THEY HAD ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE!!! It was so awesome! While we as a church had been planning Jesus’ birthday gift for the past several weeks … this family had NO CLUE that they would be the recipients this past Sunday at the close of our Christmas celebration service! We loved all the planning and the gathering of love gifts - both the monetary and also the tangible ones that each of us gift-wrapped. We loved keeping the secret – and the element of surprise! We loved every part of the process, because first of all, we knew we were doing it for Jesus, wanting to honor Him for His birthday! Secondly, we knew how much we loved this family in our church, and how exciting it was to be able to be God’s hands extended to meet some of their needs and share generously with the love of Jesus spilling from our hearts! Just a week earlier, the winter storm had kept us from gathering together on Sunday morning. So to make sure that no one forgot about the birthday gift for Jesus, throughout the week we made phone calls and sent off letters as a last-minute reminder to everyone. We needn’t have been concerned, though, because when God ordains something, He sees it through to the finish. Suddenly, everyone began to jump on board ~ and we began to get even more excited! Sizable donations were coming in … some cash … some gift cards … and we began to receive phone calls from people who were shopping and wrapping gifts for Sunday morning! Some gave from a limited income, some gave that had their own little family to buy gifts for, others that probably could have spent more on their own family instead chose to share some of that to go shopping for “Jesus’ birthday gifts”. The best part is that everyone did it joyfully out of love, and could hardly wait for Sunday morning to arrive! We believe this birthday gift for Jesus was so important to God that He even enlisted someone from out-of-state – without them knowing anything about it! One of the gifts we were planning to give to this family – got channeled to another needy family when God led us to give it away. We began to wonder, now what? We want to give to them … and we will … but just where is it coming from, Lord? And then within hours, we received a phone call from someone that supports us monthly through automatic deposit. Twice a month $100 is placed in our bank account – without fail. But this person was telling us that we were going to see an extra $100 in our account the next morning because they had received a Christmas bonus. And from their deposit, the first $100 was being transferred to our account because that’s how the bank has it set up. I immediately resisted – strongly, because this had occurred a few times before. This individual would receive a bonus, and an extra hundred dollars would show up in our account. And each time he would refuse to let us send it back. “God has blessed me,” he would say. “Just keep it and use it however you need to.” This time, I stated, “We’ll send it right back to you – that’s YOUR gift!” He resisted right back, “No, you keep it. I don’t need it; God has given me lots more.” As I began to resist again, suddenly I saw the re-play of the gift we had that God had asked us to give away. And before I could even think about it, I heard myself asking him, “since you don’t want the money back, would you like to be a part of Jesus’ birthday gift from Elevation North and we’ll use the ‘surprise $100’ to bless this family?” He immediately joined in on the opportunity to share, and in that moment I realized how incredibly God the Father had arranged all of this for His Son’s birthday! Tears streamed down my face … not unlike the tears that streamed down the face of these young grandparents as they stood at the front of the church on Sunday morning receiving the gifts that THEY HAD NO CLUE they would be getting! Their little granddaughter, who they are raising, stood with them, eyes big with wonderment and amazement. Money, gift cards, presents, and all the love our hearts could hold were lavished on them, and we were blessed beyond words! We could tell they were, too. With humble gratitude they tried to speak through their tears. And as a church family we understood the language of their hearts as we embraced them with joy and love! Giving early birthday gifts to Jesus on Sunday morning definitely outshone every celebration we will have this Christmas season … because it’s ALL about HIM! And this family was on His mind when He led us to share His gifts with them! Can it get any better than that?! Well, only if you realize that at so many times in all of our lives when we’ve struggled and wondered and despaired – often WE HAVE NO CLUE – what’s just around the corner! God is there … waiting with surprises and blessings and miracles that will cause us to CELEBRATE!!!
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
IN A NUTSHELL . . .
- WELL, YOU’VE ALREADY GOTTEN AN INSIDE PEEK at last Sunday morning through our eyes, and the entire Christmas worship celebration was both powerful and precious! Emmanuel – “God With Us” – was present in our midst and we carried the essence of His presence with us to the places and people we sang carols to in the afternoon! What a great time we had proclaiming the message of Jesus’ birth so long ago! And a special thanks to everyone for bringing such wonderful food for our Christmas lunch! You’re the BEST!!
- OUR DEEPEST GRATITUDE to each of our faithful and generous supporters of Elevation North and Pastor Doug and Debbie this year of 2010, both prayerfully and financially! Because of you, so much more was accomplished for the Kingdom of God! We love you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
- LOOKING AHEAD . . .
- THIS SUNDAY, DECEMBER 26TH: 9:30 A.M. – (NOTE THE TIME CHANGE AGAIN FOR THIS WEEK, due to another afternoon reservation at Clinton Falls – next Sunday we will be back to our regular worship time.) END-OF-YEAR CHALLENGE/COMMITMENT/CELEBRATION SERVICE - Pastor Doug will be preaching on “Seasoning Your Glorifying” based on scriptures from Psalm 149:1-6a and Matthew 1:18-25. Come expecting God to reveal to us how to better glorify Him in His House and in our hearts! God is so worthy of our praise and glory! Come expecting to give God your best worship – He will meet you where you are at and take you to new levels in Christ!
- FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31ST: 7-10 P.M. – NEW YEAR’S EVE GATHERING at Elevation North with lots of fun and food and fellowship planned! Come with family and friends and enjoy games, a movie, and a delicious breakfast before we bid farewell to 2010 and join in prayer for the new year!
- SATURDAY, JANUARY 1ST: HAPPY NEW YEAR to our church family ~ may God’s blessings pour forth upon all!
- NEXT SUNDAY, JANUARY 2ND: 10:00 A.M. – WORSHIP & PRAISE / 11:15 A.M. – SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES
- PRAYER OPPORTUNITIES . . .
- JUST A REMINDER that YOU are a CHILD OF THE KING! All He has is YOURS! So this week let’s be focused on interceding in prayer for others AND then in listening to what God is telling us! Do we miss the answer sometimes because we don’t take time to hear what He wants to say to us? Let’s be in prayer for each other in the Body of Christ, for a closer walk with our Lord, for spiritual growth, for healing, for opportunities to share Christ with the lost, for a place Elevation North can call “home”, for our students on break, for our families as they travel back from Christmas visits, for renewal and strength and rest, for our nation, its leaders, and our military, and for our pastors and evangelists and missionaries who serve God so faithfully! Prayer makes ALL the difference!
- REMEMBER . . . “For unto us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” ~ Isaiah 9:6
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
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