Category Archives: Advent/Christmas

4th Sunday in Advent – Peace

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advent-wreathToday is the 4th Sunday of Advent.  Let’s begin with a review.  The first Sunday of the Advent season was Hope, and we lit the candle of Prophecy.  The second Sunday was Faith, and we lit the Bethlehem candle.  The third Sunday was Joy, and we lit the Shepherd’s candle.  Today is the Sunday of Peace, and we will light the Angel’s candle.

Luke chapter 2  tells the story of the angels appearing to the shepherds as they watched their flock.  On the third Sunday we focus on the joy the shepherds experience as they hear the good news and then find the baby lying in a manger.  On this day, our focus is on the angels themselves, and their delivering the message of peace; specifically “peace on earth, good will toward men.”  If you read Rethinking the Angelic Choir, it’s ironic that the angels singing about peace and were probably all holding swords.  There are plenty of anti-war demonstratorsthat will quickly tell you peace cannot be brought with a gun; that peace is not brought with violence.  In Scripture, however, peace is brought with violence.  There cannot be peace as long as Satan is deceiving the nations.  He and his demonic forces are the enemies of peace.  God will cast Satan and all his followers, human and angelic, into the lake of fire.  After His righteous judgement, death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire, and then Jesus will rule the nations… with peace.  Recall the prophecy of Isaiah:

To us a child is born, to us a son is given; the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighy God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end…   -Isaiah 9:6-7

At his first appearing (or advent) Jesus did not come to bring peace.  He came to offer himself as a sacrifice, in order to reconcile us to God.  Read Ephesians 2:13-22, which I saw tonight in a whole new light.  This may be the best one paragraph summation of the Gospel anywhere in scripture.  It explains the sacrificial work done by Jesus Christ and his relationship to the Father and Spirit perhaps better than any other single text.  At his next appearing, however, Jesus will not come as a baby in a manger.  He will be riding a white horse and wielding a sword.  He came before to be our sacrificial lamb; He will back as a concurring king.  At his first appearing, he became the savior to all nations; at his next, he will judge the nations. 

Even as we celebrate the Advent of Jesus Christ, let us be found spreading the Gospel message and preparing for his second appearing.  That is our hope of peace.

Christmas Greetings from Jeff and Walter

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We just finished watching Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special.  This sample contains 3 clips; I especially enjoyed the first one. 

Vodpod videos no longer available.  

more about “Christmas Greetings from Jeff and Walter“, posted with vodpod

Rethinking the Wise Men

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Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  Matthew 2:1-2

nativity

Take a good look at this nativity scene.  Study it for a moment.  It should look similar to every other nativity you’ve ever seen before.  Jesus is lying in a manger filled with hay; the major characters are in or around a stable of some sort; the star would be shining above; the shepherds came from the field, where they had been watching their flocks; and the 3 wise men came bringing gifts.  It’s a nice picture, and we think “That seems about right.”  But it’s not.  One of the things on my list, according to scripture at least,  doesn’t belong. Continue reading →

Advent, week 3

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advent-wreathToday is the third Sunday of Advent.  As I’ve been writing on Advent, I had to admit that I’m sort of new to celebrating it myself.  My family didn’t have an Advent tradition as I grew up, so I’ve only been studying it for a couple of years.  I shared some resources in my first post, here are two more good ones.

The Vanderbilt Divinity Library  offers a scripture lectionary for each Sunday of Advent, as well as other resources.  Mark D. Roberts has written extensively on Advent, and his site is indexed and searchable.  Begin with his multi-part Introduction to Advent.  He breaks down each Sunday with themes and suggested scripture reading.  I would like to do something similar next year early on, instead of each Sunday as we go through the season.

Immanuel, God With Us

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jesus-in-mangerIsaiah prophesied of the coming Messiah, saying that a virgin would conceive and have a child, and his name would be called Immanuel.  When Matthew quotes Isaiah he adds that Immanuel means “God with us.”  That’s the true meaning of Christmas.

I recently wrote that when we could not come to God, he came to us.  In Isaiah chapter nine he writes “His name shall be called Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  If the baby in the manger is anything other than God with us, you’re not understanding the full implication of Christ’s birth. Continue reading →

Almost Getting Christmas

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lego-manger1This is part two of Almost Getting Jesus.  It was just way too long to be a single post. 

Many believe Christmas to be Jesus’ birthday, and his birth is why we celebrate.  Yes; and no.  Mostly no.  The wise men brought gifts, which is why we exchange gifts.  Perhaps; but I don’t think so.  The true meaning of Christmas is about peace on Earth and goodwill toward men, right?  That’s what the angels proclaimed to the shepherds, but that’s not what Christmas really means to Christianity; not really.  What’s wrong with all of these statements you ask?  There’s nothing majorly wrong with them, and they are close to the Gospel. Continue reading →

Advent, week 2

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advent-wreathThe first Sunday of Advent celebrates Hope, and we lit the candle of Prophesy.  If you need the introductory lesson, click What is Advent?  This second Sunday of Advent is called Faith, and we light the Bethlehem candle to remind us of the faith Joseph and Mary had as they trusted God and waited for the birth of Jesus. Continue reading →

Rethinking the Angelic Choir

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the-angels-song-and-the-shepherds-visitAnd in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 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 babywrapped 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 2:8-14, ESV)

When we read any type of narrative, it is normal to picture how we think the scene might have looked in the mind’s eye.  There are numerous portraits of Jesus, the Apostles, Joseph and Mary, Old Testament characters, and so forth, but the only thing we know for certain is that we do not know what any of these people looked like.  Some things we do know; Jesus did not have blue eyes.  When artists of the Renaissance created Biblical portraits, they unashamedly made the characters look like twelfth century Europeans.  We can accurately predict Jesus would have been short, dark skinned, dark eyed, and looked very Hebrew.  Scripture teaches he looked pretty much the same as every other adult Jewish male of his time.  Just like there are certain things we know are not exactly right about the most popular images of Jesus, we can safely say that certain artistic liberties have been taken with the portrayal of angels. Continue reading →

Advent Candles

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advent-wreath

This is the Advent wreath that my wife put together.  When I wrote my post What is Advent, the greenery hadn’t been added yet.  The wreath is a combination of cedar, pine, holly and one other everygreen plant (sorry).  We also collected a few very small pine cones.  The candles are traditional purple and pink, though the center candle should probably be white.  The red candle was taller, and looked good in the arrangement.

What is Advent?

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advent_wreath_06The advent of something refers to its first appearing.  In our culture, Christmas has turned into the Christmas season.  This year it started about a week before Halloween, and will run until December 25th.  The “Holiday Season” will actually extend until January 1st.  All of this “Christmas creep” has a quite a negative effect on Christmas.

If we are celebrating the incarnation of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day, the two-month Christmas season detracts from the actual day itself.  I respond to the notion that our society stole Christmas from Christians and turn it into a secular holiday here.  What I would like to do in this post is comment on a purely Christian tradition of celebrating Advent. Continue reading →