275 Sermon Illustrations on Christmas

Our ministry summer outreaches in Native America are some of our daughter Lisa's most cherished weeks of the year. But the year her first child was due in late summer, there was no way she could get the doctor's green light to travel - especially when the destination was the villages of Native Alaska. Now, that's one of the amazing aspects of the story of the first Christmas - that Mary would travel by donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in her ninth month of pregnancy. I've traveled the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem by car, not by donkey and foot as Joseph and Mary did. It's a tortuous journey through hills and mountains - and it's about 90 long miles. There's no way you're going to get a loving husband to go with his very pregnant wife on a trip like that on the eve of their baby's birth, right? Wrong.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "The Unstoppable Plans Of God."

For almost 500 years, the prophecies of God had said that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary are living 90 miles away in Nazareth. There's apparently no way you'll ever get Mary to Bethlehem when the Messiah in her womb is full term. But the plan of God says Bethlehem. What God does is absolutely amazing - and a very special encouragement for you this Christmas.

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from these familiar verses in Luke 2:1-4. "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world ... and everyone went to his town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David."

Now the man seemingly making all this happen is the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus. History tells us that he murdered members of his family, he actually was a mass murderer, and he instituted emperor worship. He was, in many ways, a monster. And here is little Joseph caught up in the whirlpool of history. But it is Caesar Augustus who turns out to be the bit player in this divine drama, the footnote to history. He thinks he's flexing his muscle with this universal census, but this most powerful man on earth is only an unsuspecting instrument in the hands of a sovereign God.

God will get His destiny couple to His destiny place - even if He has to move an entire empire to do it! The Christmas story is God's powerful statement that God's plans are unstoppable! Including His plans for you. Plans that He says in Jeremiah 29:11 are "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

It may be that right now there appears to be no way things can turn out right. The money isn't there, your health isn't there, the relationship looks impossible, the job frustrations are mounting, the mountain isn't moving, the answer isn't coming. It looks as if there is no way for things to work out, not enough time for an answer to come.

But you belong to the God who, with the stroke of an evil man's pen, moved an empire to place His kids, Joseph and Mary, right where they were supposed to be. Yes, it was a difficult process - but God delivered them exactly where they were supposed to be. And God will get His plans for you accomplished if He has to move an empire to do it, or use even a godless instrument to do it.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem - and just getting Him there was a miracle! So relax in the strong arms of the God of Bethlehem. He will move whatever He has to move to finish what He has started in your life!

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. 'Practical Answers to Real Life Issues'

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The little boy was having a hard time getting to sleep - he was scared of the dark, even though his mommy told him God was there, watching over him. He responded, "Mommy - I need God with skin on."

Because of Christmas, we've got God with skin on. The Bible says that the Son of God "became flesh and made His dwelling among us." (John 1:14) Jesus isn't just another prophet or religious leader - He's God with skin on. This Jesus, who asks for your heart, has walked your trail. He knows what it's like to be lonely ... to be abandoned ... to be betrayed ... to be a victim ... to be tortured ... to die. That brutal death on a cross was ultimately His choice - He loves you so much that He chose to take the death penalty for your sin so you could be with Him forever.

And now, this Jesus wants to walk every mile of the rest of your life with you - if you'll give yourself to Him. You'll never spend another day alone.

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. 'Practical Answers to Real Life Issues'

KENNER, La. (BP) -- I've been to Bethlehem. It's fairly indistinguishable from many other Judean towns, except for the Church of the Nativity built over the traditional site of Jesus' birth. Bethlehem is located on a ridge some 2500 feet above sea level, and five or six miles southwest of Jerusalem. Why, with all the grand locations in the world to choose from, did God choose for His Son to be born in Bethlehem? I can think of three good reasons.

1. TO FULFILL PROPHECY. Seven hundred years earlier the prophet Micah quoted God: "As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah ... from you One will go forth from Me to be ruler in Israel, His goings forth are from long ago, from days of eternity."

Now, some Messianic prophecies are cryptic -- they are identified and understood only after the event has occurred. Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 must have perplexed readers for hundreds of years as to their meaning. Only after the Savior went to the cross did the followers of Jesus realize how the first seems to be the thoughts of the Lord on the cross, and the second an eyewitness description of that event. God placed such prophecies in the Bible so that when they happened, His people would be comforted to know He had planned it from the beginning.

However, Micah 5:2 stands out there in the open. God wanted everyone to know the Savior would be arriving in Bethlehem.

And everyone did know, at least those familiar with the Scriptures. When the magi arrived in Jerusalem asking at every street corner where the newborn King could be found, word filtered up to King Herod in the palace and he called in his advisors. "In Bethlehem," they all agreed, quoting Micah 5:2.

God keeps His word; Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

2. TO IDENTIFY WITH DAVID. The Messiah would be a Son of David and sit on the throne of David. Old Testament prophecies emphasized both points again and again. Since both Mary and Joseph were of the lineage of David, Jesus was doubly covered. When the census of Luke 2:1 called everyone to his ancestral home, they made the journey of a hundred miles south to Bethlehem.

Bethlehem was where Ruth lived and where she gleaned the fields behind Boaz' harvesters. Boaz spotted the lovely young widow and the rest, as they say, is history. Their son Obed became the father of Jesse, who raised a large family of sons and daughters, the youngest son being David. Thereafter, Bethlehem would forever be known as the city of David. Even the angels called it that. "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior," they said to the shepherds. Doubtless many of the psalms of David which God's people have loved and sung for thirty centuries were inspired by time spent in the same fields and meadows where the shepherds met the angels that wondrous night.

One day as the Lord and His entourage were approaching Jericho, a blind beggar sitting beside the gate began to call out to Him. "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Again and again, he repeated that refrain. When our Lord came within earshot, He had the man brought to Him and restored his sight.

The son of God is the Son of David. Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

3. TO MAKE A CONNECTION. Bethlehem in the Hebrew means "House of Bread." [Today, the Jews call it "Beit Lahm", meaning "house of meat."] What more fitting place for One to be born who would be known as the Bread of Life.

One day, the Lord Jesus fed thousands of people with the lunch of a child. Soon afterward, He taught the people the meaning of the miracle. "There is a bread that endures to eternal life," He said. He Himself was the living and true Bread from Heaven, "which a man may eat and live forever." [John 6]

Isaiah asked the people of God in his day: "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread? [Isa. 55:2] That is to say, why are you working and worrying and spending your life for things that do not nourish you, do not strengthen you, and do not satisfy you? A good question for our day, also.

Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecies given hundreds of years earlier. Jesus Christ is the Son of David, born in the City of David. Jesus is the Bread of Life, born in the House of Bread.

How much plainer can God make it? Jesus is Lord.

___________________

McKeever is pastor of First Baptist Church, Kenner, La.

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Joseph, the husband of Mary, is the forgotten man of Christmas.

He never speaks a word in the biblical record. He is Joseph the silent. He ranks only slightly higher than an extra in the cast.

Although 15 cities in the United States are named for Joseph, he remains the forgotten man of the Christmas story.

But Joseph deserves more than that.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "What you do speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say." Of Joseph we might say, "What he did speaks so loudly that there was no need for him to say anything." Joseph is remarkably simple, but he also is simply remarkable.

It would be difficult to imagine a more complicated and devastating situation than the one in which Joseph found himself. He had a bride who was pregnant because of a strange involvement with God. Joseph bore the condemnation and pressure of a community that would not and could not possibly understand. He was a northern Palestinian cabinetmaker who was told by God to go to Bethlehem and then suddenly instructed to flee to Egypt.

Joseph's response can be stated in a single, simple word: obedience.

He obeyed God immediately. God spoke and Joseph married Mary.

He obeyed God in painful circumstances. Mary and Joseph were betrothed or engaged. According to Jewish tradition, step one was the consent phase. Consent was usually reached when the girl was 12 or 13 years of age. During this time, the girl continued to live with her parents. However, this was considered a legally ratified marriage. The second step was the formal transferal of the bride to the husband's home where he assumed her support. She was to be taken to his home chaste, a virgin. Between steps one and two, Mary was found to be pregnant. All kinds of thoughts and options must have flooded Joseph's mind. To be the object of suspicion and back-street criticism in a little town like Nazareth was not easy.

He obeyed in spite of fear. Joseph was terrified to learn of his wife's virgin pregnancy. God told Joseph, "Fear not." In spite of his fear, Joseph obeyed.

He obeyed God by staking everything on God's word alone. Joseph received a word from God that came to him in a dream. He believed God and staked his life and future on that conviction. When instructed by God to flee to Egypt with Mary and Jesus, Joseph did as he was told. He accepted the consequences of obedience because he trusted God.

While Joseph is often the forgotten man of Christmas, his example can be an enormous challenge, blessing and inspiration to us all.

May our heart's desire this Christmas be obedience to God.

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Last Christmas season was our grandson's two-year Christmas, and he was so much fun to watch. One day during the season, his mother unpacked the family Nativity Set for her and Jordan to set up, and he loved it. I mean, they put out the manger and Mary and Joseph and the angels and the shepherds. They put out everyone except the one figure they couldn't find - Baby Jesus. Well, our grandson was pretty concerned about this missing person, so Mommy told him that Daddy would look for Baby Jesus when he got home from the office. Well, hours after that, our grandson heard Daddy coming up the back steps. He ran to the door and greeted his father with an impassioned two-word question - "Where's Jesus?"

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Everything But Jesus."

Now, that question from the heart of a two-year-old might be the question God is asking some of us as He looks at our lives this Christmas season - "Where's Jesus?" It's possible to be like our grandson was that day - spiritually, you have everything - except Jesus.

The danger of that deadly deficit is what God addresses in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 13:5. Now, the sobering truth is that these words were - and are - written to church folks, to folks involved in a lot of Christian things - maybe like you. Here's God's challenge: "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test."

Apparently, you can be into Jesus, but not have Jesus in you. God says here that the deciding factor as to whether or not you belong to Him is whether or not "Christ Jesus is in you." Now He's in you only if there's been a time when you personally have flung open the door of your heart and welcomed Him in as your personal Savior from your personal sin. If you don't know you've done that, you probably haven't. It's like getting married - you know if you've made the commitment or not.

But you can miss the fact that you've missed Jesus when you've got everything else - you've got a Christian vocabulary, Christian beliefs, a Christian image, Christian fellowship, maybe a Christian environment or a Christian family. But it could be that there's never been that deciding transaction with Christ - that moment when you personally talk to Him and give yourself to Him with all the faith you've got. So as God looks at all you've got spiritually, is He asking, "But where's Jesus?"

