Whidbey Presbyterian Church

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Nicole

On the Seventh Day of Christmas,

my true love gave to me, seven swans a-swimming.

These represent the seven gifts of the Holy Spirt.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.  Romans 12:6-8 (NIV)

There is a variety in the body of the church because of the various gifts God has given us.  We should concentrate and give our energies to the gifts God and has given us.

To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11  (NIV)

All of these gifts are given to us by the Holy Spirit.  Just as Jesus said in John 14:26, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."  (ESV)

Thank you Jesus for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Nicole

On the Sixth Day of Christmas...

my true love gave to me, six geese a-laying!

After the five golden rings, all of these pretty much run together.  I can't remember how many pipers are actually piping and maid are milking.  With that being said, let's move on!

The six geese a-laying stands for six days of Creation.  God worked for six days and then rested on the seventh. 

Can you name what God did these six days?

1.  Heavens and the Earth.

2.  Sea and Sky

3.  Fertile Earth (vegetation)

4.  Lights of day and night

5.  Fish and birds

6.  Land animals (and us!)

So wait....on day three he created the plants, but waited until day four to create the sun?  Doesn't this seem out of place? Don't the plants need the sun?  But I guess nothing is out of place to God, He knows what he is doing!

Looking at Genesis 1, you can see God's authority over all the Earth.  All he had to do is speak it into existance. Amazing.

Nicole

Wanna Go Here?

 

A view of the mountains

 

The Lodge covered in snow!

Come to Tall Timber for Family Snow Camp on January 30-Febuary 1, 2009.

Come play in the snow like this:

 

Or hang in the Lodge playing games...

 

Come and join us!  You can email us here or call the church office at 360-675-3579.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas

my true love gave to me, five golden rings!

So what could five golden rings stand for?  Well, it stands for the Pentateuch!  (First five books of the Bible.  Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.)

Pentateuch is a Greek term meaning, "five-volume."  The Hebrew term for these books is the Torah, meaning "law" or "instructions."

The theme of these five books is simple:  it introduces key promises that show God's purpose in history and lays the groundwork for the coming Christ. 

1.  It shows that there is only one God in a world full of polytheism.  (This applies to back then and now.  Cars, money, etc. are sometimes worship as gods by people.)

2.  Shows God's intentions with the creation of world.  Of course, sin enters in and Eden is no more, but this does not defeat God's intentions.  (Abraham received a blessing that he would be the father of many nations.  Down the line, Jesus comes!)

3.  These books gives us knowledge about God's character, his righteousness.  He loves us, however he expects us to be moral by not stealing, committing adultry, and instructs us to worship him.  (Have you read Leviticus and Deuteronomy?  Full of laws!)

And who can forget Charlton Heston, receiving the 10 Commandemnts on Mt. Sinai?  I remember watching that movie in awe.  And I believe that is one of the main events in the Pentateuch.

But John 1:14 says it all.  "the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory."  (ESV)

Jesus came.  Yes, we needed to be introduced to God.  And we needed to have laws as a standard of living.  But in the end, we were no match for these laws.  We could never fulfill them.  Thankfully, Jesus took care of that for us.

Nicole

On the Fourth Day of Christmas...

my true love gave to me, four calling birds.

All the presents are gone from under our tree.  They were unwrapped on the first day of Christmas, and like many kids, our son has played with all his new toys.  He bounces from one toy to the next..almost as if he feels he doesn't have enough time to play with them all!

And I hope you all are enjoying your gifts that were given to you this Christmas season.  Including the gift of Jesus.

You see, the four calling birds represent the four gospels:  Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  And in these gospels share the story of Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection.  The perfect gift from God.  As it states in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  (NKJV)

So as we slowly put our gifts away, let us not forgot the best gift we could ever receive, Jesus!

Nicole

On the Third Day of Christmas...

....my true love gave to me, three french hens.

So, if the Partridge represents Jesus, the two turtle doves represent the Bible, what do the three french hens represent?

