The Christmas Story

This is the Christmas story we started telling as a family together last year.  I wrote it because I wanted to share the gospel with my brother and his girlfriend.  However, I shared it again this year with just my wife and kids after we lit the Christ advent candle and sang some carols as a family.  I look forward to this being a tradition each year.

______________________________________________________________

What is the true meaning of Christmas?

Most people if asked can tell you that the Christmas tradition started as a celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Luke 2:4-14 (ESV)
⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
⁶ And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
⁸ And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.
¹⁰ And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.
¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."
¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

What does this really mean? Why celebrate the birth of a Jesus, 2000 years ago.

“I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people”

Was this birth really good news and a great joy for everyone?

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!”

Where is this peace on earth and who are these people God favors?

The birth of Jesus is only part of the story. The story begins at the beginning of time and the story ends everyday, with each of us.

In the beginning:

Genesis 3:1-7 (ESV)
¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?"
² And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
³ but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.' "
⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.
⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

One day, while still in paradise, while there truly was peace on earth and goodwill towards all men, Adam and Eve made a choice.

Their choice was to believe a snake, the snake, Satan. The lie was that they could be like God. Adam and Eve, innocent from creation, chose sin over God. They chose death over life.

God told Adam and Eve they could have anything they wanted, just not the fruit of this one tree. Just one rule, one decision and they chose to disobey.

If God knows everything, why did He give them this one rule He knew they could not follow?

Because God is love and God desires love from us. However, love is a choice. We cannot love if we do not have a choice.

So what does Adam and Eve’s mistake have to do with you and me?

We too have choices, everyday. We too make the wrong choices.

Romans 3:9-18 (ESV)
⁹ What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
¹⁰ as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;
¹¹ no one understands; no one seeks for God.
¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."
¹³ "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips."
¹⁴ "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
¹⁵ "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶ in their paths are ruin and misery,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known."
¹⁸ "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Romans 3:23 (ESV)
²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

We all know we’re not perfect. However, most of believe that we’re not all bad either.

One mistake and we’re out?

The truth is God is a God of judgment. He is holy and perfect and he cannot accept anything that is not holy and not perfect. However, God is also a God of mercy and love.

From the beginning, God made a promise to Adam and Eve that he had a plan to undo their bad decision.

Genesis 3:15 (ESV)
¹⁵ I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

God’s curse of the snake is His promise to us that one will come that will crush the head of Satan, the deceiver.

Adam and Eve messed up. However, we all mess up. None of us are perfect. We all fall short of God. We all have the same consequence given to Adam and Eve.

Death. Not a physical death, although we all physically die, but a death of our spirit. Death by separation from God.

However, the God of mercy and love has a plan.

Romans 6:23 (ESV)
²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 3:16 (ESV)
¹⁶ "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The baby’s birth we celebrate on Christmas is this Jesus. The Son of God sent to undo our bad choices and allow us to once again be good with God.

However, this is only half the story.

Who is this Jesus? What is it about him that makes us good with God?

John 14:6-11 (ESV)
⁶ Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
⁷ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
⁸ Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us."
⁹ Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

Who was this Jesus? He was and He is the Son of God but even more that that, He is God.

The wages of sin is death. God is a God of mercy and love, however, the price of sin must still be paid.

The rest of the Christmas story is how God paid the price for us.

Jesus, the Son of God, Jesus, God in the flesh paid the price for the sin of Adam, for your sins, for my sins.

Matthew 27:27-35 (ESV)
²⁷ Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him.
²⁸ And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
²⁹ and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
³⁰ And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.
³¹ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.
³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull),
³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.
³⁵ And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.

Jesus was not just killed. He was tortured and mocked, whipped and nailed to a cross.

Why?

Because of me. Because of you.

Why is it we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Son of God who we then tortured and nailed to a cross?

Mark 16:1-7 (ESV)
¹ When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
² And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.
³ And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"
⁴ And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back— it was very large.
⁵ And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.
⁶ And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.
⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you."

Why do we celebrate Christmas?

We celebrate Christmas because in spite of our own selfishness, God had a plan.

We failed but Jesus paid the price.

How do we know it is paid? Because He conquered death and rose again.

This is the Christmas story.

Love is a choice.

Adam and Eve chose to believe the devil over God.

We choose everyday to do things our way rather than God’s way.

God still chose to die for us.

Now the choice is ours again.

We can choose to believe this Christmas story and choose life. We can choose to believe the good news and have God’s joy and peace. We can choose to be favored by God.

And we can choose not to believe.

I choose life. I choose Jesus as Lord. I choose to believe the good news and accept God’s joy, peace and favor.

What do you choose?

Merry Christmas!

Read More...

Summary only...

