Morning Musing: Matthew 2:4-6

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“So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born. ‘In Bethlehem of Judea,’ they told him, ‘because this is what was written by the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

On the rare occasions when I have to take my youngest to the doctor, if we have to wait very long in the exam room, one of his favorite things to do are the hidden object books they have. The idea is pretty simple. There is a picture on each page with all manner of random objects and you have to try and find certain ones. There are whole apps dedicated to these kinds of seek-and-find games. What makes them fun (at least for a little while) is that there’s no particular catch to them. Everything you are looking for is sitting right there in plain sight. You simply have to see it right. Once you’ve found it you almost can’t not see it because it has become so obvious to you. Before that, though, it might as well not even exist on the page. Sometimes things can be right in front of us, but we don’t see them at all. With a hidden object book, that’s not such a big deal. There are some things, though, in which our inability to see becomes entirely more problematic.

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Digging in Deeper: Luke 1:60-63

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“But his mother responded, ‘No. He will be called John.’ Then they said to her, ‘None of your relatives has that name.’ So they motioned to his father to find out what he wanted him to be called. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they were all amazed.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I saw a chart the other day from the Pew Research Group showing by comparison the percentage of Americans who claim Christianity as their religious identity versus those who claim no religious identity at all. The former has been on a steady decline, and the latter, a steady rise, since the turn of this millennium. In other words, for the first time in our nation’s history, we are finding ourselves living in a culture that is increasingly more likely than not to push back against us for seeking to live out our faith in public and meaningful ways. The question for us is not whether we can turn back this tide, but how we will respond to it. As we continue into the final week of our Advent journey this morning, we are reminded that this is a place God’s people have found themselves before.

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Designed to Provoke

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What are you going to do with the news of Jesus’ birth? As we take another step forward in our Advent series, we are finally talking about how Jesus’ birth unfolded. The news of His birth rang throughout the world. It was and has become something no one can ignore. Let’s dig into it together.

Designed to Provoke

Have you ever tried to ignore a toddler who has something to tell you? It may not seem all that significant to you, but when a toddler has something to say, as far as he is concerned, it is the most important thing in the world. And, if you happen to be the person he has deemed most worthy of hearing this information, there’s really not much you can do about the matter. You can try to ignore it if you want, but…well…good luck with that. 

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Songs of the Season

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“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had one of those albums where every single song on it is your favorite song? For me, around this time of year, it is Meredith Andrews’ Christmas album, Receive Our King. Last year around this time I introduced you to the first track on the album, Andrews’ version of Come Thou Long Expected Jesus. This morning as we continue in our Advent series, I want to share with you another from the same album (and, spoiler alert, I’m going to offer you one more from it next Friday which is going to be instrumental in our Christmas Eve service). What was it like being a shepherd in the fields around Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born? What was the song of the angels really like? Let’s ponder that together.

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Morning Musing: Luke 1:43-45

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“How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!” (CSB – Read the chapter)

How trusting of a person would you say you are? That depends on a number of different factors, doesn’t it? It could be that your parents weren’t so good about keeping their word to you, and so you default to believing everyone around you is lying. Maybe you’re a very trusting person by nature, but that trust runs along the edge of naiveté and has gotten you in trouble a time or two. There’s a balance point here. You don’t want to be blindly trusting because people do lie, but if you don’t trust anyone, you can’t have any relationships. There is one person, though, who should always have our trust.

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