Notes of Faith December 10, 2025

Notes of Faith December 10, 2025

One of Us

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

2 Corinthians 8:9

What did Jesus Christ look like? Did He have the appearance of royalty like Israel’s first (Saul) and second (David) kings did (1 Samuel 9:2; 16:12)? The Bible doesn’t describe Jesus’ appearance, but when the prophet Isaiah described the coming Messiah, the description was less royal and more common.

Using the descriptive words of The Message paraphrase, Jesus entered the world as “a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field.” He was not “attractive,” a person to whom we wouldn’t give “a second look.” He was “looked down on and passed over”; indeed, people “turned away” from Him (Isaiah 53:2-3). In other words, if you had passed Jesus on a crowded first-century street, you likely would have walked right by.

Paul makes it clear that Jesus left royalty behind and embraced poverty when He entered our world (Philippians 2:5-8). He became poor that we might become rich. Jesus welcomes us, the common man and woman, because He became one of us.

Thank God today that Jesus gave up royalty so that you might become spiritually rich in Him.

A Christian’s life is full of mysteries; poor, and yet rich.

Thomas Manton

Phil 2:5-11

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Thank You heavenly Father for sending Your only begotten Son to take on flesh and be the only sacrifice sufficient to save our souls from eternal destruction. Thank You Lord Jesus for doing the will of the Father and giving Yourself to save us, sanctify us, and take us to glory to be with You forever. True believers and followers of Jesus are indeed the richest of all…for the inheritance of the saints is to be with the glory of God both now and forevermore!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith December 9, 2025

Notes of Faith December 9, 2025

House of Bread

Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

Ruth 4:21-22, ESV

Bethlehem means “house [beth] of bread [lechem].” During the period of the judges it was referred to as “Bethlehem in Judah” (Judges 17:7-9) to distinguish it from another Bethlehem near the Sea of Galilee (Joshua 19:15). Though Bethlehem was “little among the thousands of Judah” (Micah 5:2), it was important.

Recommended Reading:

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Boaz was a well-to-do farmer in Bethlehem who married a Moabite woman named Ruth. Boaz saved Ruth—and Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi—from poverty and established a legacy of salvation in Bethlehem. Boaz and Ruth had a son named Obed, who had a son named Jesse, who had a son named David. When it was time for God to choose a king to replace Saul, He sent the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem to choose David as king. Because Joseph was a descendant of David, he and Mary journeyed to Bethlehem to register for the census—where Mary gave birth to Jesus. So Boaz and Ruth are mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5-6).

Bethlehem, the “house of bread,” gave the world the “bread of life” (John 6:35). God’s hand is always at work to accomplish His purposes.

Christ is the true Bread of Life sent by God to bring us eternal life. We all need Christ to be the Bread of Life to us.

Witness Lee

There is a lot of great information on Witness Lee and Watchman Nee to be viewed and to gain insight on Christian leaders used by God in the midst of great persecution. Their teaching and writings are still wide-read today and continue to inspire true believers and followers of Christ. Those who have the time to invest in a deeper intimacy with God should check out books that both have written.

We all need the “Bread of Life” to live spiritually!

John 6:48-58

48 "I am the bread of life. 49 "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 "This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh."

52 Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" 53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 "For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.

John 10:27-30

27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 "I and the Father are one."

Jesus, the eternal Son of God, took on flesh in Bethlehem, the house of bread. May we eat daily from the “Bread of Life” becoming more like Him, doing the will of our Father in heaven, bringing glory to the Father, and Son, through the power of the Holy Spirit given to live in us!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith December 8, 2025

Notes of Faith December 8, 2025

O Little Town

Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

Genesis 35:19

The first biblical mention of Bethlehem is a sorrowful one. Genesis 35 says that Rachel died near there. Rachel was beloved by her husband, Jacob, and he was anguished when she perished during a difficult childbirth. With her final breath, she named her child Ben-Oni, which means “Son of My Sorrow.” But Jacob changed his name to Benjamin, which means “Son of My Right Hand.” Jacob set a monument over her grave, and pious Jews visit the site to this day.

