2 Corinthians 12:9–10 (ESV)

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

When I am weak - physically sick or disabled, emotionally tapped out, mentally exhausted or spiritually dry - I do not feel strong at all. When I am weak, I feel weak. I think weak thoughts. And I have a “can’t do” or “I don’t want to do” attitude.

Weaknesses in me instinctively stir up adverse thoughts and feelings of fear, discouragement, unworthiness and sometimes even self-condemnation. All negative dispositions that I naturally seek to avoid. However, if I am to experience the power of Christ, then Paul teaches that I must persevere in trustful obedience to God even in the midst of my weaknesses.

However, how do you overcome the instinctive drive to avoid and steer clear of your weaknesses? For if you’re always avoiding circumstances where you’re weak, you’ll never discover the glorious and unimaginable power of Christ in your life. You’ll only experience the power of your own strengths.

For myself, this initial decision to walk into my weaknesses and not away from them was not made by me. Rather, it was graciously made for me. I believe that I would have never chosen to willfully enter into my weaknesses because I would have never wanted to feel fear and despair. Who relishes the thought of experiencing unworthiness or discouragement? I don’t. And I don’t know of anyone who does. So, the initial choice to walk into and through my weaknesses was one that had to be made for me.

When we are brought to the end of ourselves, to the end of our abilities, then we are forced to make a decision. Either give up in despair or keep on moving forward. If we keep moving forward, then we have to decide whether to do things pleasing to God or unscrupulously. When we entertain thoughts of doing things against our Lord’s will, then we still have not yet come to the end of ourselves. We are still trying to avoid our weaknesses. However, when we choose to continue in loving trust to the ways of our God, even in the midst of our weaknesses, then we’ve come to the place for Christ’s power rest upon us.

 In this place, humility and trust in God’s goodness must reign.  

Humility is being able to see yourself as you truly are - nothing more and nothing less. Until we honestly face ourselves, we will always be making excuses for our impatience, our deception and lies, our manipulations, and a host of other personal failures and mess-ups. But, once we stop making ourselves out to be what we are not and humbly acknowledge who we are, then Christ’s power can begin to remake us.

 In this place, trust in God’s goodness must also endure. When you’re fearful, discouraged, feel unworthy or condemned, the default response is to think that God is not for you. But this is absolutely not true. Our feelings and desires are like the ocean tides; sometimes their high and sometimes their low. We cannot rely on them. The truth is that God is powerfully working in and through your inadequacies and the pounding waves of weaknesses will not move the enduring shoreline of God’s goodness for you.

 by Daniel Gee

On November 25, 1963, just three days after the assassination of President Kennedy rocked America, conductor Leonard Bernstein spoke these words: 

 “We musicians, like everyone else, are numb with sorrow at this murder, and with rage at the senselessness of the crime. But this sorrow and rage will not inflame us to seek retribution; rather they will inflame our art...This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”

 From Beirut, to Paris, to San Bernadino we too are reeling from the violence and sin all around us. Perhaps our inaugural Arts Display at Evergreen, then, could be seen as an act of artistic audacity that Bernstein describes above? Rightfully so. Nonetheless, I believe Christians have even more to say. Sin feels near. But we believe God has drawn nearer, and Advent is the time to say it: In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  (John 1:4-5)

 We as Christian artists choose to create, not simply because humanity is stubborn, but because we wish to proclaim in forms that speak beyond words that God has spoken the final word. It is peace on earth in the face of war. It is life in the face of death. It is justice in the face of tyranny. It is freedom for the captive. It is that, in the face of what seems like a godless world, God is with us.

Each piece in this year’s Arts Display proclaims Emmanuel in their own way. The stunning intricacy of Reiko Yoshimoto’s torn paper art, the deeply moving meditation on adoption by Janna Christian, the profound metaphor of incarnation in Jayne Terasawa’s “Light Descent”, highlight just a few of the wonderful submissions displayed this year. I encourage you to meditate on each work of art in our display and let them lead you into a deep and profound abiding with your God.

 And so this will indeed be our reply to violence: that “God, in Christ, was reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5:19) The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Our art will proclaim this audacious message of hope until He comes again and the faith of our humble artistry becomes sight. 

As we entered into the month of December, I caught myself thinking yet again, “Wow, I can’t believe this year is already over!” I believe I started to think this way sometime in my thirties. Well, to be more exact, it was when my wife and I started a family. When children come into your life then years fly by like a ball being smacked back and forth across a tennis court. 1995. Whap! ’96. Smack! ’97. Whap! ’98, ’99, 2000! Smack! Whap! Smack! And then bam! Here we are at the end of 2015! Sheesh, where did all the time go?

