Surveying the Scene
The last book in the Hebrew Scriptures is Malachi … or 2 Chronicles, depending on which version you’re using. Either way, it’s been centuries since God has spoken. But He’s on the move again. As we spend a few days looking at the announcement of John the Baptist’s birth, we’re going to see that God likes doing the unexpected. We’ll break it up as we go through this passage, but today’s assignment is small. Read Luke 1.5-25 and then think about how God likes to work in unexpected ways.
Read Luke 1.5-25.
How has God worked unexpectedly in your life? What difference has it made?
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
I lied!
Just kidding about getting started today with the Advent story today. Actually, I’m only working a day or two ahead so I didn’t have everything mapped out yesterday. It will work best for the timing of our passages … and our limited ability to focus … to skip posts on Sundays so you can think on what your pastor shared. If you don’t go to a church, check out one of these links and let their Advent messages help prepare you for the season.
Cypress Church (Cypress, CA) - that's my church.
Imago Dei Community (Portland, OR)
And there are plenty more good ones, but I'm getting sleepy. Just being transparent :)
Cypress Church (Cypress, CA) - that's my church.
Imago Dei Community (Portland, OR)
And there are plenty more good ones, but I'm getting sleepy. Just being transparent :)
Saturday, December 5, 2009
The Testimony to Incarnation (Section 1d of the Nameless Luke Advent Thingee)
Prayer
Read Luke 1.1-4
Don’t worry. This is our last introductory/context-setting/broad stroke post. We’ll get to the storyline next.
A few years ago I was reading a journal article on how prayer is a key feature of all the turning points in Luke’s gospel. I thought it was an interesting article, but in my general exposure to the gospels at the time, I honestly thought it was a scholar trying to make too much of a pet theme. I saw the point, but didn’t buy the emphasis.
Maybe it’s the holidays getting to me, but I’m in the mood to buy it now. Our small group is going through Luke – I think I’ve mentioned that – and prayer really does subtly connect to key points along the narrative. I pulled that article off the shelf and I need to give it another look because I think I might be sold.
In some ways this doesn’t have direct bearing on the Advent story. It isn’t rich with prayer, but there’s a lot of communicating between heaven and earth. Angels are doing a lot of work in Luke 1-2, but as we think about prayer we realize it is a divine encounter.
We have this amazing privilege in prayer to be part of heaven and earth meeting as we communicate with God in prayer. It sounds beautiful. For some people it is a beautiful and rich experience. Others know it is important, but it is also work. Prayer is labor for some.
I wish I was one for whom prayer came easy. I’m not. It’s labor for me. I’m not always consistent. It sometimes feels like I’m talking to the ceiling – or floor. And yet it isn’t about my feelings. It is about talking with God - and listenting, too.
This Advent season is a reminder that God sent His Son to connect with earth. But we have the opportunity all the time to connect to heaven in prayer.
Don’t let this season go by without spending some good time praying – prayers of thanksgiving for God sending His Son, prayers of gratitude for our abundance, prayers of healing for the pain the holidays bring. Whatever you need, God wants to hear from you.
Don’t forget to give presence to God in prayer this Christmas. He wants to hear from you.
Tomorrow … the story begins!
Read Luke 1.1-4
Don’t worry. This is our last introductory/context-setting/broad stroke post. We’ll get to the storyline next.
A few years ago I was reading a journal article on how prayer is a key feature of all the turning points in Luke’s gospel. I thought it was an interesting article, but in my general exposure to the gospels at the time, I honestly thought it was a scholar trying to make too much of a pet theme. I saw the point, but didn’t buy the emphasis.
Maybe it’s the holidays getting to me, but I’m in the mood to buy it now. Our small group is going through Luke – I think I’ve mentioned that – and prayer really does subtly connect to key points along the narrative. I pulled that article off the shelf and I need to give it another look because I think I might be sold.
In some ways this doesn’t have direct bearing on the Advent story. It isn’t rich with prayer, but there’s a lot of communicating between heaven and earth. Angels are doing a lot of work in Luke 1-2, but as we think about prayer we realize it is a divine encounter.
We have this amazing privilege in prayer to be part of heaven and earth meeting as we communicate with God in prayer. It sounds beautiful. For some people it is a beautiful and rich experience. Others know it is important, but it is also work. Prayer is labor for some.