Today we find delight in visualizing our Lord’s birth town. We build models of it on the stages of churches and in public parks. It’s become an evocative scene for the world’s greatest painters, and we love to sing about the “little town of Bethlehem” where “in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light.”

It’s the Lord Jesus who eases our sorrows and lifts our spirits. His birth became the means by which He entered the human family to “preach good tidings to the poor” and “to heal the brokenhearted” (Isaiah 61:1). Do you have a zone of sorrow in your life? Ask the Lord Jesus Christ to give you comfort, understanding, healing, and happiness today.

O come to us, abide with us, our Lord, Emmanuel!

Phillips Brooks

Isa 61:1-3

61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

Because the Lord has anointed me

To bring good news to the afflicted;

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to captives

And freedom to prisoners;

2 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord

And the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all who mourn,

3 To grant those who mourn in Zion,

Giving them a garland instead of ashes,

The oil of gladness instead of mourning,

The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.

So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem! God with us! He has always been with mankind but since His coming, taking on flesh, giving His life as the only perfect sacrifice for our sin, we have a Lord and Savior who reconciles us to God, makes us a friend of God when previously we were enemies. Faith in Jesus, His work, death, burial and resurrection bring glory to God and eternal life to man. Yes, we praise the Father for sending His Son and praise the Son for doing ALL the will of His Father, that we might be saved now, and live in the house of the Lord forever!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith December 7, 2025

Notes of Faith December 7, 2025

Away in a Manger: Eternal Impact

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head; the stars in the sky looked down where He lay, the little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing; the Baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes; I love Thee, Lord Jesus! look down from the sky, and stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay close by me forever, and love me, I pray; bless all the dear children in Thy tender care, and fit us for heaven, to live with Thee there.

– John Thomas McFarland, 1851–1913

Eternal Impact

The virgin-born baby was God in human form. He humbled Himself, He took the form of a servant, He was made in your likeness and mine, He identified Himself with the problems of the human race. And thus it was that the apostle John wrote,

The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, as of the only begotten of the Father.) – John 1:14

In the early days of the nineteenth century, the world was following, with fear and trembling, the march of Napoleon across Europe. Day after day they waited with impatience for the latest news of the wars. And no one was paying any attention to the babies that were being born. In just one year, lying midway between Trafalgar and Waterloo, there came into the world a host of heroes. During that year of 1809, listen to the people who were born in that year – when everybody was taken up with the problems of Napoleon: Gladstone was born in Liverpool, England; Alfred Tennyson was born in Somersby, England; Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Frederic Chopin was born in Warsaw, Poland; Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany; and Abraham Lincoln was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky. But nobody thought of babies. Everybody was thinking of battles.

Yet over two hundred years later, with a truer perspective which the years enable us to command, we can ask ourselves, “Which of the battles of 1809 were more important than the babies of 1809?”

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. – John 1:1-5

What a difference the baby born in Bethlehem’s manger two thousand years ago makes to our world today. The educational systems He has inspired, the social reforms that His teachings have instituted, and the transformation of families and lives that have come about as a result of a baby born at Bethlehem!

The whole world was thinking of Caesar. The whole world was thinking of Rome. But in God’s eternal plan, He was thinking of a Baby in a manger in the little tiny town of Bethlehem.

Excerpted from The Cradle, Cross, and Crown by Billy Graham, copyright Thomas Nelson.

I love the babies and little ones in our church! They are sweet and gentle and loving…what happens when we grow up? Let us remember to pray fervently for all of the babies that God gives us, but most of all for the baby in a manger that came to die that we might truly live!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith December 6, 2025

Notes of Faith December 6, 2025

A Life Evergreen: The Wreath

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

John 3:16

Do you put a Christmas wreath on your door? So do people around the world. In Eastern Europe they are decorated with fruits and nuts. In Mexico you’ll see colorful wreaths of paper flowers. In Poland the wreaths are often made of straw with ribbons and dried flowers. The residents of Hawaii make many of their wreaths out of tropical flowers, palm leaves, and seashells.

