Luke 2:1-5

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.  So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. - Luke 2:1-5

Dear Heavenly Father,

Would you really turn the whole Roman world upside down just to get your Son born in the town of David according to prophecy?  Would you really make a man and woman endure suspicion the rest of their lives because you wanted them to have your baby?  Would you really inconvenience us to accomplish your own will?  How dare you act like God!  I find it hard to believe that you would kick us off our thrones to accomplish your altruistic purposes, that is; until I realize this demonstrates how much you love everyone, my friends and my enemies.  Oh, God!  Do what you wish with our lives, so as many as possible can escape the awful justice awaiting their sins.  Work your grace and save our souls at the expense of our childish and temporary dreams.  

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson

God loves us too much to let us have everything we want at the expense of what we need the most. 

Matthew 1:24-25

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. - Matthew 1:24-25

Dear Heavenly Father,

How easily Joseph did the hard thing and took Mary as his wife but forestalled the wedding night consummation for months!  How easily he obeyed when my generation has a hard time with abstinence for any reason!  How easily faith obeys when the child of God loves his Creator and understands his purpose.  Help my generation and me to love you enough and understand your purposes well enough to easily glorify you with a life of purity in an impure world. And thank you for making sure I would know that your Son was holy for my sake by leading Joseph to abstain from his rightful privilege.

AMEN

Pastor Don Patterson

Faith lives for an audience of One even when it means that it's own life is shrunk below expectations. 

Matthew 1:20-23

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel” (which means “God with us”). -Matthew 1:20-23

Dear Holy Spirit,

You would not leave Joseph too long to figure out on his own what you had done.  He would never have thought it.  So, you intervened and sent Gabriel to tell him you were the father of his boy and that he didn't have to page through baby books with Mary to find a name.  What relief he must have felt when he realized Mary had not been unfaithful.  But how fast the relief turned to awe and then serious resolve when he realized he was the earthly protector of the baby Savior. Help me to treat the gospel about your Son with the same awe and respect.  Help me to protect it as much as I revere it.  Help me to share it as much as I protect it. Give me the same faith filled resolve to help sad and lonely sinners to realize your Son is Emmanuel, God with them!  Give me faith in his presence now whenever I feel lonely and confused.  Conceive in me the insights of Christ centered faith that empower me to live above my fears and complaints.  Make his birthday truly merry day for me and my loved ones.  

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson 

The Holy Spirit conceives in our hearts a sublime trust in the one he conceived in Mary's womb.  

Luke 1:18-19

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. - Luke 1:18-19

Dear Jesus,

What love your earthly father, Joseph, had that he did not want to expose your mother to public disgrace.  He was so hurt at the thought that she appeared to have been unfaithful and yet he wanted to treat her with love.  Give me that love born out of faith in you that protects others from public disgrace.  Keep me from responding out of hurt and trashing the name of someone who has made life difficult for me.  Help me to work more at covering sin with grace and mercy than getting even with criticism and complaint.  Your parents weren't perfect, but they were a great example to the rest of us.  

AMEN

Pastor Don Patterson

The righteousness of love is revealed the most in the fray of conflict between people.  

Matthew 1:1-17

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:  Abraham was the father of Isaac,  Isaac the father of Jacob,  Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, ... Elihud the father of Eleazar,  Eleazar the father of Matthan,  Matthan the father of Jacob,  16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah. - Matthew 1:1-17

Dear Jesus, 

Your apostle, Matthew, set out to write his story about your life by telling us that you were the descendant of Abraham and David.  How simply and powerfully he rooted your birth in prophecy.  He did it to make sure I have faith that you really are the Savior of my soul.  No other religion or philosophy has the boast that their postulates are built on such clear prophecy and fulfillment.  I am more convinced in your love and comfort for my everyday life when I see that you were born into the family trees that your father had promised.  So, I am also more ready to give you my life in devotion and my heart in prayer.  I believe you are there to listen and respond with grace.  So, today I will pray to you about each of my anxieties and look forward to your blessings. 

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson

God kept his promises to send Jesus from the family tree of Abraham and David.  He will keep his promise to take care of you too. 