I wish I was one for whom prayer came easy. I’m not. It’s labor for me. I’m not always consistent. It sometimes feels like I’m talking to the ceiling – or floor. And yet it isn’t about my feelings. It is about talking with God - and listenting, too.
This Advent season is a reminder that God sent His Son to connect with earth. But we have the opportunity all the time to connect to heaven in prayer.
Don’t let this season go by without spending some good time praying – prayers of thanksgiving for God sending His Son, prayers of gratitude for our abundance, prayers of healing for the pain the holidays bring. Whatever you need, God wants to hear from you.
Don’t forget to give presence to God in prayer this Christmas. He wants to hear from you.
Tomorrow … the story begins!
Friday, December 4, 2009
The Testimony to Incarnation (Section 1c of the Nameless Luke Advent Thingee)
The Margins
Read Luke 1.1-4
Yesterday we looked at “…the things that have been accomplished among us” and the gospel – Jesus saving us from the judgment due us. We can’t escape the reality of judgment. It is biblical and important.
But it shouldn’t be our entire motivation for embracing Jesus, either. He didn’t come to scare us into heaven; He came to bring us life and usher us into a new way of living. This is our last introductory look before we get to the texts leading to Jesus’ birth, but it is an important ‘big picture’ item that may not surface prominently in the first couple chapters of Luke. It is, however, an important theme in Luke that touches the hearts of people all over the world during the Christmas season.
God cares for the people on the margins. Bringing people from the edges of society to the center of God’s people is one of “…the things that have been accomplished among us.”
As I’ve read Jesus’ miracles through the years, I’ve been amazed at His power and pointed to His deity. Only God could do such amazing things. But if you think about it, that’s not true. The Bible has examples of people who do almost anything Jesus does – from a bottomless supply of food to raising the dead to healing leprosy.
There’s something more than power at work in Jesus miracles. Don’t get me wrong, power is important, but there’s compassion in them. That leper doesn’t just have a skin disease. He’s cut off from the people of God. He can’t worship at the Temple. But when Jesus heals him, he’s brought from the margins into the mainstream. He’s moved from unclean to clean.
Or that woman. The one who has been bleeding for years. She’s unclean. She can’t touch anyone else – or she’ll make them unclean. She can’t worship in the temple. She’s unclean. But Jesus heals her. Not only is her body made whole, but she is been given new life socially and spiritually. She can hug and be hugged without making others unqualified to worship. She can worship herself at God’s House. For the first time in years.
As we work through these first couple chapters of Luke (coming soon, I promise), it may not be as prominent as it is in the rest of the book, but Luke is known as the gospel most concerned with people on the margins.
Christmas is a time when we think of those on the margins. It is when our hearts hurt for those who can’t afford Christmas gifts – or even a warm meal. I’ve heard (don’t quote me!) that this is a great time for donations to ministries to those in need, but shortly after the holidays donations drop off. People are moved to alleviate need during this season.
If you read Luke and see Jesus’ desire to relieve pain – not just financial, but social and spiritual and physical – you see that this desire to help and heal is something God desires from each of us. How appropriate that, when we celebrate Jesus’ arrival to our world, we act more like He did. Helping the hurting, the needy, the broken.
What are you doing this season to bring hope to those who are hurting?
Read Luke 1.1-4
Yesterday we looked at “…the things that have been accomplished among us” and the gospel – Jesus saving us from the judgment due us. We can’t escape the reality of judgment. It is biblical and important.
But it shouldn’t be our entire motivation for embracing Jesus, either. He didn’t come to scare us into heaven; He came to bring us life and usher us into a new way of living. This is our last introductory look before we get to the texts leading to Jesus’ birth, but it is an important ‘big picture’ item that may not surface prominently in the first couple chapters of Luke. It is, however, an important theme in Luke that touches the hearts of people all over the world during the Christmas season.
God cares for the people on the margins. Bringing people from the edges of society to the center of God’s people is one of “…the things that have been accomplished among us.”
As I’ve read Jesus’ miracles through the years, I’ve been amazed at His power and pointed to His deity. Only God could do such amazing things. But if you think about it, that’s not true. The Bible has examples of people who do almost anything Jesus does – from a bottomless supply of food to raising the dead to healing leprosy.