Everywhere the meaning is the same. The shape of the wreath—a circle—represents the endless and eternal life Jesus came to bring us. The Gospel of John, though it doesn’t really tell the story of Joseph and Mary, has the most to say about our limitless life in Christ. In the New King James Version, John uses the word eternal ten times and the word everlasting another eight times. In John 6:47, Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.”

This season when you spot a wreath, let it remind you to thank the Lord for endless days!

If Jesus were born one thousand times in Bethlehem and not in me, then I would still be lost.

Corrie ten Boom

John 3:3-17

3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" 5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 8 "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

9 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? 11 "Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. 12 "If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. 14 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Let’s not just remember the birth of our Savior Jesus this Christmas season but consider if we are like Nicodemus, knowing about God without truly knowing God and needing to be born again spiritually! Lord, fill us to overflowing with Your Spirit this Christmas that we might live for You and declare the truth to all that You put around us to bring You glory!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith December 5, 2025

Notes of Faith December 5, 2025

A Holy Nation

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

1 Peter 2:9

Did you know there’s a country in the world named for Jesus? The name of this nation is: THE SAVIOR. In Spanish, it is El Salvador. Interestingly, recent reports of spiritual revival are bubbling up in this sometimes violent country.1

The real country where Jesus wants to reign as Savior and Lord is your heart. The Lord wants to make us into His “holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9). Even Mary, the mother of Jesus, needed Jesus to be her Savior. The first words of her song of praise in Luke 1 say, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47).

Have you allowed Jesus to become the King of your heart? One day every knee will bow, and every tongue confess He is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11). How much better to install Him on the throne of your heart now! If Mary herself needed Jesus, whom she bore, to be her Savior, how much more do we!

Although my memory’s fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.

John Newton

1Audrey Jackson, “In the Land of ‘The Savior,’ Bibles Are Welcomed,” The Christian Chronicle, July 16, 2025.

Is Christ Jesus sitting on the throne of your heart? Have you submitted your will to His? Is He not only your Savior but also Lord? Let Him reign in your heart and mind and you will receive blessing upon blessing now and eternal reward when He calls you into His presence! Lord Jesus, we ask for more grace and mercy and power from Your Holy Spirit to live a life pleasing to You. May we allow the Spirit to have control of our thoughts and actions, to live righteous and holy before You. We ask this for the glory due Your name!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith December 4, 2025

Notes of Faith December 4, 2025

Full Surrender

Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

Luke 1:38

Marty Robinson was a tattooed, bearded punk rocker in Australia who “came to the end of his tether” due to alcohol addiction. Today he’s serving Christ with the Salvation Army as a prison chaplain, and his ministry is changing lives every day. He surrenders himself to Christ each day by beginning every day saying to Jesus, “Use me however you want.”1

That’s essentially what Mary said when Gabriel told her she would give birth to the Messiah. The J. B. Phillips rendering of Luke 1:38 says, “I belong to the Lord, body and soul…let it happen as you say.”

The world around us doesn’t grasp the idea of full surrender to the will of God, but only full surrender brings full victory. God’s wisdom is greater than ours. His plans are better. His guidance is perfect. Even when the pathway seems hard or the task uncertain, we can say, as Mary did, “I belong to the Lord, body and soul. I am willing. Let it be to me according to Your Word.”

All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.

Judson W. Van DeVenter

1Lauren Martin, “‘Full Surrender’ Sends Marty to Prison to Serve as a Chaplain,” Salvos Online, August 13, 2024.

The truth is that most Christians surrender “some”. We still have secret sins in the closet or somewhere else we think that we won’t be seen. But God sees all things all the time. We will not have the best that God desires for us until we surrender like Jesus did to His Father… “Not My will but Yours be done”! May this be our hearts desire as we strive to love God and love others.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith December 3, 2025

Notes of Faith December 3, 2025

Available and Faithful

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make [Mary] a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.