If you've consciously begun your relationship with Jesus Christ, He is in your life right now - He clearly said, if you open the door, "I will come in," and it's settled. But if you've never really given yourself to Jesus, it's hard to admit it to yourself - but it's deadly not to. And be grateful that God has given you another opportunity, this opportunity, to take the step that will finally bring Jesus into your life. Someday, it will be the last opportunity.

Tell Him right now that you want to know Him for real, not just to know about Him, and you want to know him for real beginning this very day. This Christmas season - what a time to have Jesus come into your heart! And if you do that, I hope you'll let me send you the booklet that I wrote about beginning this relationship with Jesus Christ. It's called "Yours For Life." Just let me know you want it.

Judgment Day is the wrong time to have God look in your heart and say, "Where's Jesus?" Today - please, make sure that Jesus is in your heart!

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. 'Practical Answers to Real Life Issues'

*

Rather than forgive and forget, is it really forgive and feel better physically and emotionally?

And, as a side benefit, could forgiveness reduce family holiday stress, right about now?

A new study done at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research says those in their 40s and older enjoy better mental and physical health through forgiving others.

And clergy and psychologists consulted say that while forgiveness - the ceasing of resentment - may not be a traditional Christmas theme, it just may help during holiday times when relationships are so much the focus.

"I think it makes Christmas sense: How to survive the holidays? Try to forgive one another," said the Rev. Matthew Lawrence, chaplain at Canterbury House, an Episcopal center near U-M. "So many of the wounds are inflicted by our siblings and parents and other relatives. It is a task of spiritual development to see past what divides us and find the love that's deeper."

The U-M study of more than 1,400 Americans shows that more people had forgiven themselves and believe God had forgiven them for mistakes and wrongdoing, while fewer had forgiven others or sought forgiveness for harm they have done.

It is the first national survey linking age differences in forgiveness and health, and is a pioneering effort to study the topic scientifically. The social researchers piggybacked their questions on U-M's well-known consumer confidence study.

"Forgiveness is not just a theological concept, but is one that has direct consequences for health and function," said David R. Williams, a U-M senior research scientist and sociology professor involved with the work.

Interestingly, though, certain kinds of forgiveness are more, well, forgiving.

For example, forgiving oneself and forgiving others, really letting go of resentment and giving up trying to get even, appear to bring better mental health, the study showed.

But people who pray for those who hurt them, and actively seek God's forgiveness, seemed to do less well.

"This is the dark side, which is unexpected and puzzling," said Williams. "It may be symptomatic of some deeper psychological need or problem. Or it may be that forgiveness is a process that unfolds over time," which wasn't measured in the study.

The health benefits of forgiveness are more pronounced among people 45 and older. "There's a certain perspective and wisdom that people gain as they get older. Forgiveness fundamentally has to do with bringing resolution to conflicts and past hurts," Williams said.

People who have lived longer may be more aware of their mortality and the need to repair and maintain relationships, says the Rev. Lori Carey of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ann Arbor.

"We sometimes lose sight of how quickly time passes. People are so future-oriented, and they think they'll forgive someone in the future, but then the opportunity passes. I think older people realize ... it's not worth the sacrifice of time to have a broken relationship," Carey said.

The health aspects of forgiveness fall right in line with what clergy or psychologists say they already see.

"Without forgiveness, you're almost unable to see the world clearly, and you're certainly burdened by your own anger," Lawrence said.

Anger can prompt high blood pressure, depression and anxiety, and forgiveness can defuse and eliminate anger, says Duane DeFranco, a U-M clinical instructor. And for those who carry around a grudge, "it can cause more harm than good. It's not working for you," he said.

Letting go of anger and moving toward forgiveness is especially timely around the holidays, DeFranco says. "There might be families where, if they could drop the grudge, they could get back together and help each other."

Forgiveness also may be linked to overall health given the state of mind needed to forgive. "You have to be in a pretty good place to be able to forgive. So healthier people are perhaps more able to do that; they have worked through issues about regrets in their lives," said Emanuel Schreiber, an Ann Arbor psychotherapist

The spirit of forgiving brings out the best in people, and it can be especially true at the holidays, Carey says.

"There's a great deal of peace and good will. ... For some this is the only time they'll come to church, and ... it is a longing for peace of mind and heart," she said.

___________________

Lisa Klionsky can be reached at lklionsky@annarbornews.com

Copyright 2001 Michigan Live Inc.

Michigan Live is a Registered Trademark of Advance Internet, Inc.

1. O thou joyful, O thou wonderful

Grace revealing Christmastide!

Jesus came to win us

From all sin within us:

Glorify the holy Child!

2. O thou joyful, O thou wonderful

Love revealing Christmastide!

Loud hosannas singing

And all praises bringing:

May thy love with us abide!

3. O thou joyful, O thou wonderful

Peace revealing Christmastide!

Darkness disappeareth,

God's own light now neareth:

Peace and Joy to all betide!

[Tune “O Sanctissima”]

*

In his book, "The Jesus I Never Knew," Philip Yancey shares an episode from his youth when the concept of “the Word becoming flesh” dawned on him with profound meaning. He said he learned a deep truth about Christmas when he kept a salt-water aquarium.

Now I don’t know if any of you have ever attempted to keep a marine aquarium, but Yancey discovered it is not an easy task. Daily he had to test the water, monitor the salt levels, and manage the nitrates and ammonia content. He pumped antibiotics in the water, added nutrients and vitamins to it so the plants would grow, filtered the water through glass fibers and charcoal and exposed it to ultraviolet light.

“You would think,” he writes, “in view of all the energy expended on their behalf, that my fish would have been grateful to me. Not so. Every time my shadow loomed above the tank, the fish dove for cover under the nearest plant or rock. They showed me only one emotion – fear and avoidance. Although I opened the lid and dropped food into the tank on a daily basis, they responded to my every visit as a sure sign of my designs to torture them. I could not convince them of my concern for them. To my fish I was a deity, too large to understand, to distant for them to connect with. They saw my acts of mercy as cruelty; my attempts at healing as acts of destruction. I began to realize that the only way I could possibly change their perception of me would be to become a fish and ‘speak’ fish to them.”

Yancey writes: “Is that not what God has done for us? Is that not, at heart, the meaning of Christmas?”

It was Christmas Eve, and the Hutchcraft family was acting out the Christmas story. Our daughter was Mary - with a towel draped over her head. Our oldest son was Joseph, bathrobe and all. Our then two-year-old son was the closest we could come to a baby - he was in this giant laundry basket. And I was an angel, of course, dressed in a white sheet, sitting celestially on the back of the couch. And my wife - well, she wanted to be a sheep. So she was crawling around the living room floor with our sheepskin rug draped over her, doing her best “baaa's”. And the doorbell rang. It was two teenage girls from our youth club. Their folks were home getting drunk, and they were wondering if they could come to our house for a little while. When they came in, our Christmas players were in full gear, baa-ing and all. The girls looked at one another, and wondered if we were in any better shape than their parents. But, hey, the door was open and we invited them right into our Christmas.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The Open Door at the Manger.”

It was only appropriate that we should say to anyone who came to our door on Christmas Eve, “Come on in.” After all, that's what God did when His Son was born that first Christmas. He threw open the door and said, “Come on in” - no matter what you're like. He may be saying that you this very day.

Anybody's welcome to come on in and join God's family. How do we know? Well, for one thing, look at who got the first invitation to “come on in.” Shepherds. These guys were considered the lowest of the low-lifes - unfit to even be allowed in God's temple. So of all the people God could invite to the first Christmas party, who does He ask to come? Shepherds.

It says so in Luke 2, beginning with verse 9, in our Christmas word for today from the Word of God. “There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around about them...” The angel made this startling announcement - “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” So Jesus begins His life on earth by welcoming in people that most would say are definitely “not His type.”

Maybe that's how you feel - that you're not the religious type. Maybe you, like the shepherds, have experienced your share of closed doors, rejection and condemnation, and plenty of loneliness. It could be you've done a lot of things, made a lot of mistakes, just looking for love and acceptance. And you know you've done a lot of wrong things. But that's the very kind of people Jesus came for!

The people who miss Jesus and miss heaven are the people who think they've got it all together, who are quite religious and quite good and not really in need of the Savior who died on the cross for their sins. But just like He did for those shepherds - whether you were born in church or never been in church in your life - Jesus is throwing open the door to His family and to His heaven, saying, “Come on in. I died and rose again so you and I can be together forever.”

The greatest mistake you could ever make would be if you missed what Jesus died to give you. Can you think of a better time to throw open the door of your life to Jesus than Christmastime - the time He left heaven to come here to rescue you? He's waiting for you to reach out to Him and put your total trust in what He did for you on the cross - whatever you've done. This isn't about what you've done. It's about what He's done on the cross for you.

Right where you are - at this very special time - tell Him, “Jesus, I'm Yours - from this day on.” Your life will never be the same.

As we celebrate the day Jesus was born, you can celebrate the day you get born into His family. Go to sleep tonight with Christ in your heart and His peace in your soul.

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Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

*

Many of our nativity scenes symbolically show a star hovering a few feet above a stable. This star, though a recorded part of Jesus' early narrative, is a great mystery to us. We are told in the second chapter of Matthew that Magi, that is, pagan astrologers, saw the star and somehow divined from it that the king of the Jews had been born. Some have posited that these easterners may have been interpreting prophecies left over from Daniel's exile in Babylon. However, we really have no information about how the Magi connected the star with the king of the Jews, nor how it led them first to Jerusalem, then to Bethlehem. We also don't know how soon after the birth of Jesus the Magi's journey occurred.

As I have been thinking about this star and its role in the Christmas story (not to mention its prominent place in several Christmas carols) I have come to see the star as a reminder that the birth of Christ was the fulfillment of an ancient plan of God. The reason I see the star as a reminder of God's plan across the centuries is because science teaches us that it takes a long time for the light of a star to become visible to us on earth. I do not put it beyond God's capability to create a star visible to us overnight, perhaps by increasing the speed of light. But, in the normal workings of our solar system, it takes years for the light of a star to reach us. The sun is the closest star to earth, and it takes only about eight minutes for its light to reach us. Yet the light from the stars that are farthest from earth but still visible to us takes over 4,000 years to reach us!