There’s something more than power at work in Jesus miracles. Don’t get me wrong, power is important, but there’s compassion in them. That leper doesn’t just have a skin disease. He’s cut off from the people of God. He can’t worship at the Temple. But when Jesus heals him, he’s brought from the margins into the mainstream. He’s moved from unclean to clean.
Or that woman. The one who has been bleeding for years. She’s unclean. She can’t touch anyone else – or she’ll make them unclean. She can’t worship in the temple. She’s unclean. But Jesus heals her. Not only is her body made whole, but she is been given new life socially and spiritually. She can hug and be hugged without making others unqualified to worship. She can worship herself at God’s House. For the first time in years.
As we work through these first couple chapters of Luke (coming soon, I promise), it may not be as prominent as it is in the rest of the book, but Luke is known as the gospel most concerned with people on the margins.
Christmas is a time when we think of those on the margins. It is when our hearts hurt for those who can’t afford Christmas gifts – or even a warm meal. I’ve heard (don’t quote me!) that this is a great time for donations to ministries to those in need, but shortly after the holidays donations drop off. People are moved to alleviate need during this season.
If you read Luke and see Jesus’ desire to relieve pain – not just financial, but social and spiritual and physical – you see that this desire to help and heal is something God desires from each of us. How appropriate that, when we celebrate Jesus’ arrival to our world, we act more like He did. Helping the hurting, the needy, the broken.
What are you doing this season to bring hope to those who are hurting?
Thursday, December 3, 2009
The Testimony to Incarnation (Section 1b of the Nameless Luke Advent Thingee)
The Larger Story
Read Luke 1.1-4
“…the things that have been accomplished among us” sounds simple enough. It could be as simple as a checked-off To-Do List. Groceries. Check. Bank. Check. Take out the trash. Check. Things accomplished.
I don’t want to kill the momentum of the Advent season by making our eternal dwelling the first four verses of Luke’s gospel. At the same time, we want some context for the stories on the horizon. As we see the detailed brush strokes of Jesus’ arrival, we have to remember there are limits to the canvas. It is a story within a grander story.
Some of these elements will come out as we look at each passage, but over the next couple days I want to hit some big picture features we don’t want to overlook.
As I mentioned, Jesus’ arrival is a story within a story. God had promised a Messiah. This Messiah would save His people. Not just Israel, but He would make a way for the nations to worship God.
This might sound contradictory to what I said a couple days ago, but the culmination of the gospel story is Good Friday and Easter. Advent is the beginning that makes it possible. But Advent isn’t a preliminary. It is essential.
Mankind is broken. We don’t work the way we’re intended to work. You can’t fix yourself when you’re broken, either. We’re in trouble. It isn’t that we’re just stuck as broken that puts us in trouble. Our brokenness is actually rebellion. We want to live for ourselves, fix ourselves, save ourselves instead of finding healing in worshiping God, our Creator. We want to be self-sufficient – or at least choose and/or make our own Saviors. In a word, we’re rebels.
God would have every right (it’s odd to type something as obvious as the Creator having rights) to write us off. But He doesn’t. There are two reasons. First, God is just. While we may overlook injustice (unless we’re the wronged party J), God is perfect and cannot overlook injustice. His character requires that He punish it.
Next, God doesn’t write us off because He is merciful and He loves us and He created us to enjoy Him. He intends to see that it happens.
But there’s this chasm. Our rebellion separates us from Him. We don’t have anything in common. We’re as different as whales and mice (I’m open to a better comparison, by the way). There’s only the remotest similarity. Otherwise, the two just don’t meet.
We can’t cross the chasm. We’re broken. And we don’t want to. We’re rebels. But God does. He sends His Son, the Messiah, in the form of a rebel (a Galilean Jew) and yet who does not live His life as a rebel, but faithfully. More than faithful, He is a model of how to live a God-honoring, God-empowered life.
But Jesus is more than example of how to live. He does what none of us could do on our own. As rebels we deserve a rebel’s punishment. Death.
Before I continue, there’s something fascinating about Jesus. Some people want to check out now because they think I’m talking about them. Far from God and not living how they should. Others are thinking, “He’s talking about someone else because I have this thing wired.” Luke’s gospel seems to indicate Jesus would think both are wrong.
