Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us”   Our Bible verse for today: “After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” Luke 2:15-16 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Go, tell it on the mountain”   The message of Christmas is a birth announcement: “Jesus Christ is born!” That’s the good news that the shepherds had to share in Luke’s version of the Christmas story as told in Luke 2:1-20. The angel came to them at night in the field as they were watching over their flocks, announced that the Messiah had been born, and told them how they could go and see for themselves. The shepherds went, saw, and then left there telling others the good news. And we read “… all who heard it were amazed …”   Along with His resurrection, the birth of Jesus is one of the two most important events in the history of the world, and the story needs to be told. One of the most upbeat, joyful, and celebratory hymns that we sing at Christmas is “Go, Tell it On the Mountain”. “Go, tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere; Go, tell it on the mountain, That Jesus Christ is born!”   I’m sure I’ve sung that song a hundred times, and I’ve probably heard it sung by others hundreds of times more. My favorite version of “Go, Tell it On the Mountain” was recorded by the band MercyMe on their Christmas album a few years ago. It is by far the funkiest version of the song I have ever heard – you can’t help tapping your foot and singing along. Here’s a YouTube link to it if you would like to take a couple of minutes to listen to it yourself. Just copy and paste the link into your browser (I encourage you to do it. You’ll be glad you did): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xTTBI1zxL4   My family and I would like to wish you and yours a happy, joyful, blessed, (and funky) Merry Christmas.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us”   Our Bible verse for today: “In the same region, shepherds were staying in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people; Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:8-11 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Celebrate the night of nights”   As I write this it is Christmas Eve 2020. I love Christmas, but I especially love Christmas Eve. I love the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church, followed by a family meal at home, and then a comfortable evening in front of the fireplace anticipating the celebration of the birth of Christ. It’s a celebration, but a warm, soft, quiet, and relaxed celebration.   There are some problems of chronology and sequence associated with the celebration of Christmas Eve which I believe, as intelligent thinking Christians, we do need to acknowledge. First, Jesus almost certainly was not born in the winter but in the spring. Sheep don’t spend long cold winter nights out in open fields, they spend them in shelters of some sort. They’re out in the fields in the spring and summer. Second, as we read in verse 2:11 of Luke’s Christmas story, the angel appeared to the shepherds and said “today” a Savior “was” born for you. In other words, the scene in Luke 2 with the shepherds took place on Christmas night after the birth, not on Christmas Eve before it.   But none of that really matters much to our celebration of Christmas Eve. The intent of our hearts is more important than the season or sequence. Our objective is to quietly reflect on the profound theological importance of what the birth of Christ meant. For thousands of years the world had patiently waited for a Savior. Now, on the eve before His birth, we wait in eager anticipation of the most important and significant event in all of human history. God Himself was about to come into the world as a human baby to live among us, and then to one day die for us.   Christmas Eve has been called “the night of nights” because there is no other night like it. That first Christmas Eve was the moment before the world was about to change forever. The birth of this long-awaited baby would change everything, and the world would never be the same again.   On this Christmas Eve I encourage all of us to spend some quiet time reflecting on the significance of what Christmas means. “For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   That’s something to be thankful for. It’s something to celebrate.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us”   Our Bible verse for today: “But the angel said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Jesus is for everyone.”   Billy Graham told the story about a conversation he once had with the famed movie director Cecil B. DeMille. Billy asked him about the blockbuster film “The King of Kings” which DeMille had made about Jesus, but which was produced during the silent-movie era. It was estimated that the film was eventually seen by over 800 million people around the world.   Their conversation was taking place many years after the movie’s release and Billy commented that he was surprised that DeMille never updated the movie and re-released it with color and sound. But DeMille replied, “I will never be able to do it, because if I gave Jesus a southern accent, the northerners would not think of Him as their Christ. If I gave Him a foreign accent, the Americans and the British would not think of Him as their Christ. As it is, people of all nations, from every race, creed, clan, can accept Him as their Christ.”   