Pastor’s Page | November 20th, 2025
Sermon Prep (Read Philippians 2:1-5)
Do you remember the story of the Princess and the frog? There is this nasty, ugly frog that sits at the pond and he is trying to get this princess to give him a kiss. His story was that he was turned into this awful, ugly frog against his will and so he needed her love to free him from this nasty predicament he was in. The story goes that eventually the princess kisses the frog and “poof” he becomes a handsome prince and they get married and live happily ever after.
Now let’s reimagine that story if it was told to be like the story of Jesus. It would be a beautiful prince who looked down at this nasty ugly frog stuck in a pond of despair who could care less about this beautiful prince. Yet this prince had so much love for this frog, that the prince left his castle and took the form of the frog. Not only did he take the form of a frog, but because the frog had done many bad froggy things, the frog owed a great debt. So, the prince, in his frog form, took all the guilt and shame that was to be on the frog and then he bore it himself. He then paid the price of this debt in his frog body so that this frog could be set free. And here is the kicker! The goal was that this nasty, ugly frog would then be turned into a princess to be with the prince in his kingdom for all eternity. Oh, and all this was done willingly by the prince.
Crazy, huh? This is the beauty of the Christian message. In this week’s passage, we have perhaps one of the greatest passages describing to us who Jesus truly is, what He did for us, and the glory He now has because of what He did. This passage is such a gold mine of treasures, but as you read this and stand in awe of His deity, of His love, and of His glory…remember that Paul is telling us this in the context of vs 5. This is what our attitude should be. As you read this passage, keep in mind what Paul said in vs 1-4, and how this example of Jesus would look if everyone lived this out. So, as you prepare for Sunday and enter this week of Thanksgiving, think of the frog and be grateful for the incarnation of Jesus Christ and His descent of humility for our sakes.
Some verses to help you in study: Is. 7:14; Mat. 1:23. Jno. 1:1, 2, 18; 17:5. Col. 1:15, 16. 1 Ti. 1:17; 3:16. Tit. 2:13. He. 1:3, 6, 8; 13:8. Ps. 22:6.
Sermon Series “Living For Jesus: A Study of Philippians”
11/23 - The Mind of Christ - Philippians 2:6-12
11/30 - Shining For Jesus - Philippians 2:12-18
Updates, Thoughts and More
Next week is Thanksgiving. I am so excited about the Thanksgiving meal that we will be having here at the church at 1 pm. We know that there are many people who are not able to be with their family this Thanksgiving. We do not want you to be alone. There is no cost to you to come and eat. If you would like to bring a dish to share, that would be great. This is a chance for you to come and spend Thanksgiving with your church family. To sign up, please call the church office.
Speaking of the church office, the church office will be open on Monday and Tuesday but will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday.
Christmas is almost here. This past week, we sent out an email for the Christmas love offering for our staff. We have a wonderful staff, and this is something that we do for them each year. I ask that you prayerfully consider donating to this as a way to thank them for all they do. We will include the letter in this weekly update.
The college football season is winding down. This makes me sad, but it means that we are about to enter the bowl season and the playoffs. These next two weeks will have a huge impact on the bowl games. Some big games include Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt is a legit team, and they will probably win but Kentucky has been playing its best football these past few weeks. Kentucky needs one more win to become bowl eligible. I am hoping that Kentucky pulls off the upset. The other game that will be interesting is Texas and Arkansas. Arkansas is a scary team (ask A&M) and if Texas is looking past them, they will get shocked. I think Texas wins, but it will be very close. Missouri and Oklahoma will be a fun game to watch. Oklahoma should win, but they may still be on a high from last week’s upset win at Bama.
For the NFL, Dallas always plays the Eagles well. I think that Dallas may actually pull off the upset this week. The other game to watch is Kansas City and Indy. If Kansas City loses this one, they will have a losing record. As of right now, and this is even hard to imagine, Kansas City is out of the playoffs. I think Indy wins this one and it will look a lot like KC’s game last week.
What’s Going On This Week
Sunday (11/23)
Sunday Service - 9am & 10:30am
Monday (11/24)
Stitching Angels - 1:30pm
Tuesday (11/25)
Men’s Prayer Breakfast - 7:30am
Celebration of Life for Linda Eslick - 11am
Wednesday (11/26)
Church Office CLosed
Thursday (11/20)
Thanksgiving Meal - 1pm
Sunday (11/30)
Combined Worship Service - 10am
Advent Begins
Joke of the Week
Three friars were banished from their monastery for various rule violations, so they decided to start a business together. They traveled around until they found a town that they liked and opened up a plant shop. Their floral business was soon thriving.
One day, a woman was shopping at the friars’ store, and while she was strolling down an aisle with her toddler, a large plant reached out, grabbed the child, and ate it. Needless to say, the woman was quite upset at the loss of her child. However, the friars refused to believe that one of their plants could have done such a thing. The woman told all of her friends about the incident, and soon everyone in the town was in an uproar. They decided to kick the friars out of town. Every person in the town, except for a man named Hugh, gathered outside of the friar’s shop, shouting, waving sticks, and demanding that they leave. But the friars said, “No. We’re not leaving.” So, the townspeople gave up and went home.
Well, a couple weeks later, another woman was walking through the friars’ shop, looking at plants with her baby, when a plant grabbed her child and ate it. She ran through the streets screaming that a plant had swallowed her baby. The townspeople were outraged and again gathered outside the floral shop (except for Hugh), waving torches, and demanding that the friars leave town at once.
But the friars said, “No way.” And all the people gave up and went home.
A few days later, yet another woman dared to take her child into the floral shop. She held her infant tightly in her arms, but it was no use. A large plant wrestled the child from her arms and ate it.
When the townspeople heard of this, they were extremely upset. They again gathered outside the friar’s store (except for Hugh), yelling and threatening bodily harm to the friars if they didn’t leave town. But the friars said, “We’re staying.” So the citizens gave up and began to go home. Just then, Hugh showed up. He walked up to the friars, and said, “Get out of town, now!” The friars immediately packed up all their belongings and fled that very day, never to be heard from again.
The moral of this story is: Only Hugh can prevent florist friars.
Memory Verse of the Week
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”
~Philippians 2:5 (NIV84)
Quote of the Week
We must always remember that union with Christ is possible because of the Son’s descent to earth, not because of our ascent into heaven. The basis of our union with Christ is Christ’s union with us in the incarnation. He became one with us so that we might become one with Him.
~Devin DeYoung
