by BJ | Dec 9, 2017 | Advent
The first candle of Advent is the Prophet’s candle or the Hope candle and it always focuses our hearts on the hope of the first Advent promised by the prophets. In this post, we have chosen to cover the Bethlehem candle or the Peace candle as the second candle of Advent.
The remaining three candles of Advent may deal with the various parts of the Advent story. They may vary from church to church or even from year to year. The sequence for the remaining three Sundays might Bethlehem, Shepherds, Angels. Or Love, Joy, Peace. No matter what sequence is used, the Scripture reading, prayers, lighting of the candles, the participation of worshipers in the service, all focus on unfolding the story of redemption through God’s grace in the birth of Jesus.
I have chosen to go the route of Bethlehem, Shepherds, and Angels.
The second candle, the Bethlehem candle represents peace. It symbolizes the preparations being made to receive and cradle the Christ child. Bethlehem is a story about a humble couple on an unwanted journey, at an inconvenient time, to visit a tiny insignificant town.
Augustus Caesar was ruling and he called for a census to be taken, but God was in charge, for He used Caesar’s edict to move Mary and Joseph eighty miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem to fulfill His Word. Even though there was no room for Mary and Joseph God had orchestrated these events. Mary and Joseph had to leave Nazareth so that they could register in Bethlehem and the Scriptures (Micah 5:2-5
) be fulfilled.
When Mary said “May it be done to me according to Your word.” (Luke 1:38), it meant that from then on, her life would be a part of the fulfillment of divine prophecy. God had promised that the Savior would be a Jew, from the tribe of Judah and the family of David, born of a virgin in Bethlehem, the city of David. All of this occurred just as the Scriptures said, and Caesar unknowingly played an important part.
As we draw nearer to the birth of Jesus, we begin to see just how specific God was about giving His people “directions” to the main event! In Micah 5, we read a prophecy that occurred 735 years before the birth of Christ and yet it’s as specific as if it were spoken right before! When the magi arrive at Herod’s residence, they explain to the king that Jesus is supposed to be born in Bethlehem by quoting these very Scriptures. God did exactly what He said He would do!
Micah tells us several things. He tells us where the Messiah will be born, that He will come from a tribe of Judah, He will rule in Israel, Jesus is eternal and divine but will rule on earth and He will be a shepherd to His people. This One will be our peace.
Bethlehem was the smallest clan of Judah. It is a very insignificant town just outside of Jerusalem. Yet God did not choose Jerusalem for the birthplace of the Messiah. God loved the world so much that He chose, a tiny insignificant town as the location for the birth of the one who literally changed the world. This is the first of many reminders that God loves even the insignificant of the world, and in fact, demonstrates this several times in the weeks to come leading up to the Messiah’s birth.
So my question is this What about you? Don’t you want peace this Christmas? Jesus is our Peace! In the busyness of the season will you make room for Christ, or will you miss it? I can’t help but think of the Inn Keeper, would he have given up his room had he known who needed it?
Scripture Reading:
Luke 2:1–7
Matthew 2:1–2,9-11
Micah 5:2–5
Malachi 3:1–4
Matthew 2:1–2,9-11
Luke 1:68–79
Mark 1:1-3
Matthew 3:1-6
Read the words to this familiar Christmas hymn.
O Little Town of Bethlehem
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth!
How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.
Where children pure and happy pray to the blessèd Child,
Where misery cries out to Thee, Son of the mother mild;
Where charity stands watching and faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more.
O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
If you have not done so already won’t you ask the Christ child to enter in and be born in you today?
If He has already entered in, begin to prepare your hearts to celebrate His birth in the upcoming weeks. You have “the One who is our Peace” dwelling within – May you walk in His Peace this Christmas season.
by BJ | Dec 2, 2017 | Advent, Christmas, Holidays
What is Advent?
The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” The focus of the entire season is:
• the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent.
• the anticipation of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent.
