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Luke 2:1-20 Our text is one of the best known and most beloved in scripture. It’s the brief account of the birth of Jesus and the events which surrounded it. But this short narrative contains so much amazing information that we must pause and reflect upon it. First we see God’s hand in the decree of Caesar for a census to be taken. This plays directly into the fulfillment of the prophecy (Micah 5:2) which speaks of Bethlehem’s being the birthplace of the Messiah. Interesting (as always) that God would use a pagan to help fulfill prophecy. Can you beat that?! As Joseph and Mary journeyed to Bethlehem, it is noteworthy that all the world was also moving at the time. Everyone was returning “to his own city” in order to be registered. People were traveling, routines were interrupted, and plans were put on hold. Imagine, the whole world was in a state of flux when the Savior was born into the world. Can you beat that?! Little did the world know what upheavals would come as a result of what was transpiring in that stable in that little village during this time of their inconvenience. But God wanted the world to know what was happening, and He did it in His own way - as always! He sent angels to make the announcement of the birth of this Babe who was Christ the Lord. But the angels didn’t appear to kings or priests or prophets or to a great throng gathered at the temple, but to some shepherds, at night, out in the fields. Can you beat that?! Frightened at first, then wonderfully curious, they went to find the Child. And when they did we might say that they were the first humans to speak the gospel for they told those who were there what the angel had said - “today...there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” A pagan’s decree, an interrupted world, an obscure couple, a small village, some lowly shepherds out in their fields at night, and the greatest announcement which the world had ever heard! Can you beat that?!

Psalm 23 It was a good old-fashioned scripture reading contest. Designed to get the men and boys more comfortable in front of the congregation and to get them to read the scriptures with clarity and good diction, the contest was scheduled for a Sunday afternoon. The judges had determined that all contestants should read the twenty-third psalm in order not to give anyone a particular advantage. By the time the day came around, almost twenty had signed up for the contest, and it promised to be a good one. There were men and boys of all ages from pre-teen to well up in years. Some had a good bit of experience reading scripture and even giving a sermon or two. Others were just getting started. Some were still students in school while a couple had advanced degrees. It was a good mix. As the competition progressed and each contestant read the psalm, it became apparent that everyone had practiced and taken the affair seriously. The psalm rang out with sharp enunciation and a good rhythm. It was read with fervor and passion, and with varying emphasis as the reader saw fit. Certainly, there were some stumbles and hesitations here and there, but all in all everyone did well. One brother, however, seemed to hold a clear edge. His reading was flawless, strong, easily heard in the whole room and with decisive intonation. Everyone nodded approvingly when he had finished. Even the judges were seen to smile a little. Finally, the last contestant. He was an older brother, but not the oldest of the group. As he approached the podium, many began to shuffle their feet and look at their watches, thinking the contest was over. But with his first few words a hush came over the place. With power, depth, warmth - rising and falling with the flow of the psalm, he read without effort. Nobody spoke. Some came to tears. Others found it hard to breathe. The judges pronounced him the winner. “What was the difference in the two?” someone asked. “The first knew the psalm. The second knew the Shepherd.”

Genesis 2:7 Few of us pause from our full and hurried lives to reflect upon how we came to be here. We just kind of assume our existence. We certainly realize that our moms and dads were instrumental in our conception, birth and upbringing. We may concur with biblical teaching that we were created by God and are not some type of advanced arthropods who have come to be accidentally upon the earth. However, have we ever paused to consider the implications of the words of Genesis 2:7? Please take time to read this. We note first of all that the creation of man is an act of God Himself. It was His will to create the human race, and unless that desire had been in His heart, we would not be here! (We are not attempting here to address God’s purposes in doing this.) David takes that thought to the individual level when he speaks of God’s forming him in his mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13-15). Truly, God has formed every one of us. And this corresponds with our next thought from Genesis 2:7, that God “formed man of dust from the ground.” This indicates something different in the creation of man than with the animals of which scripture says that God just spoke them into existence. This certainly is no small feat, but the one man Adam was formed by God. Then we read that God did something of which it is not said of any other living thing. He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” We know that all life and breath comes from God (Psalm 104:27-30), but this appears to be something special and intimate which God did with the man whom He had formed. God personally breathed life into him! What a marvelous and thrilling thought! God personally willed, personally formed and personally gave life to Adam, our ancestor. How incredibly special is life! We conclude that life is a gift from God. You and I are gifts from God. We are here simply because He wants us to be here! What a glorious gift! What a glorious God! Praise Him!

