It is Christmas time and some things never change. A feeling of excitement and eager anticipation bubbles up in our children and many adults look forward to traditional family gatherings. A sense of wonder surrounds the season; I hope we don’t miss it!
Jesus' birth was prophesied nearly seven hundred year before it occurred. The Jewish women of Jesus' time knew there would be one blessed woman who would give birth to the Messiah. Great anticipation for the coming King swelled in their hearts, but most of them missed it!
Christmas time is upon us. Through our carefully planned celebrations and traditions, we remember the coming of the Messiah, the Babe in the manger, the God of the universe taking on human flesh. In the middle of all those wonderful Christmas traditions, remember to spend some time thanking God for the wonderful gift of His Son. Don't miss it!
Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, Micah 5:2
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
What's the Big Deal about Christmas?
Have you ever truly, truly pondered the significance of what we celebrate at this time of the year - the birth of Jesus?
OK, I realize that almost every person who reads this blog would probably say, "Pastor, of course I have. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Savior! It's God taking on flesh, born to be the sacrifice for our sins."
And you would be correct.
But there is more.
Do you realize how utterly wild the Doctrine of the Incarnation truly is? I mean, think about this: the Incarnation of Christ is one of the most astounding truth claims that sets Christianity apart from all the other world religions, including Judaism and Islam - a God who takes the initiative in becoming covered with flesh in order to redeem sinful human beings. One of my favorite writers, C. S. Lewis, said it like this in "Mere Christianity": "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God."
So what's the BIG DEAL about Christmas?
In the Christ child of Bethlehem, God enters into human history and reveals Himself up close and personal. The astounding truth is that in Jesus Christ, God is encountered in a real, personal, historical, and tangible way.
In his book, "Understanding Jesus", Alister E. McGrath reflects upon the ultimate significance of Christmas:
"What sorts of things does the incarnation tell us about the ‘God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’? Perhaps most obviously, it tells us that the God with whom we are dealing is no distant ruler who remains aloof from the affairs of his creatures, but One who is passionately concerned with them to the extent that He takes the initiative in coming to them. God doesn’t just reveal things about Himself - He reveals Himself in Jesus Christ…. The incarnation speaks to us of a God who acts to demonstrate His love for us. That ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:8) is a deep and important truth—but far more important is the truth that God acted to demonstrate this love. ‘In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him’ (1 John 4:9). Actions, as we are continually reminded, speak louder than words.
Beloved, the Nativity is more than a story about a place where a baby was born and wrapped in cloth. It is more than just a tale of two people who couldn't find a room to rent. It's more than a star-filled night, and it's more than shepherds and wise men.
The word "nativity" means "the event of being born". And when you think of WHO was born on that night, then everything has changed for all of the history of mankind. For those who know Him as Redeemer, Savior and Lord, it changes every aspect of the way we live. Like nothing else, it radically invades our lives...not just to remodel or to 'spruce up', but to rebuild from the inside out.
OK, I realize that almost every person who reads this blog would probably say, "Pastor, of course I have. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Savior! It's God taking on flesh, born to be the sacrifice for our sins."
And you would be correct.
But there is more.
Do you realize how utterly wild the Doctrine of the Incarnation truly is? I mean, think about this: the Incarnation of Christ is one of the most astounding truth claims that sets Christianity apart from all the other world religions, including Judaism and Islam - a God who takes the initiative in becoming covered with flesh in order to redeem sinful human beings. One of my favorite writers, C. S. Lewis, said it like this in "Mere Christianity": "The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God."
So what's the BIG DEAL about Christmas?
In the Christ child of Bethlehem, God enters into human history and reveals Himself up close and personal. The astounding truth is that in Jesus Christ, God is encountered in a real, personal, historical, and tangible way.
In his book, "Understanding Jesus", Alister E. McGrath reflects upon the ultimate significance of Christmas:
"What sorts of things does the incarnation tell us about the ‘God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’? Perhaps most obviously, it tells us that the God with whom we are dealing is no distant ruler who remains aloof from the affairs of his creatures, but One who is passionately concerned with them to the extent that He takes the initiative in coming to them. God doesn’t just reveal things about Himself - He reveals Himself in Jesus Christ…. The incarnation speaks to us of a God who acts to demonstrate His love for us. That ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:8) is a deep and important truth—but far more important is the truth that God acted to demonstrate this love. ‘In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him’ (1 John 4:9). Actions, as we are continually reminded, speak louder than words.
