Category Archives: Advent/Christmas

Advent, Second Sunday

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advent-wreathOne of my favorite texts during the Advent season is the Magnificat, and you will see it below. The Second Sunday of Advent is Faith, and lighting the Bethlehem Candle reminds us of the faith required of Joseph and Mary to make the journey. Matthew 1 describes Joesph’s encounter with an angel of the Lord, Luke 1 the same for Mary. In faith they acted according the to the angel’s words and so fulfilled many prophesies.

The first chapter of Luke also records Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, who is carrying the child we will come to know as John the Baptist. The Holy Spirit fills Elizabeth as Mary enters the house, and she declares Mary blessed above all women. Mary’s response is now well known as the Magnificat: Continue reading →

Saint Nicholas Day

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saint nicholasSanta Claus is as American as apple pie, created by department stores and manufactures to sell more stuff (Santa Claus has not sold out).

Today (Friday, December 6) is Saint Nicholas Day, which honors the real guy. I hope you left your shoes out. Happy Saint Nicholas Day. 

 

Advent

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advent-wreathThe advent of anything refers to its first appearing. The season of Advent is a time of preparation, waiting for the arrival of Christmas. We celebrate the waiting (perhaps honor is a better word) by examining the Old Testament prophesies, and considering the lessons the shepherds and wise men and teach us still. Lighting the candles of the Advent wreath is a far more time honored tradition than waiting in line for Black Friday deals on Sony’s PS4. Continue reading →

What About The 12 Days of Christmas?

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12 daysThe American culture is very young.  We think of things like baseball and the Fourth of July as being ancient traditions, because our country has barely existed for more than 200 years.  Our Christmas celebrations and even our American Santa Claus are also rather new compared to European traditions.  If the Roman Catholic Church were a human adult, then the SBC would still be in diapers.

Many European cultures, including those of Eastern orthodox faith, celebrate Christmas from December 25 until the January 6 day of Epiphany.  The real season continues until February 2, ending in a celebration known as Candlemas which celebrates Jesus’ presentation at the temple.  In America, our celebration begins earlier and earlier each year as retailers attempt to get their merchandise moving and improve their bottom line for the quarter.  The idea that the birth of Christ is the beginning of the season, rather than the end of it, would be unusual here.

What about the song?

Continue reading →

Advent: The Christ Candle

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Reposted from December 24, 2011

The Christ candle is traditionally lit during either a Christmas Eve service or perhaps on Christmas Day. What ever you do is fine as long as you remember that Christ is the gift and God is in the manger.

Today is Christmas Eve, the last day of Advent. Tomorrow is Christmas, the first of the 12 days of Christmas, which culminates in Epiphany. An epiphany is a great discovery or revelation of prolific truth. The January 6th Epiphany celebrates the wise men finding Jesus.

Advent is the season of waiting and preparation. If we’re being technically correct in our worship (and I’m not one that cares as much as some do) we should have been singing Advent hymns up to this point, such as O Come Emanuel. It is now time to sing Joy to the World, proclaiming that the Lord is come.

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

(Luke 2:10-14 ESV)

Advent: Week Four

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Reposted from December 18, 2011

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

In Luke 2 the sky was filled with the heavenly host proclaiming the gospel of peace to a few lowly shepherds.  Last week, Joy, was about the shepherds.  They found the baby as the angels had said, and went out of Bethlehem rejoicing and praising God.  This week we celebrate Peace and light the Angels’ Candle. Continue reading →

God Loves You. God Hates Sin.

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jesus-in-the-manger

If you want to know how much God loves you, look in the manger.

jesus_cross

If you want to know how much God hates sin, look at the cross. Continue reading →

He Became Poor

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jesus-in-the-mangerFor you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
-2 Corinthians 8:9

He became poor.  He didn’t loose his riches, nor were they taken from him.  Philippians 2 says he humbled himself and took the from of a servant.  Jesus said in John 10 that no one takes his life, but that he has the authority to lay it down and take it up again.

He became poor.  He became small, weak, tired, hungry, thirsty, despised and rejected by men.  He was laid in a manger the night he was born and in a grave the night he died.  Why?  Because only he could.  Neither the Law, nor sacrifices, nor good works could make us righteous.  On our own, we could never have clawed our way out.  We were guilty, condemned, lost and… hopeless.  I have often said that when we could not come to God, he came to us.  C.S. Lewis said “The Son of God became man to enable men to become sons of God.”

God is in the manger.  And that is the best gift ever.

Merry Christmas!

A Couple of Old Favorites

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It’s Christmastime Charlie Brown originally aired in 1965.  Charlie Brown and Rudolf are lifetime favorites, Home Alone and The Santa Clause are a little bit newer (but perhaps still old movies to some of you).  And I watch them all again every year.

Here’s a couple of oldie but goodies here on the Master’s Table that come back around every Christmas.  Prayerfully consider the scriptures and see what you think.

Rethinking the Angelic Choir:

the-angels-song-and-the-shepherds-visitWhat is the first thing the angel says to the shepherds?  Most of the time when angels appear in the Bible (unless in disguise) the first words out of their mouths are “Do not be afraid.”  There must be a reason for this.  Either the stature, or brilliance, or something we are not told about angels evokes fear in regular people.  Note the words “heavenly host.”  Anytime the Old Testament says anything about a host it is in reference to an army.  I want you to carefully consider all of this together.  An angel appears to a group of shepherds whose natural tendency is to run in fear.  The sky was then filled with the heavenly host, singing and praising God.  This was not a choir, made up of beautiful women in choir robes; it was a vast military force, an army of angels, possibly with swords drawn ready to do battle.  Is all of this baseless conjecture?  I do not think so.   READ MORE

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

magiAnd what about myrrh?  See myrrh is different.  It’s a resin similar to frankincense, but offers a bitter aroma rather than a sweet one.  In Biblical times its most common use was as an embalming agent.  Had the women found Jesus on Sunday morning after the crucifixion, they would have anointed him with myrrh among other herbs.  Gold and frankincense are obviously valuable gifts, but why offer myrrh?  READ MORE 

For Jews and Gentiles

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JehoshuaA couple of weeks ago, our Sunday School lesson focused on how the first Christmas was for a Jewish audience.  Joseph and Mary, the inhabitants of Bethlehem, and the shepherds who visited on the night of Jesus’ birth were all Jews.  Jesus came first to his own people, knowing he would be rejected, all to fulfill God’s plan.

This week we looked at Christ’s birth for Gentiles.  Consider these words of Simeon, who met Jesus at his dedication at the Jerusalem temple:

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
(Luke 2:29-32 ESV)

It had been revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Christ in his lifetime.  Notice that when Jesus was only weeks old, Simeon recognized he was both light for the Gentiles and the glory of Israel.  Sometimes we get this funny idea, even if we don’t put it into words, that throughout the Bible God sort of rolls with the punches.  Sometimes we make it up as we go along, but that doesn’t mean God does the same.  He didn’t come up with the plan of salvation after Israel failed to keep the Law.  And offering salvation to the Gentiles was not some sort of plan B when the Jews rejected Jesus.

God knew all along, and the birth, life and death of Jesus were all part of his great plan.  The birth of the Christ is good news for all mankind.