Dec 20

Advent 4: Why Is Love So Important to Christmas?

As noted above, the Bible states that God sent Jesus into the world as an act of love. Jesus came into a world that desperately needed help because it was in the grips of sin. King Herod’s slaughter of the innocents captured this truth in a graphic way: Jesus had entered a world where greed and ruthless self-protection reigned.

Jewish prophets had said centuries earlier that someone would come that would bring an end to this strife. This Messiah, from the family line of King David (Ezekiel 37:24), would be born to a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) and be a great ruler (Isaiah 11:12). Gabriel affirmed these prophecies when he told Mary that her son would sit on David’s throne, reigning forever (Luke 1:32-33). The Messiah would bring an end to strife not by being a conventional ruler but by dying for people’s transgressions (Isaiah 53:5). People would be healed by the Messiah’s sacrifice, bringing freedom at last.

Thus, Jesus’ birth was proof that God had not abandoned or forgotten the world. His gift of love had come, to bring freedom for captives and heal the hurting (Luke 4:18). Jesus was the perfect gift. (G. Connor Salter)

A Prayer for Advent Week 4

Lord Jesus, thank you for your gift of love. We know that we were dead in our sins, and did not deserve anything but death. Thank you that in spite of our many sins, you still loved us and came to save us. You came and showed us how to love. Teach us what it is to love, and how to practice it each day. Remind us that love is paradoxical, sacrificial, and only found in you. Give us the wisdom we need to love well, the mercy to forgive ourselves when we neglect to love well, and the hunger to always learn more about love. We ask for all these things in your name, Amen.

Dec 14

Advent 3: Why Do We Say That Christmas Is a Time of Joy?

In Biblical terms, having joy means being happy about something good that has arrived or is coming. Like hope, it has a long-term view of life, emphasizing the good that will come. However, it has a component of great happiness, rejoicing at the good news. Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus with joy when Jesus said he would stay at Zacchaeus’ home (Luke 19:6). Jesus tells his disciples to have joy in their sufferings for their reward is great in heaven (Luke 6:23). As noted in the section above, the shepherds who visited Jesus were both given a joyful message and acted joyfully.

People could have had joy before Jesus came, but his arrival was the culmination of a special promise. Ever since sin entered the world, humanity had been broken. Creation was also broken by sin, and since that time, has been crying out with groans for relief (Romans 8:22-23). Jesus’ birth fulfilled prophecies that the Messiah would come and break sin’s hold, starting a new phase of God’s redemption plan. As Jesus said multiple times during his ministry, the kingdom of God had come now that he had arrived. Sin continued to be a reality after Jesus’ death and resurrection, but Jesus broke its hold.

Thus, at Christmas, we joyfully celebrate that God’s greatest promise was fulfilled: God’s kingdom has come. The final movements in God’s plan (the last battle against Satan, the resurrection of the dead) are still to come. As some scholars have put it, we live in the “already/not yet” phase of God’s kingdom, where it has arrived, but the final effects haven’t come yet. However, with Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection, the definitive move in the battle against evil was struck. More skirmishes will follow, but the war has, for all intents and purposes, been won. That is definitely something to be joyous about. (G. Connor Salter)

Prayer for Advent Week 3

Lord Jesus, thank you for coming into the world to pay the price for our sins. We do not always appreciate how high a cost you paid, and how your birth made good on promises that God the Father had made. Thank you for your great love, for your sacrifice and victory against evil. Thank you that while we know hard times may come, your kingdom has come. Thank you that while battles may come, the war against evil is effectively finished. Help us to never grow tired of that truth, to discover it anew and see how great it is that we can know it. Show us how to have joy every day, how to rejoice in your love and provision time and time again. We ask these things in your name, Amen.

Dec 07

ADVENT 2: The Candle of Peace

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace
among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:14

The peace of the Christian life is from a relationship.  Our relationship with God, through Jesus Christ is the basis of us having this peace.  The angels announced peace on earth to the shepherds.  There is a distinction that the Bible makes in the way the believer experiences God’s peace.

First there is “peace with God.”  Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Our rebellion and sin had caused an enmity between us and the just God.  But with the death of Jesus Christ for sinners, that enmity has been removed, and we are accepted into God’s family.

Then there is the “peace of God.”  We read of that in Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  This is the peace that goes with us in our living and serving.  As we submit to the will of God, God’s peace preserves us in every trial that we face.  We have this calmness in our living because of the presence of God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in us.

So, the challenge of God’s peace is in how we enjoy it, how we yield ourselves to the giver of this peace, and how much trust do we put in God in all our experiences.  Yes, we pray for peace between nations, but the peace God gives is more.  As we think, not only of the promise given at the birth of Christ, but the promise Jesus gives as he is facing his crucifixion. 

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

So may the peace of Christ dwell with each of you this Advent season.

Pastor Greg

Nov 30

First Week of Advent:  Hope

Advent Candle 1 stands for hope, and specifically, the Israelites’ hope that the promised Messiah would come. They had been waiting for the Messiah for centuries, wondering what he would look like and what he would do when he arrived. When Jesus was born, that hope was finally fulfilled – “a prophet like you” (Deuteronomy 18:15) had come. How Jesus fit the prophecies the Israelites had been reading for centuries would become the critical conflict of His ministry – whether He fulfilled them and whether people had been reading them correctly.

This candle is also called the “Prophet’s Candle.”  In all their messages of judgment on the people for their sins, the prophet’s also give messages of hope.  Hope that God has no forsaken us, hope that there is a future that will be better, and hope that God’s promise to bless all nations will be fulfilled. 

 Most scholars conservatively estimate that there are over 300 Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, some going back to Genesis. The prophecies gave specific details about the Messiah, details like:

  • He would be born to a virgin mother (Isaiah 7:14)
  • He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
  • He would spend time in Egypt (Hosea 11:1)
  • He would come from the house (i.e., the family line) of David (Ezekiel 37:24)
  • He would start his ministry in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1-2)
  • He would be the figure that Daniel referred to as “the Son of Man” (Daniel 7:13-14)
  • He would teach “hidden things, things from of old” (Psalm 78:1-2)
  • He would be holy, a rock that would make people stumble and fall because they didn’t believe in him (Isaiah 8:14)
  • He would be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)
  • God would call him, “my son” (2 Samuel 7:14) (Psalm 2:1-9)
  • He would gather the Israelites back together (Isaiah 11:12)

The fact that the prophecies described God calling the Messiah his son and also that he would be called “mighty God,” became especially important. To be God’s son and called God himself would mean that the Messiah wasn’t just a new prophet like Elijah or an ordained warrior like David. The Messiah would be a divine figure. Since falsely claiming to be God was blasphemy, anyone claiming to be the Messiah had pretty big shoes to fill.

Pastor Greg