I love Christmas! Entering into December, I find myself surrounded by lights, a new tree, decorations, and songs playing over the sound systems of Costco, Home Depot, and a variety of restaurants. Of course, some of these things began just before Halloween, but I digress.
Experience Christmas: The Angels
Leonard Lee peels back the curtain of Heaven to tell the story of the angels and their part in the Christmas Story.
“ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.””
Experience Christmas: Mary & Joseph
The account of Joseph and Mary reveals the amazing power of God. He took an entire government and caused the Caesar to call for a census. Just so the promise of the Messiah being born in Bethlehem would be true. God moved governments celestial orbits, angelic beings, and two common ordinary people from Nazareth to Bethlehem in order to have his own son enter the world.
“18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
”
Everlasting Father
James Brown is the Godfather of Soul. Henry Ford is the father of the automobile. Bob Chandler is the father of the monster truck. Gary Fisher is the father of the mountain bike. Frank Whittle is the father of the jet engine. Jake Burton is the father of the snowboard. Jesus is the Father of Eternity. (Jesus wins!)
Unwrapping the Gift of Christ this Christmas
Mighty God
Football, Baseball, Basketball...do you want to know what these sports have in common? They are competitions in which the competitor's strength has a shelf life. The average playing career in these sports lasts between 4-6 years. If you watch these sports, you see guys at the pinnacle of strength being talked about by guys whose strength has faded.
Wonderful Counselor
277,257 is a really big number - do you want to know what it represents? 277,257 is the number of book titles that came up on Amazon when "self-help” was entered in the search box. There were over 427,000 book titles that came up when"psychology" was searched. That is almost three-quarters of a million book titles offering some form of wisdom focused on shining a light into the dark places that are within us.
Immanuel
God has a Thing for Names
J-Lo, Brangelina, Magic, His Air-ness...nicknames. Most people recognize the person or persons that correspond to each of these nicknames. We may not be celebrities, but some of us possess our very own nickname, too. Names like Shorty, Fats, or Slim represent a physical characteristic, while names like Rocket or the Bambino are given for a skill or achievement. Many people go by a shortened version of their name like JR, Joy, Lizzie, Abe, Ronnie.