The biblical account does not suggest that God created this star at the time of Jesus' birth and miraculously matured it so that its light would reach earth in the first century. Hence, it is reasonable to suppose that the light from the star that the Magi studied had been traveling toward earth for hundreds, perhaps, thousands of years. In the same way, God's plan for his promised Messiah had been maturing over centuries until the time of its fulfillment in Bethlehem. Isaiah's Messianic prophecies are some of the best known; in Isaiah 7:14 he says, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” In Isaiah 9, he also writes, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulder. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

A few verses before Isaiah speaks of the child to be born, he writes these words: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2). Now this is pure imaginative speculation on my part, but I like to think that the star of Bethlehem began shining when Isaiah uttered these words (around seven hundred years before the birth of Christ). Those familiar with biblical prophecy know that future events are often stated in the present tense because of the certainty of their occurrence once God has promised them. In this case, however, it is possible that this prophecy was fulfilled already. It is possible that a light had already dawned in the form of a star hundreds of light years away!

Jesus' birth, life, death and resurrection were the culmination of a plan God had been orchestrating since the beginning of history. In the Garden of Eden, God prophesied that one of Eve's descendants would crush the head of the serpent. Revelation 13:8 shows us that the scope of God's plan for Jesus extends even further back in time, referring to him as the “the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” Although for some of the characters involved (such as Mary, who gave birth to her first child in a stable far from home) there may have been a temptation to think of the events of Christ's birth as haphazard, God's will that had long been decreed was perfectly carried out. During this Christmas season, when you see stars or sing about them, let them be a reminder to you that God, the author of history, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His plans cannot be thwarted.

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Copyright © 2003 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

*

“...the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:8).

Understand, Satan is a created being. He shares none of the attributes of Almighty God -- not omniscience, omnipresence, nor omnipotence, meaning that he is limited in knowledge and space and power.

When it comes to predicting what God is going to do next, Satan has to rely on what he can figure out, what he remembers from the timeless past when he resided in heaven as a favorite angel, and what he reads in Holy Scripture. Since the Holy Spirit does not enlighten his understanding, Satan sees as the world sees, not with the mind of Christ. Once we understand this, a hundred puzzles fall into place.

The Apostle Paul pointed out that had Satan known what God was up to, he would never have crucified Jesus. One might say that God pulled the wool over the devil's eyes and fooled him. On that first Easter Sunday morning, an imp rushed into the presence of his satanic majesty, interrupting the two-day celebration over the death of Jesus. The demon breathlessly announced that the tomb was empty, the body gone, and the soldiers looked like they had seen a ghost. Satan spewed out his champagne and cursed. He had been had and he knew it. He had played right into God's hands and was defeated.

Sometimes in biblical history, we see that the Lord manipulated Satan, as in the cases of Job and Joseph. Sometimes, God gave him a good comeuppance as at Mount Carmel when Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal in a fire-calling contest. At other times, the Lord used subterfuge to fool His enemy. Christmas is one of those times.

Satan can read. He knew from Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. What he did not know was the timing of the Savior's birth. So, in another of his endless efforts to thwart the purposes of God, Satan pulled in demons from around the world to concentrate on the Holy Land, specifically the region around Bethlehem. That's one reason for the ubiquitous demon-possession in the New Testament. The devils practically outnumbered the citizens. They served as Satan's spies and were charged with keeping an eye out for godly young couples about to have babies.

Satan was lying in wait for the Messiah.

The first thing God did was to choose a man and woman not from Bethlehem, but from Nazareth, far to the north. Secondly, He saw to it that the woman's purity and morality would be doubted. The devil can count; he knows it takes nine months to make a baby. He had no way of knowing of Gabriel's visits to Mary and Joseph or of the miraculous conception of this Baby. If he heard at all of this young Nazarene couple, he quickly discounted them, certain that the God he remembered from heaven would never deign to use obvious sinners for so holy a role.

The third thing God did was to arrange to move Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem in time for the birth, but not so as to draw attention to themselves. When Caesar Augustus put out a call for a census of the empire, God had put it in his heart. “The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes,” as the Bible says in Proverbs 21:1.

Mary and Joseph were among thousands returning to their ancestral homes for the census. Perhaps the roads experienced a primitive form of gridlock. With Bethlehem's inns and available homes filled, the young couple took the only thing offered, a stable. “She brought forth her firstborn son and laid him in a manger, for there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). If the devil's imps were vigilant, they would have dismissed the young family camping out in a barn for good reason.

The God whom Satan remembered from heaven resided in a level of glory unimagined on earth. Satan was unsure of a lot of things, but one thing he knew -- God in heaven would not allow His Son to be born in a barn. Doubtless he had told his demons to check the finest homes for the most illustrious surroundings and outstanding parents. But the Lord fooled him. “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise” (1 Corinthians 1:27). This is a basic lesson of spiritual warfare which historically Satan seems incapable of grasping. To this day, no carnal mind believes it.

When Jesus was born, God prepared a welcoming committee of the lowliest people on the planet -- shepherds -- primarily to reassure the young parents that all was well. Satan had no way of seeing the angels that appeared to these sheepherders that night or hearing their clues on how to identify the Baby. “And this will be a sign unto you: you will find a Baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12). No one noticed or cared when a small company of ragtag shepherds ran breathlessly through the village looking for -- what else? -- a stable.

Later, after Joseph had moved his little family into a house in Bethlehem, a delegation of foreign visitors arrived. These “magi from the east” had created no small stir in Jerusalem as they naively announced their search for the one “born king of the Jews” (Matthew 2). From the gifts they presented, Joseph was able to finance a sudden trip to Egypt made necessary when murderous King Herod sent soldiers on a search-and-destroy mission for the babies of Bethlehem. Satan would have fumed to learn that the objects of his wrath were already out of town, slowly making their way toward Egypt where they would remain until Herod's death. Eventually, when the holy family re-entered the country, they moved to Nazareth where Joseph opened his carpentry shop.

Satan had lost Jesus.

Jesus grew up with a normal Jewish childhood in Nazareth. He was not a “Superboy in Smallville,” amazing the hometown folks with His miracles and inspired teaching. Had he done that, Satan would have heard the talk about the boy wonder and come calling. The first the devil learned of Jesus' identity was the day the Lord stepped into the waters of the Jordan and waded to John the Baptist. Nudged by the Holy Spirit, John called out, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” And that's how everyone learned that the Messiah was Jesus from Nazareth.

Jesus' baptism was His coming out. The gloves were off. God in heaven was saying, “There He is, devil! Do your worst. We're ready.” The game was afoot; the battle was joined. It came to a head one day three years later on a hill outside Jerusalem. For a couple of days, Satan reveled in his victory. Then, on that first Easter Sunday morning, an imp came running in, all out of breath....

__________

Joe McKeever is pastor of First Baptist Church in Kenner, Louisiana

*

Every Christmas morning,

Since I was a little boy,

We’d gather ‘round the Christmas tree,

So we could all enjoy.

The opening of the presents,

And the joyous looking eyes,

As each would open packages,

That held a great surprise.

My grandpa lived with us,

And every Christmas he would say,

“Before we start our treasure hunt,

Let’s bow our heads and pray.”

He wanted us, not to forget,

Why we are gathered here,

The reason for the season,

Here at Christmas Day each year.

We’d bow our heads and we would pray,

While grandpa always led,

And on this Christmas, I can hear,

His words still in my head.

He’d pray, “Lord, thank you for this day,

And all our family too.

But, Lord please let us not forget,

This day was made for you.

“Lord, we thank you for this life,

That you have given us.

The good times and the happiness,

And even when it’s tough.

“Dear Lord, I make this Christmas wish,

To you and you alone.

My wish is when this life is finished,

You come and take us home.”

For years while I was growing up,

That was our Christmas prayer.

The first thing Christmas morning,

With my family gathered there.

We loved Christmas morning,

Like so many families do,

But grandpa always made sure,

That we knew the reason too.

So this year as we gather round,

My grandpa’s not with us.

So I will carry on his prayer,

Before we make a fuss.

“Dear Lord, I bow my head and pray,

This day was made for you.

My grandpa always said these words,

And we know they are true.

“And, Lord, my grandpa’s not with us,

But, Lord, we know he’s fine.

You took my grandpa home with you,

Because it was his time.

“And, Lord, this year, one thing we know,

And it is simply this,

We thank you, Lord, because we know,

You granted him… his wish.”

In Questions I Would Like to Ask God, Ravi Zacharias writes:

I have often referenced the quote by the talk show host Larry

King, in his response to a particular question: “If you could

select any one person across all of history to interview, who

would it be?”

King said he would like to interview Jesus Christ. When the

questioner followed with, “And what would you like to ask him?”

King replied, “I would like to ask him if he was indeed virgin-

born. The answer to that question would define history for me.”

Zacharias says when he requested permission to quote the talk show host, King sent word, “And tell him I was not being facetious.”

__________

Submitted by Aaron Goerner, New Hartford, New York

It is the task of marketing departments of all varieties to keep a calculating finger on the pulse of culture, particularly when it comes to consumer trends. The entertainment industry alone has a multi-billion dollar reason to keep their fingers close — which means their research into the entertainment needs of the world is essential. For those of us fascinated with cultural studies, it also means their research into what the public will respond to favorably or unfavorably offers an interesting glimpse into the current cultural landscape.

But even the researchers are getting confused, and especially during the holidays. They find we are sending mixed signals. An article in The New York Times quotes one researcher describing “a curiously widespread contradiction in modern American pop culture — the desperate, self-negating need to be both cynical and sentimental at the same time.”(1)

Film historian David Thomson notes of film in general, “One of the main problems in the industry is that young kids do not take the story material seriously. They think it's mocking.” As a result, “the things we once took very seriously, we half-mock them now.”(2) By and large, the cultural trend marks a growing distrust and rejection of story and meaning and a general embrace of cynicism. And yet, in recent market research, executives found that audiences of all ages reacted badly to advertising that too sharply dismissed or disrespected the notion of Christmas. There is a measurably greater desire for storylines with hopeful implications in December. Apparently, we want to claim life is meaningless, but only 11 months out of the year. The typical cynicism governing the production and marketing of motion pictures is toned down at Christmastime. It seems we want to argue the cake doesn't exist and eat it too.

