Hello everyone. I would like to invite you to join with Ethan and I on something very special this Christmas. First of all, did you know that the average family spends $900 on Christmas? And just think of all the money we spend on top of that on decorations, etc. For a moment I would like to reflect on the real reason for Christmas. Jesus' birth. God becoming Emanuel. God With Us. He came to this earth to reach out to us and suffer and die to bridge the gap between us and God. The whole message of God is love. So on December 25th we celebrate Jesus' birthday. The wierd thing is, WE ask for presents. Somehow the world has commercialized this huge event into being all about us and our families. If your best friend was having a birthday, would you ask....what do I want for her birthday?! Instead, this should be all about presents for Jesus. And what would he ask us to give? Peace, love, kindness. He epitomized love to those who are unlovable. He loves us despite our sins and what we deserve. This Christmas, join Ethan and I in giving back to Jesus by loving those around us.
Our church is participating in something called the Advent Conspiracy. It was just featured on the front page of the Metro area in the Star. It's called a conspiracy because that's the very way Jesus came to the earth. Just think about it. He is the living God, Creator of everything. You'd think he'd come to earth with trumpets playing, riding in on a horse out of the sky. Instead, he slipped in the back door. He chose to come as a helpless baby. He came to change the world forever and to change us from the inside out. And the only way he could do that was to humble himself and come in a barn as a helpless baby. His magnificent birth wasn't announced to all the famous rulers of that time. Instead it was announced to a few shepherds. They were considered the lowliest of the people of that time. They lived in caves and spent all their time with sheep. Why would God choose to announce His birth to them instead? To show us how much he loves us. He considered the most outcast to be the most important. He came quietly whispering to us on the inside, Peace. This shows us how much he loves us no matter who we are. He wants us to slow down and hear his still small voice beckoning us to love others.
We decided as a church to give to others on behalf of Jesus because that is what He would ask for on His birthday. For "Advent Conspiracy" the goal is to reach out to those in need in our local area and world wide. The goal would be that everyone could cut back on spending on just our loved ones and asking for so much, and give that to those who are hurting and needing to know the love of Jesus Christ. The goal is to give $200 this Christmas Season to Advent Conspiracy. I realize that may seem like a lot, but it really isn't if you think about how much you spend on an iPod, etc. Instead of getting a Nano this year, how awesome would it be to say, my Christmas present is to feed and clothe the hungry in Indy. If you cannot give $200 but would like to participate anyway, you can give whatever amount you would like to at www.adventconspiracyindy.com. Feel free to check out our website to see all of the different ways the money will be used. 100% is going to the less fortunate. The following groups will benefit from the money:
A christian school in downtown Indy that is struggling to keep their doors open. They take children in off the streets and give them a wonderful education. The teachers get paid hardly anything but they continue to help based on their faith. We saw several interviews of the students there and how Christ has been introduced to them and turned their family situations around. The school tries to employ some of their parents to provide jobs for them. Every year they are in danger of being shut down and operate on donations.
The Crux would like to plant a church in downtown Indy that reaches out to the hurting population there.
Outreach is a program in Indianapolis that reaches out to teens that are homeless. A lot of them have been thrown out of their homes and have nowhere to go, so they turn to the streets. Last year Outreach helped around 30 homeless students graduate or get their GED. They find the kids, feed them, clothe them, and teach them about Jesus. They are the first faith based organization to be invited in to the IPS schools to seek out the homeless kids and help them to graduate.
Gleaners Food Bank is a nonprofit organization that feeds the hungry in Indianapolis. It supplies much needed groceries for underpriviledged and homeless people in Indy. For every dollar donated to them, 6 pounds of critical food and groceries are given to those in need.
The FERMI Project supplies clean water to Rawanda. Every 15 seconds a child dies from unclean water. They not only supply clean water but also educate the people on how to maintain it, give hygene training, and healthcare training. For every well built, 750 people are served clean water, half of whom would die without it.
International Justice Mission is one of my most favorite organizations. There are very intelligent detectives that work for them who study places and protect people from injustices. They rescue teenage victims of sex trade and other injustices and prosecute the perpetrators. They then work with the victims on educating and helping them stay protected in the future.
World Vision is dedicated to helping aids orphans around the globe. Children in Africa need food and medicine and are often orphaned from Aids. This organization directly reaches out the them and allows your to sponsor a child.
If you would like to, we invite you to participate in the Advent Conspiracy with us. After hearing all of the hurting that is around us, we have 3 choices. To be apathetic and say "That's too bad, I'm glad it isn't me." To have compassion and think for a moment, "I sure would like to help," and then continue on with our lives and never take the next step to make an effort. Or we can be empathetic and really feel it like it was happening to us. To the point where we take it on as our trouble and move to alleviate the problem. That's what God did for us and would love for us to follow His example. After thinking about all of this, I don't know about you, but it makes me feel really bad to walk around during Christmas picking out cologne when others don't have clean water. I'm giving the gift of love to others this Christmas. We'd love for you to consider that too.
For the PODCAST to hear more about this or to view some videos posted on youtube, visit www.adventconspiracyindy.com and click on resources.
