Make plans to join us tonight in the Sanctuary, with supper to follow in the fellowship hall.

---

---

Family Night Starts Back on January 11th

We hope you have enjoyed the wonderful time of teaching and fellowship. We greatly appreciate all the work the hostess committee has done to provide weekly meals. Start planning who you can invite to Family Night in the new year. You are the hands and feet of Christ.

Church Flower Calendar

If you would like to place flowers in the sanctuary in memory or in honor of someone, please call the church office, so Nikki can get it on the calendar.  Please call early to get the date you want.

Giving as of December 13, 2022

Budget for 2022 . . . . . . . .  $322,471.00
Tithes Needed to Date . . . . $310,065.80
Received to Date . . . . . . . . $271,241.22
Needed for weekly budget . . . $6,201.37
Tithes Received this week . . .  $2,826.90

CHURCH DIRECTORY

If you would like a PDF copy of the 2023 church directory, email Nikki at nikkibrewer@fbcashburn.com.

NEW LADIES BIBLE STUDY STARTING IN JANUARY

If you would be interested in participating in a Ladies Bible Study, contact Nikki at the church office at 567-9320. The study will be held in the Family Ministry building on Tuesdays at 1:30 PM starting January 24, 2023.  We will study Beth Moore’s: Beloved Disciple: The Life and Ministry of John.

MID-WEEK DEVOTION

Don’t forget to check out Brother David’s Mid-Week Devotion in the book of Psalms. They are uploaded each Wednesday on the sermon page.

From Our Pastor

When we read about the wisemen in Matthew 2, we usually just think of them as participants in the birth of our Lord.  They come looking for the child, talk to Herod, find the Child, worship the child, talk to Herod, find the child, worship the child, and then return home.  We put their figures in our Nativity Scene even though it was months before they saw the Child.

However, the wisemen are not just extras who don’t have lines to speak in a Christmas Cantata.  They are a powerful picture of genuine faith.  They are examples of how we should live.

The wisemen show true belief in Jesus Christ.  They had heard about the coming Messiah of Israel.  This was probably the lingering effects of Daniel’s ministry centuries before.  They had also apparently studied the scriptures.  It was belief that caused them to say, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews…”  They believed what they had heard and read about the Messiah.

Their belief was not just mentally accepting a list of facts.  They based their life on those facts.  They traveled several hundred miles to see and worship the Messiah.  Their gifts showed they believed His Kingship.  Their belief shaped and changed their life.  Genuine belief always changes a life.

The wisemen also teach us about surrendering unto Christ’s Lordship.  They did not merely recognize the Child as a great king.  There actions and words made it clear that they recognized the Child as their King.  Genuine salvation involves the recognition of Christ as King (Romans 10:9).  The wisemen illustrate that truth.

The wisemen also show what it means to love the Lord and put Him first.  They traveled several hundred difficult miles to see Him.  They put everything aside to make the trip.  Nothing was more important than Christ.  That is what it means to love the Lord.

Last, the wisemen illustrate walking in obedience.  They had followed the star to the house where the Lord was.  They obeyed God by going home a different way.  The whole journey was one of obedience.  That should illustrate how we live our lives.  May we be as sensitive and obedient to the Lord’s leading!

The wisemen are not just characters in a Christmas play.  They are powerful examples of Christmas living.  May we learn from them.