I have always appreciated the brave confession of C.S. Lewis that he was once living in a whirl of contradictions. This is a difficult thing even to notice of one's life, let alone admit it aloud. Said Lewis, “I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.” Our own contradictions often exist glaringly amongst our thoughts, even as they go unnoticed.

Yet there is a promise for those who seek and it has come near in the birth we just celebrated. God is continually at work flattening our altars of inconsistency, uncovering our contradictions, and urging us into eyesight. The child we welcome in December remains among us the months ahead. In the momentous words of a hymn perhaps recently on our lips:

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!

Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

Our redeemer will continue to find you. May it be his song we hear and employ.

________

1. As quoted in the New York Times, (Dec. 14, 2004).

2. Ibid.

________

Copyright © 2005 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

During this time of the year, doesn't it seem like more people are interested in bargains than in the baby born in Bethlehem? When we were shopping up a storm, I didn't see any reference to the Savior's birth, but that might have been because it was still dark when we started out! That's nothing like what took place at a Florida WalMart about the same time we were in the stores: A mob of shoppers rushing for a sale on DVD players trampled the first woman in line. Patricia VanLester had her eye on a $29 DVD player, but was knocked to the ground by the frenzy of shoppers behind her. “She got pushed down, and they walked over her like a herd of elephants,” said her sister. “I told them, “Stop stepping on my sister! She's on the ground.” Paramedics called to the store found the woman unconscious on top of a DVD player, surrounded by shoppers seemingly oblivious to her.

First sermon in Advent series. Luke 1:26-38

HAIL, MARY

==========

I. Baptists and Mary.

A. Christmas series on key personalities.

B. Alien image.

C. What we accept.

II. Mary's faith was genuine.

A. God chose a humble vessel.

B. Reality check: Mary faced humiliation.

C. God helped her to believe.

III. Mary's faith was tested.

A. Simeon prophesied her soul would be pierced. Luke 2:35

B. Her son seemed to distance himself from her. John 2:1,4

C. Her aborted "rescue" of Jesus. Mark 3:20f

IV. Mary's faith endured to the end.

A. Mary was one of few believers at the cross. John 19:25

B. Mary participated in Pentecost. Acts 1:14

V. Making Mary's faith your faith.

A. God still gives out grace.

B. We must receive it in faith.

C. Nothing is impossible with God.

Sermon in Advent series. Matthew 1:18-25

JOSEPH, THE UNSUNG HERO

=======================

I. Who needs Joseph?

II. Joseph's love.

A. He was not cold and uncaring.

B. He would do what he had to do, but wouldn't destroy Mary.

C. When God intervened, Joseph married her without hesitation.

III. Joseph's great faith.

A. He was a religious man.

B. His faith must have been shaken by the circumstances.

C. Yet Joseph obeyed God.

D. He raised his step-son devoutly.

IV. Joseph's example.

A. He was law-abiding.

B. He was courageous.

C. He was caring.

V. Joseph's heritage.

A. Genealogy is a fascinating hobby.

B. The special place of genealogy for Jews.

C. Jesus became more than expected.

“Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!” Isaiah 64:1

The Inn Keeper

==============

Whose child am I? I ask again,

my soul declaring: it's time.

for inquiries age old, antiques

of knowing

closeted in my mind

What child am I?

Like the wind, my sins

moving, a soul lost, unmade.

“No place for you here,”

I say, and feel.

My righteousness foul like rags.

What child is this? I weep again

from the crowded inn at night.

“O that You would rend the heavens”

and join me, wandering,

peering in this half-sight.

How oft must I, plummeting

find hope amiss, justice void

my cries unheard. Unrestrained.

A fatherless child am I —

“How then, can I be saved?”

An inn full, a stable fuller.

My groans are echoed nearby.

I look, eyes gazing,

not quite seeing — yet

something in me is christened

in this newborn's cry.

The spirit of Christmas often lends itself to the cry of loneliness. I am reminded most poignantly during this season that I am not quite at home, though yearning for a place to rest my head.

“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,” rings the ancient longing. (See Isaiah 64:1-9) The cry of Isaiah is one wrought with a sense of longing, yet burdened by a sense of one's own depravity. Writes Isaiah, “You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”

Isaiah's words strike me as thoughts a person in Bethlehem could likely have uttered that night. “Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.” But the waiting is wearying, the silence daunting — we confess on doubt-ridden nights. “No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.” We are not quite at home, nor capable of getting there. How then can we be saved — from this life, from death, from me?

“Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all your people.” And the infant looked up at the young mother, his cries joining our own. And for the first time humanity heard God weep.

________

Copyright © 2004 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

*

To object indignantly to the commercialization of Christmas and to bemoan the loss of the true meaning of Christmas has become a cliché. So I risk being trite when I choose to discuss “the true meaning of Christmas.” I would not have chosen this topic if I did not think that the true meaning of Christmas has become obscured. But it is not the materialism and commercialization of Christmas that I want to oppose here. My objection is to how the “true meaning of Christmas” popularly offered in its place obscures the true meaning of Christmas.

If we read the clues in our culture -- Hollywood Christmas stories, casual comments, Christmas cards, even some sermons -- it becomes apparent what the “true meaning of Christmas” is supposed to be. Christmas is the celebration of love, generosity, benevolence, kindness, brotherhood, and familial bonding, and the celebration of the joy, peace, and security that those things promote. The true meaning of Christmas -- according to this way of thinking -- is a kind of Hallmark sentimentality about a world where there is no strife, no anger, no hatred, and no criticism; a world in which there is no warfare in any of its forms.

Is that, in fact, the true meaning of Christmas? No, it is not. The true meaning of Christmas is not about man loving man -- or, if you were confused, human loving human. The true meaning of Christmas is about God loving man. It is about God giving the most amazing and spectacular gift to a certain chosen few. It is about God giving us the promise of the coming Kingdom and a salvaged heart out of which to desire it.

As I see it, three concepts are meant to capture the true meaning of Christmas as popularly understood: peace, joy, and love. It would be instructive to look at all three of these concepts, but I will look at only one to see if it accurately captures the true meaning of Christmas. Let's look at “peace.”

As popularly understood, Christmas means the coming of peace between men. If we could simply imbibe the spirit of Christmas, there would be no more war or strife or hostility between us and other fellow-humans. If we could simply grasp the meaning of Jesus' life, Jesus would eliminate the hatred and cruelty that exists between people.

But is this true? Not exactly. Jesus himself said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be members of his household.” God's gift to us, in part, is a transformed heart -- a transformation of our deepest being. It is a transformation that leads us to know and to love our creator. But such a gift makes us outcasts in this world. It makes us misunderstood and hated and persecuted. It does not bring peace; it brings antagonism and strife. It does not bring us happiness in human relationship; it brings us sorrow and grief.

Ah, “But the angels,” you say. The angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those men who are the objects of God's choice.” They did sing of peace, but they did not sing of peace between men; they sang of peace between a man and his creator. For those few who have been chosen to receive life in God's kingdom, the birth of Jesus brought about the end of their alienation from God. It brought about reconciliation. This reconciliation to God is the peace of which the angels sang.

But peace between men? Jesus did not come to bring that. He came to bring war. He came to wage a decisive battle in the war between good and evil, and he came to bring the hope of victory to those of us who are in the midst of that battle. Christmas does not mean peace; it means victory. Christmas does not mean the cessation of strife; it means the encouragement to continue the strife. The day will come when we can lay down our arms -- when the war is over finally and permanently. But that day lies ahead -- in the coming Kingdom. It is not now. In the meantime, the true meaning of Christmas is that our heroic captain has come to us in the midst of the battle for our lives and souls and has sent the enemy fleeing. That is the true meaning of Christmas. That is why we celebrate. Christmas does not make life any easier, nor any smoother. Life is full of hardship, the hardship and sacrifice of the battlefield. Our joy is not the joy of going home when the enemy has been subdued. Our joy is the joy that comes as we are engaged in combat and see our enemy turn and run. Our joy is the joy of the hope of victory. Good will triumph over evil. The Kingdom of Heaven will be secured. My soul will -- once and for all -- be delivered from the evil that has held it captive all my life. There will be freedom. There will be liberation. Rejoice! Our King and conquering Hero has come!

As the magi and the shepherds and Mary and Joseph looked down on a baby lying in the manger, what brought them joy was not the vision of a world where everyone was as gentle and innocent as a baby. What brought them joy was the vision of the final and ultimate defeat of sin and death. They did not see a gentle baby; they saw a fierce warrior, a mighty king -- a king who would subdue every enemy, conquer every foe, and bring about total and unfailing allegiance to God and the goodness which He is. He would bring about peace between people; but only after a long, hard, protracted struggle in which we must fight. The more immediate meaning of Christmas is not the joy of PEACE ON EARTH; it is the joy of the promise of VICTORY OVER EVIL.

________

Jack Crabtree presented this message to Reformation Fellowship in December, 1993.

Jack is the director of McKenzie Study Center, an institute of Gutenberg College, where he has taught since 1981. His teaching at MSC focuses on interpretation of the biblical texts and biblical philosophy, the history of philosophy and theology, religious epistemology, and hermeneutics. Jack is also a tutor at Gutenberg College, a co-author of THE LANGUAGE OF GOD: A COMMONSENSE APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING THE BIBLE, and the author of THE MOST REAL BEING: A BIBLICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL DEFENSE OF DIVINE DETERMINISM (Gutenberg College Press). He has a Ph.D. in philosophy.

Copyright December 1994 by McKenzie Study Center.

“Each year,” writes T. M. Moore in our latest BreakPoint Worldview Church e-newsletter [see HolwickID #28834], “as the Christmas season unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that a large number of people in our society have got it all wrong.”

He's not talking about the crass materialism that cheapens what C. S. Lewis insisted on calling our Feast of the Nativity — though that's a big problem. Instead he's concerned that, even in the Church, we present only half the message — the good news — while avoiding the bad news; “tidings of comfort and joy,” but not warnings of division and judgment.

“The Good News of Jesus Christ is only good to those who find favor with God, as the angels announced on that first Christmas morn,” writes Moore. He then goes on to say, “The Good News of the Christ-Child's birth is really bad news for the devil and his troop, for those who cling to earthly relationships above all else, and for all who find in wealth and things the fulfillment of their highest hopes. For all these,” says Moore, “Christmas should come around each year with dread, fraught with warnings of judgment and calls to repentance.”

It's bad news for the devil because the birth of the baby in Bethlehem “foreshadowed the victory of Christ on the cross” over the devil and his minions.