Advent is much more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. Advent is a season of preparation. Not only is Advent about preparing to celebrate the first coming of Christ as a baby, but it’s also about preparing for Christ’s second coming as judge. In Advent we are reminded that the Christmas story began thousands of years before the birth of Jesus, with the people of Israel. In Advent we are reminded that the Christmas story is not over; Jesus will return. (more…)
by BJ | Feb 14, 2016 | Holidays, Life
It’s Valentine’s Day
The day for love.
The day we celebrate sweet, passionate, romantic love.
The day for declaring our undying love for another.
The day for hearts, and flowers, and sweets, and cards, things colored red.
But why?
Why Valentine’s Day? Why February 14th?
(more…)
by BJ | Nov 25, 2015 | Thanksgiving
What are you grateful for? I realize most of us have the same basic answers. We are grateful for Jesus, salvation, family, spouses, and children. If we are really honest a few of us will say we are thankful for coffee, warm beds, comfortable chairs, and chocolate.
But, in this day and time perhaps the question should not be “What are you grateful for?” but “How in the world can you be grateful?” With so much change, so much uncertainty, and the whole world being turned upside down how can you be truly grateful for anything?
In our world worry, fear, stress, and anxiety seem more natural than thanksgiving. But, worry and fear are the cancer that destroys thankfulness, and at the same time thanksgiving is the cure for worry and fear. What do we do? Where do we find an anchor to hold us so we can look trouble in the eye and still give thanks?
The short answer is Romans 8: 28-39. The longer answer is the whole counsel of the Word of God.
The fundamental truth behind the ability to give thanks in all circumstances is this
God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him. – Romans 8:28
The simplicity of the statement is a little unnerving.
God causes ALL things…..
All means all. Whatever circumstances you face, God is at work causing those circumstances to work together for your good.
What are you facing? Cancer? Death of a loved one? Financial struggles? Job loss? A child walking in sin before God? Rejection from the one you love? You can trust the Father because all of these things are covered under that little word “all”.
God causes all things to work together for our good.
Did you notice that “things” is plural? All things – each individual thing – are working together for good. The stress and troubles of life are all working in concert together under the direction of the Master Conductor for our good. God is orchestrating the events of life so that they work together for our good!
This happens in such the grand scale of life and it is not necessarily seen in the moment by moment or day to day events. We all know that days, weeks, months, and years can be painful and heart breaking. But, even when I can’t see how God is working I can trust that He is working, and that He is causing all of my pain and suffering to work out for my ultimate good and His glory!
It is important to point out here that Paul did not say all things are good. Clearly not everything that happens to us is good. But, God is at work!
And in this, we can give thanks regardless of what we face.
How do we apply that to our lives?
Paul goes on in Romans 8:31-39 to ask and answer four questions which help us apply the truth.
- If God is for us, who is against us? (Romans 8:31-32) It doesn’t matter who stands against us, God is for us.
- Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? (Romans 8:33) It doesn’t matter who because God is the one who justifies. And, as believers we are justified before God.
- Who is the one who condemns? (Romans 8:34) It doesn’t matter, because it is Christ Jesus died for us, was raised from the dead, sits at the right hand of God, and intercedes for us.
- Who will separate us from the love of Christ? (Romans 8:35-39) And this my friend is the point. You and I are loved. This one fact should put all of the troubles in this world into a new perspective.
How can we be thankful regardless of the circumstances? God loves us, and nothing can change that!
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
Whatever you are facing, you can give thanks with a grateful heart because God is at work causing your circumstances to work together for your good and His glory. Why? Because He loves you.
In 1860 Anna Warner wrote the simple poem “Jesus Loves Me”. It was included in a novel and as a part of the story it was a comfort to a dying child. Why would this song comfort anyone? Because of the truth of Romans 8.
Jesus loves me!
This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak but He is strong.
Jesus loves me!
Loves me still,
Tho I’m very weak and ill,
That I might from sin be free,
Bled and died upon the tree.
Jesus loves me!
He who died
Heaven’s gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 (KJV)
Wrapping It Up
In this world we will have tribulation, therefore we should never be surprised by it. Trouble is always a part of our lives. How we respond to trouble is what makes us stand out from the world. We will never respond well if we do not believe and embrace the fact that God loves us.
