December 19, 2021
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Luke 2:1-20
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christmas
Don’t you feel the tug towards something more simple? The Christmas season has become so chaotic and busy. Don’t you long for less chaos and more meaning? Something less fleeting and more lasting? Don’t you think Christians ought to know how to celebrate Christmas best? It seems that the world should be at our door at this season, but we’ve lost our distinctiveness. We’ve joined the world’s celebration instead of inviting them to ours.
Let’s go against the consumer Christmas culture this year by focusing less on giving presents and more on being present. Let’s get back to the simple story about Jesus.
December 12, 2021
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Luke 1:26-38
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christmas
Every invitation deserves an RSVP, a response. Christmas invites us to respond to this word: the Son of God, the Savior, Christ Jesus has come. And He is coming again. This is what we mean when we speak of this Christmas season, this season of Advent. The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming.” Advent speaks of the incarnation and the return of Christ Jesus. He has appeared and will appear again.
How will you respond? People respond in different ways. Some come to faith immediately. Some reject believing outright. Some go through a long season of searching and stumbling before finally believing, while still others remain skeptical or even apathetic their whole lives. Don’t you wish you knew how to respond?
Let’s look at the story of Mary’s simple response of faith to God’s Word to consider our response.
April 27, 2021
WHICH SIDE OF THE CROSS ARE YOU ON? In the gospel of Luke, it is recorded that Jesus was crucified between two criminals, one on either side. In the crowd watching the crucifixion were certain Jewish leaders who sneered at Jesus saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ.” The
April 25, 2021
LEARNING TO FOLLOW CHRIST’S HABIT OF PRAYER On the night that Jesus would be betrayed, He went out “as usual” to the Mount of Olives to pray. On this unusual evening, Jesus followed His usual habit: He prayed on the mountain. And His disciples followed Him. Yet, rather than praying, they slept. For they were
April 24, 2021
WHEN THE LORD REPEATS YOUR NAME The Lord addressed him as, “Simon, Simon,” not as “Peter,” for he wouldn’t live up to his new God-given name, which meant “the rock,” until after Christ’s resurrection. Simon Peter tried, but in his flesh he had no power to live up to the new name Jesus had given
April 22, 2021
LOVE AND GIVING ARE CONNECTED As Jesus watched the people putting their gifts into the Temple offering, He offered several insights. One insight is that God sees our giving. He watches over our giving, looking to see who is generous and who is not. Another insight is that God sees the proportion of our giving.
April 21, 2021
THE DIVINITY AND PREEXISTENCE OF CHRIST Jesus asked the Jewish leaders this question not to suggest that the Messiah wouldn’t be born into the line of David, but rather to show them that he would be the Son of God. It was a well known doctrine among the Jews that the Messiah would be born
April 20, 2021
SILENT AND AMAZED AT JESUS The Jewish leaders sent spies to entrap Jesus with what they thought was an unanswerable question. They asked Jesus, “Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” They had carefully crafted the politically charged question, so that if he answered in the positive, he would offend
April 17, 2021
THE CURRENCY OF THE KINGDOM IS ASKING When a blind man begging on the roadside near Jericho heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus heard him, he commanded that the blind man be brought to Him. Jesus asked, “What do you want Me
April 15, 2021
WHERE IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD? Where is the kingdom of God? And when will it come? The Pharisees asked Jesus to show them the kingdom. But He warned them that it was not yet something they could observe. They were looking for the outward evidence of pomp and power from a conquering king, while