This Sunday is the third Sunday of Advent.  Many of you are already aware that Advent means "coming" and is a time of preparation for the celebration of Jesus' first coming, but also an expectation and preparation for His Second Coming. 

Are you prepared?  Are you prepared to celebrate Christmas with the proper focus and attention on Jesus and not just on all of the gifts and family gatherings?  I love getting together with my family during Christmas.  I love shopping for gifts...well, not really.  But I do love the excitement in our children as they open their gifts and I love giving gifts to those outside of the family.  And yet that is not the reason for Christmas.  Every year I need to remind myself to stay focused on the Christ of Christmas. 

Are you prepared for His Second Coming?  How do we get ready?  First and foremost through a personal belief and acceptance of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-5).  And secondly, through living my life in a way that is honoring to Him in all that I do and say.  I am all too keenly aware that this can happen only as I daily surrender to the power of teh Holy Spirit living in me.  

This Sunday I preach on Philippians 2:5-11 and the incarnation.  On Sunday, December 24th in the morning I will be presenting a dramatic pantomime that the Lord gave to me a few years back.  This presentation is an excellent opportunity for you to invite friends to church.  It clearly presents the gospel in a creative and different way.  Invite a friend. 

Merry Christmas!   

Dear Friends,

These next few entries will not be "sermon" related as I did not preach this past Sunday nor will I be preaching this Sunday.  Those of you from Calvary know that the Worship and Arts Ministries presented their Christmas production last Sunday.  Pastor Dan and all those who seerved did a tremendous job of "preaching" the message of Christmas in song, readings, visuals and testimonies.  What a great time of the year to remember and celebrate the hope we have in the birth of Jesus Christ - The Light Still Shines!  

This coming Sunday our children's choir and children's ministries present their program as well.  While we focused last Sunday on Jesus being the light shining in the dark world, this Sunday we focus on each of us being the light of the world.  This almost sounds heretical, but the Word of God tells us that we are to let our light shine before a watching world (Matthew 5:14).  In reality, Jesus comes into our lives and lives in us...so He is the light that shines through us to the world around us.  Is your light shining brightly this Advent season?  

Good morning,

I need to apologize for not blogging earlier in the week as I said I would in last weeks blog. The shortened work week got away from me...and then the Turkey...and then...    We have enjoyed the week with having our two oldest sons home from college.  A quiet but grateful Thanksgiving together.  

Tomorrow I preach on contentment.  Imagine the fact that on "black Friday" millions of people and billions of dollars are spent shopping for Christmas.  We live in a culture materially blessed  by our Lord Jesus Christ.   We we live in a country that has experienced more material blessing than any nation in any time period in human history.  And yet, in my estimation our blessing is destroying our need for God.  Who needs God when you can buy happiness?  Or can we???  No matter how much we have, our sinful nature (the flesh) will always want more.  Left unchecked by the Holy Spirit, and without a firm understanding of God's Word and the principles of contentment, we will never be satisfied.  

True contentment comes in being satisfied with what you have, knowing that our existence on planet earth is temporary, and living in a real relationship with Jesus Christ who alone satisfies our deepest longings and needs. 

I just returned from our first Calvary Evangelical Free Church pastoral staff retreat.  We spent 48 hours together at Villa Maria near Frontenac.  The focus of the retreat was to share our personal stories, focus on what it means to function as a team and dicuss the implementaiton of Charting a Higher Course.  We all felt the time was very profitable for us personally, relationally and for the future of Calvary. We are excited about where the Lord will be leading us in the future. 

 This Sunday Pastor David Genberg is preaching on the theme of thanksgiving.  Pray for Pastor Dave as he prepares to bring God's word to the chruch family.  I look forward to hearing the message online as I will be out of town on Saturday and Sunday.  My family is getting together in St. Cloud for a two day reunion since my younger brother is home from Afghanistan for two weeks.  He is married with two children and has been in the military for a number of years.  His deployment was in June with his permanent return not being until next July.  I would appreciate your prayers for him and his family.  War gets real close to home when your own family members are involved in the conflict.  I would assume many of you have loved ones involved in the military as well.  Let's remember to continue to pray for peace and a resolution to the siutation in Afghanistan and Iraq.  

 A week from this Sunday I will finish the book of Philippians by preaching from chapter 4:10-23.  The subject will be that of "contentment".  I want to introduce the topic for now but I will  blog with more detail on Monday of next week.  It seems the subject is so appropriate in our culture where we have so many blessings and opportunities and yet seem so discontent.  What do you think?  

Have a great week in the Lord!

Pastor Todd