Everyone is Invited

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.  Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.  The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!  And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Luke 2:8-12 (NLT)

About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:1b-2 (NLT)

In both of these passages about Jesus’ birth, something interesting is going on. God was calling.

The Shepherds, in a field nearby, were invited to go find the Messiah. The Wise Men, from a faraway place, were invited to go find the Messiah.

The two groups could not have been more diverse. One was uneducated while the others were very well educated. They studied all the time. One group lived day to day while the other group was very rich. One group was near to where the baby was born, while the other had to travel a long way to find him.

Both had to take what they had and use it as they sought Him.

God said to both “Come. Come and see the greatest gift ever. Come and see how much I love you.”

God is still calling us today to “Come.” It doesn’t matter if you are educated or uneducated. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor or somewhere in between. It doesn’t matter where you live or what you do for a living. The invitation is still the same “Come. Come and see the greatest gift ever given. Come and see how much I love you.”

Will you come? Will you draw close and marvel at Jesus?

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

A minute in God’s Word will change your life. Take a moment to read the text below and then remember the reason for the season.

The Birth of Jesus

2 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

The Shepherds and Angels

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
    and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. Luke 2:1-20 (NLT)

A Minute In It - Remembering

A minute in God’s Word will change your life. Take a moment to read the text below and then remember the reason for the season.

Visitors from the East

2 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”

5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:

6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
    are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
    who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”

9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. Matthew 2:1-12 (NLT)

A Minute In It - Remembering

A minute in God’s Word will change your life. Take a moment to read the text below and then remember the reason for the season.

The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
    She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
    which means ‘God is with us.’”

24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus. Matthew 1:18-24 (NLT).

Who's Power?

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. Hebrews 2:14-15 (NLT)

I have some weird health issues. Every now and then, this one thing will happen and when it does, it is super unnerving. It’s scary to me and to anyone who notices it. It happened again recently, while I was preaching. By the grace of God, I finished the sermon and most people (except for those closest to me), didn’t know.

But I did and let’s just say my first thought was that I wasn’t going to preach ever again. Even though God finished the sermon, I became super afraid that this would happen again and what if it didn’t go so well the next time? What if?

Those what if questions pop into your head a lot when there is something in your life you can’t control. And as I ponder those questions, they get worse and the fear grows more intense. So, I pray. Because hey, the only person who can control it is God.

During my prayers I think of Paul who had a thorn in the flesh. I keep praying because that didn’t make me feel any better. (just being honest.) Everyone keeps saying I should slow down, I should rest. So what? I sit on a couch my whole life and do what? I believe God has a call on my life (by the way, I believe God has a call on all of our lives). If that is so, I am pretty sure it isn’t to sit on the couch and rest. And, that is not how God wired me.

But, I don’t want to be afraid either. I don’t want to not step into my calling because of fear. That would be a tragedy. So I prayed some more. And God brought today’s text into my worship. Jesus died so I would not live my life as a slave to the fear of dying. And I’d like to take it a step further. Jesus died so I would not have to live my life as a slave to fear. Period. He broke the power of death. He broke the power of fear. He broke Satan. WOOT!

This verse spurred a talk with God about what it was I was actually afraid of. And as I discussed these things with him, this verse popped into my head.

“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

I guess I have two choices. One, walk around being afraid and have that limit what I do or two, lean into the power of Jesus Christ. The rest of that verse says:

So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

I’ll still be praying because it is still scary sometimes but I will also turn it over to Jesus. I will boast about my weakness so Jesus can shine through. He loves me so much he died so I could live being sure of who holds my life and my future..

What Mary Knew

Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. Luke 1:38 (NLT)

I love this verse. Mary was facing a huge life altering event. Her world as she knew it was about to drastically change and not necessarily for the better. The road was going to be hard. There were going to be many uncertain times. She herself was going to face criticism and heartache. And her response to God? “Whatever you want.”

I kind of get it though. This was HUGE! I mean, when we are facing HUGE, we tend to turn to God right? We lose our job, we seek God. We get a bad health diagnosis, we seek God. Someone dies. We seek God. We tend to seek God in the HUGE because we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we can’t do this alone.

I do that. I run to God for the HUGE. But on the things I can do by myself……Well, I can handle that and I don’t. I would say I forget but most of the time I don’t even think about it. I just do what I know to do and take care of it.

This isn’t what God wants though. He wants us to come to him all the time, for everything. He wants us to talk through our day with him and process what’s next. Even if we know what to do and how to handle it, he wants in on the action. He wants us to add him to the mix.

A planning meeting? Let God be part of the planning. A conversation with a colleague or friend? Pray through that and get his perspective. A packed day full of meetings and tasks? Ask God to order your priorities.

God wants to be part of everything we do. He doesn’t want to be pulled out for the HUGE stuff only. He wants to be involved in every detail of our lives. You know, I think when we talk to God about the small stuff, it’s easier to trust him with the big stuff.

I bet Mary knew this from experience.

Just Wondering.....

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 (NLT)

I was just wondering.....

What do you think God thinks about the way we celebrate Christmas?

I wonder if it makes him happy or sad. I wonder if he looks at all the elaborate decorations and thinks about the manger and thinks we missed the point.

I wonder if he looks at the money we spend on giving each other (and ourselves) extravagant gifts instead of giving to people that Jesus’ heart is breaking for and shakes his head. 

I wonder if it bothers him that we only really reach out to those in need during this season...because it’s what you are supposed to do. You know, that we don’t do it all the time.... like he wants us to.

Of course, I am not saying everyone celebrates Christmas like this. But, most of us do. 

I wonder what he thinks about the fact that we don’t wonder what he thinks when we are celebrating Him.

I was just wondering.....

Costly

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). Matthew 1:23 (ESV)

Imagine with me a situation where a close friend or family member is really sick. It looks like from their illness, they may not make it and may die. Your heart is aching because you love them so very much and you can’t be with them. They live in a different part of the country. To be with them would be very costly because traveling there will be expensive. You will have to leave your job to spend time with them to help them through. If you make this decision, everything as you know it will change - and not necessarily for the better.

As you ponder this decision, your heart is breaking. Being with them is the only thing you want and yet, it seems so huge to make this decision. It’s crazy. People don’t do this kind of thing. Finally, you can stand it no longer. You go all in and make the move. You quit your job, charge the very expensive ticket and sacrifice to love.

Saying I love you over the phone has meaning. But saying it in person is tangible. A phone call is not the same as an in person touch. When you show up in person, the impact on the receiver is profound.

God knew this. That’s why he came to be “With us.”

God saw our predicament. He realized the pain we were in and the uncertainty that surrounded us. His heart ached for us because he loves us so very much. Jesus lived in a different place (a much better place than here) but he left that to move near so we could see tangibly, personally, how much we are loved.

The cost to him was great. There would be no going back to the way things were. The sacrifice was immense.

All this, so God could shout out loud, with tangible evidence, “I love you.” I love you more than anything I have. There is no price too great or a circumstance so insurmountable that I cannot get to you.

Lean into this. Lean in and remember what this season really means. It’s about a God who gives all of his heart for what his heart loves. And then go and do the same.