Have any of you gotten into the tv show, Flashforward?  It’s based on a novel by the same title first published in 1999.  The basic plot is that everyone in the world loses consciousness for about two minutes.  During this “global blackout”, people see their futures, 21 years in the future for the novel, and six months in the future for the tv adaptation.

What if you could see the future, if only six months ahead?  What would you see?

It’s not so far fetched to think about yourself six months or even years  in the future.  We do that sort of thing at New Years anyway.  We envision what we would like to see and we set goals to reach that preferred future…or, as we say at New Years, we make resolutions.  Here are some popular New Years Resolutions

• Start exercising
• Lose Weight
• Read the Bible More
• Enjoy Life More
• Get Organised
• Get Out of Debt
• Do Morning Devotionals
• Stop smoking
• Spend more time with the Family
• Help Others

Just imagine if you did see your future self in six months…and you didn’t like what you saw.  In the Flashforward story, that is certainly the case with many.  For instance, some saw nothing in their “flashforward,” and were left wondering if they would even be alive in six months. However, futures can be changed…both in the fictional story and in reality.

It’s simple…if we desire a particular future, we make choices now that drive us toward it.  On the other hand, if we fear that we’re headed for future trouble, we also can make choices that drive us away from it. I like this quote from John M. Richardson, Jr.

“When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people:
those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened.”

So go ahead and attempt to flashforward some six months into 2010, and begin making the appropriate choices now. This Sunday I’ll continue the discussion on our future by first starting with the past in a message called “Flashback.”  I hope that one of your resolutions is to join us at Team Church in the New Year…see you Sunday!

Over the course of this New Years message series, we will be challenged to act in the present based on the past that God frees us from, and the future that God promises us.

Jan 3…Flashback
Jan 10…Fast Forward
Jan 17…Flashforward,

Sunday was all about sharing your Christmas Experience.  We called it Sharing the Window Seat.

If you’ve ever traveled by plane or train, you know what it is like to hold the ever-sacred window seat…it’s the best place to receive the full effect.  But if you’ve already had the pleasure, and you’re traveling with a novice who’s never sat in that seat before, you would gladly give it up for them.

That is an image of our Christian Christmas experience.  If you have received faith in Jesus, if you know the joy that Jesus brings, then this Christmas you should offer someone else a seat that displays the landscape of eternal life.  You may say that others around you know about Jesus, and there are plenty of churches that can help.  But, you are the best guide to help your friend see more clearly.  In fact Jesus has you in their lives for this reason.

When you get together with your friends and families, remember that not everyone around you has a clear view of Jesus.  You may also wonder if they have eternal life.  Share your experience of knowing Jesus with them.  This could be their first real Christmas knowing Jesus.

We want to share a beautiful Christmas Eve service with Kershaw.  I hope you’ll come and bring someone close to you.  You can find out more about us or pass along this website to others that may be interested at www.teamchurchkershaw.com/christmaseve.html

Next week is our first ever Christmas Eve Service!  Christmas is a great time to reach out to people in special ways.

This is a perfect service to invite people you know.

• You can invite families looking to do something meaningful with the kids before Christmas morning.
• Or, or you could invite the couple with an empty nest, and looking for something to do.
• You can invite those dealing with grief because the Christmas season is a tough one to do alone.
• You can even invite those who may be hardened towards God, but would come with you because you asked.

This may be the best opportunity you have to invite your friends, families, and co-workers to a special event.

Dress warmly, but we’ll have plenty of warmth from the fireplace and heaters.  You can expect about a 45 minute service with singing and the Nativity Story.

Volunteers can start arriving at 3 pm, and we’ll need about 45 minutes to tear down at the end of the service.  This will be a memorable mission to add to your Christmas festivities.

I hope you’ll share this invitation with your friends on the net, but a personal invitation will always be appreciated.  See you this Sunday where the music and message will be focused on Sharing some of the most important things with others.

Sunday’s message was about joy during the Christmas season.  It is difficult to always maintain an attitude of joy with all the extras that Christmas brings…extra busyness, stress, socializing, pressure and so on.  Christmas will have come and gone, and we will be left on New Years thinking, “Where did all the time go?  Where was the joy that Christmas usually brings?”  It is sad when we live joyless lives…especially as a Christian.

I used King Herod as an example of a person who’s joy is gone.  Maybe your joy is being sapped too because one or even both of these following reasons have you wrapped up.

Your joy can be sapped when you’re too wrapped up in your self.

Your trying to get it all done…decorations, parties, presents and you find that it doesn’t satisfy.  Trying to always be in control leaves you feeling isolated and exhausted.  Your priorties are completely backward…You focus on yourself and your family first, then others, and then Jesus comes in last.

Perhaps you should repriortize this way  (J)esus, (O)thers, (Y)ourself…that’s a great formula to regain J-O-Y!

Your joy can be sapped when you’re too wrapped up in sin.

People who have ongoing sin in their lives become people hard to love and hard to be around.  Even people with hidden sin are riddled with guilt, and it affects the way they interact with others.  You can’t please God with a sin-filled life, and you’ll never please yourself in the end.

You must remember that Jesus came to the world to save people from their sins…and that means you!  The joy of salvation can belong to you because the angel proclaimed the night of Jesus’ birth that she had:

Good News of

Great Joy

For All People!

I read one of my favorite Proverbs today that reminds me that I can respond to this Christmas season with JOY.  The reality is that an attitude of joy is not automatic; It is a choice.

If I don’t respond with joy, I won’t have joy…  Please meditate with me on this wonderful message:

Proverbs 15:15 (The Message)

¹⁵ A miserable heart means a miserable life;
a cheerful heart fills the day with song.