I love that story. And I think DeMille had it exactly right. Jesus is for everybody. He’s not a white Jesus or a black Jesus. He isn’t an American Jesus or an African Jesus. He didn’t come only for the Jews, or just for the people in Biblical Palestine of that day. Jesus is for everybody. He came for the whole world. The message of salvation is applicable and relevant in every culture, and that must mean that the Christmas story is applicable and relevant in every culture as well.   It’s interesting that the secular aspects of Christmas vary considerably from culture to culture. In some parts of the world we have Santa Claus, in other places he is Father Christmas. In some places kids sing about Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, but in other places they have no idea who those characters are.  However, the Biblical truths of the incarnation remain the same no matter where the story is told. No matter where you go around the world, the Biblical story of the birth of Jesus is the same. That’s because there is only one Bible and it tells the same story in every language.   The great truth of Christmas is that Jesus came as the Savior of the whole world, He is for everyone – and that’s something to celebrate!   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us”   Our Bible verse for today: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” John 11:25-26 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Jesus is the hope of the world”   Martha was distraught with grief. Her beloved brother Lazarus was dead. When he first became sick, she and her sister Mary sent a desperate message to Jesus to come and heal their brother, but He arrived too late. By the time He got there Lazarus had been dead for four days; but even in her grief Martha declared her faith in Jesus. In response, Jesus made the great declaration we read in John 11:25-26 that He is the resurrection and the life and that anyone who places their faith in Him will live, even if they die.   One of my favorite hymns speaks of the hope we have in Jesus – not only hope for eternity, but hope for today and for tomorrow. The name is “Because He Lives”. The first verse and chorus go like this:   “God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus; he came to love, heal, and forgive; He lived and died to buy my pardon, an empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow; Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives. “   At Christmastime we celebrate the birth of the Savior. But Jesus didn’t come just to live – He came to live, and to die, and then to live again. That baby in the manger would grow up to one day die upon a cross for the sins of the world. But then He would defeat death by being resurrected to new life and then, by means of placing our faith in Him for the forgiveness of our sins, we too will live. In John 14:19 Jesus declared, “Because I live, you will live too.”   Jesus is the hope of the world. He enables us to live with hope – for today, and for tomorrow, and for all eternity. That’s the truth about the baby whose birth we celebrate at Christmas!   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us”   Our Bible verse for today: “The nations will put their hope in his name.” Matthew 12:21 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “What if Jesus had never come?”   One of the most beloved Christmas movies of all time is “It’s a Wonderful Life”, starring Jimmy Stewart. The story is about a middle-aged man named George Bailey who believes his life has been wasted, spent in the little town of Bedford Falls running the family business.   One year at Christmastime a series of unfortunate events transpired and George decided the world would be a better place without him, so he decides to commit suicide. But God sent a friendly and bumbling angel by the name of Clarence to earth to intercept George and then, through a series of dreams or visions, Clarence showed George what the world would have been like if he had never lived. George then saw that his life had made a dramatic and positive difference in the lives of the people he loved, and in the town of Bedford Falls.   That story causes me to think about what the world would have been like if Jesus had never lived. In the movie, George was shown all the good things he had done in life and the tremendous impact for good that his life had on others. If we think back over the history of the world for the last two thousand years, we stand amazed at the tremendous impact the life of Jesus of Nazareth has had on the world, and how much the world has been blessed by Christianity.   Even setting aside for a moment the fact that billions of people will spend eternity in heaven instead of hell thanks to Jesus, we also have to think about all the good works that have been done in His name by His followers, and how richly the world has been blessed by that work. Just think of the hospitals that have been started by Christians; the schools that have been founded and operated; the homeless shelters; the food banks; the disaster relief teams; and so much more. All of that began with and followed after the birth of the child we celebrate at Christmas.   What if Jesus had never come? What a cold, dark, dismal place this world would be – much, much worse than it is. And this morning we’ve only considered the physical ways in which the world has been blessed by Jesus and His followers. As important as that is, more important is the salvation and hope that Jesus brought into the world. We’ll think about that tomorrow. For now, as you prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, consider what a better place this world is because He lived.