The sovereignty and the steadfast love of God are the foundational truths for thankfulness. Without that foundation we will only occasionally find reasons to be grateful for some things. But, standing on the rock of the love and majesty of God we begin to see His hand at work everywhere around us. And then we can be truly thankful for the circumstances of life.
Not every thing that happens is good. But all things are worked together for my ultimate good by God. This doesn’t mean life is easy, after all in this world we will have tribulation. But it does mean that this life is ultimately working for our good and that through it others will get to see God’s hand at work.
Thankfulness is ultimately only possible when we embrace the love of our Sovereign Creator.
One final note. Can you imagine how frustrating this must be for Satan? Imagine for a moment a chess game between God and Satan in which every well thought out, strategic move of Satan is the perfect set up for God to accomplish His plan. In human terms it would be maddening.
Give thanks with a grateful heart. God loves you and nothing can change that. Satan has already lost, and again, nothing can change that.
by BJ | Oct 31, 2015 | Holidays, Reformation Day
Reformation Day? I thought it was Halloween?
Actually, October 31 is Halloween, but it’s also Reformation Day. And since I don’t celebrate Halloween, this post is about Reformation Day and what difference it makes in our lives. I know many of you are thinking “Reformation Day? So what?” Believe it or not what happened on October 31, over 500 years ago matters.
On October 31, 1517 the priest choose to debate like a lawyer.
Martin Luther nailed 95 points for debate on the door of the church at Wittenberg, Germany.
The world was ready for a change, and in fact change had been coming. More and more men around Europe were taking the Word seriously and believed they were seeing differences between the traditional views of the Roman Catholic Church and their understanding of Scripture. Discussion turned to debate. In some places the religious debate mixed with politics and the results were explosive.
Now, let me post a disclaimer. Luther was not the first or only reformer. He was however one of the most influential. Dr. Luther was one of the men that ushered in what is now known as the Reformation.
That is a reason to celebrate! So, after you read this post, go celebrate and eat some candy!
What needed to be reformed?
The church of Martin’s day, was full of ideas and teachings that we would strongly disagree with today. For example, they believed and taught that salvation was earned in various ways and was not by grace alone, through faith alone. Scripture alone was not sufficient. It even seemed that Christ’s death on the cross was almost sufficient, but not quite.
What did Luther do?
A lot, but I want to focus on one. He was one of several reformers who focused on a method of interpretation of Scripture called in Latin sensus literalis or the literal sense of the Scripture. By interpreting the Word through the literal sense of the text, the Word surprisingly makes sense. This method seeks to discover the author’s intended meaning, and then make application to our lives accordingly. Luther’s method let the plain sense of Scripture be the main sense of Scripture. The idea is not only radical, it also leads to other radical ideas.
The result?
Studying Romans 1, verse 17 he discovered “… the righteous man shall live by faith.” In other words salvation is by grace through faith, not by works of any kind. For us today this sounds normal, but in Luther’s day it was radical.
Soon Luther came to believe in Solo Scriptura, that through the Scriptures alone do we come to understand that salvation is through:
Solo Christo – Christ alone
Sola Gratia – by grace alone
Solo fide –through faith alone
And that is enough to make us shout Soli Deo Gloria – to God alone be the glory!
And this led to the nailing of his 95 theses or points of debate on the castle church door in the village of Wittenburg and ultimately helped spark the Reformation of the church.
FYI – What is the cry of the reformers from Luther’s day forward? Post tenebras – “After darkness, light!” They fell like they had come out of the darkness into the light.
Wrapping it up
What difference does this make for us? The things that you and I take for granted in our Christian experience – freedom to worship anywhere we wish, a Bible in our own language, pastors and teachers who explain the Word of God in context, the idea that every person who repents can have a personal relationship with God, and the concept of salvation by grace alone –were shaped by the Reformation, and therefore partly by Martin Luther.
There were many other reformers. And, of course it was God who was bringing the change to purify His church and set His people free. But God used Luther, and Luther cooperated with God.
