Merry Christmas!

The birth of Jesus as recorded in Matthew and Luke fulfilled many of the promises given to David, Abraham, and other prophets long ago. You can see elements of the Old Testament throughout the story. Matthew even tells us directly, "So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:  'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us'" (Matt. 1:22-23).

When Christ came, the people of Israel had not heard a word from the Lord in centuries. In fact, the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, was written around 440-400 B.C. The people were longing to hear from God, waiting for Him to fulfill His promises. And then Christ was born and everything changed.

When I give it some thought, I am taken back by the truth that everything indeed did change at the birth of Jesus. As He lived and grew, He soon took on the purpose for which He was born—to die on the cross for us, for our forgiveness. What a Savior!

So, as you gather around the Christmas tree this morning, remember the real meaning of Christmas and worship the Savior who was born that first Christmas morning. Amen.

Love

What do you think of when you hear the word "Love"? Assuming you are married, I'm sure you love your husband or wife very deeply. If you have children, I'm sure you love them as well. Children tend to love their parents and grandparents. But take it to a whole new level and a question arises: do you love Jesus? Do you know Him as your personal Lord and Savior? If you do, then you should love Him deeply with all your heart.

Sunday, December 24 will be the fourth Sunday of Advent. The Bible theme this Sunday is LOVE. Again, there are several different directions I could go with this, but as I thought about love, I thought about the greatest love there is. Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15:13). That means the greatest love ever shown to us was when God the Father Sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our forgiveness.

With this being Christmas, That truth sends me to Isaiah 9:6-7:

For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

Of the increase of His government and peace

There will be no end,

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice

From that time forward, even forever.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

 You might ask, "what have theses two verse to do with love?" God loves us so much He sent us Jesus. He was born in a stable and laid in a manger (feeding trough for the animals) for comfort (Luke 2:6-7). An angel announced His birth to shepherds who were watching their flock at night. They immediately  ran to Bethlehem to witness this great event (Luke 2:8-16).

Isaiah 9:6-7 kind of tells the whole story of God's great love for us. "For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given" (v. 6a). That first Christmas morning so long ago was the beginning of God revealing how much He loves us. He loves us so much that Jesus, the Son of God, set aside the glory that was His in heaven and became one of us (Phil. 2:5-7). He was born that morning so long ago to walk this earth with us and to die on the cross to provide salvation for us (v. 8). That is true love.

As you follow through these verses, they take you through His life, His death on the cross, His resurrection the third day, and His ascension back to heaven. Isaiah then jumps ahead to the time just after His return, His Second Coming. It is then that the "government will be upon His shoulder" (Is. 9:6b). Then "His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (v. 6c).

He will then reign in peace, to which "there will be no end" (v. 7a). He will sit on David's throne and rule "over His kingdom" (v. 7b). He will bring "justice from that time forward" which will last "forever" (v. 7b). It will all be carried out by "the zeal of the Lord" (v. 7c).

Among the Christmas songs and hymns, there is one from the late 1800s entitled, "Love Came Down at Christmas." Starting at the incarnation, the birth of Christ that first Christmas morning, God  has shown how great a love He has for us. You might say that God poured out His love when Jesus was born that first Christmas morning. Amen.

Joy

What is joy? When you think back on times of great joy in your life, what brought you this joy? A wedding, the birth of a child, birthdays as the child grows, spending time in loving fellowship with your wife or husband, graduation day? Or various holidays can fill us with great joy, especially Christmas, Mothers' Day or Fathers' Day.

Sunday, December 17 will be the third Sunday of Advent. The Bible theme this Sunday is JOY. Again, there are any number of directions I could go with this, but when I thought about joy, I could think of no greater cause for joy than the Return of Christ to take us to be with Him forever. My thoughts then turned to Zechariah 9:9-10:

                        “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

                        Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!

                        Behold, your King is coming to you;

                        He is just and having salvation,

                        Lowly and riding on a donkey,

                        A colt, the foal of a donkey.

                        I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

                        And the horse from Jerusalem;

                        The battle bow shall be cut off.

                        He shall speak peace to the nations;

                        His dominion shall be 'from sea to sea,

                        And from the River to the ends of the earth.'"

On Palm Sunday, Jesus made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of we call Passion Week. Oh, the great rejoicing among all the people! This was in direct fulfillment of this passage in Zechariah. You may recall how it was the Babylonians who came in, sent the people into exile in Babylon, and destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple. Eventually, the Medes and the Persians conquered Babylon and the people of Israel were allowed to return home and rebuild both the city and the temple. The Book of Zechariah and the Book of Haggai were written at that time to encourage the people in their rebuilding project.

