Today in the Town of David

Luke 2:1-20

Let's take a moment and pray that the Lord would speak to us by His Holy Spirit.

Lord Jesus, thank you for coming as a baby more than 2000 years ago. Thank you for stepping down out of the majesty of heaven to endure scorn and squalor beyond comprehension. You could only have done it out of love. There is no other motivation that could cause One who is perfect and has all things to leave it behind for a chance to redeem ones who rejected You from the start. Your compassion knows no bounds and Your glory will know no end. All praise to You, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

I don’t know how you find Christmas. When you stop to think about it, there are a couple of ways to take the question, “How do you find Christmas?” I imagine my meaning is not quite what you would expect. At first, what I mean to say is given all the hubbub and commercialism and fictional storybook trappings, what do you think of Christmas and what the season has become? What impressions do you take away from the entire Christmas experience? What is Christmas like? How do you find Christmas to be?

His Mercy Extends

Luke 1:46-55 & 67-79

The song we sang earlier is a really good song. It says, “Come though expected Jesus, come to set Thy people free.” And in Acts chapter 3 it’s really interesting because it says that Jesus actually came into the world to bless us by turning us away from our sins. And so I think that’s really cool just to remember that is one of the ways God’s been merciful to us, is that He blessed us to turn us away from our sins. And as that song said He came to set us free. So that’s God’s mercy thinking about how He doesn’t really give us what we deserve. If we turn from our sin that means that we are not going to get what we deserve which is an eternity in hell. So that’s really cool to realize this Christmas season, even as we look at the topic today of His mercy, the fact that His mercy extends. Let’s look in Luke Chapter 1. As you turn there I will open us up in prayer.

God, we just thank you for this morning. We just really pray that you would speak to our hearts. Pray that you would remind us of how great your mercy really is. How you have been merciful to us over and over and over and over. God I just pray that you would help me to step aside this morning and let you speak God and take away any desire that I might have that would want people to look at me God but I just pray that people would look at you this morning God. That we just really meet together this morning so we can bring attention to you. So we can lift you up so we can magnify you. And God I pray that we would open our hearts to your words and that you would cause us to be people that would be changed. And we just give you thanks. Amen.

Blessed is the Child

Luke 1:26-45, 56-66, 80

Good morning, are you ready to continue on in the Christmas story? Today, we’re going to look at the rest of the narrative, the story, in chapter 1 of the book of Luke. Last week, Fred spoke about the angel Gabriel coming to Zechariah to proclaim that even in their old age, his wife Elizabeth would conceive, get pregnant, and have a son. Their son would be called John, and he would be a kind of Elijah, a forerunner of the Messiah. John’s ministry would “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” After 400 years of prophetic silence, we have the announcement of the one who will prepare the way for the ultimate fulfillment of prophecy: the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Make Ready a People

Luke 1:1-25

I am really encouraged by this message. I hope it brings you a spiritual blessing this morning.  I think it will be different than you expect and so I hope the Holy Spirit just really moves your heart to be encouraged by this message this morning.  The Christmas message really starts off about 400 years before the first Christmas in the book of Malachi chapter 4.

Malachi 4:1-6

“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,” says the LORD Almighty. “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”