Scripture Thursday - When wisdom calls

Proverbs 1:26-28 (ESV)
²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, ²⁷ when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. ²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

I confess.  I actually searched the scriptures for a passage that I could use with this awesome picture.  Our family was camping this week at Inks Lake near Burnet, TX.  This is a picture I took of my 9-year-old daughter hamming it up as a twister headed our way over the lake.  This funnel cloud fizzled out before it reached us so we were able to avoid taking cover in the public restroom.

We left the lake after our camping trip and we're back in Hockley Texas, 85 miles from the coast and in the direct cross-hairs of Ike.  Needless to say, I will not have any of my children out posing for pictures in the sustained 80+ mph winds on Saturday.  We'll be hunkered down with our windows boarded up.

Please pray for those much closer to the coast.  It looks like this is going to be a nasty one.

Back to today's scripture...

This passage in Proverbs is referring to the call of wisdom and what happens to those that ignore it.  The wisdom is the Gospel.  The message from God to a fallen and sinful people that there is hope, if only you turn from your own selfish, prideful, evil desires and turn to God.  A God that gave his own Son to pay the price for our sins.  A Son that has been raised for our justification and to be our King.

The verses above are for those that refuse this wisdom.  Proverbs 1:22 tells us the ones that refuse this wisdom are the simple, the scoffers and the fools.  However, I don't think it is for me to assume that anyone is in one of these categories and is refusing the wisdom of God.

This Proverb says that wisdom is crying aloud in the noisy streets and in the market (Proverbs 1:20-21).  The point is that those ignoring God's wisdom cannot claim they have never heard it.  However, the wisdom of this world is also very loud and often much more appealing to our human nature.  Rather than assuming that those that do not know Jesus as their Lord are simple, scoffers or fools, I should do what I can to help deliver this message of wisdom so that it can be heard.

If I plan on sharing this wisdom through billboards, bumper stickers, or tee-shirts, the message is blurred in with all of the other messages in this world.  If I want to help someone understand the message of wisdom from God, the best place to usually do that is where they can hear me, where God's words are the only message ringing in their ears.

What's the best way to deliver this type of message? 

In person, as a friend, as someone that cares.

There are people that will hear the Gospel among the clutter and noise in our world and find God's truth.  However, there are many that cannot pick out the message over all the other noise around them.  If I have this wisdom, I should look for ways to share it so that others can actually hear it.

Let God decide who is simple, a scoffer and a fool.  I should see everyone who has not yet found the wisdom of the Gospel as a future brother or sister in Christ.  I should see them waiting for someone to love them enough to share God's wisdom, in person, as a friend, as someone that really cares.

Romans 10:14 (ESV)
¹⁴ But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

Read More...

Summary only...

I'm bad, you're bad, John Piper is bad?

I came across this video a few months ago. I don't know why I like it. Maybe because I like John Piper and maybe because I grew up liking Michael Jackson.

I like the message because it's a reminder, that even though I am a Christ follower, I'm still a sinner. Even though Jesus died for me, I'm still a sinner. Even though on judgment day, God will see the goodness of Jesus rather than my badness, I'm still a sinner.

If I am forgiven and covered in the goodness of Jesus, why is it so important to remember that I am still a sinner?

It's important to remember, so that I never take the grace given to me by God for granted. It's important, so that I remember that I am not any better than any other sinner, which is everyone. It's important, so that I am encouraged to tell others, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Read More...

Summary only...

When opportunity knocks

A few years ago I was at a gas station filling up when a young man nervously approached me. He asked if he could give me a Jehovah's Witness pamphlet. I politely said no thank you and he quickly got back in his car and left. My first thought was, "Wow, that kid was really nervous about talking to me." My next thought was, "Wow, I wonder if I should have talked to him? Maybe God sent him to me."

I'll never know.

I'm sure you have similar times in your life where after the moment is lost you think, "I should have said this or done that." Many times, like in my experience, we recognize it too late. So how do you take advantage of these opportunities before they're lost?

In the corporate world I teach people that there are three principles to opportunities. I think these same principles can apply to opportunities for sharing your faith.

1. You must prepare for opportunities
2. You must recognize opportunities
3. You must act on opportunities
   

Prepare: Write down your own testimony. Memorize verses that that have impacted your life. Pray for God to make you aware of opportunities throughout the day to show Christ's love to others through your actions and your words.

Recognize: The best way to recognize an opportunity is to always be looking for one. Purposefully look for opportunities to impact others throughout the day.

Act: Take action on the opportunities God provides. Don't put off an opportunity you recognize today until tomorrow.

Colossians 4:6 (ESV)
⁶ Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)
¹⁵ but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you;

What are you doing to be ready the next time opportunity knocks?

Read More...

Summary only...

Is Christianity Inclusive or Exclusive?

