The Hope That Christmas Offers

Matthew 1:18-25  This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement[a] quietly.

As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,[b] for he will save his people from their sins.”

All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Imagine if you can what it would be like to be a guest in somebodies home but never feeling at home. Grateful to have a place to stay but quietly hoping to one day be in your own home. You have been given freedom to make yourself at home yet you still never feel 100% free. Have you ever been there?

It makes me think of Jim and Tami Webb who confidently and graciously responded to God’s call to sell their house and follow God to New Jersey. They gave up the comfort of a house they had raised their children in and for years now they have been living with another family they had only really known for a few months.

They made it work but they wondered when they could finally have a place here that they could call home. They moved out of one house that was shared with another family to a house that was owned by another. They couldn’t truly settle in because there was no promise they could be there long term and then sure enough they were given a few months to get out.

Hope came in a strange way but at least there was hope. They received a gift from an unexpected source and found a house that they could move in. Now finally after a year they were able to unpack the boxes that they packed in Florida. They were able to finally find a home they could call their own.

The name Jesus was chosen by God for his Son, it was a common name of that day but its meaning was very special. Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua. It means “Yahweh is Salvation.” The Lord is salvation was the name given for centuries to little Jewish boys similar to how we today name boys John or Mike.

It reflects the hope of these Jewish parents for one day experiencing God’s salvation. For centuries the Jewish people had been “houseguest” and they were never truly free. Centuries of oppression under a succession of world powers was their only experience. So God’s choice of such a common name when He could have chosen anything helps us see a glimpse into the heart of God.

Jesus came for all of us. He came in a way that identified with the “average Joe.” I read this quote and I think it sums up perfectly as we consider these thoughts today:

“He came in love to become one of us, so that we might be drawn to Him and become one of His.”

So find Hope today in knowing that He came!

LIVE ON FACEBOOK

Instead of services on Sunday morning watch for us on Grace Falls Facebook for a Live Christmas Day devotion from Pastor Buff McNickle. We pray that it encourages you and that you and your family will have a blessed Christmas

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The Reason For The Season

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Luke 1:67-79 Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:

68 "Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people. 69 He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of His servant David, 70 just as He promised through His holy prophets long ago.

71 Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. 72 He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering His sacred covenant-- 73 the covenant He swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham.

74 We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.

76 "And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. 77 You will tell His people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins.

78 Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace."

The world cannot come up with enough ways to distract us from the real reason that we celebrate at this time of year. At first everybody probably knew what the celebration was all about, just about everybody in the United States knew who Jesus is, but in today's world it has become so bad that I am sure that there are people that have never heard about the special baby that is the real reason for the celebration.

Christmas is not supposed to be synonymous with chestnuts roasting on an open fire or other warm, fuzzy feelings. Christmas is a lot messier than that. Christmas is about a very ugly situation that God wanted to make right. Christmas deals with the messy fact that sinners need to be rescued from God’s judgment.

Zechariah's prophecy shows a lot of insight to the reason that Jesus stepped out of heaven and came to be "God with us."

Salvation is God’s doing, not our doing.

Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Emmanuel, "God with us," happened because of God's own plan, he was reaching out to us with a purpose out of his own motivation. We didn't deserve to have him reach out to us and we didn't go searching for Him. We like to think that we are in control but the Bible makes it clear that God orders everything, controls everything, and rules over everything and our salvation is his doing. (Daniel 4:35)

Salvation is accomplished through the person of Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity--the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.

Although Jesus' name is not mentioned specifically in Zechariah's prophecy, He is described so clearly that there is no mistake who He is talking about. The Old Testament prophet called Him the sun of righteousness that will rise with healing in its wings. Jesus claimed that He is the way to God the Father and there isn't any other way. (Malachi 4:2)

Salvation results in a life of holy service to God.

Titus 2:12 And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God.

Does your salvation have any affect on the way that you live? Zachariah says, “we have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.” (Luke 1:74-75).

People who think they’re saved but who live for themselves and their own happiness to the neglect of God and their neighbors are deceived. The gospel should make a difference in your daily life if you really agree with God that you were hopeless without him and if you really agree with God about your sin. Jesus said that to love Him is to obey Him.

Our greatest need at Christmas time is not for more things, neither is it for personal fulfillment, our greatest need is not even for the love of family and friends. The greatest need that Christmas wants to meet is for our salvation.

It is easy to allow the celebration to cover-up what we are celebrating. The world loves a party and they love to get free stuff but what most of them do not know is why in the world are we partying and why does it really matter.