Matthew 1:19

Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, continued a tradition of God using ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Joseph was a carpenter in Nazareth and was part of the Davidic ancestral line. We also know he was a “just” (righteous) man. Though we know little of his life after the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:41), it appears he may have been alive at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (Matthew 13:55) but died by the time of the crucifixion (John 19:26-27).

Consider what Joseph went through when he discovered Mary was pregnant before they were married! His first impulse was to do what was best for Mary by saving her from public humiliation. Then when he discovered that her Child was of God, he married her and established a family in which the Child would be loved and nurtured. He taught Jesus the skill of carpentry (Mark 6:3) and apparently raised Him “in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Luke 2:41-52; Ephesians 6:4).

We don’t need to be famous to be used by God. Like Joseph, we only need to be available and faithful.

It is better to be faithful than famous.

Theodore Roosevelt

All of the Apostles chosen by Jesus to continue His work on earth, to establish the church, were ordinary men, empowered by the Holy Spirit to do extraordinary work for God.

May we, the less than famous, be faithful and fruitful for the glory of God!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith December 2, 2025

Notes of Faith December 2, 2025

He Understands

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 4:15

Most parents of teenagers have heard the following in a moment of tension: “Mom/Dad, you just don’t understand!” It’s not just adolescent hormones or immaturity that produces such frustration. Even as adults we sometimes think that no one could possibly understand what we are experiencing or feeling. Ironically, when teenagers think their parents don’t understand, they forget that their parents were teenagers once themselves and probably felt the same levels of frustration or loneliness.

It is easy to forget that Jesus experienced every temptation and feeling that we experience. True, He didn’t go through the exact same circumstances that we do. But the feelings those circumstances create—frustration, confusion, anger, loneliness—are universal. In His humanity, Jesus Christ went through all the ups and downs of human experience, “yet without sin.” So regardless of what we are feeling—especially when we are tempted—He understands.

Knowing that He can sympathize, take your questions and feelings to Him.

Christ understands loneliness; He’s been through it.

Paul S. Rees

God chose to save us from our rebellion and sin. Because of His love for us, He sent His Son into the world, to take on flesh and live the life of human experience. But the sacrifice for our sin would bring about His death. Our sin had to be paid for with a perfect, flawless, sinless sacrifice. There was none but the Son of God, who willingly gave His life that we might be saved through faith in Him. We are created in the image of God, to reflect the glory of God, that the world might see Jesus and the truth of His Word. We are NOT God, nor little gods, and have no way to reconcile to God without a perfect sacrifice…the God-man, Jesus! He does understand everything that we experience, knows ahead of time what is coming our way, and is there as we go through it, and promises to take us to His eternal home in His perfect timing. Let us give praise our heavenly Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…One God, providing life for us, and that eternal

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith December 1, 2025

Notes of Faith December 1, 2025

A Marvel!

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

Spider-Man, the Marvel Comics superhero introduced in 1962, is about a teenager who was bitten by a radioactive spider in a laboratory. The boy became a person with two natures—he is both human and spider. He can operate in both realms. But Spider-Man is fantasy. A person can only have one nature. We are humans.

Jesus Christ goes beyond our imaginations. He is God-Man. He is the only person who possesses two natures in one personality. He is Son of Man (human) and Son of God (divine). He is both God and human. It’s not a laboratory accident. It was God’s perfect plan for becoming one of us so He could atone for our sins by His suffering and death on the cross.

We can never fully understand the marvel of what Jesus did for us, but we can enter each day—including this one—thanking Him for it!

How necessary it was that Christ the Mediator, should be both God and man; for unless he had been man, he would not have been a fit sacrifice; and unless he had been God, that sacrifice would not have been of sufficient virtue.

William Ames

Too many people believe that they can do good deeds and earn their way to heaven, access to God, perfect peace. Only God can deal with our sin. I know that you try to be obedient to God…so do I…and we still sin. One day He has promised to do what we cannot…take away our sin…even better, sin will not exist! We do need to strive to be holy as God commands, perhaps by His grace succeeding in various areas of our life, but the battle of the flesh and the Spirit remains until we are taken to be with God forever. Look up, for your redemption, transformation and perfection draws near!

Pastor Dale