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us”   Our Bible verse for today: “See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel.” Matthew 1:23 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Our world needs Jesus”   One of the old hymns we often sing at Christmastime is “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”. It speaks of the Old Testament Jews crying out in their captivity for the Messiah to come and rescue them:   “O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, Shall come to thee, O Israel …”   The song then goes on to sing of the deliverance that will be theirs’, and what a glorious time that will be when the long-awaited Messiah comes to rescue them from their suffering.   Our nation today is troubled in many ways, and the people of God are crying out for Jesus to be among us in a new, fresh, and powerful way. Our land needs Jesus. We are a people in distress and we need Immanuel – God with us.   This Sunday at Oak Hill Baptist Church we will celebrate Christmas. In the sermon I will teach about what Christmas means for us not just historically and theologically, but in a real and practical way as the lessons of Christmas are applied to the world we live in and to the issues we are faced with.   If you’re close to Cumberland County, TN, we invite you to join us. The service begins at 10:00. If you aren’t nearby, or if you’re staying home for health reasons, you can join us live online at 10:00. Just click on to the Oak Hill Baptist Church Facebook page. Or, you can view the recorded service on our website later in the day at www.oakhillbaptist.net.   The name “Immanuel” means “God is with us”, and that is true in a very real way. Join us for the service and let’s explore that important truth together.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us Our Bible verse for today: “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:6-7 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Celebrate Jesus by making room for Him.”   One of the curious aspects of the birth of Christ is the fact that when the time for His birth arrived, there was no room for Him in the inn. He was therefore born in some outdoor structure such as a stable or perhaps a cave. It was a shelter for animals, and his bed was a manger or feeding trough.   If you’re familiar with the backstory, then you know that the reason Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem was because of a government-ordered census that they were required to participate in. Bethlehem was Joseph’s ancestral hometown. Since it was an event that affected everyone, there were many travelers on the roads and therefore all the inns were full. As D.L. Moody once observed, “For four thousand years the world had been looking for Christ. Prophets had been prophesying, and the mothers of Israel had been praying and hoping that they might be the mother of that child; and now that he has arrived, we find He is laid in a borrowed cradle because there was no room in the inn.”   In Bethlehem there was no room for Him in the inn. Today many people have little or no room for Him in their lives. Not even at Christmastime. It’s true for Christians as well. We allow our lives to get so filled-up with other things that there’s little or no room for Jesus. That’s true on even a normal day in say, July, or September, but it can be especially true when all the hustle and bustle of Christmastime is added into an already over-busy life. Then we end up with little or no time for the very One whose birthday it is we’re supposed to be celebrating.   How much room do you have in your life for Jesus this year at Christmas? The Christian thing to say is something like, “Jesus is at the center of my life all the time. My life revolves around my faith in Christ.”, or words to that effect. We say it, but is it really true? In a real and practical way, is it true? Often it isn’t. Not really.   I encourage you to make Jesus the focal point of your Christmas celebration. Don’t just include Him among all the other faces and names and activities. Make sure that in your life, there is indeed room for Jesus.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us”   Our Bible verse for today: “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.” Psalm 144:15 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Celebrate the joy of the Lord.”   The great devotional writer Oswald Chambers once wrote that the majority of God’s people are satisfied on too low a level. I think he was right. C.S. Lewis once expressed the same thought like this: “It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”   That is certainly true at Christmastime. We often get all caught up in the superficial and secular aspects of the season and allow ourselves to be satisfied with that. It’s as if the right gift card, the perfect tree, colorful lights, and a good meal are all we need to be happy. Yes, we can easily be satisfied at far too low a level.   In Psalm 144:15 Solomon taught that true happiness is enjoyed by those who have a deep and rich relationship with God. We read something similar in Nehemiah 8:10 where we’re told, “… the joy of the Lord is your strength.” The things of the world are a cheap substitute for the joy we find in Jesus.   Probably the most popular of all the Christmas hymns is “Joy to the World! The Lord is Come” by Isaac Watts. It was inspired by the Christmas story as recorded in chapter two of the gospel of Luke when the angels proclaimed joy at the birth of Jesus, but Watts said the lyrics are actually a paraphrase of Psalm 98. He felt that Psalm 98 expresses the joy and praise proclaimed by the angels in Luke 2, and therefore the lyrics of his song simply paraphrase what we read there.   