We need to live on mission and tell the people that we have influence with that there is a real reason to party.

Nothing To Offer?

Pastor Buff has encouraged the Grace Falls family to participate in the small-group study of the book, “Life On Mission,” by Dustin Willis and Aaron Coe. One of the two home groups at Grace Falls is led by my husband Jim and myself. Our group is comprised of believers who have been saved for decades but have never been intentional about sharing the Gospel and that includes myself.

It was evident that we were each struggling to learn how to become more intentional and we soon realized that the root of our struggle was that we were not “looking” to see where and how God is moving in our midst.

One of the ladies from this group also joins Cissy McNickle and myself as we visit the girls at the local clubs once a month in Atlantic City. On November 18, as we got into the car and prepared to head to the clubs, this woman confessed that she did not like participating in this ministry, but God would not give her peace not to. She began to describe how she felt that she was too old and did not have any way to relate to any of these girls, therefore felt that she was of no use to this ministry team. Cissy encouraged her and reminded her that God calls us to be faithful not perfect.

I was very excited about the gift we were sharing that night. It featured holiday recipes and notes of encouragement that had been submitted by nearly 20 different women who pray for this ministry. I tried to encourage our friend that the gift would serve as an easy source to start a conversation with these girls.

It was after we returned to the car after visiting our second club that our friend said, “Did you happen to notice what happened to me in there?" With concern, Cissy and I turned to make eye contact with her as she began to describe her experience. She told us that while we were busy speaking with others in the dressing room, Irene, the make-up artist asked her to step into the bathroom with her. There in a quiet corner our friend had the privilege to pray with her!

Our discouraged friend that had enough courage to admit to us that she didn't have anything to offer was proved to be wrong. God revealed Himself to her as a reminder that she is useful and that she just needed to open her eyes to see Him!

That may not seem like much to you, but in that moment we felt like Peter must have felt when Jesus called him to walk on the water. We need to be like Peter and get out of the boat when we are told but when we get out we must continue to keep our eyes on Jesus if we are going to live life on mission.

Keep us in your prayers as we go back to the clubs at 7:30 p.m. on December 17th.

Digging Into God's Word

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Psalms 19:7-11 The instructions of the LORD are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight for living. Reverence for the LORD is pure, lasting forever.

The laws of the LORD are true; each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to Your servant, a great reward for those who obey them.

Psalms 119:72 Your instructions are more valuable to me than millions in gold and silver.

Psalms 119:162 I rejoice in Your word like one who discovers a great treasure.

The word's "Bible study" don't sound like very much fun to most people, mention the word "Bible" and they think of a big boring book, mention the word "study" and most of us think of doing something difficult like a final exam. Both of those words sound a lot like the word "work."

Work is what it will probably be for you if you are just beginning to develop the spiritual discipline of reading the Bible. If you view work as something that should be avoided then you will probably never dig in and discover the treasure in the Bible. Just because it takes some work doesn't mean that the Bible should sit on the shelf.

Most of us spend a lot of time working at something so that we will be successful. It could be a career or a hobby that motivates us to labor towards a goal. Those who desire to find the treasures in God's word must dig for them.

This is a long term commitment to digging, it is similar to a miner digging for treasure hidden in the earth, if you dig for a short time then you may not get any jewels. It may take a while to get a payday and you may begin to think that the hard work isn't worth it.

Over and over again God's word proves that it is valuable, useful and beneficial. Here is a short list I found of some of the benefits that we can receive from Bible study:

✔  Revives the soul ✔  Makes us wise and gives us insight ✔  Brings joy to the heart ✔  Show us the glory of God

With benefits like that we shouldn't mind picking up the shovel and getting busy.

WHAT EXCITES YOU?

Matthew 13:44 "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. The person that bought the field knew that he had found something that was valuable enough that he should get rid of everything else that he owned so that he could buy the land and obtain the rights to the treasure that was hidden from everybody else.

In this parable Jesus tells us about the excitement that a man had when he found a hidden treasure. In his excitement he immediately made some quick decisions to help him acquire what was really important to him. The new found treasure was worth more to him that the old stuff that he used to think was valuable. Will you give up something valuable for the greater treasure that God promises for us in His word?

We pursue what we perceive as being valuable. The problem is that we tend to value the things that the world tells us to value and ignore the things that really matter. We need to have a different perspective and we need to upgrade the value of this investment and throw away the world's garbage. (Matthew 6:19-21, Philippians 3:8)