Those who think they’re far from God and are broken, who can smell death, and yet are longing for rescue … Jesus is near you and wants to bring you hope and wholeness.
For those who think they’re close and like to think about how bad everyone else is, Jesus generally has some salty words for you.
Sorry for the rabbit trail. Back to rebels deserving death. We’re all born rebels deserving death … and we continue to choose that way as long as we think we’re running our lives and making the rules. If you haven’t grappled with your rebellious heart, you haven’t grappled with the gospel.
So as rebels deserving death, Jesus, in the form of a rebel – yet without the rebellion – takes the rebel’s punishment for all of us. He was innocent, but dies a criminal’s death.
Rebellion must be punished. God’s justice demands it. But His love bears it. Jesus takes the punishment for all of us.
This is where Christmas is vital. If Jesus of Nazareth is just a Jewish carpenter who had an unlucky day on Good Friday, his death is a tragedy that would only pay for his own sin – if he was perfect. But if Jesus is God incarnate…
… if Christmas was when God put on skin, it changes everything. That death was not only sufficient to pay the debt of one rebel; it is infinitely valuable as the sacrifice of God Himself to pay the debt of every rebel, whose nature He took upon Himself.
Easter’s huge, but it’s nothing without Christmas.
Have you thought of yourself as a rebel? A traitor against God’s leadership?
Have you thought of the punishment due?
Have you accepted the rescue, the ransom offered by Jesus?
If so, take some time and give thanks for Good Friday and Easter.
If not, what keeps you from receiving the gift of life Jesus offers through the cross?
December 4 The Margins
Read Luke 1.1-4
Yesterday we looked at “…the things that have been accomplished among us” and the gospel – Jesus saving us from the judgment due us. We can’t escape the reality of judgment. It is biblical and important.
But it shouldn’t be our entire motivation for embracing Jesus, either. He didn’t come to scare us into heaven; He came to bring us life and usher us into a new way of living. This is our last introductory look before we get to the texts leading to Jesus’ birth, but it is an important ‘big picture’ item that may not surface prominently in the first couple chapters of Luke. It is, however, an important theme in Luke that touches the hearts of people all over the world during the Christmas season.
God cares for the people on the margins. Bringing people from the edges of society to the center of God’s people is one of “…the things that have been accomplished among us.”
Read Luke 1.1-4
“…the things that have been accomplished among us” sounds simple enough. It could be as simple as a checked-off To-Do List. Groceries. Check. Bank. Check. Take out the trash. Check. Things accomplished.
I don’t want to kill the momentum of the Advent season by making our eternal dwelling the first four verses of Luke’s gospel. At the same time, we want some context for the stories on the horizon. As we see the detailed brush strokes of Jesus’ arrival, we have to remember there are limits to the canvas. It is a story within a grander story.
Some of these elements will come out as we look at each passage, but over the next couple days I want to hit some big picture features we don’t want to overlook.
As I mentioned, Jesus’ arrival is a story within a story. God had promised a Messiah. This Messiah would save His people. Not just Israel, but He would make a way for the nations to worship God.
This might sound contradictory to what I said a couple days ago, but the culmination of the gospel story is Good Friday and Easter. Advent is the beginning that makes it possible. But Advent isn’t a preliminary. It is essential.
Mankind is broken. We don’t work the way we’re intended to work. You can’t fix yourself when you’re broken, either. We’re in trouble. It isn’t that we’re just stuck as broken that puts us in trouble. Our brokenness is actually rebellion. We want to live for ourselves, fix ourselves, save ourselves instead of finding healing in worshiping God, our Creator. We want to be self-sufficient – or at least choose and/or make our own Saviors. In a word, we’re rebels.
God would have every right (it’s odd to type something as obvious as the Creator having rights) to write us off. But He doesn’t. There are two reasons. First, God is just. While we may overlook injustice (unless we’re the wronged party J), God is perfect and cannot overlook injustice. His character requires that He punish it.
Next, God doesn’t write us off because He is merciful and He loves us and He created us to enjoy Him. He intends to see that it happens.
