Victory Baptist Church

Pastor Jack Harwell

We are celebrating Christmas, the time over 2000 years ago when a savior was born.  He came to be our Salvation and we needed Him.  He came to live a life and keep the Law of God when we could not.  He was the only one who could do what was needed to be done so we could have Salvation.  After living a life to fulfill the Law of God he laid down His life, it was not taken from Him.  He died to pay the debt we owe to God.  He died to give us a chance to have God’s Salvation.  In John, Chapter three, it tells us that God so loved the world He gve us his only begotten Son, and if we believe in Him we will have eternal life with Him.  That belief is that Jesus was God come in the flesh and that we are sinners and we need Him.  We need to see that—that He is the only way and that we can’t live good enough and expect Him to do the rest.  He paid the whole price and has done everything needed to give us Salvation.  For us to think we can do any thing in ourselves is a sin all of its own.  The Bible tells use there is no other name given under heaven we can call on to help us save ourselves.  We have to born again into a new person where He lives in us.  Just like when we see someone that has a demon living in them, the things they do are so wrong and horrible that it is clear whom they serve.  The opposite is when Jesus lives in us we can do things to give glory unto God, things that are right and good.  That is the reason He saves us and the reason He came.

When Jesus came before to change the world, He did just that.  The times we live in today are such that we need Jesus to lead us.  We need to wake up and look around at what is going on.  Do you think things are going real good, or do you think things are real bad?  Can you see how bad things are getting due to how we have left God out of all we do?  Jesus said that He was going to prepare us a place for those who believe, and he would come again and get us.  That place is in Heaven where He is, and the Bible tells us how bad it will get before he comes again to Judge the world!  The world we live in today is in danger of God’s Judgement, and if He chooses to come back there will be a lot of people who wish they had not done the things they have, but it will be too late.  The place that God prepared for the devil and his angels will not be a place people can get out of—they will spend all of eternity with pain like no other.  God’s world tells us it is a place where the worm never dies and the fire never stops tormenting those who will be in it.  God’s Judgement will be fair if we choose to reject what God did for us on the Cross with his Son.  God has given us a way to be right with Him, and if we won’t take it then that is on us, not on Him.  God has given us a way to serve Him for His Glory is we accept it.

So as we celebrate Christmas, remember it is the celebration of God sending His Son and our Salvation.  Christmas is about the Gift God has given, not what we get for other people.  Christmas is about caring for the well-being of others, not ourselves.  But if you think it is about how much you get, the question is: how much more than Jesus do you need?  I hope as you read this you might think about what you want in your life.  How do you want your life to end, in Heaven or Hell?  It is your choice, so if you choose wrong it is on you and no one else.  I hope and Pray you will make the right choice.

I also pray that if you would like to talk to me about this, I will take the time to meet with you and explain it.  I am the pastor if the Victory Baptist Church at 448 South Main.  Merry Christmas!

The Malad Idaho LDS Stake 

“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” as a favorite Christmas song proclaims! All around us are symbols of the season: Christmas trees decorated to perfection, lights inside and out, nativity scenes portraying the birth of the Christ Child and beautifully wrapped presents under the tree. Our hearts are a little softer and our desires to serve others more pronounced. We make time in our busy lives to remember the Lord Jesus Christ and bear testimony of His miraculous birth and life. Christmas is the season when we celebrate the greatest gift ever given. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16).

The prophet Isaiah spoke of the Savior’s birth, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Then came that night of nights when the shepherds were abiding in the fields and the angel of the Lord appeared to them announcing, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy. . .For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10).

The shepherds, with haste, went to the manger to pay honor to Christ the Lord. Later, wise men journeyed from the East to Jerusalem, saying: “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and are come to worship him. . . And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother and fell down and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh" (Matthew 2:2,11).

What gifts will you and I give to Him this year? Elder Neal A. Maxwell, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, once observed that “each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus!” 

President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, pleaded with us “to counter the lure of the world by making time for the Lord in your life—each and every day.”

