The story of Christmas is a story of humility.  A young, unmarried Jewish girl faced the prospect of being ostracized in her community.  She was pregnant.  Would her betrothed sill consent to marry her?  What would her family say?  What would her friends say?

A census was commanded by Caesar Augustus for the little country.  Each had to return to his ancestral home for the count.  At nine months pregnant, Mary and her betrothed Joseph made the long arduous journey to Bethlehem.  As they entered the little village, they longed for a place to lay their weary bodies.  However, as they sought a room at an inn, there was none available – only a stable.

The entry of Mary’s son into the world did not occur in a mansion with servants in attendance but in a place prepared for cows and donkeys.  Her son did not have a soft feathered bed to greet him but a feeding trough.  But this was not the end of the humiliation - a cross still lay in the future.  Yet in the midst of the darkness there was the good news of light coming to a dark world.

The prophet Isaiah had proclaimed more than seven hundred years earlier: “To us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called ‘Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’”

Mighty God?  This carpenter from an obscure village in Galilee?  This man with no earthly possessions?  Who would believe it?  Yet many have, and do, and will continue to believe in the One born and placed in a manger.  As the Bible states of Him: “...who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

This is the story of Christmas: God the Son (Jesus) coming down to earth as a little baby and taking on himself the sins of the world.  Your sins and my sins.  God Himself became a nobody so that we can all become somebodies.  I hope you remember these things as we celebrate the reason for the season.

Our prayer is that through this year of difficulties and challenges, of isolation and restrictions, that you have come to understand it is not about “WHAT” you have in your life.  Rather it is about “WHO” you have in your life.  This is the Christmas Message.

We pray that your loved ones will mean so much to you this Christmas, but even more than that, Jesus will have become the essential relationship in your life, and that relationship will be valued by you for Eternity.  May you all have a VERY BLESSED and MEANINGFUL CHRISTMAS with much LOVE from all @ ENCOURAGE CHURCH.

When we dive into the ocean with our eyes open, images are unclear.  The water blurs our vision and everything is vague.  Without any aid, we are unable to identify the objects surrounding us.  However, when we put on a diving mask or goggles, the sea world suddenly comes into focus.  We can now marvel at the ocean in a way we never could before.  We can see very clearly the direction in which we are heading, appreciate the beauty of the ocean and identify what is friendly and what is dangerous.

Life can seem pretty vague.  For many of us, we journey aimlessly through our lives trying to find sense and purpose to something that seems pointless.

This is particularly true of our current situation that we find ourselves in, i.e. the Coronavirus Pandemic.  So, is there a higher purpose to life?  If there is, how can we possibly see things clearly?

When we look at life through the Word of God (Bible), everything takes on a completely different appearance.  The Bible records history from beginning to end.  We see things with a clarity that could never be attained relying on our own resources.  Suddenly, there is understanding as to why certain things happen.

This is the reason that most Christians have not had fear or uncertainty about their future, even in the midst of isolation and economic recession.   Because of Bible prophecies and God’s promises to those who are His, we can clearly see our destination and purpose in life.

God never intended us to travel through life disorientated and vulnerable to every danger.  He gave us goggles (Bible) to see clearly – it is up to us to put them on.  (Psalms 119:105, Hebrews 4:12)

If you want to see where you are in the scheme of life on earth, why don’t you consider becoming a Christian?  You will find that God is still in control.  He is faithful to those who are His.  And He provides understanding, peace, joy, patience and self-control even in the midst of a Pandemic.

We would love to support and guide you in this most important decision that you can EVER make in life.  So, we invite you to get in touch with us via any of the contact details provided on this page.  IT’S NOT TOO LATE!

In our world today, we have been confronted by a pandemic which no-one anywhere has been faced with before in our generation.

Our Government, both National and State are doing their best to try and contain this virus.

They have issued us with restrictions, that if obeyed, give us the best chance to avoid contracting this disease and preventing the deaths of many others.

In times of impending natural disaster, there are those who choose to obey and those who choose to disobey. Later, when we hear the consequences of the foolish actions of those who disobeyed, we naturally grieve at the unnecessary deaths that occur. At the same time realising they made their decisions as a matter of choice.

Mankind was created to enjoy a perfect relationship with God
We were also created with free-will. Through bad decisions, sin entered the world and our lives. Consequently, a disaster called Judgement is heading our way. God desires none to perish. He came as a man (Jesus Christ), and paid the complete penalty for our sin on the cross. However, due to the unchangeable law of free-will, God can only save those who freely accept His gift of salvation. He has warned us many times in the Bible – Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. It is now a matter of choice. For those who choose to reject God’s offer of eternal salvation, or choose to make no choice at all (after the age of accountability), God must ultimately respect their decision - and leave them to their own devices in a place set aside, where His provision (which has long been taken for granted) will be eternally absent.

Those who reject God also reject His provision which will ultimately leave them in a chaotic vacuum that, for lack of a better word, is called, ‘Hell’. (See John 3:16-18).

Games come in many forms and can be played on boards, play-stations or computers.  They are lots of fun but the outcome has no value in the real world. We may monopolise the board, create the strongest character, win countless victories and collect all the treasure - but as soon as the game is finished, all those treasures and victories are meaningless.

Life is like a game. What we monopolise in this life will not help us in the afterlife nor really counts in this life.  We may accumulate much wealth, we may win prestigious awards and achieve great things while we live, but when stripped away from us by circumstances with which we have no control over - like COVID, or when we die, these things instantly become meaningless.

God has told us not to strive for earthly-wealth, but acquire treasures that have eternal significance (see Matthew 19:27-29).

Life on earth is temporary – our afterlife in heaven is eternal.  We don’t see it now, but our eternal state is the existence that we were designed for.  Unlike human birth, how we start our new eternal-life is dictated by the personal decisions we make now and the value we place on Jesus and others.

While on earth, our number-one priority should never be temporal promotions, investments, power and security because when life ends on earth, all these worldly things will be as useful as ‘Monopoly’ money.

We should stop playing games with our life when there are very real opportunities to gain riches in heaven which our loving Heavenly Father guarantees we’ll keep for eternity.  This is done by following our Lord, Jesus Christ, and choosing God’s plan instead of our own.

You can find out how to do this by watching our Sunday Services on Facebook live each week. https://www.facebook.com/encouragechurchromsey/

Matthew 6:19-20 states: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”