Second, says Moore, Christmas is “bad news for those who cling to human relationships.” Christmas is, to read the cards, about everyone just getting along. It's about family and friends and being nice to the people who jostle you in the mall. As Moore puts it, “We want people to believe that, somehow, we can all just learn to get along in this world. We can be tolerant of one another, even if our toleration means confirming people in their lostness. And we use Christmas, of all times of the year, to promote this deception.” Christmas, says Moore, is instead a reminder that Jesus “came to divide humanity along the lines of faith, those who are uncompromisingly committed to following the Bethlehem Babe against those who are determined to be the masters of their own fates.”

Finally, says Moore, Christmas is bad news for “those who hope in wealth.” In a wealthy nation like ours when gifts are on most people's minds, we forget the stern warnings Jesus gave about wealth. Moore writes, “We may try to deceive ourselves into thinking we can invest the greatest amount of our time, energy, creativity, and interest in making a good living, with just a pittance left over for the work of the Kingdom; but this is the devil's lie, and we [become] his followers, not Christ's, if we cling to it.”

Moore's point comes down to this: Only when we know our need is Christ born with “tidings of great joy.” Forgiveness is available, real change is possible, and eternal life is promised to those who will receive Jesus. Repentance leads to rejoicing.

So instead of making a last trip to the mall this Christmas Eve, go home, reflect on the birth of Jesus, and share it with friends and family along with hugs, good food, and gifts. Christmas is deeper, more profound, and more surprising than we ever thought.

FOR FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION:

• T. M. Moore, “The Jesus We Preach at Christmas,” Worldview Church, December 2004.

• Michael Snyder, “Holy Invasion,” BreakPoint WorldView, December 2003.

• Catherina Hurlburt, “The Forgotten Mother,” BreakPoint WorldView, May 2004.

• BreakPoint Commentary No. 031224, “The Most Shocking Story Ever Told: The 'True Meaning of Christmas.'“

• John Koessler, “Why I Return to the Pews,” Christianity Today, December 2004.

• Charles Colson with Anne Morse, How Now Shall We Live? Devotional (Tyndale, 2004).

________

Copyright (c) 2004 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

One of the most memorable moments on CBS's 60 MINUTES had nothing to do with war or political scandals. It was an essay on the meaning of Christmas by the late Harry Reasoner.

Reasoner called Christmas “such a unique idea that most non-Christians accept it and ... sometimes envy it.” What makes it unique is not the gift-giving, but what Reasoner called “the truest thing in the world”: It is the “anniversary of the appearance of the Lord of the Universe in the form of a helpless baby....”

For Reasoner, God chose exactly the correct form needed to intimately identify with us and our condition. And in becoming a helpless child, He made it possible to be loved, as well as feared, since “everyone has seen babies, and most people like them.”

Fourteen years after his death, Reasoner is still right about the meaning of Christmas, but I'm not sure about most people liking babies, at least the inconvenient ones. The most obvious example of this diminished regard for babies is abortion-on-demand, which has cost an estimated 40 million babies their lives.

An especially tragic group of these victims are children who have been diagnosed in utero as having Down syndrome. Compared to our slaughter of these innocents, Herod's efforts to kill the infant Jesus were amateurish: Expectant women are now pressured into prenatal testing, including amniocentesis; then, if Down syndrome is detected, they are expected to get an abortion, which 90 percent of them do.

And now, according to a $15 million, eight-year study just published last month in the November 10 issue of the NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE, science is endeavoring to make these practices easier, at least for women and their doctors. Through a newly developed prenatal test, Down syndrome can now be detected in the first trimester of pregnancy. When one researcher called the outcome of this research “huge,” she was right in ways that probably did not occur to her: The potential to eliminate a class of people shortly after conception now lies within our grasp.

Of course, we don't call them “people,” much less “babies.” Instead, we call them “embryos” and, if we absolutely must, “fetuses.” That way, we don't have to confront the fact that not only are we taking human life, but also that we have singled out the most vulnerable members of our community.

That singling out makes our Christmas celebrations this year especially ironic because Reasoner was right: The truest thing in the world is that the Lord of the Universe specifically identified with the poor and vulnerable in His Incarnation. When the Word became flesh, He did not don royal robes, but the swaddling clothes of peasants and laborers.

In case we missed the point, shortly before Jesus went to the Cross, He told His disciples that we will be judged according to how we treated “the least of these, my brethren.” Can anyone doubt what grade our society would receive today?

If this sounds a bit somber, recall that the weeks leading up to Christmas, known as Advent, are a time for reflection and repentance. As we prepare to celebrate the Lord's first coming, we look forward to His second: an appearance that will forever settle the status of what Jesus called “the least of these.” Are you ready for Christmas?

________

Copyright (c) 2005 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

*

Daily Advent readings

December 1

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 64:1-9; Mark 13:24-37

"And what I say to you I say to all: Watch." (Mark 13:37)

One of the most magnificent shows in God's creation is a meteor shower. Since this event occurs so infrequently, I was determined to stay up late to observe this celestial display. My family and I set up lounge chairs in our backyard, brought out the blankets to keep off the chill, and turned off the security light. We were ready for the big show. With our eyes glued to the heavens, I did not want to miss out on anything. At first, I had difficulty seeing a meteor, since they were falling in different locations in the sky. I felt like an owl, rotating my head around, looking for prey. Then suddenly, the heavens came alive! It seemed as if hundreds of meteors were streaking across the sky at once. What a spectacular sight!

I am also reminded of the story of the three kings who followed the bright shining star to the stable in Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus. They kept vigilant watch over that star as it led them to their destination.

Just as the three kings kept vigilant watch over that star, let us keep watch for Jesus' return. We must watch and pray against the sin that so easily distracts us. We must watch for fear that the great opportunities for service to God's kingdom come and pass by, unseen and unclaimed.

Dear Lord Jesus, help us to be vigilant in our watch so that we do not miss any great opportunities to serve you. Amen.

- Cheryl Foster

December 2

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 1:10-20; Luke 20:1-8

"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord, "though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Isaiah 1:18

As a child, I remember the excitement of waking up to see everything covered with snow. I still get excited at the sight of snowflakes coming down. This passage of scripture is a beautiful illustration of God's forgiveness because of the atoning death of Jesus Christ.

As we celebrate Christmas, let us keep in mind that the whole Bible is built around the story of Christ and His promise of life everlasting. It was written only that we might believe and understand, know and love, and follow him.

O Lord, we bow before you acknowledging your lordship in our lives and thank you for your forgiveness of our sins. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

- Helen Youngblood

December 3

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 1:21-31; Luke 20:9-18

In a recent popular movie, the main character says to a friend: "Now we know that hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things." In Advent we can renew our hope in the promise of God and Jesus. In the coming of Christ into the world, the angels said ". . . Peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased!" Our hope is in this peace, and our peace is in this hope.

Our world is not a peaceful place, nor did Jesus promise that it would be. But our mind and soul can be peaceful if we keep our hope in the promise of Jesus who came that we might have life and have it abundantly.

Lord, my hope is in my belief. Help my unbelief. Amen.

- Guy Snow

December 4

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 29:9-24

In this passage, the inability of the people of Israel to discern God's word to them was like drunken staggering. We know that the spoken words of the prophets were preserved to become scriptures. Many times our reading of the Bible takes the place of truly hearing what the Word can teach each of us through quiet and prayerful study.

In Isaiah 29:18, we read that "the eyes of the blind shall see," Israel's blindness will pass. Israel's foolishness and lack of discernment requires a look toward God's deliverance. All in Israel who had forsaken God and the path of righteousness came to later understand the truths spoken by the prophets.

The same lessons of truth and hope apply to each of us today. The celebration of Advent is a time of reflection and renewal for each of us. The understanding and discernment of Christ's teachings and promises are what makes this Advent Season filled with the joy and hope we have in Christ.

Lord, thank you for the hope we have in you through the teaching of your word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

- Emma Alexander

December 5

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 2:5-22; Luke 20:27-40

"O house of Jacob, come let us walk in the light of the Lord!" (Isaiah 2:5)

As a child, I always remembered the lighting of candles and the singing of "Silent Night" on Christmas Eve. The church lights were dimmed so that it was hard to see the words of the hymn but just when we were about to sing the hymn, the light that had been passed from the aisle reached us and our candles were lit - it was timed perfectly!

There are times when our world is dimmed. There are times when our world is darkened by fear, sin, hatred, greed, envy, and sometimes we are the ones doing the dimming. But just as we are about to stumble, just when our world is becoming too much to bear, the light reaches us and we can see again.

Just think about the three kings who followed the star to where Jesus lay. They journeyed hundreds of miles through the desert and the mountains, past bandits and thieves, and there were probably times when their path had grown dim. But just when they were about to give up hope, just when they were about to turn around, the light of that star shone on them again and showed them the way to go. Perfect timing!

Right when we need it, the light comes. O house of Jacob, O family of faith, O bumbling believer, come let us walk in the light of the Lord!

Dear Lord Jesus, shine your light on us - light for our journey upon your path. Amen.

- John Sawyer

December 6

Scripture Lessons: Psalm 16; Luke 20:41-21:4

"He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins." (Luke 21:1-2)

Several Christmases ago, one of my uncles thought of some ingenious ways to give me money as Christmas gifts. One of the gifts was a money tie that was a cardboard cut-out with a certain amount of money attached to it. Another Christmas, he gave me money with a roll of lifesavers. The next Christmas was a ten dollar bill in a pecan log. One thing I learned from this whole experience was to expect big things to happen in little packages. It was fun to receive money in that way but then it stopped. My uncle stopped giving me money.

I prayed to God to give me peace about it. God granted me the grace and peace to deal with it.

Jesus was born in a manger on Christmas night but he became the great king that was worth waiting for. Let us wait for him to come again.

Jesus, thank you for coming in a small form and growing to be the great king. Amen.

- Neill McLauchlin

December 7

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 4:2-6; Luke 21:5-19

The Book of Isaiah is one of the four greatest collections of Hebrew prophecies. Isaiah received his call from God about 740 years before the birth of Christ. He regarded himself primarily as a prophet of judgment of things to come. His foresight of the prevalence of social inequalities and moral corruption was realized in his day.