But there’s this chasm. Our rebellion separates us from Him. We don’t have anything in common. We’re as different as whales and mice (I’m open to a better comparison, by the way). There’s only the remotest similarity. Otherwise, the two just don’t meet.
We can’t cross the chasm. We’re broken. And we don’t want to. We’re rebels. But God does. He sends His Son, the Messiah, in the form of a rebel (a Galilean Jew) and yet who does not live His life as a rebel, but faithfully. More than faithful, He is a model of how to live a God-honoring, God-empowered life.
But Jesus is more than example of how to live. He does what none of us could do on our own. As rebels we deserve a rebel’s punishment. Death.
Before I continue, there’s something fascinating about Jesus. Some people want to check out now because they think I’m talking about them. Far from God and not living how they should. Others are thinking, “He’s talking about someone else because I have this thing wired.” Luke’s gospel seems to indicate Jesus would think both are wrong.
Those who think they’re far from God and are broken, who can smell death, and yet are longing for rescue … Jesus is near you and wants to bring you hope and wholeness.
For those who think they’re close and like to think about how bad everyone else is, Jesus generally has some salty words for you.
Sorry for the rabbit trail. Back to rebels deserving death. We’re all born rebels deserving death … and we continue to choose that way as long as we think we’re running our lives and making the rules. If you haven’t grappled with your rebellious heart, you haven’t grappled with the gospel.
So as rebels deserving death, Jesus, in the form of a rebel – yet without the rebellion – takes the rebel’s punishment for all of us. He was innocent, but dies a criminal’s death.
Rebellion must be punished. God’s justice demands it. But His love bears it. Jesus takes the punishment for all of us.
This is where Christmas is vital. If Jesus of Nazareth is just a Jewish carpenter who had an unlucky day on Good Friday, his death is a tragedy that would only pay for his own sin – if he was perfect. But if Jesus is God incarnate…
… if Christmas was when God put on skin, it changes everything. That death was not only sufficient to pay the debt of one rebel; it is infinitely valuable as the sacrifice of God Himself to pay the debt of every rebel, whose nature He took upon Himself.
Easter’s huge, but it’s nothing without Christmas.
Have you thought of yourself as a rebel? A traitor against God’s leadership?
Have you thought of the punishment due?
Have you accepted the rescue, the ransom offered by Jesus?
If so, take some time and give thanks for Good Friday and Easter.
If not, what keeps you from receiving the gift of life Jesus offers through the cross?
December 4 The Margins
Read Luke 1.1-4
Yesterday we looked at “…the things that have been accomplished among us” and the gospel – Jesus saving us from the judgment due us. We can’t escape the reality of judgment. It is biblical and important.
But it shouldn’t be our entire motivation for embracing Jesus, either. He didn’t come to scare us into heaven; He came to bring us life and usher us into a new way of living. This is our last introductory look before we get to the texts leading to Jesus’ birth, but it is an important ‘big picture’ item that may not surface prominently in the first couple chapters of Luke. It is, however, an important theme in Luke that touches the hearts of people all over the world during the Christmas season.
God cares for the people on the margins. Bringing people from the edges of society to the center of God’s people is one of “…the things that have been accomplished among us.”
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
The Testimony to Incarnation (Section 1a of the Nameless Luke Advent Thingee)
Trust Scripture
On Sunday evening I was speaking with a man who blows off the Bible because it is written by men. My two year-old boy was with me so it wasn’t an opportunity for deep conversation, but Luke’s gospel begins with something that can help us walk through this objection.
Read Luke 1.1-4
Before we move on, did you grab your Bible and read it? This daily exercise will be built around Luke 1-2. Be sure to read the Scriptures each day because they are the tool the Holy Spirit uses to help us connect with Jesus.
In fact, this brief passage highlights Luke’s care in assembling an orderly account of Jesus’ story. The good news. Gospel. We’re going to spend a couple days looking at the broad implications of the “good news,” but before we do, Luke’s introduction is a perfect time to be reminded that we can trust God’s Word, the Bible.
An imperfect recollection from one of my seminary classes has proved more helpful to me than simply quoting Scripture, which is more than sufficient if you believe it is inspired. This will hopefully help remind you why you should believe it is inspired.
As we prepare to walk through Luke as God’s Word, I want you to trust His Word. If you struggle with trusting it, let me know if this process helps.
