The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

AllanStanglin.com

Page 137 of 492

To All People

December 14, 2020 / / 0 Comments

“The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all people!” ~Titus 2:11

This grace of God, this coming of Jesus, his flesh-and-blood birth as a human baby in Bethlehem — it has been made manifest to all people. This is what the angels told the shepherds the night Jesus was born: This is good news of great joy that is for all the people.

When Jesus is just 2-1/2 months old, Joseph and Mary take him to the temple in Jerusalem where they run into an old man named Simeon. The Gospel says Simeon is righteous and devout and he is waiting. Waiting for the consolation of Israel. Waiting for deliverance, waiting for rescue, waiting for God’s salvation. And the minute he lays eyes on Jesus, he takes the baby in his arms and he praises God.

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised… my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people!” ~Luke 2:29-31

Christ has appeared to all people. Simeon is holding a baby, but he sees the saving grace of God.

Anna is there that day, too. She’s an old widow lady, a prophetess, the Gospel says. And Luke tells us she never left the temple. She worshiped there night and day, fasting and praying around the clock. Anna was at church every time the doors were opened. And as soon as the baby Jesus appeared to her

“…she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption.” ~Luke 2:38

Anna is looking forward, anticipating. Simeon is waiting, waiting, waiting. And they both finally see it in the arrival of Jesus. They see the glorious fulfillment of all God’s promises. Israel was being brought back together as God’s united people because of Jesus. The powerful were being brought down and the lowly were being lifted because of Jesus. Evil would be defeated and the captives would be set free because of Jesus.

God had always promised to comfort and console his people, to protect and provide for his people. God had always promised to rescue and restore his people. Simeon and Anna see it finally coming true in Jesus. And not just for Israel, but for all people. Not just for them, but also for you.

Peace,

Allan

Frigid Features

December 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

You haven’t lived until you’ve watched classic Christmas shows at a drive-in theater while it’s snowing. And it’s especially cool when the giant screen is on a tractor trailer and the theater is the church parking lot!

The outside temperature was right at freezing while it was snowing and sleeting all afternoon and into the evening. But that didn’t keep a whole bunch of us from showing up for the barbecue dinner and the frigid double feature here at Central. In fact, watching the shows through the snow added a great deal of novelty and excitement to the already special event.

 

 

 

 

All of us were treated to barbecue sandwiches from Fat Boys before we settled into our parking spaces, tuned our radios to 100.3-FM, and set our cars’ heaters on “medium.” We flashed our lights and honked our horns with glee when “A Charlie Brown Christmas” began — the little round-headed kid was more depressed than I remembered. We delighted during the intermission when Santa Claus and his helpers arrived with gourmet popcorn and candy bars for all the cars. And we quoted the lines and sang along with the songs during the main feature, the 1964 Claymation classic, “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.”

 

 

 

 

“Silver and Gold.” “Holly, Jolly Christmas.” Yukon Cornelius and the weird licking of his pickax. The Island of Misfit Toys with the Charlie-in-the-Box and the over-the-top dramatic psycho doll. And why were Santa and Donner and the head elf so grouchy? Clearly, all those elves were the first anti-dentites. And Santa had to be fat in order to be happy — Mrs. Claus knew it! There’s a lot going on there.

Everybody stayed in their cars and waved and honked at proper distances. Everybody seemed to have a really great time. And most everybody waited until this morning to clean the popcorn and potato chips up out of their vehicles.

 

 

 

 

We’re doing it again in two weeks, on December 16. I don’t know what we’re going to watch yet, but I’m rooting for the 1970 Claymation “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.” I just want to say “Burgermeister, Meisterburger” from the pulpit.

Peace,

Allan

Something Greater to Come

December 2, 2020 / / 0 Comments

On Advent Sunday, November 28, 1943, Dietrich Bonhoeffer sent a card to his parents from the Tegel Prison in Berlin. He had been arrested by the Gestapo and taken into custody eight months earlier, charged with denouncing Adolph Hitler and the Nazis, for repudiating the German Christians and German churches who were supporting Hitler, for running an illegal underground seminary at Finkenwalde, and for preaching, teaching, and writing for the Confessing Church movement. The front of the card pictured this nativity scene painted by Albrecht Altdorfer in 1511.

In the card, Bonhoeffer describes this painting as his favorite depiction of the nativity.

“One sees the holy family huddled around the manger amidst the rubble of a collapsed house. This is really contemporary.”

I imagine this 450-year-old painting reminded Bonhoeffer of the destruction throughout his home country, the bombed-out buildings in his old neighborhood. This scene could have been painted almost anywhere in Europe in the middle of World War 2. And what Bonhoeffer wrote about it on Advent Sunday 1943 could have been written on Advent Sunday 2020.

“One sees the holy family huddled around the manger amidst the rubble of a collapsed house. This is really contemporary. For the celebration of Advent is only possible to those troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come. We can and should celebrate Christmas despite the ruins around us. In fact, we must do this even more intensely now.”

May our God bless us as we faithfully wait and prepare and anticipate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peace,

Allan

Giving Thanks

November 26, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Thanksgiving is a central part of Paul’s letter to the Colossians.

1:3 – We’re thankful for the faith and the hope of all the good people around us.

1:12 – You should be thankful for the salvation you share with all our brothers and sisters in the Kingdom of God.

2:7 – You should overflow with thankfulness because you have received the fullness of God in Christ.

3:15 – Be thankful for the peace of Christ inside you, the Word of Christ inside you.

3:17 – Be thankful for the name of Christ we all wear by the grace of God.

4:2 – Be thankful for the many redemptive ways God is breaking into our world.

Be thankful for the goodness of our God. Be thankful for the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has come to you and changed your whole life. Be thankful for the mercies of God and the mighty acts of God that belong to you. Be thankful that God has begun a good work in you and he is going to see it all the way to completion on that day when Christ appears and you appear with him in his eternal glory.

It’s good to be thankful around all the family, food, and football in late November. But be thankful every day – every waking moment – that, through Christ, you belong to God forever.

Peace,

Allan

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