Isaiah 49:1-3

Listen to me, you islands;
    hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
    from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.
He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
    in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
    and concealed me in his quiver.
He said to me, “You are my servant,
    Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” - Isaiah 49:1-3

Dear Father,

You hid your Son in heaven until just the right time.  Then you hid him on earth from Herod, from Caiphas and the rest until just the right time.  Then you pulled him out of the sheath and struck the biggest blow Satan would ever endure.  You sacrificed him to cover sin and guilt and so killed sin and death and the power of the evil one to ruin us forever.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for pulling Jesus out of the sheath and forcing him into battle for my soul.  Pull me out of the sheath when you are ready to use me to force your love into my corner of the world.

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson

Jesus was the sword Satan never wanted to see.  Once he was sent to earth, Satan’s territory began to recede.

Isaiah 40:3-5

A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” - Isaiah 40:3-5

Dear Father, 

You promised a voice to come and herald that your Son had left heaven for earth. You promised that voice would prepare us. You promised that voice would tear down the walls we had build around our hearts. You promised that voice would fill in the gaps and low places in our reasoning. You promised a voice to lead us to Christ. John the Baptist was that voice and he was perfect for his generation. He is perfect for me, too. I hear his voice when I read the Gospel accounts of what he said. His voice leads me to you. It drives me to seek grace and mercy. It humbles me and encourages me all at the same time. Thank you God for the voice that announced the greatest player in my life. 

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson

God chose to give his word a voice so that his word might come alive to give us a living faith. 

Micah 5:2

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.” - Micah 5:2

Dear Heavenly Father,

The prophets’ varied and sprinkled promises about your Son scattered all over the millennia before he was born, remind me of the bread crumbs that Hansel and Gretel  naively sprinkled behind so their father could find them.  What faith the prophets had that their words would be preserved and used by you to guide generations to your Son.  You protect the small acts of people to assemble huge blessings for many. I love to hear how you chose Bethlehem as the birth place of Jesus and led Micah to leave behind the crumb telling us so 600 years before he was born.  What a beautiful place to create the story of Salvation!  What a a great way to remind us of the promise you gave David that one of his descendants would be the Messiah!  Give me ways that I can leave behind crumbs for you that you will speak to people yet to be born.   

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson

God told us where Jesus would be born so that we would have the blessing of trusting in him. 

Isaiah 11:1-5

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
    or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
    with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
    with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Righteousness will be his belt
    and faithfulness the sash around his waist. - Isaiah 11:1-5

Dear God,

If you did not keep in mind the plans you had to raise up out of the broken and destroyed families of Israel a Branch, a Son, who would fix everything between you and humanity, it would have been impossible for you to sit back and watch Assyria annihilate your people.  But you knew your plan to raise up a branch from the family tree of Jesse.  I believe you have big plans for my descendants after me and it brings me great joy to think that I am in the line of something wonderful on earth that will happen in ages to come.  I will gladly serve you without knowing what you are going to do after me with my people because I know that your plan will always end up for the good of all.  You are the God who saves and restores.  I am thankful to have been converted to faith in you from my birth brain that was lost and confused. 

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson

Live in the hope that the mundane events of your life are leading  to huge precipices in history after you have entered your rest.

1 Peter 1:10-12

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. – 1 Peter 1:10-12

Dear Jesus,

I sometimes forget just how fortunate we are to live right now in history.  The Old Testament prophets got bits and pieces of prophecy but you did show them the masterpiece of salvation in your Son that you have shown us in the gallery of the New Testament.   The angels didn’t even get to know your grand plan until we had seen it first.  We are better off than the prophets and the angels.  We know the entire story and it brings us great faith, peace and joy.  It also gives us a clear message to share with our generation.  Thank you for having setting my life on this side of the cross.  I feel privileged and deeply loved.  When I start to have a pity party for myself, remind me of the great life in Christ you have created for me and turn me back to faith and love. 