Matthew 4:5-7 Jesus loved His heavenly Father and was careful to do only those things which He saw His Father doing and which were contained in His will. During His temptation, the devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and dared Him to throw Himself off to prove that He was the Son of God. In the devil’s warped mind, God would have to obey His own word and send angels to prevent Jesus from being injured in such a plunge. Jesus, however, does not see the scripture as something by which we should test God to find out if He would keep His word, but as a blessed promise of the faithfulness of our heavenly Father to all of us. It’s fairly easy to see this explanation about not putting God to the test. However, in our own lives it isn’t always so easy to see when we might be putting our heavenly Father to the test. We can drive 50mph on an icy, snow-covered road and expect God to keep us from having an accident. We can maintain poor diets, not get enough sleep and exercise, and ask God for good health and long life. We can smoke cigarettes and pray that we won’t get lung cancer or hardening of the arteries. We can spend minimal time with our spouse and pray that we have a wonderful marriage. We can pamper our children, fail to correct them and teach them God’s way, and pray that they will grow up to be Christians. We can leave our Bibles closed on the table and hope that we will get to know God and His word. We can look at porn on a regular basis and expect that our marriage and our spiritual life will not be affected. We can use the years God has given us in self-gratifying pursuits and a “go to church on Sunday” religion, and expect God to usher us through the gates of heaven.

2 Corinthians 9:15 One of the measures of a man which God considers is his generosity (Luke 6:38, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, et al). The capacity of one’s heart to give is a reflection of the kind of heart which a person has. In looking into the hearts of men and women as they are challenged with opportunities to give, God is doing nothing more than inviting us to examine His own heart from whence all giving originated. To Abraham the Lord affirmed a covenant: “...I will make you the father of a multitude of nations...” (Genesis 17:5). In the wilderness the Lord sustained complaining Israel with manna of which everyone had enough to eat. David was given the promise that one of his descendants would forever occupy the throne of the Lord. Solomon received wisdom that others journeyed for days to hear. When Jesus fed the 5000, twelve baskets of leftovers were collected. Let no person ever say of God that He is stingy! And consider this. When the human race needed rescued from its self-inflicted sin dilemma, the Lord God did not drop a book out of the sky and say, “Here, read this.” He didn’t let down a rope ladder out of heaven and tell us to climb up. He didn’t send some angels to talk with us about our problem. God sent exactly what we needed - and more! He sent us His own Son!! When we needed saved, God sent the Savior. When we needed to find the path home, God sent the Way. When we needed to know reality, God sent the Truth. When we needed to be freed from the fear of death, God sent the Life. When we needed forgiveness, God sent the Lamb of God. When we needed to overcome the grave, God sent the Resurrection. When we needed to hear the voice of God, He sent the Word. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

2 Timothy 2:24-26; 3:16-17; 4:1-2 Misconceptions can arise quite easily, and I wish to address a misconception about evangelism and the work of the minister or evangelist which many in today’s church seem to have. Often this misunderstanding is expressed in some of the prayers offered, and please don’t take this personally if you have prayed this way. The prayer is something like: “Help our preacher find new ways to spread the gospel.” Now I know this is well-meaning, but it isn’t the minister’s job to find new ways to spread the gospel! There are primarily three things wrong with this idea. First of all, it implies that the spreading of the gospel has to be done through some event or program. Now, campaigns and other outreach events have their place, but they are not the most effective way to spread the gospel, and they are very short-lived. If the focus is on such “programs,” other opportunities slip by unnoticed. Much of the year passes without any “evangelism” taking place. Secondly, it implies that evangelism happens in some kind of “group” effort. This is a truly harmful misconception, and is probably one of the main reasons why the spread of the gospel languishes in today’s church as a whole. Scripture is quite plain that every Christian is to have ready a reason for their hope, be able to teach the gospel to another, and to be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” Individual Christians are to be ready for opportunities to do good and to sow some seed. In the third place, the minister’s work is primarily in the word of God: teaching, training, exhorting, rebuking, et al. Certainly he is to be an example to the congregation in teaching the lost, but he is also to be teaching the members of the assembly to be “equipped for every good work” which includes teaching the gospel! When Christ lives in the Christian (Galatians 2:20), His power is available for living the righteous life and for sharing the gospel of His grace. We just have to let Him work!