The great joy of Palm Sunday turned to great sorrow on Good Friday with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross. But, there was great joy among the disciples early that Sunday morning when they discovered that Jesus was risen from the dead. He is alive! He lives in our hearts! He came bearing salvation. He brings great joy to our hearts.

As we walk on this earth we must trust Jesus at every turn, always prepared to face everything in His power. As He leads us and guides us along the way, an attitude of joy should permeate our soul. As He answers your prayers and as He meets your daily needs, rejoice in Him. Joy isn't always shown through exuberant exaltation. It can simply be a quite assurance that we are in Christ.

Zechariah 9:10 can be confusing. It seems out of place. However, when you think about it, everything becomes clear. Jesus made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem to die on the cross and rise again for our salvation. He is about to make another triumphal entry: His Second Coming, when He returns as the conquering King. When He returns, He will set all things straight. There will no longer be any need for implements of war.

There will be no greater time to rejoice than when Jesus returns to take us home to be with Him forever. Oh, what joy will feel my soul! In the meantime, wherever you are, whatever you are doing, always keep one eye on the sky, watching for Jesus and keep joy in your heart. Amen.

Peace

What do you think of when you hear the word "peace"? What comes to mind? With Christmas coming soon, perhaps you think about a quiet family gathering around the Christmas tree, or a time alone enjoying the light snowfall on a cold winter's night? With all the violence in the streets and wars in both Israel and the Ukraine, it's hard sometimes to even imagine what a world of peace would even look like.

Sunday, December 10 will be the second Sunday of Advent. The Bible theme this Sunday is PEACE. We could go in any number of directions with this, but I would like to consider the peace that Christ brings. There are several different Scriptures that speak of peace, but I would like to look at one passage in particular that speaks directly of the fact that our peace is in Christ. Here it is:

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,

Yet out of you shall come forth to Me

The One to be Ruler in Israel,

Whose goings forth are from of old,

From everlasting."

Therefore He shall give them up,

Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth;

Then the remnant of His brethren

Shall return to the children of Israel.

And He shall stand and feed His flock

In the strength of the LORD,

In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God;

And they shall abide,

For now He shall be great

To the ends of the earth;

And this One shall be peace. (Micah 5:2-5a)

First we should define some words. Bethlehem was a small village. Though not used in this passage, "little" (2a) would describe a "village." The term "village" (qaphar in Hebrew) refers to a small, obscure, unwalled community outside of a much larger, more prominent, walled town or city (Smith’s Bible Dictionary – Village, 1901). The term is derived from the idea of its offering "cover" or shelter for the people who live there (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia – Village, 1915).

"Bethlehem" is from the root word bara in Hebrew meaning "to be fruitful." There were fruitful orchards and vineyards here. Specifically, "Bethlehem" means "house of bread." It is made up of two words. Beth meaning "house," as in Bethel, "house of God," and lehem meaning "bread." So the two Hebrew words taken together, Beth lehem, means "house of bread" (DesiringGod.org).

"Ephrathah," the original name of the region, tells us which Bethlehem is in view. There were two villages in Israel at that time known as Bethlehem, one in Judah and the other located in Zebulun. Judah is in the region of Ephrathah, so the birthplace of David, the little obscure village of Bethlehem in Judah is the one in mind in this prophecy. It is located about six miles south/southwest of Jerusalem, the larger walled city. (Ephrathah also means "fruitful" and comes from the same root word in the Hebrew).

So Bethlehem is a little obscure village in the hillside country just southwest of Jerusalem. It is a quiet and lonely place. Nothing great could be expected from this insignificant village. Yet it was here that the Savior was born! According to Micah's prophecy in our text this morning, the birth of Christ would take place in this little village of Bethlehem (v. 2a), and in the gospels this prophecy is fulfilled. So Bethlehem, the "house of bread" was the birthplace of the Bread of Life!

Micah turns to Bethlehem and speaks not only of Christ's birth, but the future peace He brings as well. He says that this Christ child is "the One to be Ruler in Israel" (v. 2b). He also identifies Christ as one "whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting" (v. 2c). He is eternal. He always was, He is, and He always will be.

"And this One shall be peace" (v. 5a). Oh, the peace He brings to those who love Him. If you trust in Jesus you will experience His awesome peace. You will experience "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding" (Phil. 4:7a). Amen.