Senior Adult and Education Ministries
You can go to heaven without wealth, fame, great name, learning, or friends but not without christ.
Some interesting things about the Christmas story...
* It is more than a story... it is fact! Luke tells us that there were many people who were eyewitnesses of these factual accounts! Luke 1:1-4
* Luke 3 genealogy traced the lineage of Jesus back through Mary's family to God (Heli was her dad; Luke 3:23)
* Matthew 1 genealogy traced the lineage of Jesus through Joseph's family to Abraham (Matthew 1:16)
* Dr. Luke was traveling with Paul who knew many of the apostles personally. He had learned and studied everything from them and what they had seen and heard Jesus say and do.
* Luke 1:9 it was Zacharias, whom the angel appeared to in the Temple. He was the father of John the Baptist, husband of Elisabeth, who was Mary's cousin. It was his turn (all planned by God to have him in the Temple at this time) to burn incense in the Temple. * (It is estimated that there were some 20,000 priests - this was no coincidence that Zachariah was there).
* The angel appeared to Mary and told her she would have a son and would call his name Jesus. Mary questioned, "how can this be for I have not been with a man." *(The Holy Spirit has the power of creation and miraculously placed within her a fertilized egg so the baby would be human. Jesus did not have a human father or a human mother. If he'd had either, he would have inherited the imperfection of the human condition - a sinful nature. David Jeremiah).
* Luke 2 - Caesar decreed a census for the purpose of taxation and to determine who the men were of age to serve in the military. God used Caesar and his decree as the way to get Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem for Jesus to be born there, fulfilling Micah's prophecy.
* Nazareth to Bethlehem - about 80 miles... a long trip for an expectant Mary to travel on the back of a donkey for 80 miles.
* Luke 2:8 tells us that there were shepherds in the area watching over their flocks to keep them unblemished for some of their sheep could be used for the sacrifices in the Temple. "Imagine that these shepherds who looked after the Temple lambs, were the first to see the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."
* Shepherds, the least educated men, sweaty and smelly, possibly ill-mannered, the lowliest of the low were chosen by God to be the first on his guest list to see the Christ child, although their names never appear anywhere in scripture. God chose them to show that anyone, rich or poor, could come to believe in Jesus
* Luke 2:13 a Multitude of the heavenly hosts joined the angel in praising God! "Multitude" in Matthew 14:14-21 is used to describe 5,000 men - not counting the women and children. Imagine some 5,000 or more angels spilling over heaven's edge and praising God! WOW!
* Bethlehem means "house of bread." Jesus would call himself the "Bread of Life" and he would say that I am the living Bread come down from heaven. John 6:51. Ephrathah is a much older name for the town and means fruitfulness... Jesus said I am the vine, you are the branches... bear fruit! John 15.
"I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE; NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER BUT BY ME. JOHN 14:6
The season of Advent (Coming or Arrival of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ) is being highlighted in our worship services by the lighting of a different candle each week with the meaning of the candle explained.
While the celebration of advent is not in the Bible, the tradition came later, remembering the first coming of Jesus and his sacrifice on Calvary, giving hope of salvation from the punishment for our sins to everyone who would believe in him. Hebrews 9:22 - "the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." For life is in the blood, both physical life and spiritual life.
Advent also helps us focus on his second coming and the rejoicing that he will bring as he sets everything right. Phiippians 3:20 - "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." 1 John 3:2-3 - "Dear friends, now we are children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure."
Christ brings hope, love, joy, and peace, which is what advent helps us remember.
Week 1, December 1, the Candle of Hope; Week 2, December 8, the Candle of Love; Week 3, December 15, the Candle of Joy; Week 4, December 22, the Candle of Peace; Week 5, December 29, the Christ Candle. Jesus was the Gift for all people everywhere and is the center of the true meaning of Christmas.
Christ brings hope to us.
Hope draws its power from a deep trust in God and the goodness of mankind.
Hope opens doors where despair closes them.
Hope discovers what can be done instead of grumbling about what cannot be done.
Hope looks for the good in people instead of harping on the worst in them.
Hope "lights a candle" instead of "cursing the darkness."
Hope regards problems, small or large, as opportunities.
Hope cherishes no illusions, nor does it yield to cynicism.
NEW! SUNDAY SCHOOL LITERATURE SERIES BEGINNING NEXT QUARTER - BIBLE BOOK BY BOOK SERIES.
