Audio: A Light in the Darkness

“A Light in the Darkness” is a weekend message I preached at Crossroads Church in Cranberry, a growing church in the north hills of Pittsburgh, PA. In this message we look at the birth of Jesus Christ and how He has brought light to each of our lives.

Peace on Earth?

My friend Dave Runyon sends out the best Christmas card ever year.  I always look forward to seeing what he and his family will do next!  This year’s card is one of the best.  Here are a couple of thoughts from Pastor Steve Cordle on where we can find peace this Christmas.

Christmas has a way of amplifying the pain of life’s imperfections.

If death or divorce taken someone who was celebrating with us last year, it hurts even more than other days. If our health is limiting us, or key relationships are strained or our job threatened, it seems it seems to cut a little deeper at Christmas.

Christmas is supposed to be Merry!

But if we look back at the first Christmas, you see that things did not go all that well for Mary and Joseph either. It came complete with:

Family Drama: Mary had been widely accused of sleeping around and Joseph planning on breaking off their engagement.

It had the Unpleasant Travel Experience: try riding a donkey for more than 80 miles when 9 months pregnant.

There was the Accommodation Hassle: no room at inn, have to sleep in a barn… which is worse than with your cousins.

There was the pain of childbirth and then unexpected company dropping in as shepherds showed up wanting to see the baby.

I’m just saying that circumstances were not perfect for the main players on that first Christmas.

I hope you get just what you want for Christmas this year, and everything turns out like you want it to – that would be great!

But if it doesn’t, don’t worry, you haven’t missed Christmas’ best.

Because the best part of Christmas is not what is happening in our circumstances, but who has come to be with us.

Video: Revealed The One Who Purifes Us

Revealed:  The One Who Purifies Us from Mike Arnold on Vimeo.

Malachi was the last prophet before Jesus came. The book of Malachi was written after the Jews came back from exile and rebuilt the Temple. The Jews had once again begun to be complacent about obeying God. So Malachi spoke to point them toward obedience again, and toward renewal of their relationship with God. Malachi also spoke to tell the Jews about the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Read Malachi 2:17-3:5.

• In 2:17, Malachi implied that the Jews were convinced that they somehow had escaped God’s notice when they sinned. How do we downplay our own sins? What excuses do we make? Give some examples.

• In 2:17, the Jews wondered where the God of justice was. Life did not seem fair to them. When did life seem unfair to you?

• How can our own sin lead to unfairness in our own lives or in the lives of others? Give examples. … By the way, one reason God hates sin so much is that unfairness results from sin!

• How does God work justice in the world? What are some examples of how God can use us to bring justice?

In 3:1, the coming of Jesus is foretold, hundreds of years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. But 3:2-4 doesn’t sound like a baby in a manger! Jesus is pictured as a refiner and purifier, and both of those processes sound painful! What do you think spiritual “refining” and “purifying” are?

• Give an example of when Jesus “refined” or “purified” you. How was it painful? How were you different afterward?

• Sometimes God’s refining and purifying processes in our lives take a long time. How does the waiting benefit us? What are some strategies for “waiting productively”?

• In what way do you currently need God’s “refining” or “purifying”? Or, how is God already doing that process now?

Read Isaiah 62:5. 

• In what ways is God’s love for us like the love of a groom for his bride?

• How have you experienced the extent of God’s love for you? With whom will you share God’s love this Christmas?

Revealed: The One Who Purifies Us from Mike Arnold on Vimeo.
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Revealed: The One Who Purifies Us

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.

But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.  He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.” Malachi 3:1-5

Last words are important.  The last words of a movie, book, or great story can captivate and create a sense of closure, or open a door to another chapter. 

This week at Crossroads Cranberry we will be looking at the last words God gave his people before 400 years of silence.  These are the last words of God before he spoke again in the cry of a newborn baby.

Sunday we will be in the book of Malachi.  In this book, God Reveals that the coming Messiah will be the one that purifies his people.  Take a few moments this weekend to look at this amazing book.  And Join us Sunday as we continue to look explore the coming Jesus.  Revealed:  The One Who Purifies Us.

Revealed

Some have said that waiting is the hardest part of life. This weekend we will be celebrating the second weekend of Advent and Advent is all about waiting.

For more than a thousand years the church has called the four weeks before Christmas “Advent”. It is not a time of celebrating; it is a time of waiting. It reminds us of how the people of Israel waited for hundreds of years for the Messiah to come. For centuries the prophets declared, “Someday, God is going to send the Messiah who will save his people.”

This weekend we will be looking at the book of Micah and what he had to say about the coming Messiah 700 years before His birth.

Join us this week at Crossroads Cranberry as we start our new series Revealed 

The Old Testament contains hundreds of prophecies about Jesus. They reveal what he would be and do; that Jesus would himself reveal what God is like. As we prepare for Christmas we will look at several of the OT prophecies to see what they teach us about following Jesus today.