Beloved, the Nativity is more than a story about a place where a baby was born and wrapped in cloth. It is more than just a tale of two people who couldn't find a room to rent. It's more than a star-filled night, and it's more than shepherds and wise men.
The word "nativity" means "the event of being born". And when you think of WHO was born on that night, then everything has changed for all of the history of mankind. For those who know Him as Redeemer, Savior and Lord, it changes every aspect of the way we live. Like nothing else, it radically invades our lives...not just to remodel or to 'spruce up', but to rebuild from the inside out.
THAT'S the big deal about Christmas. It's the gift given to you from Someone who loves you more than you can imagine.
May you experience the life-changing power of that Big Deal everyday of the year.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Genealogies
It got really cold this week. So before I went to the office, I had a little chi tea my wife (Melissa Van Scyoc) made me. As I looked at my newly decorated tree, thoughts of Christmas overwhelmed me; not the Clark Griswold kind of thoughts, but about my next youth lesson centering on Jesus’ birth. I decided to read The Christmas Story (even though He was probably born around September of our Calendar).
In Matthew, he starts out honestly…what seems to be like boring genealogies. In fact, it reminded me of the book of Numbers. I usually just skip over random people’s names I can’t pronounce, and since the whole passage is pretty much filled with names like that, I have always skipped over it. I decided to read it this time. The words flowed over my tongue like poetry even though I struggled to say some of the names. After monotonously reading over So-in-so Begat So-in-son, the passage ended with “Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”
I had unfortunately missed this incredible passage in which Matthew decided to begin his entire Gospel account. From Abraham, to David, the Jews had been waiting for this moment. Matthew was showing us—no proving to us—that Jesus was from a line of Royalty. The line prophesied the Messiah would come from the line of Abraham (Gen 22:18), through the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10), and the family of David (2 Sam. 7:12-13). Matthew was introducing a King! Then Matthew not only shows Jesus’ natural connection with his Foster father Joseph, he proves to the Jews Jesus’ divine heredity. Jesus was Royally Divine. I could think of no better way to begin a story of Jesus at Christmas than to prove to the world He is who He says He is…the Christ.
So this Christmas when I eat the cookies and drink the milk Santa did not, I’m going to read the beginning of Matthew to remind myself I serve a King.
I’ll end with a few definitions that changed the way I pray and see my Savior:
The three names assigned to God’s Son:
Jesus= Savior, from the Hebrew Joshua.
Christ= Anointed, Greek equivalent to Messiah
Immanuel=Describes who He is-God With Us-Jesus is God.
So when Matthew ends the genealogy with “Jesus was born, who is called Christ,” he is distinguishing Jesus from any other person on earth. That’s a good reason to celebrate.
Merry Christmas
In Him,
Cody Van Scyoc
In Matthew, he starts out honestly…what seems to be like boring genealogies. In fact, it reminded me of the book of Numbers. I usually just skip over random people’s names I can’t pronounce, and since the whole passage is pretty much filled with names like that, I have always skipped over it. I decided to read it this time. The words flowed over my tongue like poetry even though I struggled to say some of the names. After monotonously reading over So-in-so Begat So-in-son, the passage ended with “Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”
I had unfortunately missed this incredible passage in which Matthew decided to begin his entire Gospel account. From Abraham, to David, the Jews had been waiting for this moment. Matthew was showing us—no proving to us—that Jesus was from a line of Royalty. The line prophesied the Messiah would come from the line of Abraham (Gen 22:18), through the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10), and the family of David (2 Sam. 7:12-13). Matthew was introducing a King! Then Matthew not only shows Jesus’ natural connection with his Foster father Joseph, he proves to the Jews Jesus’ divine heredity. Jesus was Royally Divine. I could think of no better way to begin a story of Jesus at Christmas than to prove to the world He is who He says He is…the Christ.
So this Christmas when I eat the cookies and drink the milk Santa did not, I’m going to read the beginning of Matthew to remind myself I serve a King.