We Christians claim that there is only one way to heaven. Non-Christians see this as prideful and intolerant. Who are we to claim to have the only true religion? Why am I any better than a Hindu, Muslim, or new age philosopher that I should get to heaven but they are headed to hell?

To make matters worse, we Christians are often guilty of acting like we are in an exclusive club. I can say this because I know I am often guilty of it. I hang out with my church friends, look at the world, and say come quickly Lord Jesus, this world is a lost cause.

It's easy, once you believe that you have the ticket to heaven, to look down on those that you believe do not have it. What we forget is that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We are not saved because we are better than a Muslim or a Hindu. In fact, even though we are now saved, we're still sinners while Christ completes what he has started in us.

So does Christianity have exclusive rights into heaven and all the other world religions are wrong?

First, we have to define Christianity.

From Webster's Online Dictionary:

1 : the religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible as sacred scripture, and professed by Eastern, Roman Catholic, and Protestant bodies 2 : conformity to the Christian religion 3 : the practice of Christianity

Nothing in this definition assures anyone that they will go to heaven. When you speak of Christianity as a "religion" then it is really no different than any other world religion. As a religion, it becomes just a label that we attach to ourselves based on what we do for "religion".

However, Christianity is really not a religion. The best way I've heard it explained, is that religions are are list of "do's". In Chrisitianity everything that needs to be done has already been done. There is nothing left to "do".

Does that mean that's it? We're all in.

Not quite. Jesus has done everything that is needed for you to have eternal life. The only thing for you to do is receive it.

Romans 10:9 (ESV) 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

There is one more piece that is often forgotten nowadays as the church seeks to be more "inclusive". In order for someone to be "saved" they must have some idea that there is something they need to be saved from.

What is it that Jesus actually saves us from? Death? Hell? These are just consequences. What we need to be saved from is our slavery to sin. Sin being - sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar.

Yes, Jesus has already died for our sins. However, we have to recognize that sin is a bad thing to begin with and something that needs to change while understanding that you can't change on your own (hence, Romans 10:9).

If you can recognize that you have sin in your life, and want to be free from it, then it is as simple as believing that God has already taken care of it through the death and resurrection of His Son, and you'll be free.

So back to our original questsion, is Christianity inclusive or exclusive?

It's both. It's exclusive in that you must acknowledge that you're a sinner and want to be free form those sins. It's inclusive in that your sex, race, political party and nationality do not matter. Most importantly, it is inclusive because it does not matter what sin has you inslaved, you can be saved from it all.

Still have questions? Try here.

Read More...

Summary only...

Have you built your ark?

When God passed judgment on the earth he found one righteous man, Noah. Have you ever thought about this? In all the earth, there was only one man and his family that God was willing to spare. The intention of everyone else’s heart was only evil (Gen 6:5). The next time you look at the world and can’t believe the evil and violence just imagine if you were the only one that still had faith in God. Fortunately we have millions of other believers that we can pray with, lean on, love and help us reach the rest of the world.

We don’t know what Noah’s neighbors thought about him before he started building a giant boat on dry land. Since he did not partake with them in their evil indulgences they probably already thought he was a bit odd. Once he actually started working on this boat they really must have thought he’d lost it. However this did not seem to bother Noah. In a society devoted completely to evil he remained faithful to God. When God asked him to build a 450 foot boat on dry land, he did all that God commanded him (Gen 6:22).

I don’t know about you but I want people to like me. I’m generally leveled headed and even tempered. I can be a bit quiet but I get along with almost everybody. I like being accepted by fellow Christians but also by co-workers that don’t believe. This has its good and bad points. On the good side, it theoretically opens up plenty of opportunity for me to share my faith. On the other hand, sharing my faith might make me stand out and be unaccepted. It might make me stand out as that church guy.

Noah stood out like a sore thumb. As Christians in an evil world, shouldn’t we stand out? Do your co-workers or fellow students know that you are a Christ follower by your decisions and your actions? Or do you generally manage to fit in and not cause any waves? What if God asked you to build an ark in your back yard? Would you do it?

If you’re invited to a football game on Sunday, assuming this is your normal day of worship, do you accept the invitation or do you turn it down and use it as an opportunity to share your faith and explain why you worship on Sunday?

If office mates are gossiping, or telling off-color jokes, do you snicker along or sit quietly or do you let them know that you do not approve and explain that it is your faith that prevents it?

Do you pray in public before a meal if no other Christians are sitting with you?

Shouldn’t we as Christians take our stand for our faith and build our arks rather than worrying more about how we fit in with the rest of the world (Jas 4:4)? When Noah took his stand it was too late for his neighbors. Judgment had already been passed. It’s not too late for our neighbors. Maybe if we obey God, regardless of what he asks us to do, our ark will be the act of faith that opens their hearts to Jesus before their judgment is passed.

Read More...

Summary only...