Shaun Groves
The Old Testament ends with two commands from the prophet Malachi. He tells God’s people to remember: Remember that God has done great things for you. Then he tells them to believe: Believe God’s not through doing great things for you.
Remember. Moses, manna, water gushing from a rock, the Law written down by the finger of God on a mountaintop. Remember.
Believe. Believe that no matter how much darkness comes your way God will not abandon you, forget you. He will rescue. Believe.
Then the prophet put down his pen and for the next 400 years the Israelites changed hands from empire to empire. Syrians. Persians. Greeks. Romans.
400 years. Some have called them the “darkest” in Jewish history.
Why? The Jews had known this kind of poverty, persecution and powerlessness before.
Why were these years the darkest?
Because God was the quietest.
For 400 years not a syllable was spoken by God to his suffering children. No prophets. No miracles.
Nothing but darkness.
And waiting, remembering, believing.
Advent.
Then, one night, an angel appeared to shepherds watching their flocks. And light shone all around them. And Heaven sent a message to earth.
Before songs of joy there were cries of sorrow. Before peace on earth there was conflict. Before healing came hurt. Before the Light of the World there was darkness. Before the Word became flesh God was silent.
Wait. Remember all the great things God has done in your life. Believe that He’s not through doing them.
Wait. Your star will come.
This November and December I would love to wait with you and yours – to anticipate and celebrate the birth of Jesus together.
I’ll bring my acoustic guitars and a banjo and borrow your piano – if you don’t mind. And together we’ll sing familiar traditional Christmas songs and new favorites of mine. And every once in a while we’ll read scripture and remember the waiting and the miracle of Christ’s birth.
The cost, if I can speak a bit about Compassion International to a couple hundred people, is only $500, one meal and a hotel room. Contact us at [email protected] or get in touch at shaungroves.com/booking.
Kris says:
Oh man. I love that graphic. What’s the minimum head count to book you? I’m assuming my family room is too small a venue?
I kid. I kid.
But seriously, what is the head count you look for to make a trip worth your while?
Kris says:
I was wondering the same thing.
Penny says:
Yup. I echo Kris.
Also what about other details like travel costs and expenses? Does the ‘host’ usually put you up for the night, etc or do you handle the ‘life’ stuff yourself?
Shaun Groves says:
I added a lot of information to this post. Sorry it was just a graphic at first. I was traveling and couldn’t get airport Wi-Fi to cooperate.
Thanks for your patience!
Kit says:
This post really speaks to me. Sorry I’m not really in a position to book you anywhere. And there really aren’t any people in Wyoming anyway 😉
Kit says:
This post really speaks to me. Sorry I’m not really in a position to book you anywhere. And there really aren’t any people in Wyoming anyway 😉 But thanks for the encouraging post!
Shaun Groves says:
I’d love to speak to thousands about Compassion ; ). But the thought in putting this mini-tour together was that this would be ideal for small churches that don’t have the resources to put on a large-scale Christmas program of their own.
Again, I’ll go wherever I’m invited, and I want to see hundreds of kids sponsored in November and December, but smaller churches may have the most “use” for what we’re doing.
Kris says:
Just forwarded this info on to my Pastor.
Praying and hoping!
😉
Gina says:
Aw… sad. I was hoping you were announcing a tour with the band downhere!