Keep the Bells Ringing

Aaron took me to a few churches. I sat in a pew or chair at church and felt nothing as I watched him attempt to sing. I couldn’t see what was so great about singing songs to an invisible God that I did not know. I had seen a lot of bad things in churches as I grew up, and I wasn’t about to be a part of one. At first I figured Aaron’s enthusiasm was because he liked the music-until it changed. Then I thought that he was just “those people”. Woohoo!!!!

You know-the ones who sing louder than everyone else (and can’t hold a note), and put their hands in the air.

But after a while I felt like I was missing something…maybe something important. I couldn’t figure it out. Aaron made it sound so easy; I didn’t take him at his word at first. I worried that I would never have that kind of joy in my life.
Then I saw how Aaron lived his faith by being involved in the lives of several high school and jr high students as a camp counselor. He was exciting and took life for what it was. He simply believed that God was with him. He never had to tell people that he was a Christian. They knew by the way he led. When I saw his wholehearted trust in God, I believed in Jesus as my Savior.

Then I became one of “those people”. Woohooo!!!!!
I started to praise God everyway I knew how, and few ways I didn’t! I still remember spending time alone with God in the beginning. It was like Christmas, but as time went by, my enthusiasm and faith started to fade. It wasn’t that I did not want to worship God. Rather than living life, I started surviving. When you go into that mode it is hard to think of anything else.

Do you have a hard time figuring out how people can be so overjoyed at the Christian life? They worship like no one is watching, pray like the world is ending, and love like it is all that truly matters. Why don’t I get into worship like they do?

You can blame it on the music, you can blame it on the preaching, you can blame it on the circumstances in your life, or you can start living the life you were meant to live.

There is a scene in the movie, "The Polar Express" where a boy sees Santa but can't hear the bells on his sleigh because he made the choice that he was not going to believe in Santa Claus. Then he makes the choice and follows it up with saying, "I believe, I believe!!!". The clip illustrates how you can claim to be a believer and yet not truly believe. You may not have any joy in your heart about Christ saving you, and do not get excited about the things of God-simply because you have made the choice not to just BELIEVE.

It is hard to grasp the concept of a jolly, benevolent fat man who gives us gifts each year because he loves to give gifts. It is difficult to think of a team of 12, 400 pound arctic deer pulling a ½ ton sled through the night sky too, but we have this desire in the corners of our being to believe in someone who not only cares about us, but has the power to make a difference; to change our lives.

That’s what Santa did in the movie, The Polar Express. He changed his life by the gift he gave him, and the words he spoke. Jesus did the same for us when he set us free and gave us spiritual gifts.
“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says:
"When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."(Ephesians 4:7-8, NKJ)

If you want to hear the bells on the sleigh, you too must believe. The first gift of Christmas in the movie was a bell from Santa's sleigh to a little boy who had trouble believing. The true first gift of Christmas was the gift of Life through Christ that God gave to the world to save us from our sin. God will give you that gift if you will do as he boy did in the movie. Though he did not understand how it was all possible, he simply made the choice to BELIEVE. After wards Santa told him that believing is seeing. It isn't the other way around.

Keeping the Bells Ringing
I. To hear the bells you need to accept the gift God is holding out to you-new life in Christ. It is then you become part of God's timeless family from all nations. As in the movie, the bells ring the loudest when you first hear them. The bells will echo with deafening joy as an innumerable host of angels celebrates your new life!
Isaiah had a vision of God’s throne room. When he saw God, he was afraid because he knew that he should not have been there because of who he was and how sinful he was.
And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." (Isaiah 6:3-5, NIV)

But once God removed his sin, he heard Him.
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8, NIV)

Once God has removed our sin through Jesus Christ, we will begin to hear God. We will begin to experience the joy that we had longed for in our relationship with Jesus.
That relationship begins when you believe in Jesus Christ and receive the gift of life that he offers. Remember it is free. You cannot earn it, you just accept it.

II. To continue to hear the bells as time wears on meditate on God's Word daily, and put it into practice.
When Moses died, Joshua took the lead of Israel. As he assumed command, God told him to be courageous, and
"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." (Joshua 1:7-8,NIV)
Meditating on God's word will echo with the bells that you heard when you first believed. You will begin to hear the bells on a regular basis and your joy will be deeply rooted in something other than external circumstances. It will be rooted in knowing God personally and His word.
God's word was written for a purpose, and when you read it and apply it, you fulfill that purpose.
Isaiah 55:10-11
"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

When you read God's word with the intent of putting it to use in your own life, it will draw you closer to its Author. He is the source of the joy and boldness you seek.
III. To hear the bells ringing all year retell the “old old story”. We must teach it to our children, and grandchildren.
In Deuteronomy 11:18-20 God says,
"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,"
Make the most of every opportunity that God gives you to remember and retell His word. When you are at work remember Him, when you are in class remember Him. Tell Bible Stories to your kids, grand kids, nieces and nephews, Sunday Schools, Youth Groups, Churches, and ANYONE else who will listen.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,” (Colossians 3:23, NIV)

You can do these things to continue hearing the bells throughout the year. You can meditate on what God says.. You can retell bible stories and the Gospel to others. These are all very necessary in keeping the joy of Christmas, and the boldness to love others with you.

But if you do not simply believe, then all of these will never give you the fulfillment you are looking for. Only Jesus can give you that, and it starts with simply BELIEVING.

IV. The most important thing in hearing the bells and retaining the Christmas joy is simply BELIEVING like a child that Jesus loves you and will take care of you. That's Scriptural.

The economy is faltering, my health is failing, I am getting older, my children are in trouble, I am in trouble, I am losing my hair…
There are so many things you can worry about if you want to. But your Dad is watching over you, and will not let anything happen that you cannot handle. You have His word on that. 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Do you remember being a child and being held by your mom or dad and feeling safe? Knowing that they would take care of you? You didn’t know how they would, but you trusted that they could and would.
As a little boy, when I sat on my grandpa's lap on the old farm, I felt safe and secure no matter what was going on around me. During our games, his lap was safety. When my parents were fighting his house was safety. The world could be destroyed and we would not have known because I was safe in grandpa's lap.
When I was tired at grandpa's house as a little boy, I would climb up on him in his big chair and lay my head on his shoulder and fall asleep in his big farmer arms. I always slept best in grandpa's arms.
When was the last time that you rested in your Father's arms and felt safe? You can you know. He's got you and no one can take you from His big arms.
Matthew 10:15-16
"Truly, I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them."

In the end of the movie the boy's parents could not hear the bell, and after a while his friends couldn't either. As he grew up he was the only one who could still hear the bell-because he simply...
BELIEVES…

Make the choice to believe in Jesus Christ, and what He has done for you. Please respond to this post if you have done that or would like to talk with us