'Twas the Sunday after Black Friday and all through the house
Everyone was stirring noted Susie, our church mouse
With Thanksgiving now gone for another year
Grandparents asked grandchildren, "What would you like for Christmas, dear?"
"Oh, not too much," the little ones replied,
But when grandma saw their twelve-page lists she nearly died
Picking her up off the floor grandpa said, "Let's go.
We need to get to Scranton before the first snow."
So off the next day down I-81 they flew
Past Lenoxville, Waverly, and Clarks Summit they blew,
Finally, there above the mall in the Toys-R-Us parking lot
They saw a single parking space and gave it a shot
But they lost the only place to a new Ford Fusion
In the hustle and bustle and mass confusion
Nine hours later, they eventually park their car
See, they left home after breakfast and now, above, they see stars
They don't worry about time; the store's open all night
Which is good because those checkout lines, wow, they're a sight
An ipod, a Wii and video games they did snatch
And a Webkins dog and a chick that would hatch
As the clock struck midnight there in isle sixty-two
They were getting their last X Box game and wondered what to do
See, they were missing something crucial; this could not be refuted
Every toy in their cart came with batteries not included

Let's talk about two toys for a moment. Here's the first. Regardless of your age or ability to pilot a small aircraft, you may be hooked like a certain pastor was on this flying helicopter. With its handheld remote control, this seven- or eight-inch flying machine does amazing things. For instance, it can hover and then loop around a ceiling fan better than Jeff Gordon around a racetrack.

And speaking of NASCAR driver Jeff G, here's the second toy—this small race car that goes over any flat surface, including a wall or the front of a refrigerator. Seriously, this thing goes anywhere as if gravity is not an issue. It goes down and around the legs of a coffee table or streaks across a ceiling.

The common denominator between the helicopter and race car is that both require energy or power to perform. The common denominator here at First UCC is that when we plug into God as our energy source, we are energized. We are charged. With God as our battery, our hearts—as we hear in verse thirteen—are made strong, blameless and holy.

Paul here is writing a prayer to the church in Thessalonica and this congregation, like ours, has had challenges. And this is our first sermon point today. This church, like ours, has had its faith not just challenged, but tested. That's right. God actually sent tests to this group not to diminish or discourage them, no; God sent deliberate tests to strengthen them. God sent hoops they had to go through not that they would fail, but that they'd get better and better at jumping.

Some may think that troubles are always caused by sin or a lack of faith when, in fact, trials or tests may be a part of God's plan. See, experiencing problems can build character, according to James 1:2-4. Here's what James, Jesus' brother, writes. "When troubles come your way, consider them an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow..."

I know a few of you enjoy the popular TV show Dancing with the Stars. The winners of this season's series were interviewed this past Wednesday morning, the day before Thanksgiving. The final three couples were on hand for the televised interview. The winner received the most air time, but remarks from one of the runners up can make a lasting impression on you, if you let it.

Apparently this celebrity dancer, the one who finished second or third, received some harsh criticism from one of the judges, the silver-haired man. I'm sorry I don't know names, but what's important to raise here for all of us—dance fans or not—is the dancer could have taken on-air time to slam or retaliate against that judge. The dancer didn't take the opportunity given to dish the judge, however. Instead, she thanked the man for providing greater challenges for her because in those challenges, she said, she grew not only as a dancer, but as a whole person.   

God presents us with opportunities for growth much like that judge. See, tests or trials from God enable us to develop not only perseverance but also sensitivity toward others who face troubles or hardships. Tests or trials from God enable us to see what God wants us to see and do what God wants us to do. Tests and trials from God enable us to be who God wants us to be, and that's a group of people who are in relationship with Him.

In this relationship you have with God—and for each of us here it is a little bit different but enough alike that it's individually empowering—take a journey this Advent. This journey is not like the one the grandparents were on as we started this sermon. Rather, this journey demands you understand this: problems are unavoidable for God's people. In fact, your troubles may be a sign of God at work in you.

Now here, in the comfort of our beautifully decorated sanctuary where the wafting scent of a fresh-cut Fraser fir conjures wonderful memories, some may be thinking, sure, I can handle tests or trials. But then I get home. And I'm alone. And it's not always easy to bring the feeling I have during a sermon into every moment of my daily life—and faster than it takes for me to string Christmas lights on my porch, trouble or tests comes along. The following may be some of them. I can't afford to give the gifts we'd like to give this year. I'm lacking in spirit. This December feels like every other one.  There's that health issue, that marriage problem. There's a teenager just about to drive me crazy or, conversely, mom or dad just don't get it. School is really hard now. My friends have moved on. I'm going to be so alone this Christmas. My teacher is really frustrating sometimes. Tomorrow at work is just going to be hell.