Matthew 27:19 In his second letter (2 Peter 3:16), Peter tells us that some of scripture is difficult to understand. We know this to be true by experience. But when we encounter a difficult scripture, instead of just giving up and moving on to something easier or more familiar, we need to pause, pray and ponder what it might mean. It is by such “study” that we learn better how to discern the word of truth and draw closer to knowing God. Consider Matthew 27:19. Found only in Matthew, this verse seems to “come out of nowhere” and to be disconnected from the rest of the narrative. So, we begin to ponder, and the best way to “ponder” is to ask questions. What about dreams? God has communicated through dreams almost from the beginning. Joseph (son of Jacob) had his dreams which caused his family to rebuke him. But not only did He give dreams to His own people, but He also sent dreams to others: Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar and the magi come to mind. Pilate’s wife is a Roman and a pagan. It would be safe to assume that this dream came from God. It is in keeping with the flow of the Bible. Also, the dream caused her to suffer greatly (many things) “because of Him,” i.e. Jesus. For those of you who dream, we know some can be very disturbing, causing the dreamer to awake with terrible feelings. We could probably say Pilate’s wife had a nightmare about Jesus. Why does she call Jesus “that righteous Man”? Had she been observing Him from a distance, or was this revealed in her dream? We may not know this answer, but she is convinced He is a just Man. What about the timing of this dream? That it came on the eve of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion is no coincidence. And Her message comes to her husband as he is about to make a judgment about Jesus. Another possible coincidence? Here’s my assessment. Her dream was a message from God for Pilate to persuade him to render a just verdict for Jesus in this trial for all time. Obviously Pilate ignored this message. What do you think?

John 13:33-14:6 They found the little tyke wandering around in the mall parking lot. Night was setting in, and one of those cold, chilling rains had been coming down. His clothes were soaked, and he was shivering like a banjo string in the middle of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.” Thankfully, a mall security guard spotted him and brought him in out of the dark and damp. They toweled him off, and got him a dry shirt to wear. They bundled him up in a warm blanket and brought him some chicken noodle soup. Then, cookies and hot chocolate. Someone brought him some toys to play with and a coloring book with crayons. They never let him out of their sight. He had everything he needed. Right? But when his frantic father burst through the door where he was, the little guy lit up like a firefly on an August evening, ran into his arms and happily - excitedly - left it all and went home. We are this little boy. Our needs are taken care of in this life. We receive some comforts and pleasures. Many of us try to make life all about getting such things. But deep in our souls, we are troubled by a nagging, gnawing question: “Is this all there is?” This question returns again and again, because no matter how good things are here, a part of us remains empty, unsatisfied, restless, homesick. Peter was concerned when Jesus spoke about going away to a place where he could not come. We can detect a note of panic in his voice: “Lord, where are You going?” He wanted to be with Jesus. Always. He didn’t want Him to leave. Jesus reassures Peter that he will come and be with Him later. In fact, Jesus says that He is going to prepare a place for Peter so he could be where Jesus was. Jesus makes this promise to every person who loves Him and serves Him faithfully. How far we are from home.

Matthew 5:43-45 How is it that two intelligent people can observe the same thing or encounter the same situation and come away from it with very different, sometimes totally opposite views? I am sure that you have observed this. If we took the book of Ecclesiastes strictly at face value, we could easily become a race of creatures who felt doomed to repeat the same futile exercises day after day. The Preacher observes (1:3-9) that generations come and go, the wind blows, the streams flow, and nothing changes. Even the sun in its rising and setting is seen to hurry to repeat its wearying daily trek across the sky. Each morning we awaken to the sound of the same alarm, look at the same face in the mirror, take one more shower, gobble another bowl of cereal, drive the same road to work, perform the same tasks, eat another unexciting lunch, travel the same road home, gulp down another supper, listen to another newscast of the same dreary happenings and flop into bed - only to do it all again the next day. Truly, such a life lived “under the sun” is dismal and pointless. But Someone else taught us a whole new way of looking at life. Life is a blessing from God, and as such it holds great meaning, hope and opportunities. Jesus looked at the sun making its daily journey and said that it was the Father who sent it to bless both the evil and the good. His Father (and ours) sends the rain as a blessing for all people. The sun, the rain, the wind, the streams all fulfill the purposes of God in blessing the earth, and thus men. And if our Father sees fit to continue to bless His whole creation, then we need to refocus our minds and hearts to look at His marvelous works for what they truly are - gifts from the open hand of God. How reassuring to know that God values His creation so much that He interacts with it continually. How comforting it is to live life with that knowledge indelibly etched in our minds! How thrilling to know that God is “not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27).

