God is with us. And because of the with-ness of the Divine, we should be a witness for the Divine. We disciples, must make disciples. All who profess Christ must also proclaim Christ. All who have made the great confession, also have a Great Commission.
Will we be like Herod and Archelaus – letting nothing get in the way of the pursuit of our selfish ambitions? Not even the life of children?! Or will we give ourselves to Christ? Will we surrender to the Savior? Will we come before the King?
Herod was unwilling give up his throne. Are we unwilling to give Jesus the throne of our lives? The Magi brought Jesus gold, frankincense, and myrrh – gifts fit for a king. This Christmas, what will we bring Jesus?
We often ask, “What do you want for Christmas?” But a better question is, “what does Christ want from you?” This Christmas, the question shouldn’t be, “What are we getting for Christmas?”, but “What are we getting Christ for Christmas?”
Jesus is Immanuel — “God With Us”. In light of the with-ness of the Divine, we should be a witness for the Divine. The greatest of all Christmas presents was the Presence of Christ – Christ who is still with us, through the Holy Spirit. This Christmas, let’s not focus on worldly ways of “getting in the Christmas Spirit”, let’s focus on letting the true Christmas Spirit get into us!
As His Name “Jesus” (Jesus –> Joshua, “YHWH saves” / “The LORD saves”) suggests, Matthew makes it clear that the prophesied Messiah who was to be a son of David has arrived for the salvation of His people. But not in the way the Jews expected – not salvation from political oppression, but from our spiritual transgressions. Not freedom from Caesar, but freedom from sin.
The Gospel is always good seed. But it doesn’t always fall on good ground. In the Parable of the Sower (a.k.a. the Parable of the Four Soils), Jesus explains four different reactions to His message: (1) Hard-Hearted Hearers, (2) Fairweather “Fans”, (3) Backburner “Believers”, and (4) Fruitful Followers
Children resemble their parents; Children of God must resemble their Heavenly Father. We must have a distinctive family resemblance — that sets us apart from the world. We must strive to be holy as He is holy. We must be the salt of the earth, and light of the world.
We cannot conform to our culture; We have to be distinct, set apart — holy. In doing so, we will be the salt of the earth that prevents moral decay and adds Christian flavor. And we’ll be the light of the world that dispels darkness and attracts others to the light of Christ — bringing glory to our Heavenly Father, the King
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The First Commandment of Culture: “Thou shalt not judge.” Matthew 7:1-2 is probably one of the most misquoted passages in all of Scripture. In this cultural moment, in which moral relativists use this passage to silence Christians, it is important to understand what Jesus means…
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View/download slides from a Bible study on Matthew 1:18-25, which describes the birth (more literally translated “the genesis”) of Jesus the Messiah. If God created this massive, incredibly fine-tuned universe, is a virgin conception…
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