Why should we trust the gospels?
· They were written shortly after the events, particularly by ancient standards & in an oral culture.
· Two gospels were written by close associates (Matthew & John), one was written by a no-name, but had Peter’s backing to it (Mark), and one guy was Paul’s associate (Luke). Remember, Luke said eyewitness and researched accounts.
· Interestingly, there are no “made up” names for the gospel writers that would make it more acceptable.
· There are embarrassing things in the gospels if you’re trying to prove Jesus is the Son of God (e.g., Jesus not knowing the time of His return). You don’t short sell a guy when you’re trying to get everyone to “buy-in.” The authors are honest – even making themselves look foolish at times (Matthew 16.).
· There are things absent from the gospels that would have been helpful in solving early church issues – circumcision, Jew/Gentile – but the authors don’t put those issues in Jesus’ teaching narratives.
· These guys had nothing to gain from their story except death and suffering. And they held to the truth. There was no political gain. Eleven of the twelve were martyred, according to church history.
This is just scratching the surface. From here we would see what Jesus thought of the Scriptures, how Jesus promised further revelation, and how several New Testament Scriptures recognize God speaking through different authors.
But don’t forget. This research is given by Luke so Theophilus might have certainty about the things he’s heard. That’s a challenge in a skeptical world. What keeps you from certainty? In trusting the Scriptures? In trusting Jesus?
I hope there’s more ‘inspirational’ content to come (Who knows? I’m doing this day-to-day!), but this is a crucial starting point. The Bible is written so we can grasp the reality that God has come in the flesh in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth.
Will you trust the testimony of the Scriptures and try to live it?
If you’re not sure, would you at least be open to the possibility that God might speak to you through the Bible and through the Jesus the Bible reveals?
Please share any thoughts, questions, etc… you might have.
On Sunday evening I was speaking with a man who blows off the Bible because it is written by men. My two year-old boy was with me so it wasn’t an opportunity for deep conversation, but Luke’s gospel begins with something that can help us walk through this objection.
Read Luke 1.1-4
Before we move on, did you grab your Bible and read it? This daily exercise will be built around Luke 1-2. Be sure to read the Scriptures each day because they are the tool the Holy Spirit uses to help us connect with Jesus.
In fact, this brief passage highlights Luke’s care in assembling an orderly account of Jesus’ story. The good news. Gospel. We’re going to spend a couple days looking at the broad implications of the “good news,” but before we do, Luke’s introduction is a perfect time to be reminded that we can trust God’s Word, the Bible.
An imperfect recollection from one of my seminary classes has proved more helpful to me than simply quoting Scripture, which is more than sufficient if you believe it is inspired. This will hopefully help remind you why you should believe it is inspired.
As we prepare to walk through Luke as God’s Word, I want you to trust His Word. If you struggle with trusting it, let me know if this process helps.
Why should we trust the gospels?
· They were written shortly after the events, particularly by ancient standards & in an oral culture.
· Two gospels were written by close associates (Matthew & John), one was written by a no-name, but had Peter’s backing to it (Mark), and one guy was Paul’s associate (Luke). Remember, Luke said eyewitness and researched accounts.
· Interestingly, there are no “made up” names for the gospel writers that would make it more acceptable.
· There are embarrassing things in the gospels if you’re trying to prove Jesus is the Son of God (e.g., Jesus not knowing the time of His return). You don’t short sell a guy when you’re trying to get everyone to “buy-in.” The authors are honest – even making themselves look foolish at times (Matthew 16.).
· There are things absent from the gospels that would have been helpful in solving early church issues – circumcision, Jew/Gentile – but the authors don’t put those issues in Jesus’ teaching narratives.
· These guys had nothing to gain from their story except death and suffering. And they held to the truth. There was no political gain. Eleven of the twelve were martyred, according to church history.
This is just scratching the surface. From here we would see what Jesus thought of the Scriptures, how Jesus promised further revelation, and how several New Testament Scriptures recognize God speaking through different authors.
But don’t forget. This research is given by Luke so Theophilus might have certainty about the things he’s heard. That’s a challenge in a skeptical world. What keeps you from certainty? In trusting the Scriptures? In trusting Jesus?
