Jesus was born in the time when Herod was King

Jesus was born in the time when Herod was king

When you go to Israel and want to “walk as Jesus walked” one of the first things you find out is that there is very little left of anything connected directly to Jesus. There is a lot left connected to Herod.

 Herodian stones on the temple mount in Jerusalem

 Massada beside the dead sea, hanging pallaces on the left

 The Herodian near Bethlehem

 In Caesarea we picked up some pieces of marble, even after so many years there are still pieces of marble everywhere . Herod wanted the world to know that there was a Herod, and usually the only thing people know about Herod is that he killed the babies in Bethlehem

On the other hand  a living saviour; Jesus the Messiah. His kingdom is present everywhere on earth where people live in obedience to His word. Near Jerusalem we  went to a cave, used for herds of sheep & goats to be overnight. 

There are many pictures in the Christmas story. Mangers were used for water, Jesus is living water. Bethlehem = bakery, Jesus is the bread of life. 

We may miss many of the pictures and sometimes have a problem with the many pagan symbols used today at Christmas time. But the heart of the story is still true. Jesus came to earth for all of us. Emanuel=God with us.

Merry Christmas

Noveber note "What good is God?

It was a beautiful day when a rabbi and
a soap maker decided to go out for a stroll.
They were both enjoying the warm weather
when the soap maker abruptly turned to
the rabbi and asked, “What good is God & religion?The bible teaches all these highfalutin’
morals and all these lofty values and ethics, yet look at this
world!” Without giving the rabbi a chance to respond, the soap
maker continued his rant: “The world is corrupt. It’s filled with
pain and evil and wickedness. So I ask you, Rabbi, what good
is God?”
Before the rabbi could answer, out of nowhere a huge
rubber ball came flying through the air, headed right toward
him. Fortunately the rabbi had quick reflexes. He caught the
ball before it smacked him in the face! The rabbi returned the
ball to the apologetic young boy who had come after it. As the
boy ran off to join his friends, the rabbi said, “Just look at that
young child. He’s absolutely filthy! And you’re a soap maker,
so I ask you, what good is soap? There’s all this soap in the
world, and that young boy is still dirty!”
The soap maker protested. “How can you say that about
soap? You’re a learned man, Rabbi, so surely you understand
that soap is good only if it’s used.”
“Aha,” said the rabbi, with a slight grin. “And so it is with God's word. We can teach it, and people can say they’ve learned it,
but until they’ve used it and truly understand the meaning of
its lessons, the power of its teachings, and the weightiness of
its laws, then—and only then—can God make a positive
difference in the world.”

October note "SHIP"

The preview of the SHIP was on October 14
We first started praying and dreaming about what community for Young Adults would look like last winter.
Now the SHIP is starting on October 28 at the Drayton Festival Theater at 7.30 coffee & refreshments start at 8pm.

Already there are 10 churches involved.
I must say most of the young adults who came to the preview were boys but we sure hope that the girls will follow.
Seeking His Incredible Purpose

Worship, fellowship & discipleship

September note 2012: Standing Stones

 

 At Gezer in Israel there are large stones standing in a row

They are Standing Stones

The stones were put down 1500BC and the purpose was to tell a story. People would see these stones and ask what has happened here? why are these stones here?

In the bible the Israelites put up standing stones:

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,  “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,  and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”
So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,  and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,  to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’  tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

 

We are like standing Stones. Others will look at us and see how our lives are. That is a scary thought and an awesome responsibility. We like Standing Stones have a story to tell.

What is your story? Is your life showing the story you like to tell?

 

August Note; Church Family

 Church picnic

 Sunday school games

Youth Baseball

You get this email because you are part of the Drayton Reformed Church Family. Most of you we see very regularly. You are an active member of our church family.

But we don't see all of you frequently. Sometimes because you don't live near Drayton anymore. Sometimes because you are drifting away from going to church or because something happened that made you not want to go anymore. Still others are there over the summer but move away for school.

I just want to encourage you, please go to church and be an active member of a church family. It does not have to be us (although we will miss you!) but find a church where the bible is preached and where they believe that Jesus is the son of God. We need a community of faith to grow in our own faith.

For myself I am going to study 1 Samuel with Coffee-Break on Wednesday mornings.  I will also go to a Tuesday class in Kitchener where we will study Ezekiel.

encouragement from God's word:

Hebrews 10: Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another

 

July Note; Dead Sea / Living Water

Devotion shared at the Young Adult BBQ:

20 Young Adults came to the BBQ

Israel has only one river; the Jordan, it runs 251 km

It's not very wide but before it was dammed in it was very fast flowing

It has fresh living water in it

Living Water  is water that comes directly from God

Israel has only 2 sizable lakes

One is the Lake of Galilee

the other is the Dead Sea or Salt Sea

Both are fed by the Jordan river with fresh living water

in the Sea of Galilee there are lots of fish

we saw them jump, the sea has lots of life in it

The Salt Sea is dead, nothing lives in it

The Rabbis have noted a big difference between the two seas

The Sea of Galilee takes water in and let water out

The Salt Sea only takes water in

The Rabbis made a comparison to people

Some people get fed by God with Living Water (His word)

and share it with others

you know that their faith is alive

Others do go to synagogue (church) but don't do much with what God has given them

they don't share and their faith struggles.

At this point I shared water from both seas to taste

ask those who were there

The water from the Salt Sea tasted horrible 

Fishing in the Sea of Galilee

No fish in the Salt Sea

(but lots of fun)

June Note; Discipleship

Living Water

Exciting plans are on the way for "The SHIP"

Worship, Discipleship and Fellowship
A gathering for young adults (That is YOU!) starting officially in October 2012
Currently we are doing the paperwork to have these meetings at the Drayton Festival Theater.


Last month you did not receive a note from me.
First our daughter Olga got married to Stephen Shaffer and later Marc (our son) and I went to Israel on a study tour.
There we learned more about one of the Ships the Discipleship

Our itinerary only had the names and places of our hotels.
We did not know where we were going, because;
The disciples didn't know where they were going when they followed Jesus
They just needed to follow.

We learned a lot. We walked long distances in the desert and learned how precious shade is
The bible says "God is shade"
We walked in the desert and came to a waterfall (God is living water)
and we learned to be a community, to help each other
Now we are back home and need to put what we learned into practice.
Follow, where Jesus leads and be a community, help each other.
That is the same challenge for all of us, you and me

If you like to see pictures you may want to "Facebook" me.

Desert Shade

 Helping each other

becoming a community