His prophecies have particular relevance today. Are we not faced with same social and moral deficiencies and decay? It is amazing to me that what was prophesied in Bible times by prophets like Isaiah would be coming to pass again in our time. He told of Christ's coming kingdom and the judgement and clearing away the rubble of decay. Those who remain loyal and true to God's instructions will be listed in his Book of Life, considered holy and receive salvation.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says that there would be wars, rumors of wars, pestilence, earthquakes, draughts, famine, moral decay, nation against nation. All this would come to pass before the end of time and there would be a second coming of Christ to be a sanctuary from storm and rain. "The branch from the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious. . ." (Isaiah 4:2).

O Lord, we pray for the beautiful and glorious day of your coming.

- Lillian Bussells

December 8

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8

"I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way…" (Mark 1:2)

Our children returned from trick or treating only to discover that each of their bags contained one large carrot among the goodies. When Nancy asked about it, they said, "Margaret gave it to us." Later I visited with our across-the-street neighbor. I mentioned the carrot. Margaret said she really wanted to give them each an onion instead, because it was good for brain activity. But she was afraid they wouldn't eat it. So she gave them carrots, because carrots are good for the eyes.

Margaret had a lot of peculiarities, but she always thought of what was good and what was right. She wore clothes from the thrift shop, big rubber boots, a heavy knee-length woolen coat, and a watch cap pulled down over her ears. But few people knew that Margaret was one of the wealthiest people in our neighborhood. She purchased houses in town and hardly changed any rent. When people had trouble paying, she would think of little things they could do to cover their payment. In conversations, she would often get downright angry about how poor people were treated in our small town.

God sent some pretty odd messengers to point out the Lord Jesus. Shepherds, dirty from sleeping in the fields. Richly dressed kings from far away, with their eyes fixed on a star. John the Baptist, dressed in camel hair and eating grasshoppers. And for us anyway, a very strange neighbor who always talked about poor people.

Dear Lord Jesus, open our ears to all of your messengers, so that we might recognize you when you come. Amen.

- Bill Youmans

December 9

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 5:8-17; Luke 21:20-28

"Terrible distress will come upon this land. When these things begin to happen, your salvation is near." (Luke 21:28)

Once, on a church marquee, I saw the following words: "Salvation is a gift - not a reward." As we enter into this season of giving and thanksgiving, we are reminded daily of gift giving. Our news media work themselves into a last-minute advertisement frenzy.

Today, as in days of old, our world finds itself in turmoil, with wars and rumors of wars. It is at this time that we can focus our thoughts on the gift God gave us, His only Son, and the gift the Son gave us, a gift undeserved, unearned, but truly the greatest of gifts: our salvation.

Dear God, help us to open our hearts and accept your gifts of salvation and eternal life. Amen.

- Cile Wentz

December 10

Scripture Lessons: Psalm 33; Luke 21:29-38

"Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love to deliver their soul from death. . . Our soul waits for the lord; he is our help and shield." (Psalm 33:18-19a,20)

Whether it's snarling traffic, crying children in the mall, folks waving their credit cards around, being busier than you have ever been, sometimes you want to go crazy with frustration at all of this Christmastime madness!

This time of year, we want to cry out with frustration but as Christians, there is another cry that we make. There is something else that we wait for besides the presents under the tree. "O Come, O come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear." These words have been sung for centuries as prayer as a crying out for Jesus to come again into the world. But what does this mean? Didn't Jesus come into the world 2000 years ago? Weren't we forgiven for our sins and granted eternal life? Didn't Jesus make everything right? Yes, Jesus did, yes we were, and yes, Jesus did.

While we may see things that make us think otherwise, "the world has already been transformed, the reign of God has already been realized, the new creation has already taken place." A friend of mine says that "Christian hope isn't simply naïve, it's outrageous." This is not a "pie in the sky" "bye and bye" thing that we hope for, this is something that is here and now. Christian faith is outrageous!

"Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love to deliver their soul from death." Jesus Christ has done this. It is here. It is now. Thanks be to God!

Lord Jesus, we pray for the strength to make it through these hectic times and pray that one day, we would stand before your throne, giving thanks to you. Amen.

- John Sawyer

December 11

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 6:1-13; John 7:53-8:1

"And one cried to another and said: Holy, Holy, Holy is the lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." (Isaiah 6:3)

As a child, growing up in a small country church, one of the things that I loved to do was take part in the church's Christmas pageant. There were many parts to be played by church members. There were Mary and Joseph for the manger scene, the shepherds in the fields and the wise men arriving from the East. There was also a "host of angels" that sang . I seemed to always be one of the angels. We would each wear a homemade white robe, carry a white cardboard songbook edged in silver tinsel and have a silver tinsel halo on our heads. How we would sing! I never tired of the practice. I really wanted to be a part of it even though the pageant would be the same every year.

In the Christmas story, the host of angels were the messengers of God, singing and telling the glad tidings of God's wonderful gift to us. The shepherds in the fields were the first to hear this wonderful message as sung by the angels. We read the story of how they hurried to the stable to see the baby Jesus. These glad tidings have echoed to the far corners of the world. As the scripture says, "The whole world is full of His glory." This is a story that will never grow old.

Each year during the Advent season, we relive this wonderful story. We rejoice anew because of the glad tidings that continue to echo around the world. Let us again sing out as the "host of angels" sang to the shepherds: "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, good will to men."

Dear Lord Jesus, let us remember that this love and joy was given to us to share. Amen.

- Evelyn Marion

December 13

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 7:10-25; Luke 22:14-30

"But the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be pregnant. She will have a son, and she will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)

Immanuel means "God is With Us" and as I thought about that, these words kept coming to my mind: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). These two passages always remind me that with God, all things are possible. They remind me that we do not have to go through life's trials alone. God is always with us. The prophet Isaiah writes of God's promise to Ahaz, that God will deliver Ahaz from his enemies. God offers Ahaz a sign as a way to convince him that God will be with him.

God give us this same assurance. God is with us in the light and in the dark, in joys and in sorrows, in times of hope and in times of despair, in sickness and in health, in work and in play. God is with us no matter where we are or what we are doing. He is always there to lend a hand, even when that hand is offering us forgiveness because our behavior is less than desirable.

Christmas is a wonderful part of our lives as Christians. We celebrate God sending his very own son to earth because he loves us so much. We gather to worship, to enjoy beautiful music, to be with family and close friends. There are people who do not enjoy Christmas. Perhaps they are lonely, sick, depressed, hungry, or do not know Jesus as their savior and constant companion. If you know someone like this, let them know that not only are you their friend but someone else is always there to help. God is with us!

Dear God, thank you for being our savior and our constant companion. Amen.

- Beverly Randall

December 14

Scripture Lessons: Psalm 80; Luke 22:39-53

"Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine that we might be saved." Psalm 80:3, 7, and 19

"Then he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, knelt down, and prayed. . ." Luke 22:41

I have become accustomed to living by myself. I spend hours at a time with little or no contact except the wildlife in my backyard (frogs, turtles, and birds, including two wild owls) and my little birds who stay with me in the house. I sometimes feel closest to God when I am out of doors, in the middle of God's creation, and my thoughts and meditations during those times turn to God and others.

Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem so that we might live and prayed alone on the Mount of Olives in anguish so that we might live.

When we pray, we must have faith that God hears our prayers and will answer them. We also must have patience in order to wait for the answer to our prayers. Prayers are answered every day, prayers of hope, prayers of fear, prayers of wonder and love. As we wait for Christ to come again, we pray for the light that came into the world so many years ago will shine out in the darkness. We pray for God's face to shine on us so that we might be saved.

Go to a place where you can be alone with God and pray:

"Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine that we might be saved." (Psalm 80:3, 7, and 19).

- Lu Daumer

December 15

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 61:1-11; Luke 1:47-55; John 1:6-8, 19-28

[Mary said…] "He has kept the promise he made to our ancestors, and has come to the help of his servant Israel." (Luke 1:54)

As much as Aric and I wanted a baby, when we found out that we were REALLY going to be parents, I was petrified! Aric was excited, but he was also very peaceful from the start. I needed a little longer to adjust to the idea. This would be like nothing else we'd ever experienced - especially my role in it! As I got more comfortable with approaching motherhood, I reflected on something one of my teacher friends said to me: "I think God arranged for babies to develop for nine months for a good reason; our hearts and minds need time to adjust to becoming mothers, too."

We all fared just fine - with trust in the Lord and His promises. Isaiah shared stirring details as he anticipated God's promises. Mary felt inadequate. She wondered how could she handle what the Father asked of her. Still - she trusted in the Lord. John claimed, "…I am not good enough even to untie his sandals."

God chooses the meek and humble among us to do His works. He shows us His promise in the Christ child, who was born so long ago, in the most lowly of places. Every time we see the trust and wonder in a small child's eyes this Advent Season, let's remember to trust in our Heavenly Father's promises to us.

Dear Lord Jesus, our Father in Heaven keeps his promises to us. During the Advent season especially, help us to see your birth and life on Earth as the most precious of His promises. Amen.

- Jill D. Hall

December 16

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 8:16-9:1; Luke 22:54-69

"Listen to what the Lord is teaching you. Don't listen to the mediums. What they tell you will do you no good." (Isaiah 8:20)

As the holiday season approaches, among all the glitter and celebrations, I often reflect back to an earlier time when I was reminded of what Christmas is truly all about. While a student in college, a group of us went to a very small rural church in the mountains of Virginia to add voices to the choir. This plain, small room, heated by two pot-bellied stoves, was filled with local folks of all ages, a group of young children from a local orphanage, visiting families, and us. Next to a decorated cedar tree was an organ, powered by a young boy pumping a handle, so that music could be played by what must have had to be a one hundred year old lady. There were no fancy cars or the latest gizmos to display but rather a true desire to worship God and celebrate the birth of his child. To this day, over forty years later, this image is as clear as the evening it occurred. And it is why, despite some people who get frustrated with me, I cannot get caught up in much of the so-called "traditions" of Christmas.

Today, Christmas seems to start on Halloween. There are even some Christmas stores that are open year round. Even the Christmas shows at places like Myrtle Beach have gone mostly commercial with cute and peppy songs. All of this commercialism could be compared to the mediums, or sorcerers, in Isaiah and to Peter in the Gospel of Luke, who got caught up in the excitement of the moment, forgetting that Christ is Lord -- denying that Jesus Christ, born so long ago in an old stable is Lord.