Pastor Don Patterson

No one understands the gospel about Jesus and trusts that God loves him apart from the miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Ruth 4:18-22

This, then, is the family line of Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

Salmon the father of Boaz,

Boaz the father of Obed,

Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of David. - Ruth 4:18-22

Dear heavenly Father,

I usually am walking out of the theater when the credits are rolling on the screen.  But when I pause for a moment to contemplate why you put this genealogy of David at the end of the story of Ruth, the list of "credits" is like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle.  It crowns the picture with the final thought.  You were working in Ruth and Naomi's life to bring us David, whose life teaches us volumes, whose psalms reverberate in our hearts, whose descendant saved our souls.  Ruth and David fit together and they fit together with me too. Oh, what a wonderful God you are.  It makes me smile to think that the One who invented my life also executed a multi millennial plan to preserve it.  I will live in peace today because you created David from Ruth and gave us Jesus from David. 

AMEN

Pastor Don Patterson 

There is no peace like knowing God has every life in the palm of his hand.  

Ruth 4:16-17

Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. - Ruth 4:16-17

Dear Heavenly Father, 

What great joy Naomi had when she could claim Ruth's child, Obed, as her heir and raise him as the family legacy!  Her long journey punctuated with great loss was over.  She was resettled and recharged with a small child in her home.  You showed her that you are the God who saves and restores.  It gives me hope to cling to and hope to share with others that you still have great life gifts in store for them.  More importantly when I read the last words of this verse I marvel that this story isn't just about Naomi and Ruth.  It's about David and the blessing he brought to earth through his descendant and yours, our Savior Jesus.  Help me to remember that my little story finds it's greatest meaning in that it is connected to your grand story of global love and rescue.  Make my tasks and issues today small and make your story big for me.  

AMEN

Pastor Don Patterson

God is working in every life to bless and to make it a blessing. 

Ruth 4:13-15

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” - Ruth 4:13-15

Dear Heavenly Father,

You turned a very bleak situation for Naomi into a blessing that is still read and appreciated today.  You are the God who saves!  This part of the story of Ruth reminds me of Easter when your Son rose from the grave.  In Ruth and Naomi's lives, you brought life from what looked like a dead end. Through Ruth, you gave to Naomi what she thought she would never receive.  Her family name and property was preserved and her place in history was riveted in print forever.  Dear Lord, I hereby trust you with my story, too.  I know you will make the greatest good come out of every situation no matter how bleak or difficult.  Help me to tie the knot of faith in the end of my rope when I come to it.  

Pastor Don Patterson

With God the end is always better than the beginning. 

Ruth 4:11-12

Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” - Ruth 4:11-12

Dear Lord,

You gave Boaz, Naomi, and Ruth good friends who supported them and encouraged them with prayers and positive words.  They were risking lots of things by living as servant leaders.  The blessing of their friends must have helped their world make sense to them.  Give me friends who will encourage and pray for me.  Make me the kind of friend that encourages others and really prays for them too. Also, I see in this verse how you started to show your hand that it's not just a story but it also shows us how you were protecting the ancestral line of your Son, our Savior.  Thank you for showing your hand.  It encourages our faith in your Saving work and redemptive heart. 

AMEN

Pastor Don Patterson

An encouraging friend is a rare gem ornamenting the committed life of any servant. 

Ruth 4:1-10

Now Boaz went to the town gate where everyone did their official business. He found the nearest kinsman redeemer for Naomi and he told him it was his duty to redeem her property and take her daughter in law Ruth as his wife to preserve Naomi's husband Elimelek's name and inheritance. The nearest kinsman redeemer did not want to do that so he let Boaz who was next in line, redeem Naomi's land and marry Ruth. - Ruth 4:1-10 Summarized

Dear Lord,

Naomi and Ruth's fate depended entirely on Boaz's follow through. Boaz was good on his word. He followed through and bought Naomi's land and married Ruth. He changed their circumstances from destitute to destiny. Thank you for sending other people to follow through and "redeem" me so my life will be blessed and my family can be rescued from destitution. Make me a Boaz for others, too, so their lives are better because of mine. Give me a kinsman redeemer's heart.

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson

Success often depends on the persistance of others. 
 

