Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “A season of celebration”   Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord is the one who will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “God is already there waiting for you”   In the book of Deuteronomy, the nation of Israel was facing a challenging but exciting time. They were completing forty-years of wandering in the wilderness. They were about to cross over into the Promised Land, which they had longed for and anticipated most of their lives. It was an exciting time, but it was also a moment of anxiety and doubt. Moving forward wasn’t going to be a walk-in-the-park or a tiptoe through the tulips. They knew there were big challenges awaiting them. Their future was promising but they were going to have to work for it; they were going to have to fight for it.   However, in Deuteronomy 31:8 Moses assured them that God would go before them into the Promised Land. When they got there, He would already be there waiting for them. Then, He would be there with them as they faced those challenges, and He would not leave them or abandon them. Therefore, there was no need for them to be afraid or discouraged at the prospect of what was ahead of them as they moved forward into the future.   What Moses was assuring them of is what theologians refer to as “the sovereignty of God”. This means that God is the king and supreme ruler of the universe. He is all-powerful (omnipotent); all-knowing (omniscient); and all-present (omnipresent). He has power over everything, He knows everything, and He is everywhere all the time, always.   What was true for the Israelites and their relationship with God is also true for us in our relationship with God. He is the same God and He is still sovereign. As we move forward into the New Year there are many unknowns, and there will be many challenges. But the good news is that when we get there, God will already be there waiting for us. He will have full knowledge of the situations we will face, and He will be in complete control over them. So, we can and should take comfort in and celebrate the sovereignty of God.   However, there is more to this equation. God is indeed sovereign, and that is something to celebrate. But, just as there were things the Israelites had to do so they could be in the center of God’s will and to be in-sync with Him as they moved forward into their future, that’s true for us as well. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow. But for now, I encourage you to celebrate and take comfort in the sovereignty of God. He is already in 2026, and He will be there waiting for you when you get there.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “A season of celebration”   Our Bible verse for today: “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Getting ready for the New Year”   2025 is almost over and soon we will begin a new year. I hope it was a good year for you and I hope 2026 will be even better, and that you are eager to move forward into it.   Yesterday at Oak Hill Baptist Church I preached a New Years sermon designed to reorient our thinking and get us ready to make the best use we can of the time God will grant to us in the upcoming year. We should be ready to eagerly embrace all the opportunities He will present to us. If you weren’t there for that sermon, I encourage you to watch it on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville but here’s a summary of it:   There were three main points: God has a plan for you in this coming year; He also has a call upon your life; and you must take personal responsibility for your life. If you live through 2026 then at this time next year you will be somewhere in life and your situation will be something. What that situation will be will depend largely on the decisions you make and the actions you take. It will depend on how you choose to use your time.   While it is true that God has a plan for you in 2026 that He will attempt to implement, you have a part to play too. Your job is to seek His will, discover His plan, and then cooperate with Him by doing your part. God seldom sits on His throne in heaven, waves a magic wand, and instantly and miraculously brings about great changes in our lives. Instead, the way such things almost always happen is with a combination of God’s power and our personal responsibility. God combines His power with our participation and together we move forward accomplishing wonderful things according to His will.   So yes, we can ask and expect great things from our great God, but then we must also roll up our sleeves and put some effort into doing our part to bring such things about. But that requires intentionality. It involves planning and effort. It means we must seek God’s will, develop plans and goals based upon the vision He gives us, and then walk it forward every day.   2026 holds great promise for us, but it will take great works of God’s mighty power along with prayer, vision, and effort on our parts. Let’s approach the New Year by getting our minds and hearts ready for it. We will spend the next few days doing exactly that.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “A season of celebration”   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, and 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 Jesus and 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   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month; “A season of celebration”   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: “Because He lives, we have hope”   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 hymn 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. “   That’s really an Easter hymn and yet, it’s appropriate for Christmas too. 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 grew 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   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “A season of celebration”   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 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 should also 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 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 brings into the world. As you celebrate the birth of Jesus, consider what a better place this world is because He lived.   My family and I wish you and yours a merry and blessed Christmas celebration.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “A season of celebration”   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: “Celebrate the coming of 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 appears. 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.   Last Sunday at Oak Hill Baptist Church we celebrated Christmas. I preached a sermon 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 weren’t with us, I encourage you to go to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville. There you will find that sermon as well as many others.   Tonight, Christmas Eve 2025, at 5:00 we will have a Christmas Eve candlelight service. It will be a sweet and special time in a beautifully decorated sanctuary with soft lighting and candles burning. We will sing Christmas songs that celebrate the coming of the Christ child; I will share a short message about the significance of His birth; we will enjoy each other’s company; and then we will go off to our homes to celebrate Christmas Eve with our loved ones.  If you are close to Cumberland County, TN, we invite you to join us.   The name “Immanuel” means “God is with us”, and that is true in a very real way. Join us for the service tonight and let’s explore that important truth together.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme or this month: “A season of celebration”   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 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 like that. We say it, but is it 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   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “A season of celebration”   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, “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: “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 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, 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 King David 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.   One of 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.   The point for our devotional message this morning is that experiencing and then proclaiming the joy of the Lord is really the object of the Christmas celebration – that is the goal for the Christian. Christmas is a celebration of Jesus – nothing more and 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.” May that be true for all of us this Christmas!   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   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “A season of celebration”   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 a 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. In a society that’s already assaulted by 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 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 too 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 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, reading 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 21st, 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   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “A season of celebration”   Our Bible verse for 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, and 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. The truth seems to be that it was 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 truly about by sharing the peace brought to us by the Christ of Christmas.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2025 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571