At the end of last year, some of you joined me and signed up to read through the four Gospels, three times each, throughout the 2015 year. Well, believe it or not, 2015 is about over! I hope you were able to stay on schedule throughout the year and focus on Jesus as revealed in the Gospels. If not, at least I hope you spent more time with Him and in His Word than you would have if you had not joined us.

So what’s planned for 2016? Drumroll please… ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-de-dum-dum-ta-ta-ta… For 2016, we will be focusing on the book of Psalms! Well, you already knew that since the title of this article is “Reading Through the Psalms in 2016”. ANYWAY… that’s right, this coming year we are going to read through all the Psalms and so if you would like to join us, then sign-up at the table outside.

 We will be using Timothy Keller’s devotional on the Psalms titled, The Songs of Jesus. His devotional takes a person through all the Psalms in 365 days and the devotional’s focus is more on the Psalm itself rather than his commentary on it. I appreciate that because I want us to be interacting with His Living Word more than reading about His Word.

If you would like me to order the devotional for you, then you must submit, in cash or check, $14 to the church office by December 20th. You can also purchase the devotional on your own at Amazon.com for $12.20 (Hardback) or $10.99 (Kindle).

Blessings to you this Christmas season and I pray you will seriously consider joining us in 2016 as we delve into the songs of Jesus!

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 (ESV)

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. “

Paul can boast (take pride in his weaknesses) because when he is weak, then Jesus is strong in and through him.

It’s crucial to understand that when Paul says that he boasts in his weaknesses, he is not teaching or implying that he has given up on overcoming his inadequacies. For Paul to “give up” or “settle” with his shortcomings does not at all harmonize with his unrelenting and single-minded pursuit to win the prize for which God called him heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).

Paul is definitely not teaching to
“settle” with weaknesses but he is teaching to remain steadfast and joyful in weakness. Jesus has mysteriously revealed to Paul that it’s in his insufficiencies and inabilities that His power is fully released. Therefore, Paul can gladly boast (Yes, you read that right – GLADLY BOAST) in his weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon him.

But what if I can’t boast in my weaknesses? What if when I am confronted with my weaknesses that I instead stop moving forward in obedience to the Lord because I can’t find the will or desire to obey or my frailties make me feel inadequate, unworthy or even condemned? For instance, what if I know in my heart and mind that Jesus commands me to forgive as God has forgiven me (Matthew 6:12-15), but I simply cannot find the will or desire in myself to forgive, then what? Or what if I again experience aberrant sensual longings in my gut and mind after months of freedom from any ungodly thoughts or desires, then what?

Do I then recoil in defeat? Do I give into the sensual desire? Or, do I remain immobile, disappointed and unchanged in my behavior because I am unable to be completely like Christ on the inside and outside? NO WAY! For if I do that then I miss out on the opportunity for the power of Christ to rest upon me.

Paul writes, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, SO THAT the power of Christ may rest upon me.” In other words, if I choose to stop obeying Christ when I am weak, for whatever reason, then I miss out on seeing Jesus’ power do something in me and through me that could be beyond my wildest imagination. What I ultimately miss out on is GRACE – God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

When I stop moving forward in obedience to Jesus because of my weaknesses, then I stop Him for graciously working in me and through me. I stop the opportunity to experience what it means to be saved by His grace and not by my works. I short-circuit the circuit of grace from being powered in my life by trying to rewire it into a circuit of self-sufficiency.

So then, why stop moving forward in our weaknesses if it keeps us from experiencing His wonderful and powerful grace? Well, we stop because it requires humility and trust and many of us are unwilling to humble ourselves and truly trust in the Lord. I will continue on this topic in my next article.

by Dave Yamashita

This was my 2nd time serving as a “conversation friend” at the Thanksgiving Celebration and when I arrived at the event, I was already missing the family I met from last year’s event. But, upon meeting my new guests, I felt the roles were reversed! The Velez family of 5 (1 boy and 2 girls) were very warm and greeted me with happy smiles and they even introduced me to their own friends from the other tables! During the meal, we struggled at times communicating with each other, but it just made us laugh. After dessert, my oldest son, Joel got his soccer ball and started a game with the boys from both Don Julian & Evergreen. I then realized as adults, it’s fairly comfortable to talk over a meal, but for the kids it’s a bit more challenging. However, when the children are playing together, they definitely are more at ease with each other.

If you feel uncomfortable serving as conversation friends, I would encourage all families to give it a try. Looking back serving as “conversation friends”, I felt I was the one who was blessed! I am grateful for the food, fellowship, new friends and the Lord blessing us with another wonderful Thanksgiving celebration.

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18