I’ll end with a few definitions that changed the way I pray and see my Savior:
The three names assigned to God’s Son:
Jesus= Savior, from the Hebrew Joshua.
Christ= Anointed, Greek equivalent to Messiah
Immanuel=Describes who He is-God With Us-Jesus is God.
So when Matthew ends the genealogy with “Jesus was born, who is called Christ,” he is distinguishing Jesus from any other person on earth. That’s a good reason to celebrate.
Merry Christmas
In Him,
Cody Van Scyoc
Monday, November 23, 2009
Automatically React - Correctly of Course
The college football world is full of discussion about LSU's last minute failure to even know what to do. With one second left, no time outs, trailing by two points and within a chip shot of the Ole Miss goal line, the LSU coaching staff knows not what to do. The quarterback spikes the ball - the last thing that should have been done - game over. Not knowing automatically what to do in each circumstance is unacceptable for any coaching staff in big time college football.
But this scenario caused me to think - do I know what to do in each circumstance where life is pressure packed? And even if I do know what to do, will I do it?
Spiritual training is necessary to be able to handle life, particularly the pressure packed decisions that life brings. Usually we have more than one second to make up our mind - but that is not the point. The point is that with proper training, even the most pressured decision can be made within the will of the Father.
The word of God, the privilege of prayer, the fellowship and counsel of the other believers - all of this is training for life - day in and day out - but also for those pressured times in life. "Back date that report Jerry". "This is just a gift - but I expect your support in return." "Let's go - she'll never know."
With proper training - proper preparation using God's tools and methods - even the most pressured situation is easy - "No". "I cannot do that".
John 5 says, "The Son can do nothing by himself." Why was that? He COULD do what he wanted. But he chose to not do anything contrary to his Father's will. How about you? Are you so cued into the Father that you CAN DO NOTHING BY YOURSELF? If so, you are well prepared for the one second decisions - the pressured decisons - that life will bring. Know what to do in those last seconds because you have prepared for just those moments.
But this scenario caused me to think - do I know what to do in each circumstance where life is pressure packed? And even if I do know what to do, will I do it?
Spiritual training is necessary to be able to handle life, particularly the pressure packed decisions that life brings. Usually we have more than one second to make up our mind - but that is not the point. The point is that with proper training, even the most pressured decision can be made within the will of the Father.
The word of God, the privilege of prayer, the fellowship and counsel of the other believers - all of this is training for life - day in and day out - but also for those pressured times in life. "Back date that report Jerry". "This is just a gift - but I expect your support in return." "Let's go - she'll never know."
With proper training - proper preparation using God's tools and methods - even the most pressured situation is easy - "No". "I cannot do that".
John 5 says, "The Son can do nothing by himself." Why was that? He COULD do what he wanted. But he chose to not do anything contrary to his Father's will. How about you? Are you so cued into the Father that you CAN DO NOTHING BY YOURSELF? If so, you are well prepared for the one second decisions - the pressured decisons - that life will bring. Know what to do in those last seconds because you have prepared for just those moments.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
"I've Just Got a Peace about It."
Does having peace about a certain situation mean you're making the right decision? It's one of the most oft-cited reasons that people use for doing something. On the flip side, many times people elect not to do something because they just don't have peace about it. But could a feeling of peace actually lead you astray?
In his superb book, Decision Making God's Way, Gary Meadors explains that the word 'peace' occurs over ninety times in the Bible, yet is never used scripturally as "an internal barometer for gauging God's will." In other words, a feeling of peace is never presented as the reason to do something. Instead, "peace is a product of doing right, not a reason for action."
Sometimes we have to make hard decisions that are morally correct, but leave us torn up inside, lacking peace. At other times, we may have a peace about something that is unbiblical; during those times we always submit to what the Bible says, and put our feelings behind us.
In his superb book, Decision Making God's Way, Gary Meadors explains that the word 'peace' occurs over ninety times in the Bible, yet is never used scripturally as "an internal barometer for gauging God's will." In other words, a feeling of peace is never presented as the reason to do something. Instead, "peace is a product of doing right, not a reason for action."
Sometimes we have to make hard decisions that are morally correct, but leave us torn up inside, lacking peace. At other times, we may have a peace about something that is unbiblical; during those times we always submit to what the Bible says, and put our feelings behind us.
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