“In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
We live in a world of darkness. There is darkness that is literal. Some people are still without power. When the deep freeze and high winds hit this area just before Christmas, lots of folks around here were without power through the holiday weekend. But for some, a lack of power is a daily reality. Their quality of life isn’t all that far removed from where people lived many generations ago. We may occasionally get nostalgic for that time when watching a show or movie about it, but we would not have really wanted to live back then. There is even more darkness, though, that is spiritual. And although that spiritual darkness is diminishing in some places, it seems to be rapidly advancing in others. What we need in this, or any darkness is light. Let’s talk this morning about where we can find it.
“The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing the Ammonites for three crimes, even four, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory. Therefore, I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah, and it will consume its citadels. There will be shouting on the day of battle and a violent wind on the day of the storm. Their king and his princes will go into exile together. The Lord has spoken.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
What do we do about evil that is happening a great distance from us? There’s a nice, encouraging question to start of this new year. We live in a nation that in spite of our growing secularity has a system of laws rooted in a Christian worldview. We strive for justice as a people, even if imperfectly. But around the world are evil regimes and human rights’ being devastated by oppressive rulers. What does God have to say about that? In what will be the first stop in one of three occasional series we are going to be working through in this new year, we find part of an answer from the prophet Amos. Let’s take a look at this together.
As we begin this new year, we are taking the first couple of weeks to think about God’s action and our response. We are going to do this with a story from the life of the prophet Elijah. Come listen in as we tell one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament and reflect together on what it means for us. Thanks for tuning in and sharing.
When God Shows Off
The transition from Christmas to New Year’s is always a bit of an interesting one to me. Now, don’t get me wrong: I enjoy it. In fact, I enjoy it immensely. I enjoy it so much because it is often a quiet week. Life seems to slow down just a bit—especially after the break-neck pace most of us travel through the rest of the month of December. As much as I enjoy it, though, it is an interesting transition. I mean, think about it: With Christmas, we have a month-long build up to a grand celebration of one of the single most powerful acts of God in the whole history of the world. Only the resurrection and creation itself rival the miraculous birth of Jesus. In other words, Christmas is big. With New Year’s, though, while we’re told that it’s big, it kind of feels like a letdown. Sure, we have parties and make resolutions and the like, but we really don’t give it much in the way of attention until after we get through Christmas. And then, we don’t spend that week getting ready for New Year’s, we spend that week recovering from Christmas before normal life—not to mention the long winter months of January and February—comes and slaps us in the face. The letdown can indeed be pretty intense.
Happy Boxing Day. Yesterday was the day. Here’s the message of joy and hope I shared with my congregation yesterday morning. May you delight and rejoice in the truth of our Savior. P.S. This will be the only post this week. Enjoy your week, and we’ll be together again like this in the new year.
Christmas Morning Message 2022
Christmas is a good time for telling stories. I’d like to tell you one this morning.
There was once a child. This child was loved by his parents. As far as they were concerned, he was at the center of their world. And this child had potential. So. Much. Potential. But he couldn’t see it. He didn’t understand the incredible things that lay ahead of him if only he stayed on the right path. But his parents did. And they knew their love was the key to his getting there. So they pursued him with their love.
“But the angel said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)
One last song of the season as we prepare for Christmas Eve’s arrival tomorrow. We’re not going with anything new or particularly different today. Instead, we’re going with something old. This is a classic Christmas carol that was first published in 1739. I heard a wonderful podcast the other day in which the interviewee described this as the greatest Christmas carol ever.
It was written at a time when religious revivals were sweeping across the United States and England. This was when the Methodist Church was forming, and protestant groups generally were gaining strength. Baptists were multiplying much to everyone’s chagrin, and evangelicals were first starting to become a meaningful Christian group. About this time, participants in these various revival movements started to increasingly write their own much rather than merely singing the psalter as believers had done for a very long time prior to this point. In a sense, these hymns were the contemporary music of their day.
This was one of the first Christmas hymns written in this significant period of history. Like so many of the hymns of the day, it is filled with rich theology that can be used to teach young believers some of the great and deep truths of the faith if they are exhorted to listen carefully to what they are singing.
The hymn speaks of angels heralding the birth of the newborn King. It calls for joyful nations to rise in praise of the God who would send His Son for us. It proclaims the fully divinity of Christ at every point in His human existence. It speaks of the healing He would bring the world, and of the second birth to eternal life God promised us through Him.
By now, I suspect you have successfully identified our final song of the season as Hark! the Herald Angels Sing. As you prepare on this second-to-last day of the Advent season, may you reflect joyfully on the third day from now with a wonderful rendition of this great carol by Phil Wickham. Blessings and Merry Christmas to you!
The Nexus 