Did you know about MTS at HBC?  You can check it out at ‘Ministry Apprentices’ under ‘who we are’.  This post is to invite you to the very first annual ‘MTS Supporters Night’ on Saturday January 23rd, 7:30-9:30 at Hamilton Baptist Church.

This is a night where you can meet our 9 trainees, find out more about what MTS is all about, ask questions and pray for our trainees.  I’m hoping lots of people will catch the vision for raising up the next generation of gospel workers.

This night is especially for non-HBC people who prayerfully or financially support our MTS trainees.  But it’s also for all HBC people.  All of us financially support these guys and girls through our general giving so we should be interested in what they’re doing and where they’re heading.

RSVP to Richard Sweatman or any MTS trainee.  I’d love to see 60-70 people there!

In Ephesians Paul speaks unpacks God’s great purpose in our world. God gives a clear view of the world through his own eyes and what becomes clear is that God’s purposes are all about bringing glory to himself through Jesus. In chapter 3 Paul is able to say…

10His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That’s both a humbling and terrifying statement! God in his infinite wisdom has chosen to make his wisdom known to the whole universe through the church. It’s humbling because God has included us in his work - we are to proclaim what he has accomplished in Christ to the world. And terrifying because he has included us in his work - what a responsibility. We’d love you to join us in prayer. Pray that through Kids Club, Adults section, and the coffee tent, God in his infinite wisdom would be making his wisdom known to the people of Newcastle. The team will spending some time praying for this @ 7.30pm on Saturday 9th January, Lambton High School. Please join us!

There are some more specific prayer points attached here if you are unable to make it that evening….

Now I’ve had a chance to catch my breath after Christmas, I been reflecting on what Christmas is about for most people. The papers have argued about whether Christmas is a pagan festival or a Christian celebration. But I think for most people it’s not about old gods, or the true and living God. Its about the new god called Santa.

One of our family traditions is to enjoy a night looking at Christmas lights. And its wonderful sharing the fun with our kids and friends. This year it struck me again that most people’s light displays were about Santa. We saw Santa’s of all sorts and sizes. Big Santas, singing Santas, dancing Santas, glowing Santas, even Simpson Santas. Santa was the centre piece of the various displays.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa

People had built a little shrine to worship their idol Santa. This magical, exciting materialistic god listens intently to our individual requests. He promises wonderful blessings to those who deserve it; good kids get wonderful presents, bad kids get…

This is why I hate Santa. He promotes greed and over-indulgence, whilst prospering off the back of an elvish sweatshop. Although he usually seems to use Chinese sub-contractors. And he steals the glory form the parents who actually sweat to purchase and pay for these gifts.

Santa discriminates against people. Rich kids always get better, more expensive toys. This usually means white kids get better presents than black kids. And he usually doesn’t give presents to Jews or Muslims, or even lots of Christians. Santa favours rich, white, areligious people.

So Santa is unjust. He doesn’t distribute his rewards evenly. One year I got a tin of two-fruits and socks from Santa. Whilst far worse behaved kids got a computer or a motorbike. He’s unfair.

Ultimately Santa is a liar. He promises to give us what we deserve. But that just isn’t true.

But Santa is attractive and appealing to our secular world. My youngest knows Santa isn’t real. But he desperately wishes he was; because he wants lots of presents.

Santa is a god made in our image. He promises to satisfy our desires, our greedy, selfish desires. When we get it, we feel like we deserve it, and are able to turn a blind eye to the fact we don’t.

Compare this to the true God we celebrate at Christmas. Titus 2:11 tells us the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. His appearing says we are wrong, we have done wrong. We don’t deserve salvation.

But Jesus appeared to give us what we don’t deserve. Our great God and Savour Jesus Christ was born to generously, sacrificially give himself for us on the cross. This God is so much more wonderful and deserving of our praise and adoration.

What do you do to keep your focus and excitement on Jesus at Christmas? In particular, what do you do to help your kids enjoy Jesus in amongst the bustle? Do you pretend Santa is real? Do you completely remove Santa from your kids’ Christmas experience?

Be deliberate about how you want to glorify Jesus in 2010.

Spend your last afternoon before uni starts, planning how to serve Jesus and reach Newcastle through hunter bible church in 2010.

Join us to hear what we pray God will do at and through Unichurch in 2010. Join us to think through how you want to live for Jesus at uni in 2010. Join us on the 21st February at CT Theatre Newcastle Uni. Lunch and dinner are provided for free.

Click here on this link to register for Last Minute Sunday.