Ruth 3:14-18

So Ruth lay at Boaz's feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, “No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor.”

He also said, “Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and placed the bundle on her. Then he went back to town.

When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did it go, my daughter?”

Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her and added, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”

Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.” - Ruth 3:14-18

Dear heavenly Father, 

In our generation we have forgotten how to protect reputations.  We don't protect ours and we don't protect yours.  In our individualism we just do whatever we want to do and let everyone else think what they will.  However, you show us through Boaz that godliness avoids making it look like we have sinned.  Godliness is careful to uphold the high honor of marriage and purity.  Godliness avoids the appearance of sin.  Forgive us Lord, for our cavalier disregard for the honor of marriage.  And help us to be strong to live pure lives in an impure society.  Make us generous too, like Boaz was before Ruth left.  Help us to freely give to our family and friends. 

AMEN

Pastor Don Patterson

Godliness in the heart drives actions and attitudes that everyone else sees and enjoys.

Ruth 3:5-13

“I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.

When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet!

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family.”

“The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I. Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. Lie here until morning.” - Ruth 3:5-13

Dear Lord, 

What a beautiful love story you crafted between Ruth and Boaz.  In one way it broke all the norms.  In another way, it set the norm.  These two recognized the mature, servant's heart in one another and it made them attractive to one another.  They were aroused by virtue more than physique.  Help young people everywhere to learn from them.  Help us all to devalue looks and notoriety and to value love, service, compassion and faith.  Give my children and grandchildren the discernment to choose for themselves mates that show a beautiful godly heart and life. Make them like Ruth and Boaz. 

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson

Godliness is gold and beauty is zinc.  

Ruth 3:1-4

One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for. Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.” - Ruth 3:1-4

Dear Heavenly Father, 

I love seeing this ancient dating advice.  It's like Naomi was telling Ruth to go give Boaz her cell number, but it was ten times more of an offer.  By lying down at his feet and covering herself with the corner of his garment she would be saying, "I will marry you if you want me to. I need your love and protection." Wow, that is speed dating at it's finest.  It breaks all the norms I have in my mind for how a couple should journey through a relationship.  And you blessed the plan!  They had a wonderful marriage and brought the world a son who was an ancestor to your son.  You are an amazing God, who brings great blessing out of the ashes of total destruction.  Help me to remember this story when my children and grandchildren date.  You are behind every event working a plan that no one can see.  I recognize that not every relationship will follow conventional wisdom.  I yield to your unconventional miraculous ways. 

Amen

Pastor  Don Patterson

God still brings people together just as he brought Eve to Adam that first day of their lives. 

Ruth 2:21-23

 Then Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Boaz even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”  Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”  So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law. - Ruth 2:21-23

Dear heavenly Father, 

You create safe places in this world through the people you have redeemed and made new.  Boaz was a safe place for everyone who worked with him.  I want to be that safe place too.  Help me to see the opportunities around me to protect others and help them flourish.  Make my church a safe place for souls to get forgiveness and peace.  Create more safe places in job places where people work for others who help those under them to succeed.  Help all of us to be firm and decisive in our work but compassionate and peaceful too. Make parents everywhere realize that their homes are to be a safe place for their children in body and soul.  Oh, Lord increase our safe places through modern day Boazes who have been changed by your love and truth. 

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson 

Godliness has many sides but one for sure is that it creates safety for others. 

Ruth 2:18-20

Ruth carried back to town all the grain she had gleaned that day and her mother in law, Naomi, saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left when she had eaten enough. Her mother in law asked her, "Where did you glean today?  Where did you work?  Blessed be the man who took notice of you!"  Ruth told her, ""The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz."  Naomi said, "The Lord bless him. He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead. That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian redeemers." - Ruth 2:18-20

Dear Heavenly Father,

When we discover your blessing through others like Naomi did, it fill our hearts with wonder. We thought it depended on us and all along you were lining up people to help us. Thank you for taking care of us behind the scenes and revealing that care when it is the right time. Give us a rich faith that makes us calm and content even when we lack because we know your blessing is not far away.

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson

God's has people ready to bless us whom we have yet to meet.