me.” This happened to me one Sunday morning. It was a humbling reminder for me of what Jesus teaches us all. He talks about people who have less than we do many times and the lesson is always clear: give all that you can cheerfully. We have all been blessed with abundance and should share our abundance with everyone as we would want others to do for us.
Prayer: Lord, we ask for your help in being generous with all we have. Help us remember that those with less than us deserve all our love and help as much as any of our friends and family for they are our neighbors too. Remind us that we too have faced adversity and have needed help. Amen.
For God so loved the world that He GAVE… His only Son. John 3:16
The giddy excitement of children at Christmas is unbridled joy! Just talk to any kid about the gifts they are hoping to receive, and the energy is contagious! As we mature, the gift giving can then become our positive and profound pleasure.
This year’s stewardship theme, “Journey to Generosity” makes me grateful for the abundant giving that CHBC has shown in countless areas. Specifically, since our church installed a Little Free Pantry next to our parking lot, many Sunday School classes, work groups, and church groups have adopted it for a month at a time during 2022. The pantry has been continuously filled at least twice a week. This small cabinet is a lifeline for many along Frankfort Avenue. It provides bare essential meals and hygiene products to innumerable needy people on a 24/7 basis. It also inspires our neighbors to donate! Many times when CHBC adds goods, we find that silent strangers have left multiple items and special treats for kids!
In addition, CHBC gave over 70 Christmas children’s boxes and many gift cards to assist Scarlette Jasper in spreading joy in Appalachia to thos e in chronic poverty. Finally, with the leadership and donation from CHBC, generous CBF congregations across the country also met the goal to buy an air conditioned cargo van for Cultivate Abundance, whose Florida area was devastated by Hurricane Ian. This transportation to share fresh produce will ultimately be a “God-send” for migrant workers who are now in even more of a food desert than prior to the storm.
“For God so loved the world that He GAVE… His only Son”. At Christmas, we celebrate this greatest gift for all of history and recommit to remember and respond that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Prayer: God, remind us that giving equals love. Amen
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 1 John 3:17
I was gifted with generosity upon my birth into the family of Carl and Martha Jennings, two of the most generous people I have known. My parents lived and loved unselfishly throughout their lives. They exemplified their belief in unrequited sharing through the giving of themselves to all who were fortunate enough to know them.
My mother was a loving mom, sharing friend, and powerful Christian. She gifted many with her delicious meals, (including her renowned fried chicken and unsurpassed fudge), her beautiful handiwork and her sensitive words and loving actions.
My father epitomized his Christ-like love and lived his faith in many ways. Two examples are the Wednesday noon Bible study that he led almost to the end of his life and Thursday night visitation sharing his love and God’s love with all he met. His quirky wit and listening spirit made him a loving father and a friend to so many who knew and loved him.
Growing up in a family who had little spare change but endless richness, I learned the value of friends and family and sharing our love with others.
I was blessed with 2 precious sisters and two loving sons who have supported and cared about me and many others. I know I have had the best and most generous family that I could ever imagine. My prayer is that we give generously of ourselves to those we love and those who need love. Generosity that is shared with others is multiplied many, many times over.
Prayer: Oh God of peace, We are made in your image, and thus are made to reflect your generous spirit. We ask that you fashion us to better reflect your image. Shape our hearts, minds, and souls so that we may learn to give as freely as you give. Amen
Now after they left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you… Matthew 2:13
Gratitude and giving goes hand in hand. In my book you are not really grateful if you have not given back to others. How, what, when, where, and to whom you give is left up to you, but a grateful heart gives back.
Several years ago, the worship team was considering if there was something that would be more generous and would help those in need, instead of people placing poinsettias in the sanctuary to enhance the worship space during the Advent season. What if they purchased food for United Crescent Hill Ministries (UCHM) with the money, they would have used to buy poinsettias? So, the worship team decided on donating food instead of flowers.
While there is certainly nothing wrong with poinsettias, all the food donated was more beautiful as it grew from Sunday to Sunday at the front of the sanctuary. It ended up being a lot of food. It was a full van load that Joe Williams and I delivered to UCHM after Christmas that year. It was because of all the grateful hearts that make up Crescent Hill Baptist Church that such a wonderful gift was given.
So here is the challenge, examine where you give, what you give, and how you give. Then you may be able to identify something you can change in your giving so it can make a difference in the lives of strangers to our land and/or refugees in our city. Remember Mary and Joseph with their baby we call Jesus became strangers and refugees in a foreign land!
Prayer: Dear God help us give wisely with grateful hearts. Amen!
What you are doing is much more than a service that supplies God’s people with what they need. It is something that will make many others thank God.
2 Corinthians 9:12 CEV
I am proud and honored to be a member of Crescent Hill Baptist Church. Darrell and I joined in 1976 and have experienced many changes through the years. Each era was important in growing my faith and expanding my understanding of “walking in the way of Jesus”. As I ponder those years, I am flooded with memories an d gratitude for the countless folks who have generously enriched our lives and journeyed with us through mountains of joy and valleys of deepest sorrow.
During a time of intense grief, we were counseled to “just do the next right thing, even if it is only to put your right foot out of bed”. I have relied on that counsel time and time again. This year as CHBC was in the period of transition in pastoral leadership, I asked often in prayer, “God, what is the next right thing for our church?” Now as the decisions have been made and Jordan Conley was called to serve with Andrea Woolley, I am of the firm conviction that we did that right thing! I am inspired and encouraged each day as we move forward as a congregation.
So now to where generosity slips in! There are a multitude of folks who have shown us generosity through the years. I am forever grateful. Yet for this writing, I mention specifically the spirit of generosity of Greg Robertson and Brian Williams for helping CHBC to arrive at a point where we were re ady to pay attention to God’s work among us and to call a gay man to serve alongside a woman as our co pastors. Their love, care, and steadfastness through the years at CHBC eased the barriers for us that we see in so many churches toward LGBTQ folks. I am certain that for Brian and Greg, many days among us must have been frustrating, difficult and discouraging. Yet they chose to stick to the journey and love us. Their generosity of spirit, love, patience, example and just being “Greg and Brian” opened the path for CHBC to do the “next right thing”. Thanks be to God.
Prayer: Heavenly parent, thank you for folks who are generous with their steady presence. For folks who live the example of your love and grace so that we may be open to a fuller and more generous spirit of making room at our table for everyone, May it be so. Amen
And do not forget to do good and to share with others; for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16
Our family spent the year of 1986 in San Jose, Costa Rica in language school prior to heading to Argentina as missionaries.
We got very involved in the First Baptist Church there and made a number of good friends. Several invited us to their homes for meals, which was always a special treat. It seemed a true act of generosity, especially when many lived in or close to poverty. The minister of music at our church was a banker during the week, so for that economy, he would have been considered middle class. He met us at the bus stop and led us to his modest home.
When we got ready to eat, there were only four place settings at the table. They insisted the four members of our family sit at those seats and they sat on seats behind us and watched us eat while we talked. Never before, or after, have we experienced this. When we finished eating, they washed the dishes, reset the table and we took the seats on the outer ring to watch them eat. The typical Costa Rican meal was wonderful and plentiful, but they simply didn’t have a large enough table or enough plates for us all to eat at the same time. The whole experience was so humbling and I felt so loved by this family.
The warmth and generosity they exhibited that day have stayed with me through the years. It has changed what I consider “necessary” to entertain. So, my house doesn’t have to be just perfect nor the fare top notch. It is more important to just “be with people” rather than worrying about all the trappings of a perfect entertainment situation.
Prayer: God, help us to share what we have, as you have taught us to do. Amen.