Below is the message I shared with the Renmark West and Renmark Town Uniting Church on 22/12/13.
To any who read this blog I wish you a joyful and blessed Christmas.
Make it a time of celebration and renewed faith.
EMMANUEL:GOD WITH
US AND FOR US.
First
reading.Matthew 1:18-25
Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[d]: 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[e] 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,[f] 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”[g] (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.”
2nd
reading
Luke 1
The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah,
who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a
descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight
of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But
they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were
both very old.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of
the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was
startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to
him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife
Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He
will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for
he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other
fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is
born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the
Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the
spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people
prepared for the Lord.”
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of
Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted
Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby
leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In
a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the
mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of
your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed
is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Have you ever
thought about the real meaning of Christmas?
Christmas is
becoming less real in the lives of many around the world.
Don’t you think?
We have just come
back from a holiday to Canberra about 2 weeks ago.
While there we
went one night to see a decorated house all
lit up with lights like some people do these days.
It was easily the
most spectacular and glittering decorated house
we had ever seen.
Yet there was no
evidence,no skeric of a Christian or biblical happening related to the real
Christmas!
Not a thing?
We looked but
couldn’t find a thing.
No nativity
scene-----No angels----No shepherds-----no wise men-----no manger,no Mary,no Joseph,no Jesus.
A child visiting
would be entranced but nothing of Christmas at all!
To defend Canberra
however we went to a wonderful Carols by Candlelight with lots of traditional
carols.
What is called
Christmas these days and in the recent past has had little to do with the real
Christmas.
The real Christmas
had some of these elements in it.
A miracle birth.
The virgin Mary giving birth to a son conceived by the Holy Spirit.
God is now among
us and is called Emmanuel and Jesus.
The word Emmanuel
means God with us.
His birth has a
future impact on the eternal destiny of
millions of people yet to be born and then present and living at the time of His birth.
Now to the people who God called to be part of this
Divine Drama.
Mary and Joseph.
Zacharias and
Elisabeth.
Elisabeth and Zacharias had longed for a child but this
had never happened.
They must have
felt like many who in this day think they must have done something wrong to not
conceive.
Elisabeth was past
the Child bearing age.
Yet God’s plans
and ways are often much bigger than ours and in this case Elisabeth and
Zacharia.
Elisabeth gave
birth to John the Baptist who was very much part of this drama.
This plan for mankind.
They Elisabeth and
Zacharia were humble people who loved
God.
They were prepared
to do whatever God asked of them.
God chose them!
Not anyone of the
stature of a world or local celebrity!
Mary’s amazing response to the angel.
Total abandonment
to God’s will!
“And Mary
said,behold, the handmaid(or bondmaid) of the Lord:be it unto me according to
thy word” Luke 1:38.
To the Lord I
belong ,body and soul.It must be as you said: (paraphrase of Phillips
translation)).
How many wonderful
people does God have who live in total obscurity who love Him body and soul.
They are never in
the spotlight.
Who among the
great and the wise(?) religious leaders of that day would have picked Mary.
They would not
have given her a second thought.
The more one
ponders this remarkable event the more one is filled with wonder.
The choice is so
accurate,
so right!
God knew the
innermost being of Mary.
Body and soul God
knew her to be His.
Here was a pure
love for Him
A genuinely single
love.
God knew that she
loved Him with all her heart,mind and strength.
There was nothing
else that she shared her devotion with.
There were many
prominent people in Israel at that time yet God seems to have by passed most of
them.
Is this a lesson
for us?
Most of us serve
God making allowance for the pressures bearing in upon us.
:what will happen
if we do what God wants;
how will my
popularity be affected?
What will others think?
And so it goes on.
Our love of God is
mostly a mixture of other things and devotion to God.
As Christians we
are also ordinary people called and chosen by God.
We are called to
be part of the Divine Drama.
The following
verses are some of Lesley’s favourites and should be for us all.
Ephesians Chapter 1
Praise for Spiritual
Blessings in Christ
3 Praise be to the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every
spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the
world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he[b] predestined us for adoption to
sonship[c] through Jesus Christ, in accordance
with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has
freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In
him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in
accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that
he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he[d] made known to us the mystery of his
will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into
effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in
heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen,[e] having been predestined according to
the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his
will, 12 in
order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the
praise of his glory. 13 And you also
were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised
Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit
guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s
possession—to the praise of his glory.
We now come to the place God chose.
We know it was
Bethlehem.
No one knows the
actual location.
We do not really
know the year, the month , the day or
the time He was born.
We don’t really
know who the wise men were or how many there were.
People have made
many assumptions about the birth of Jesus over the years.
What is now called
Christmas.
We do not really
know whether Mary travelled on a donkey.
We can imagine the
long journey they were on.
The anxiety as the
baby’s birth drew closer.
Then they came to
Bethlehem.
They were crowded
out.
We could get angry
with the people who crowded them out but they were just ordinary people going
about their ordinary lives.
We are ordinary
people who often in going about our ordinary business have no room for Jesus.
He gets crowded
out.
Our loss when we
allow ordinary things to take precedence over Jesus is immense.
Then we come to the wonder of this truly supernatural event.
Shepherds and
Joseph and Mary are in awe as they take part in the birth of our Saviour.
It occurred to me
recently that one of the reasons God came to us as a baby was because our own
children can identify with babies from an early age.
Just the simple story
of the birth of Jesus when told to little ones is something they can relate to.
A manger on the mantlepiece or under the
Christmas tree can have a big impact!
more so than we might think.
The rejoicing
angelic choir.
Imagine what this
must have been like.
The angels knew
the significance of what was happening.
They sang their
hearts out.
There is arguably
no more beautiful song to evoke the
first Christmas than “Oh little town of Bethlehem”
It is a prayer.
A most beautiful
song of praise and in part a telling prayer.
It is also a
marvellous summary of all that was put in motion, the gospel,THE GOOD NEWS, on
that night.
We went to a
carols night in Canberra on our recent holiday and this same carol , for me, was the highlight
It would be
wonderful if everyone who sings this prayer this Christmas would enable God to
answer it!
The prayer part.
5. O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray!
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Holy angels,
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!
The full song.
1. O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.
2. O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth!
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth.
For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep the Angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
3. How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given;
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His Heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
The dear Christ enters in.
4. Where children pure and happy
Pray to the blessed Child,
Where misery cries out to Thee,
Son of the Mother mild;1
Where Charity stands watching
And Faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,
And Christmas comes once more.
5. O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray!
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Holy angels,
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!
We will sing this
as our closing Hymn.
Shall we make it
our prayer as well,
as a congregation
and as individuals.
