In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
          Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
          There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
          He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
          The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-14

The Night's Big Winner: Tony Blair

A big thanks to the folks who provided great food and even better fellowship and fun at the Christmas Bash. And a big thanks to Matt and Sara for hosting. Matt wasn't kidding... they delivered on the guaranteed fun!

Last Sunday's ABF Recap:
rg

In concluding our study of Death by Suburb, by David Goetz, we focused on the ideas of discipleship and discipline. There are three passages from Luke in which Jesus makes it clear that discipleship is costly. In Luke 9, Jesus touches on this cost. He talks about counting the cost prior to beginning the journey in Luke 14. Jesus wraps up this trilogy in chapter 18 during His conversation with the Rich Young Ruler. Pretty powerful stuff when we allow it to sink in!

We have now spent a couple of months discussing the things that make it difficult to pursue and maintain a meaningful relationship with Jesus, and some steps that the author suggests to combat these difficulties:

The Toxin	The Practice
"I am in control of my life."	The Prayer of Silence
"I am what I do and what I own."	The Journey through the Self
"I want my neighbor's life."	Friendship with the Poor
"My life should be easier than it is."	Accepting my Cross with Grace and Patience
"I need to make a difference with my life."	Purusing Action, Not Results
"My Church is the problem."	Staying Put in Your Church
"What will this relationship do for me?"	Building Deep Friendships
"I need to get more done in less time."	Falling in Love with a Day

These practices and suggestions are born not only out of the author's own experience, but also out of the Classical Spiritual Disciplines, outlined and analyzed in detail in Richard Foster's, Celebration of Discipline. (The following links are a smattering of webpages and blogs that offer insight into the spiritual disciplines. Some of them are pretty challenging reads! I didn't lump them here for you to read all at once, but rather to serve as a mini-database to which you can refer in the coming days or weeks, if you'd like.)

Clearly these disciplines can become idols in and of themselves if we allow them to be, but by pursuing them as the Christians who have gone before us have done, we can be changed by these disciplines in a very positive way. It's tempting to say, "I don't want to take these on because I'll soon focus more on _____ than on Jesus." That may be true, but as I look back on my life, the times that I've been closest to Jesus are the times when I've been taking one or more of these disciplines very seriously. Paul's admonition to Timothy is, "Discipline yourself for the purpose of Godliness." Paul would say the same to us today.

We finished our time together with Matt developing the concept of an "Ability Spectrum." Draw in your mind's eye a line or scale where on one end is the category of the "least amount of Ability it takes from us" to perform a task. The other end of the spectrum represents the "most Ability we can give" to a task. Most of the things that we encounter in life fall somewhere within this scale. Some things require little effort from us while others can be very exhausting. Now draw a dotted line beyond the "most ability" end. This is where the Holy Spirit acts through us where we could not act ourselves. This area involves risk and can be unsafe. In Matt's facebook summary he said,

Safety is a big deal in my life. I like to have all of my ducks in a row; I want to minimize my risks. However, the spiritual life doesn't always work this way. In fact the Bible exalts those people who were willing to exercise their faith and take a risk. Geotz reminds us that, "The spiritual sedentary and secure life may ultimately be the greatest risk; you never get to experience God at the end of yourself." Each of us has been gifted in a variety of ways. This means that there are certain things that are within our ability to accomplish. Yet, if we are willing to step outside our ability spectrum from time to time, we get the chance to see and experience God in new ways.

Prayer List:

• Allyson & Eric Lengacher are in Ethiopia now to bring home their son, Kiya. Praise God!
  
  
• Continued praises to the LORD and prayers for the Colbert Family, friends of the Szugyes. Get up-to-date information here.
  
  
• Expecting Parents: Christine & Jesse Dolan (twins!)
  
  
• Lots of folks travelling over Christmas.
  
  
• Healthy, God-honoring marriages.
  
  
• Hannah Koons and her healing leg.
  
  

...we're off! No ABF this coming Sunday.

Sunday, Jan. 4: Breakfast Time!!! Come for a fun morning of good breakfast and time to get to know folks! We'll also kick off our new series that week with teachings on marriage from an HCC All-Star line-up!

If there is a specific area or topic within the realm of marriage that you'd like for one of our speakers to touch on or address (communicating with your spouse in times of stress, parenting the tough child, spending money, etc.), e-mail Matt Koons and he'll pass it along (anonymously, of course) to the teacher(s).

is on facebook.
...sounds like a good New Year's resolution

Christmas

Luke 2

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

From the Gates Family to you and your family, have a very Merry Christmas.

Enjoy your week. Send an encouraging e-mail to a friend.

RG