Those plain and simple folks in a remote Virginia hollow many years ago had a right idea. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could put those mediums, those sorcerers who poison our minds and hearts where they belong. Wouldn't it be wonderful is we would not listen to them and would not deny the true meaning of Christmas, which is found in a common stable. It's not too late!

Dear Lord, help us to remember and celebrate what the birth of your son means to all of us. Amen.

- Tom Phlegar

December 17

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 9:2-7; John 3:16-21

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. . ." (John 3:16)

I remember, as a child, the anticipation and excitement felt as I awaited the moment when my parents would finally say, "Yes, we can open gifts now!" Christmas morning: wrapping paper flying through the air, giggles of pleasure, new toys and treats scattered across the floor. . . at a young age, this was what Christmas was all about -- receiving gifts. As the years have past, I find myself felling anticipation and excitement in watching loved ones open the gifts I so carefully picked out. Now the enjoyment is in the giving. Whether it is the giving or receiving that brings one greater joy, it is clear that this act is an important part of our Christmas celebration.

The tradition of giving and receiving gifts at Christmas can be traced back to the first Christmas some two thousand years ago. On a dark and starry night in a humble stall, the greatest gift was given to each of us: the gift of God's love. This gift was presented to us as a tiny baby in a lowly manger. God's only son was brought to earth in a most unselfish gesture. Upon receiving this gift, we must decide how to use it. Do we keep it buried in our hearts, or do we share it with others? If God is willing to give the gift of his love, then following his example, we should give the gift of our love.

So at Christmas, let us be reminded not only of God's gift of love to us, but let us be reminded of the gift of love that we can give to others.

Gracious God, thank you for giving your love to us and help us to give our love to others. Amen.

- Olivia Hutchins

December 18

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 11:1-9; Luke 1:5-25

"For my words will certainly come true at the proper time." (Luke 1:20)

In a world filled with turmoil, fear, distrust of others, acts of terrorism and threats from groups that threaten our peace, how refreshing it is to read Isaiah's promise of a time when babies can crawl amidst snakes, and when all natural enemies can and will coexist: "the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them" (Isaiah 11:6). Isaiah points to the time when a new branch will come from the royal line of David and that the spirit of the Lord will rest upon him.

We are reminded again in Luke with the angel's visit to Zechariah and the promise of a son to Elizabeth in her old age that a new day is dawning. We are also reminded that such a wonderful promise is hard to understand and accept as Zechariah could not believe that such an awesome event could and would take place. That wonderful thing did come to pass and that son was John, a man of rugged spirit and power like Elijah who was filled with the Holy Spirit. That John told us of God's great gift to us - Jesus.

We, too, often find God's promises hard to understand and think we can live and solve our own problems without His help. As we look forward to the glorious day of His coming, let us reflect on and believe the good "good news" that His promise of a peaceful time can be realized. We can hope in and believe in the day when we can live together with people, the world over, in peace and harmony.

Dear lord, help us to trust in your promises for we know they are real. Amen.

- Sam and Peggy Davidson

December 19

Scripture Lesson: Isaiah 11:10-16; John 5:30-47; Revelation 20:1-10

"On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples." (Isaiah 11:10)

In the past, I have journeyed to Iowa for holiday visits with my parents and have always had a great time. My two sisters and their families lived in the same hometown so with one trip, I could see almost everyone. My brother and his family would travel up from Florida. It would be a week stuffed in a house with bodies, food, presents, kids, and lots of stories about the past. My daughters loved being around family they didn't see often and of course the presence of snow always made our time in Iowa more fun.

This summer, changes came for my family. My youngest sister remarried and moved a little further from home and my parents decided to move to Florida. My other sister and her husband bought my parent's old home, keeping it in the family.

This year, Christmastime will seem odd. Instead of returning to my old memories in Iowa, I will be going to my parents' new home in Florida. My sisters and brother will also make the journey to the new house where we will begin making new memories in a new place. As my parents grow older, I have found that they have created a firm foundation of family that has taken root in all of us. And we are all going to enjoy hanging out on this new branch. No matter where we have scattered to, when our parents call to us and set out banners of welcome we will return to them from all the corners of the earth.

Long ago a star shone over Bethlehem as a banner lighting the way to a baby born in a stable. That night people came from the four corners of the earth to witness God's greatest gift to us. A baby that the Spirit of the Lord rested upon, a baby that would carry the banner of the world's salvation.

Dear God, this season as we scatter in many directions, may we hear your call and see your banner waving -- calling us back home. Amen.

- Denise Smith

December 20

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 28:9-22; Luke 1:26-38; Revelation 20:11-21

"For nothing is impossible with God." (Luke 1:37)

As all of us journey through life, we quickly learn that many things are impossible. As a child, I wanted to be able to fly like a bird. My thinking was that if the birds in the air could do it, why couldn't I do it. Eventually I learned that it was simply impossible for me to fly in such a manner because I was not created with that type of ability. God has made all of creation differently, each with it's own ability. Birds fly, humans walk, and fish swim. We live in this world and have we become so accustomed to its rules and natural laws that we have a hard time understanding how the miracles in the Bible occurred.

The Bible is filled with many accounts of miracles that God performed. The Gospel of Luke tells of Mary's relative, Elizabeth, who was said to be barren, but God, who had predetermined long before, provided her with a child who would become John the Baptist. This was a miracle! But it was not the greatest of miracles. For that miracle was the incarnation of God -- Jesus Christ, fully human and fully God.

The holiday season helps to remind me of God's glorious miracle that occurred two thousand years ago. I take great comfort in knowing that I serve an all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-capable God. Let us all encourage one another to rest in the hope that all things are possible for God, who graciously rewards us for trusting in his beloved Son.

O Mighty God, grant us believing hearts and minds. Amen.

- Jamie Talton and Lauren Barnette

December 21

Scripture Lessons: Luke 1:39-45

It is impossible to imagine what it would be like to be as blessed as Mary and chosen for the special role of giving birth to our Savior. We cannot fulfill the role Mary had, but there are many ways we can be blessed and be a blessing to others.

Mary and Elizabeth had a special bond of friendship. The joy and rejoicing they shared are signs of God's blessings. Mary is blessed for her faithfulness. God's favor for Mary's lowliness is a sing of hope to those lonely and less fortunate.

During the Advent Season, may we share joy and rejoicing with others, regardless of their circumstances. May we follow Mary's example and receive the blessings of faithfulness. May we not forget the many that are hungry and homeless and share our time and means, so they too, will receive God's blessings through us. God's blessings are not meant to be kept to ourselves but to be shared with others. By sharing joyfully, we can rejoice in giving and receiving God's blessings.

Lord, may this Advent Season be filled with joy and showing our faithfulness to your through sharing our many blessings with others. Amen.

- Emma Alexander

December 22

Scripture Lessons: 2 Samuel 7:1-6; Luke 1:26-38, 46-55; Romans 16:25-27

"The Lord is with you." (Luke 1:28)

"The Lord is with you." What a comforting assurance! There is no doubt that both David and Mary took great comfort from these words of assurance as they each were given an unexpected, central role in the unveiling of God's purpose for humankind. We can also take great comfort from these words as we face the uncertainties of our earthly life.

Yet, I cannot recall either speaking or receiving these words of assurance outside of a Sunday worship service. As we look together toward the birth of Christ, let us remember that the Lord is indeed with us and that the birth and life of Christ are the ultimate manifestation of his being with us. Let us go further and provide comfort and assurance to those around us by reminding them that the Lord is, and always will be, with them.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your son to remind us that you are and will always be with us. In Christ's name, Amen.

- Charles and Tammy Lansden

December 23

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 33:17-22; Luke 1:57-66

"Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. . ." (Isaiah 33:17a)

Growing up in Scotland at the beginning of World War II, a small child and her mother were home alone, the father was serving in the army. On Christmas Eve 1939 there was a knock at their door. A nun, from the convent next door, asked if the child could go with her for a visit to their small chapel. There in a corner, was a beautiful manger scene. "We need a wee bit of help," the nun said. The little girl was asked to go to a cabinet and open the door. There lay the Baby Jesus. "Lift him gently and put him into Mary's arms," she was told. She did this, then nuns held her hands and prayed.

I will remember all my life that feeling of wonder. Just as it said in my Bible, "Jesus was born!" It is one of my most cherished memories. Jesus lives always in my heart and I praise his name every day with thanksgiving.

Lord Jesus, let us be mindful that one day you will place us in our Heavenly Father's arms! Amen.

- Evelyn Seaborn

December 24

Scripture Lessons: Isaiah 9:2-7; Luke 2:1-20

"For a child has been born for us, a son given to us;

authority rests on his shoulders;

and he is named Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His authority shall grow continually

and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom.

He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness

from this time onward and forevermore.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this." (Isaiah 9:6-7)

And they wrapped this Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger filled with hay; a manger in a barn somewhere in the tiny village of Bethlehem. He was but a child, a newborn infant, which is a miracle in and of itself, but this child in this manger at this time was the miracle of miracles. What a gift, given to you and to me!

What made the angels sing so sweetly? What made the kings travel from distant lands? What calls us back again and again, year after year to hear the same story: a child in an old feeding trough, a new mother exhausted from the efforts of childbirth, a nervous first-time father, some dirty old shepherds fresh from a campout in the fields with their flocks. These are but common details, the grit and the dirt and the smells and the sweat and fear are all there but this child. . . this child is different.

It is not something that we can really describe in words but it's here - the grace of God - coming down from on high, whirling around us, enfolding us, comforting us, lifting us up. God's perfect gift, Jesus Christ, is enthroned, ruling the peoples in justice and righteousness and endless peace. May the baby Jesus, the humble servant Jesus, the Jesus who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords rule in our hearts this day and everyday.

"Mild, He lays His glory by, born that we no more may die, born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth. Hark, the herald angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King!"

December 25

"On this day earth shall ring

With the song children sing

To the Lord, Christ our King,

Born on earth to save us;

Him the Father gave us.

Ideo gloria in excelsis Deo!

His the doom, ours the mirth

When He came down to earth

Bethlehem saw His birth;

Ox and ass beside Him

From the cold would hide Him.

Ideo gloria in excelsis Deo!

God's bright star, o'er his head,

Wise men three to Him led,

Kneeling low by His bed,

Lay their gifts before Him,

Praise him and adore him.

Ideo gloria in excelsis Deo!

On this day angels sing;

With their song earth shall ring,

Praising Christ, heaven's King,

Born on earth to save us;

Peace and love he gave us.