I hope there’s more ‘inspirational’ content to come (Who knows? I’m doing this day-to-day!), but this is a crucial starting point. The Bible is written so we can grasp the reality that God has come in the flesh in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth.
Will you trust the testimony of the Scriptures and try to live it?
If you’re not sure, would you at least be open to the possibility that God might speak to you through the Bible and through the Jesus the Bible reveals?
Please share any thoughts, questions, etc… you might have.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Introduction to the Nameless Luke Advent Thingee
I’m haunted as I write this. OK. Maybe that’s a little over-dramatic, but something’s up. I’ve been a Christian for more than half my life now. I’ve known the Christmas story for longer than that. As a pastor, I’ve taught through the birth narratives – a few times. I’ve gone to seminary. I understand this.
But something different is happening this year. I’m coming to grips with the reality that I may not have the grip on this stuff I thought I had. Last year a friend shared a video from The Advent Conspiracy. It was compelling and it got me to thinking. Then this Christmas our church decided to do it. I’ve been preparing the teaching series and showing the DVD curriculum in a couple smaller groups. There’s a challenge to “remain in the gospel” during this busy season.
Certainly I want to stay focused on Jesus amid the cultural clutter of the season. That’s challenge enough and the Advent Conspiracy is proving a great tool for at least starting to wade through some of the challenges of keeping Christ central during Christmas.
Yet a thought started materializing last night at small group. I take Jesus for granted. Christmas is important for gifts and making Easter possible. Eternity hangs on Good Friday and Easter, but I give limited attention to Christmas.
It’s odd. I’ve taught on it. I’ve emphasized it. But I don’t know that I’ve dwelt in the incarnation. I haven’t soaked in the reality that the Eternal God took on flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. I take it as a given.
It shouldn’t be. I want to dwell in the incarnation, but, to be honest, I don’t know what to do about it. Instead of letting it pass, I’m going to try to wade through the first couple chapters of Luke for the month of December. I can't think of a worse time to do this. The season is crazy and this is going to be a big chunk of work - if I manage to keep up. But if it helps me (and hopefully others) stay focused during the season, it'll be worth it.
I’ve taught through these texts in our small group so it’s familiar territory, but I hope it will be particularly helpful during the Advent season for living in the gospel of Jesus and being formed by the incarnation. That’s my prayer for myself and, hopefully, for others.
If you’re interested in joining in, survey the scene for the next few weeks. Read Luke 1-2.
Please feel free to jot notes and insights on the reading - or questions, too - so we can share this experience together.
But something different is happening this year. I’m coming to grips with the reality that I may not have the grip on this stuff I thought I had. Last year a friend shared a video from The Advent Conspiracy. It was compelling and it got me to thinking. Then this Christmas our church decided to do it. I’ve been preparing the teaching series and showing the DVD curriculum in a couple smaller groups. There’s a challenge to “remain in the gospel” during this busy season.
Certainly I want to stay focused on Jesus amid the cultural clutter of the season. That’s challenge enough and the Advent Conspiracy is proving a great tool for at least starting to wade through some of the challenges of keeping Christ central during Christmas.
Yet a thought started materializing last night at small group. I take Jesus for granted. Christmas is important for gifts and making Easter possible. Eternity hangs on Good Friday and Easter, but I give limited attention to Christmas.
It’s odd. I’ve taught on it. I’ve emphasized it. But I don’t know that I’ve dwelt in the incarnation. I haven’t soaked in the reality that the Eternal God took on flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. I take it as a given.
It shouldn’t be. I want to dwell in the incarnation, but, to be honest, I don’t know what to do about it. Instead of letting it pass, I’m going to try to wade through the first couple chapters of Luke for the month of December. I can't think of a worse time to do this. The season is crazy and this is going to be a big chunk of work - if I manage to keep up. But if it helps me (and hopefully others) stay focused during the season, it'll be worth it.
I’ve taught through these texts in our small group so it’s familiar territory, but I hope it will be particularly helpful during the Advent season for living in the gospel of Jesus and being formed by the incarnation. That’s my prayer for myself and, hopefully, for others.
If you’re interested in joining in, survey the scene for the next few weeks. Read Luke 1-2.
Please feel free to jot notes and insights on the reading - or questions, too - so we can share this experience together.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)