2023 Advent

  Luke 2 'In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.   This was the first registration when   Quirinius was governor of Syria.   And all went to be registered, each to his own town.   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,   to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.' Orders were given - from the Top down.  ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,      are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler      who will shepherd my people Israel.’    Micah 5:2,  500BC Arrangements were made and leaders of the world , unwittingly, made and obeyed their decrees. Joseph and Mary, now late in her pregnancy, had to travel 90 mi...

  Written 700 years before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah records God's Names and descriptions from chapter 41 through chapter 51 - 'I AM ... 41.4 - ... the Lord, the 1st and the Last 43.3 - ... your God, the holy One of Israel ... your Savior 43.15 - ... the Creator of Israel ... your King 44.6 - ... Israel's Redeemer ... the Lord of hosts (the Lord of heaven's armies) 44.24 - ... Creator 45.21 - ... Righteous God 49.29 - ... the Might One of Jacob 51.12 - ... the One Who comforts you'  Jesus said in John - 'I AM ... 6.35 - ... the Bread of Life; he who comes to Me will never go hungry 8.12 - ... the Light of the world; whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness 10.11 - ... the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd lays down His Life for the sheep 11.25 - ... the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in Me will live even though he dies 14.6 - ... the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to God, the Father, except through Me.'  For the family –  We'...

  In the Old Testament, God revealed Names that described Who He was to certain people. One of the Names was revealed to David, the shepherd boy who became king. It is found in one of the most famous chapters of the Bible - Psalm 23, written around 1000BC. God's Name is Jehovah Rohe, which means 'the Lord, my Shepherd.' In John chapter 10, Jesus says, 'I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.' For the kids        For teens   For the parents  – In John chapter 10, Jesus also says,  'The Father loves Me because I sacrifice My life so I may take it back again. No one can take My life from Me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what My Father commanded.'   Parents know something of sacrifice. They often give up their time and money, ambitions and dreams for their kids. When we see our kids voluntarily sacrifice for others, ...

 In the Old Testament God reveals Who He is by telling us His Name. In fact, He relates over 15 Names and many more descriptions that we may know Him. We will see that Jesus identifies with many of the Names of God; yet, even in the Old Testament God announces that He is doing something new -  The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew word massah, meaning to smear or anoint something or someone. Certain people - either a priest (Exodus 28:41), a prophet (1 Kings 19:16) or a king (1 Samuel 16:12) – were anointed as being especially chosen by God for a task. From its first use in the Old Testament 'Messiah' was promised to be the coming King and Judge by God's strength. The Greek word for Messiah was Christ, also taken from a word, christos, meaning to anoint.   John 12 follows the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Days prior to the crucifixion of Jesus, out of gratitude the sister of Lazarus, Mary, anoints the feet of Jesus and wipes His feet dry with her hai...

   Another prophecy in the Old Testament was written by the psalmist, David: "The Lord has sworn, and will not change His mind, 'You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.'" Psalm 110:4  Jesus was not born from the genealogical line of Aaron or the priests. But the office of priest was a picture of the coming Messiah’s role as He would offer up the perfect Sacrifice of His Own body and blood paying the penalty for the disobedience of all people. He is a Priest 'after the order of Melchizedek.' For the kids         For teens For the parents –  Melchizedek is a figure who lived during the time of Abraham. He was ‘the king of Salem’ (perhaps the old name for Jerusalem, the city of peace), a ‘priest of God Most High’. When he met Abraham he blessed him and related one of the Names of God, Jehovah-Jirah, Owner and Possessor. Then Abraham (AKA Abram) gave Melchizedek the most valuable 1/10th of the spoils of battle that he had ob...

  Moses’ brother was Aaron, and God chose these two to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt. Aaron and his sons were chosen by God to be His priests. They were the only ones allowed to approach the inner room of the ‘temple’, the dwelling of the Presence of God. Aaron and his sons and relatives would present animal sacrifices for sin along with grain and wine offerings in the temple before the Lord each day and during special celebrations, like Passover.  T he Passover was the most famous of the Jewish celebrations remembering the release of the Jewish people from their Egyptian captors. On the night before their release, a lamb was killed, and the blood was brushed on the door-frame of each of the Jewish houses. That night, the 'angel' of death came to kill all the people who were firstborn of each household but passed over each house that had the blood on the doorpost.    Centuries later, Jesus would be crucified on the day of preparation before the Passover. T...

Deuteronomy 18:15 – Speaking to the people of Israel about the future Messiah, Moses said, ‘The Lord, your God, will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to Him.’ Prophets spoke God’s Word to the people and told them what would happen in the future as well. Jesus said in John 5:46,47: "If you really believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me. But since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?" The life and teachings of Jesus reveal a prophetic word concerning each of us – either life together with God throughout eternity or life separated from Him, which He calls the second death (John 3:18, Revelation 21:7,8). Life together with God throughout eternity begins with the choice we make right now – receiving God as God in our life or rejecting Him. For the kids For teens