These and other trials are out there and they are going to be tough. That's a fact. But here's our second point this morning. God gives us everything we need. Note what I'm saying here. God doesn't give us everything we want; God gives us everything we need, and that, honestly, includes these tests and trials we've been talking about.

Let me explain that through this second story. We move from dancing with stars to developing a sense of what God wants, and it's here in scripture. This second story is the one you heard Marcia read just minutes ago. Paul is saying the following in verse twelve. Please find your scripture sheet and read it along with me. Again, we're looking at verse twelve. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.

May your love increase and overflow.

Now, truly, how's that going to happen? It happens, honestly, not through sugar highs from candy canes or the tray of Christmas cookies you've downed; love increases and overflows when you meet challenges with God, and those challenges are—in God's timing and in God's way—overcome. Your love increases and overflows when hardships are leveled like that tower of blocks two Sunday's ago during the children's sermon.

On your journey through Advent, overcome your challenges because God gives you what you need.

Recently someone shared that our church has been asking for a lot — cocoa, coats, supplies to needy families in Binghamton. First of all, amen, that's exactly what we should be doing—increasing and overflowing with love for each other. That is God presenting a test or challenge to us.

You have prayed for love to increase and overflow.  And that's succeeding. That's succeeding because as the deacon who accompanied me to the Penn Northeast Conference a month ago will share with you, Christ-seeking individuals in their twenties and thirties don't a want to be a part of a church that only feeds and cares for itself. This is a fact. Generation Y (and beyond) want to be involved in spiritual formation and in service.

The twenty, thirty and beyond set, like all of us truly, need to see that we're doing something, that we care, that we respond both with God and for God. And that, according to Paul in our lesson today, is how love increases and overflows.

And this leads to our third sermon point this morning. It is this. While working with God, we can accomplish what God asks of us. We just have to remember, always, to work with God.

God knows our limits. God knows our resources. God also knows our hearts. Yes, it may be a challenge for some to accept that this church, which is plugged into God in very real ways, is one place that presents tests and trials for all of us in that we are called to give. We are called to give, as we remember, because followed by the first commandment, which is to love God, which we are, is the second commandment, which is to serve others.

I asked you a few moments ago to take a journey this Advent season, and this Advent follows on the heels of our fall M&M series which proved we're capable of a ministry that moves. With coats and cocoa and a new confirmation class, with a revitalized pulse and a boldness in our faith, we, through every trial or test that comes our way, are responding to God not by sitting or being still, rather, we are an active and reactive people to God.  That is who we are.

Now, that said, it's time to go further. In this new season where hope in the candle lit guides and informs us, it is time we own even further who we are as individuals and as a group much like those in our scripture lesson. It is time to define who we are. To do so, this Advent it's time we birth a new mission statement. It's a mission statement you'll hear every week through December and beyond. That mission statement is this: to love God and serve others.

All of us understand that to be in the mindset of 'give, give' give' is not easy. In fact, some can say, "Holy Gingerbread man, it's just plain tough, or tiring."

But I believe this sense of it being tough or tiring is the test or the trial God has given us as a church.  And again, point three, while working with God, we can accomplish what God does ask of us, just as those in Thessalonica accomplished what God had in mind for them because God gives us all the power and the energy we need.

Consider the past. This church has had its faith and its future not just challenged, but tested, yet with God as our battery that comes included when we pledge not casual but committed allegiance, when we throw out the old notion of 'the little church that can't' and embrace the truth in 'the living church that can', test by test and trial by trial, we will continue to 'git r done' because, really, God does give us what we need.

Whether or not you pick up a helicopter or new race car, let your journey of Advent begin now. Recognize trials are an opportunity to grow in your faith, as James says. Recognize this is the season where, from the sermon last week, you understand that Jesus through God is the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, and that you, an agent of God, are the middle. You are the ones to show and reflect God's love. From the sermon two weeks ago, do not let stumbling blocks such as fear, doubt or selfishness get in our way. Instead, understand that this church, with love overflowing, has had tests and trials yet with passion and power walks into Advent and the following new year with this mission: to love God and to serve others. Understand that when you are with God, batteries are included.

So God is the battery that gives us life
said the husband to the wife
"You're right," agreed the toy store cashier who overheard 
"That God is our power can be inferred" 
With the last toy paid for the couple headed to the door
sure that with Jesus they didn't need any more
Because what they need no toy manufacturer can invent
The couple, like us, can find it all in Advent.