The point for our devotional this morning is that experiencing and then proclaiming the joy of the Lord is really the object of the Christmas celebration. This is the goal for the Christian. Christmas is a celebration of Jesus – nothing more, but also nothing less. Again, quoting Oswald Chambers, “If I am full of the joy of the Lord, it will pour out of every cell of my body.”   I encourage you to truly and fully celebrate the joy of the Lord this Christmas. Don’t settle for anything less than that.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us”   Our Bible verse for today: “When the angels left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” Luke 2:15-18 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Celebrate the reason for the season”   Two of the primary complaints we often hear about the Christmas season is first that it is so busy, and second, that it’s so commercialized. Both complaints are valid. Most of us live busy lives all year long. But then at Christmas there’s shopping for gifts, parties to go to, relatives to visit, extra cooking to do, etc. And in a society that’s already assaulted with a never-ending blizzard of advertising (both overt and covert), during the Christmas season Madison Avenue is on steroids. So yes, the season is too busy and it is too commercialized, and therefore it’s easy to lose sight of the true reason for the season.   In Luke chapter two, as part of the Christmas story, Luke tells us about shepherds who were out in a field tending to their flocks when angels appeared to them to announce the birth of Jesus. The shepherds then hurried off to find the child so they could see for themselves and worship Him. Then they went and told others about what they had seen. There are some lessons in this for us.   First, those shepherds had a life, just like you and I do. They had a job to do and they had sheep they were responsible for. They must have also had families they were thinking about, along with all the other cares of life that any normal person in that time would have had. Also, this appearance of the angels happened in the middle of the night, and surely those shepherds needed their sleep. But they put all those other concerns aside and chose to focus on Jesus instead. We should too.   The second lesson in this for us is that they then went off and encouraged others to focus on Jesus too. They did so by telling other people about their own Christmas experience.   There are lots of things each of us can do to refocus on the true reason for the season, such as listening to Christian Christmas music, using special Christmas devotional messages, talking to others about the birth of Christ, and we can also attend the Christmas celebrations at our church. At Oak Hill Baptist we will celebrate Christmas in song and sermon this Sunday, December 20th, at 10:00. We would love to have you join us. We will also celebrate the birth of Jesus with a Christmas Eve candlelight service at 5:00.   The best way to keep yourself from getting distracted and overwhelmed this Christmas season is to be very intentional about celebrating the real reason for the season.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Celebrating is good for us”   Our Bible verse today: “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:13-14 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Celebrate the Prince of Peace”   I’m so glad the Christmas season is finally here. This is the time of year when people are inclined to put aside their fussing and fighting, their selfishness and bickering, to be a little more cheerful and a little more considerate of others. Boy do we need that this year!   In Luke 2:13-14 Luke records that the angels announcing the birth of Jesus declared that He would bring peace on earth to people on whom His favor rests. That was essentially a reiteration of Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 9:6 that Jesus would be “The Prince of Peace”. He brings peace on earth to those upon whom His favor rests.   I sure do want His favor to rest upon me and I’m sure you do too. We all need to experience more of His peace. Often, for the Christian, the peace of Jesus is experienced in times of prayer, or in quiet meditation, or through the words of a song. It’s internal and personal and often occurs when we’re alone with Him. But the primary way the world gets to experience the peace of Jesus is when it flows through His followers and out to the world.   You’ve probably heard the old saying, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” That saying has appeared in song lyrics, poems, stories, articles, and daily devotionals, and it has been attributed to many different authors. It was actually originally part of a children’s song composed by songwriting team Seymour and Jill Miller in 1955. But whatever the source, the theology is sound. If there is going to be peace on earth, or in our country, or state, or town, or home, it needs to begin with each of us individually. If the peace of Jesus is going to be experienced far and wide this Christmas season (as it needs to be), it will be up to you and me to be the conduits through which it flows to a broken, bleeding, and hurting world.   I encourage you to celebrate the Prince of Peace by being an emissary of His peace. Remind the world of what Christmas is really all about by sharing the peace brought to us by the Christ of Christmas.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.