Ephesians 4:17-19; 5:6-10 Sitting here reflecting upon the current state of things in the world (as I am aware of them), I am at peace. Considering all of the trouble and evil around us, I am somewhat surprised (thankfully so) at this peace, but I know that it does not come from myself. As I survey just the happenings of recent days, there is much about which to be troubled. Three hurricanes have devastated thousands of peoples’ lives. There has been a shooting in one of our brotherhood churches in which one sister died. There was a mass shooting in Las Vegas in which 58 died and over 500 were wounded. An epidemic of opioid drug addiction and attendant overdose deaths is entrenched in our area and in much of the country. Planned Parenthood continues to promote the death of babies in the womb. One elementary school on the West coast is moving forward with teaching transgenderism to kindergarten kids. The fires of the LGBT movement continue to be fed by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) through propaganda and slick advertising. Our Congress is locked up in partisan chains. Right-wing racists and left-wing anarchists trumpet their messages, protest and riot. Et al. Obviously, such things upset me (as they do you), so how can I be at peace? Because I have been made to know the reason for such evils and who is the answer for them. It’s not a mystery, and we Christians should not be wondering about such things. As Paul writes about the Gentiles (pagans who don’t know Jesus), their understanding is darkened through their self-imposed ignorance due to their hard hearts. Because they reject the truths of life, they indulge in all sorts of evil, impure behavior. The answer? Jesus. The light of understanding (the truth about the realities of life) is found in Jesus and His word. This Light, when it is followed, leads to lifestyles which are both good and righteous. Jesus is honored. God blesses. Evil wanes. People prosper in every way. Peace results. We have much work to do.

Proverbs 14:1 Every so often we hear somebody opine that there isn’t much for a woman to do in service to the Lord Jesus. If we take a close look at scripture, we will quickly see that women have had significant roles and performed invaluable service to God through the ages. Eve - the mother of all living Sarah - by faith she received power to conceive the child of promise Rebekah - left home to wed Isaac and bear two peoples Zipporah - saved Moses’ life Miriam - prophetess who led the women in praising God Rahab - hid the spies and preserved her family Deborah - a judge who provided leadership Jael - laid a trap and killed the wicked Sisera Ruth - her inward beauty erased racial lines Hannah - woman of faith who trusted in the Lord God Abigail - in pleading for her husband’s life, she kept David from bloodguilt Esther - courageously risked her life to save her people Mary - servant of the Lord, mother of Jesus Mary and Martha - provided friendship and a safe haven Mary Magdalene - helped support Jesus from her own means Dorcas - full of good works for those in need Lydia - opened her house to Paul and his companions Priscilla - helped to teach Apollos Lois and Eunice - women of the faith who reared an evangelist Phoebe - servant of the church Euodia and Syntyche - laborers in the gospel This is no exhaustive list. Praise the Lord for women of faith who are ready for every good work! We need more of them.

Isaiah 37:14-20 The army of Assyria had been on a southward march of total destruction. Like a mighty flood (Isaiah 8:6-8), the Assyrian hordes engulfed all nations in their path. No army could stand against them. When King Hezekiah received a threatening letter from the King of Assyria, he took it before the Lord and prayed for deliverance, acknowledging that the gods of the nations which Assyria had overrun had been cast into the fire because, in fact, they were not gods but merely the work of men’s hands. Hezekiah was appealing to the true God to save his kingdom from Assyrian slaughter and to demonstrate “that You alone, Lord, are God.” The gods of those nations which Assyria had crushed were powerless since they were fashioned out of wood, stone and metal. They were simply artifacts without mind or breath, only gods in the minds of those who worshiped them. However, do not men and women even today create their own gods and look to them for deliverance? “Poor human race! Poor pathetic, blind and deaf human race. We can’t cure ourselves, can’t guide ourselves, can’t control ourselves or save ourselves. We manufacture gods out of everything we can think of and then fall down before them and say to them, ‘Deliver us.’ We make them out of metal and stone and plastic and computer chips, out of intellectual power and emotional drives. We make them in the shape of tanks and smart and dirty bombs, college buildings and scientific laboratories. We make them march and kill, burn and destroy, weep and die. We build shrines and become shrines, we sweat and toil, give up in despair and sleep only to waken to more of the same.” –Jim McGuiggan, The God Who Commands the Impossible There is only one God who can protect, save and deliver. He is God of all gods. Is He your God? Put your trust in Him.