The angels and heavenly hosts made time to sing and proclaim His birth. The Shepherds made time for Jesus by leaving their flocks in search of Him. And the wise men traveled a great distance to worship the babe in Bethlehem. All were busy. All had other responsibilities and demands on their time. The call to go to the manger was not convenient. Yet each one, in his or her own way, made time for Jesus and were changed forever. 

Another disciple changed forever by the Master was Simon Peter. After His resurrection, Jesus met with his Apostles. They ate together and as He prepared to depart, “Jesus saith to Simon Peter, . . .lovest thou me more than these?” Peter gave a brief heartfelt response and the Lord again asked, “Simon . . .lovest thou me me?” Peter answered again, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” But without a pause, Jesus asked again the third time, “Simon, lovest thou me?” Peter, “saith unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17) Peter left that sacred encounter with the Savior sure in the knowledge that loving Jesus means making time to love and serve others. In this regard, love is spelled T-I-M-E.

At this sacred season and throughout the year, make time for Jesus. Make room for Him in your hearts and homes. Make time to read His word in the holy scriptures. Make time to pray daily with greater faith. Make time to love and serve others. Make time to live His gospel. Make time to find joy in the journey of life. 

We testify that the babe born in Bethlehem is the very Son of God. He is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. He died on Calvary’s hill and rose from the tomb the third day. Jesus Christ “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). As we do likewise, the true meaning of Christmas will fill our hearts, homes, and community. May we all make room for Jesus and be changed forever.

Merry Christmas,

The Malad Idaho Stake Presidency

Christmas Message St. Paul Mission

Art Martinez
   During this advent season as we await the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, it is a time of reflection as well as a time of suspense for the coming of our Savior.  Reflection back on the things that have occurred this past year which have brought us all together as community. Those opportunities that we have had to show God that we love him by showing our love and caring for our fellow man.  Our 9/11 projects were great examples of that.  Simply doing good for our community.  Now we await the coming of our Savior. Let us all commit to welcoming him back into our lives by continuing to serve him by serving one another.  After all, the best gift that we could ever give our Savior is to do as he asked us to do. “Love one another as I have loved you.” St. Paul Mission wishes each and everyone a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.

A Christmas Message from the First Presbyterian Church

Marlys Evans

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the world was not the way God intended it.  Into this moral and spiritual darkness Jesus came, bringing life and light to all (John 1:4).  Even though the world didn’t recognize Him, “to all who did receive Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God” (John 1:2).  

Reverend Martin Neimoller, a German pastor, spent nearly eight years in Nazi concentration camps because he openly opposed Hitler.  On Christmas Eve 1944, Neimoller spoke these words of hope to his fellow prisoners in Dachau: “My dear friends, on this Christmas, let us seek, in the Babe of Bethlehem, the One who came to us in order to bear with us everything that weighs heavily upon us; God himself has built a bridge from himself to us!  A dawn from on high has visited us!”

At Christmas we embrace the good news that God, in Christ, has bridged the gap between us.  He invades our prison of darkness with His light and lifts the load of sorrow, guilt, or loneliness that weighs us down.  The prophet Isaiah prophetically said, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of darkness a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2). This light that Isaiah spoke of was not for a few people, but for all.  “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son” (John 3:16).

World news bombards us from the Internet, television, radio, and mobile devices.  The majority seems to describe what’s wrong—crime, terrorism, war and economic problems.  But on that first Christmas the best news, the good news came from an angel, sent by God to shepherds, “Do not be afraid, I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people” (Luke 2:10-11).  The very best news ever spoken—Christ the Savior is born!

When life is not the way it ought to be we are deeply saddened: when families break up, when children go hungry and the world wages war, God promises us that through faith in Christ anyone can move in a new direction.  So, matter where today finds us, Jesus has penetrated our dark world with his joy and light!  In this season of giving, the most important gift we can ever receive is God’s gift of His Son, our Savior, and with him forgiveness, restoration, and the promise of spiritual life that begins now and lasts forever.  And the most important gift we can ever give is to give Jesus our hearts.

The Christmas season reminds us that Jesus, the Savior, gives life and light to everyone who will receive and follow Him (John 8:12).  This Christmas, why not share the good news with other the Christ, “the light of the world” has come (John 8:12).