Honor to whom honor is due.
One final disclaimer. No doubt someone will feel the need to point out Luther’s sins and inconsistencies. He was not perfect, not even especially close. But he was a man who stepped up to challenge the status quo, the systems of his day, and insist that that God alone was the author of our salvation.
Guest blogger: David Lawson
by BJ | Dec 21, 2014 | Advent, Holidays
When Angels Speak
The fourth candle is often called the angel candle. It represents the messengers who announced the birth of the Messiah.
In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.- Luke 2:8–14
What do you think of when you think of angels?
Clarence in “It’s A Wonderful Life”? Or maybe chubby little cherubs with curly hair and stubby wings come to mind. Often people think of friends or loved ones, especially children, who have died. At a child’s funeral you sometimes hear a grieving parent say God called one of His angels home. It is interesting that those sorts of angelic figures exist in our culture. But, they are not the angels of Scripture.
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Executors of divine judgment
Then the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead. – Isaiah 37:36
Angels are terrifying executors of divine judgment. It was 2 angels which brought judgment to Sodom and Gomorrah. And much later, when Nebuchadnezzar’s pride got the best of him, it was an angel which declared his kingship would be cut down like a tree. (Daniel 4:13-17)
In Revelation it only takes one angel to seize Satan and throw him into the pit for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:1-3)
These are not chubby cherubs but terrifying creatures who have authority to execute the judgment of God.
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Our help in times of trouble
Angels shut up the mouths of lions (Daniel 6:22) and open prison doors (Acts 12). They execute divine judgment, but they are also the manifestation of a very present help in time of need. They are sent to protect the children of God.
This messenger idea is actually one of the main tasks of angels in the Bible. They were the messengers of God. Often when they appeared the first words they said were “Do not be afraid!’ This was probably because everyone there was afraid. The angels in the Word of God seem to have been terrifying. Men fainted and women cried when they realized they were talking with an angel. After all, angels were the ministers of judgment sent from God. But, they were also messengers to those who had found favor with God.
In Luke 1:8-20 the angel Gabriel announced to Zacharias that he would father a son, John, who would be the forerunner of the Messiah.
In Luke 1:26:-38 Gabriel visits Mary to tell her she would give birth to the Messiah.
Mary, said the angel Gabriel, you will have a son,
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end. – Luke 1:31–33
In Matthew 1:20-25 it was an angel that told Joseph in a dream to take Mary as his wife because the child she carried was conceived of the Holy Spirit.
…behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. – Matthew 1:20 –21
In Luke 2:8-14 Jesus’ birth was announced by angels to a group of shepherds just outside of Bethlehem.
…for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. – Luke 2:11
The angelic host proclaimed the birth of the Savior, the Messiah (Christ), the Lord. The angels have always been messengers of God. On that first Christmas day they came to declare there is a new king in town, one whose rule will never end. And at His name, Jesus, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, every knee will bow.
The fourth candle reminds us that the angels are the messengers of God who, in this case, bring good news. The good news is that there is a new King in town, and he is taking over. That is the message of the angels to everyone who will listen.
This kingdom is both a present and future reality. He is King and He will always be King. As Christians we live in the kingdom of this world as citizens of the kingdom of the coming world.
Wrapping it Up
Christmas is both personal and corporate. Don’t miss this! It is the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, the one who saves His people from their sins. But it is also the day I celebrate the birth, the first Advent, of the One who saved me from my sins.
He has saved His people from their sins, but have you bowed the knee, have you surrendered your life to become a member of His kingdom? He saves His people from their sins, those who are members of His kingdom. If you have never surrendered your life to Christ what better time could there possibly be than now?
In prayer ask God to forgive you of your sins and allow Him to have the authority in your life.
If you are reading this and you give your life to Christ, please let me know. I would love to pray with you and come alongside you to help you grow in this new relationship. I would love to hear from you!
Scripture Readings
Luke 2:8–14
Daniel 4:13-17
Isaiah 37:36
Luke 1:8-20
Luke 1:26:-38
Matthew 1:20-25
