This Christmas morning the bells ring out.  In this case, Jesus made statements of Himself that has forever changed the entirety of history and the world.

Now there's a combination you've never considered.  That's exactly what was affected during the Welsh Revival.  This week, and next, Pastor Gerry Wilson does a deep dive into both the love and power of God, given to us through Jesus.

World history and the condition of this planet changed significantly when Jesus arrived on the scene.  Many modern historians have criticized Christianity by pointing to the flaws of the Church over the centuries, but one thing cannot be denied.  The early church was radical and its followers suffered immensely over the first two centuries, and because of them the known world experience radical change for the good.  The history of the church since that time has not been superlative, but we are now living in times that need the same surge of life of those early believers.  And what made the difference?  Pastor Gerry Wilson peels that onion for us today.

Life is measured in minutes and moments, the moments being those things we've done between our birthdate and day of our death, the dash on our tombstone.  It's worth reflecting.

A pastor once told his congregation that you can never take your mental acumen for granted.  There may come a time, as it has and does with so many,  when you're no longer able to make sense of much of anything.  It's not that God can't punch through any thick wall, but if you have not seriously considered the eternal condition of your soul, don't let it turn out to be too late.  Dying and finding yourself in hell is a hefty price to pay for procrastination.  And the solution is so simple. Trust. Do it soon.

Huh? That doesn't seem right. But it was the coach who coined "perfect practice makes perfect", the obvious implication being that the boys weren't perfect in their execution quite yet, but they won't get there by taking any less of an attitude on the practice field than perfection being their goal.  And what did Jesus say in Matthew when discussing the expectation of their behavior and actions in daily life? "And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more?  Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." 
Our practice field is the here in now; living out life in this present life on planet earth.  But here's the difference.  Ours is not a game. Life is real and the consequences of life are very very real.  Today, Pastor Gerry delves into life with our empowering Holy Spirit.  Are we perfect in this life?  You can answer that. But before you do, realize that we've been given the ultimate game changer, the Holy Spirit, who gives us the power, day by day, hour by hour, to move toward that ultimate goal of being just like our Savior Jesus. Praise God.

When Henry Ford first built his Model T, there was an incident when the massive electric generators that ran the production plant failed.  None of the engineers or production managers, having attempted everything in their arsenal of knowledge, were able to succeed in getting them running.  They called on Henry who in turn phoned Charlie Steinmetz, the inventor and creator of those massive generators.  After tinkering only several minutes, voila, everything was once again running smoothly.  Long story short, his bill was $10,000 (today's equivalent of $1,000,000.  When receiving the bill, Henry objected, so Charlie modified the bill and returned it three days later.  It read "Cost of tinkering $10.  Cost of how to tinker $9,990.
Total: $10,000.  Henry paid the bill immediately upon receipt.  Thank Jesus that He is the One who understood exactly how to tinker, saving, preserving, and fixing our lives, both now and for eternity, at His great cost.

Last week Pastor Gerry discussed the Father, and today we learn more of His Son and what He has done for us.

Gary Wilson, our pastor from 30 years ago, is graciously standing in for Nancy for the next several weeks.  This week, his first topic explores the depth of God's seeking of us and the depth of our need.  We are in Ephesians. 

So much of life is made of circumstances that drive us to make choices.  The challenge is making the right ones, "right" being those that drive us closer and closer to Jesus.  He is the one who conforms us to being more like Him.  That's the goal, isn't it.  Let's listen, as our guest Gerry Wilson, now retired and back from California. who also served as our pastor at Friends Church 30 years ago, shares from Paul's letters just how we might fight the battle... and win.