Well, take a look at 1 Corinthians 13:13.  "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."  (ESV)

Faith, hope, and love.  These are essential in our faith.  Paul uses these three qualities in a lot of his letters.  For example:

1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.  Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)

4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.  Colosians 1:4-5 (NLT)

3 As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.  1 Thessalonians 1:3  (NLT)

Easy enough.  We just need faith, hope, and love.

Nicole

On the Second Day of Christmas...

my true love gave to me, two turtle doves!

These two turtle doves represent the Old and New Testament.  It's history.  From God's creation of the world to when Jesus will come back again.  Sprinkled with wisdom, prophesy, humanity, and the teaching of Jesus.  Afterall, 2 Timothy 3:16 states, "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." (ESV)

Paul used the Greek word "breathed out by God" which is translated by the Greek word, theopneustos.  This word does not occur in any other Greek text before this letter suggesting that Paul coined this term from words meaning "God" and "breathed".  This term stresses the divine origin of scripture, therefore proving the authority of it.

The Bible isn't just a book that should be sitting on your bookshelf.  It should be read!  This is God speaking to us.  Reading your Bible daily is just one step to grow closer in your relationship with God.  

Nicole 

On the First Day of Christmas...

   

A Partridge in a Pear Tree"
Artist: Mary Ellen Nieders
Paramount Cards, circa 1992

....my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree.

Really?  A Partridge in a pear tree?  I bet that is on everyone's Christmas list this year, right?

But what is the Twelve Days of Christmas?  Why do people only celebrate on the 25th, then take their tree down and move on to New Year's Eve? 

Store marketing would have you believe that the Christmas Season starts the day after Christmas.  After all, that's what we see on the news.  People standing in lines for Black Friday.  But that isn't the Christmas Season.  First, we must celebrate the Advent Season in anticipation of Christ coming. 

Now, that we have the straightenedout, the Christmas Season starts on Christmas Day and ends on Epiphany (January 6th).  We get Twelve whole days to celebrate our Christ's birth.  Because Christmas has also become some kind of secular holiday (You know, the one with Santa and Frosy) I think this is how we can lose the true meaning of the Christmas Season.

As a family, how can you celebrate this season? 

You can print out these coloring book pages.  Or read them a Christmas story each night, bake Christmas cookies, put on a play of the Nativity scene, and read the Christmas story (Luke 1 and 2).  Be creative, the ideas are endless!

Now back to the song.  What does this mean?  Some scholars have suggested that this song is more than just a silly song, but a song to teach us about our faith. 

First, "true love" in the song actually is referring to God.  The "me" in the song is the people of the Christian faith.  And that partridge in a pear tree?  Well, that is Jesus, the Son of God.  He is symbolically represents a mother partridge who fakes an injury to set up a decoy to protect her helpless birds.  This is like the expression of Christ's sadness over the future of Jerusalem in Luke 13:34.  "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and sons those who are sent to it.  How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her winds, and you would not!" (ESV)

This term that Jesus uses, "as a hen gathers her brood under her wings" is metaphor for loving comfort.  

Psalm 17:8 also displays this:  "Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings."  (ESV)

Psalm 36:7  "How precious is your steadfast love, O God.!  The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of our wings."  (ESV)

The protection of wings represents perfect safety.

What a great piece of imagery.  Jesus IS perfect safety.

Nicole

Twelve Days of Christmas

 

(image taken from a Hallmark card circa 1986, artist unknown)

Contrary to what people believe, the Twelve Days of Christmas is not BEFORE Christmas Day.  It is actually after Christmas!  And why twelve days?  And what about that silly song?  (you know, the one with maids a milking and pipers piping)  Is there some hidden meaning to it? 

I'll be starting a series on the Twelve Days of Christmas starting December 25th.  I'll be answering these questions and sharing with you why you shouldn't take your tree and lights down until after January 6th!  Afterall, why would you celebrate Christmas for one day, when you can celebrate it for twelve?

Stay tuned.....

Nicole