Ideo gloria in excelsis Deo!

Piae Cantinones, 1582. Trans. Jane Marion Joseph (1894-1929)

*

I sometimes wonder if Christmas, to an outsider looking in, seems to be something we are having a hard time living with. I have almost heard as many arguments about Christmas this year as I have heard Christmas songs. The debates are diverse and many of them heated; some with good reason. There are voices on every side of every soap box involving decorations before Thanksgiving, the constant beckoning of consumerism, the exchange of “holiday” greetings instead of “Christmas” wishes, the sounds of the Salvation Army bell ringers, and the growing trend of upside-down Christmas trees. Everyone seems to have a platform and no one seems to be happy.

I have long been struck with the idea that even our thoughts of God can at times become idols. In a letter to a younger colleague, poet and professor Stanley Wiersma once advised, “When you are too sure about God and faith, you are sure of something other than God: of dogma, of the church, of a particular interpretation of the Bible. But God cannot be pigeonholed. We must press toward certainty, but be suspicious when it comes too glibly.” Not all graven images are of stone and gold.

In the midst of the golden lights of Christmas, I wonder which of my thoughts and traditions have become idols on the shelves of my mind. Many of the current debates over the silencing of Christmas are well worth having. Many of our platforms hold legitimate cries against the modernization of the season. But even cries aimed at protecting Christmas are far cries from Christmas itself. Christmas is sacred to our hearts because CHRIST HAS REALLY COME.

Through the eyes of the Pevensie children, C.S. Lewis gives us a picture of a frozen world under a spell that makes it “always winter and never Christmas.” As Lucy, Edmund, Susan, and Peter discover what it means to live in such a winter, we shudder with them. If Christ had not given us himself to behold behind the lights and traditions we cherish each winter, it could well be a curse to the longing of the heart. But HE HAS. “I wrote fairy tales” said C.S. Lewis of the Narnia stories, “because the Fairy Tale seemed the ideal Form for the stuff I had to say.”

Though the frozen spell of Christmasless winters continues to work on the hearts of men and women, Christ has long broken the spell. The story we long for in the dead of winter is true: “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

I believe that God continues to move us to those places where we discover again the Person behind the flurry of lights and the Christmas carols we sing. This year, might we discover again that we follow a savior who really came among us, that the glory of God in its highest truly descended to the lowest place it could, and that even our best thoughts of Christ in the Christmases we cling to are but ornaments reflecting the real thing. A child is born. A savior has come! CHRISTMAS IS REAL.

________

Copyright © 2005 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

*

There is only one baby who was born to be the Savior of the world. This Child was sent from heaven on a divine search-and-rescue mission -- and meeting Him must be our ultimate goal in life.

Who is this Child? His name, Jesus, comes from the Greek words for Jehovah Saves; and that’s why the angels hovering above sleepy little Bethlehem sang: “For there is born to you this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

In John 4:42, Jesus is called “the Savior of the world,” and the apostle Paul called Him, “God our Savior” (1 Timothy 1:1 and 2:3). Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah predicted:

• He will send them a Savior and a Mighty One, and He will deliver them (Isaiah 19:20).

• I, even I, am the Lord, and besides me there is no Savior (Isaiah 43:11).

• He became their Savior. In all their affliction He was afflicted (Isaiah 63:8-9).

• He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.... His soul (was) an offering for sin (Isaiah 53:5,10).

This One of whom the prophets foretold was born to die. He overcame death and He rose again to save us from sin, guilt, shame, despair and hell. His purpose in coming was to seek and to save the lost.

When the Bible uses the words salvation, Savior and save, it’s speaking of the total work of God in bringing people from a state of death -- hopeless separation from God -- to a state of everlasting life through the forgiveness of sin. This is not based on any works that of our own, but rests solely on the redeeming grace of Christ Jesus. Saving us is the greatest and most concrete demonstration of God’s love for us, the definitive display of His grace throughout time and eternity.

The Bible says, “God our Savior ... saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did. He declared us not guilty because of His great kindness. And now we know that we will inherit eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7, NLT).

Some years ago as our home was being constructed, I noticed a bird trapped inside the house trying to get out of the skylight. I cajoled, tossed things up to scare it, and even got on the roof, only to discover the skylight was nailed shut. I tried everything, but I couldn’t reach the bird to set it free.

I wanted so badly to save that pitiful creature, but I was unable to communicate with it to explain what I was trying to do. If only I could have become a bird for a few minutes, I could have made it understand that I was there to rescue it. That’s what Jesus did. The gulf between God and human beings is far greater than the distance between humans and birds, yet His grace spanned the great divide. As sinners, we are trapped in the plexiglas of guilt, caught in the snare of our own making, separated from God, lost and alone in the world. But Jesus, who was God Himself, became a man to communicate with us, to die for our liberation, and to rise again for our salvation.

As Alister McGrath put it, “God did not send a subordinate to redeem us. He chose to do it Himself.”

Feel trapped today? Caught in a closet of crooked habits or corrupt relationships? Perhaps you’re able to see the blue sky, but the glass ceiling of sin keeps you down and holds you in. You long to soar on wings of the wind, but you’re exhausted.

Jesus became mortal to give you immortality; and today, through Him, you can be free. This is the Child who was born to become our Savior.

So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,

Come, peasant, king, to own Him.

The King of kings salvation brings,

Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #18100]

In his poem JOURNEY OF THE MAGI, T.S. Eliot imagines the reminiscent thoughts of one of the Magi who journeyed from afar to witness the birth of Christ. Using the voice of a pagan king, Elliot portrays the weight in the soul of a man who has truly confronted the uniqueness of Christ, the king. The poem powerfully concludes:

Birth or Death? There was a birth, certainly,

We had evidence and no doubt I had seen birth and death.

But had thought they were different, this Birth was

hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.

We returned to our palaces, these Kingdoms,

But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,

with an alien people clutching their gods.

I should be glad of another death.

Coming in contact with the Christ, proclaims Eliot, setting one's eyes on the child who was born to die is in a very real sense like dying ourselves. Though the poem seems to strike a somber note, it is the proclamation echoed triumphantly throughout New Testament Scripture.

The apostle Paul spoke readily of life in Christ using the words and imagery of death. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Jesus uttered similarly, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).

In this season of Advent we are a people watching and waiting, remembering and anticipating with those who first watched God step into the world through the mean estate of a dirty stable. We remember those who first set their eyes on the child who was born to die, becoming, in a sense, as Christ was on that first night — homeless and out of place. We remember too, that we ourselves are far from home, longing for the kingdom. For having embraced the truth of Christ, we proclaim the reality of his kingdom and find ourselves as Eliot describes, “no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation, with an alien people clutching their gods.” The message of Advent awakens our sense of homelessness, stirs our longing for home, and reminds us that we are waiting for the return of our king.

In one of the most comforting conversations between Jesus and the disciples, Jesus gives a description of home and the certainty of our place in it. “In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going” (John 14:2-4). Compounding this hope, his words are followed by one of his most quoted promises. As Thomas replied, “But Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Christ is the herald of our homelessness, and the harbinger of our home, even as he is himself the way. As G.K. Chesterton once penned,

For men are homesick in their homes,

and strangers under the sun...

but our homes are under miraculous skies

where the Yule tale was begun.

The message of Christ's birth is a certain message of hope and home. He who took on the fullness of humanity, becoming homeless that we might come home, has gone to prepare a place for you. God has come down! Let every heart prepare him room. Let earth receive her king.

________

Copyright © 2005 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

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Version from January 7, 2008:

"Epiphany Comes," Jill Carattini

This Sunday marked a lesser known holiday after the fanfare of Christmas. Epiphany, the historical Christian feast day that celebrates the arrival of the magi to the birthplace of Jesus, is described in Matthew 2:9-12. “After [the magi] had heard [Herod] the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”

Like many words that evolve in meaning through time and use, the word epiphany has come to mean more than the holiday it represents on January 6. Merriam-Webster offers an array of uses: an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being, a sudden perception of the essential nature or meaning of something, an intuitive grasp of reality through something usually simple and striking, an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure, or a revealing scene or moment. Each of these definitions carries with it similar qualities -- namely, vision and introspect, reality and awakening. As one who loves words, I like to think that all epiphany is inspired by the first Epiphany, when the Word became flesh and defined for us the meaning of vision, reality, meaning, and wakefulness.

In his poem Journey of the Magi, T.S. Eliot imagines the reminiscent thoughts of one of the magi who journeyed from afar to witness the birth of Christ. Using the voice of a pagan king, Elliot portrays the weight in the soul of a man who has truly confronted the Child king. The poem powerfully concludes:

Birth or Death? There was a birth, certainly,

We had evidence, and no doubt I had seen birth and death.

But had thought they were different, this Birth was

hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.

We returned to our palaces, these Kingdoms,

But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,

with an alien people clutching their gods.

I should be glad of another death.

Coming in contact with the Christ, proclaims Eliot, waking to the Child who was born to die is in a sense like dying ourselves. Though the poem seems to strike a somber note, it is a proclamation echoed triumphantly throughout the New Testament. The apostle Paul speaks readily of life in Christ using the words and imagery of death. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Uttering a similar connection between loss and epiphany, Jesus proclaims, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).

With those who first watched God stepped from the heavens and into an unlikely stable, we are reminded on the feast of Epiphany that we are a people with everything to lose but everything to gain. Like those who first journeyed to set their eyes on the Child born to die, we awaken to life, but we awaken as Christ was on that first night -- homeless, out of place, and longing for the house of many rooms. We awaken to a story that reaches beyond self, even as it requires us to die to ourselves. But in so doing, Christ himself transforms our lives and our deaths, speaking words where death stings and tears flow. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me... [But] I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones” (Matthew 16:24, 19:28).

Jesus appeared on the scene of a people who had lived with God’s silence for 400 years. There hadn’t been a word from God since the prophet Malachi. The heavens were silent; but God was on the move. Into this wordless void, God not only spoke, but sent the Word as flesh to stand beside us, to cry with us, and to lead us home. Epiphany, like the Incarnation itself, reminds us that into ordinary days epiphany comes, that even death cannot stop wakefulness, and that this very story which moves our lives to insight is in fact still unfolding. The Christ Child appeared before the magi. The risen Christ stood among his startled disciples. And Christ the King will come again. There was a first Epiphany and there will be more to come.

________

Copyright © 2007 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.