*** Please Note, before you go further, you may want to download or have handy "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "Silent Night".***
Opening Question:
What is your favorite Christmas song?
One of my favorite Christmas songs is “Hark! The Herald Angles Sing”. Why? Because without even listening to the words, there just seems like there is so much power and greatness in the way it they sing it. (Play Audio Clip - 1st Stanza only)
As powerful as the way the sing the song, if you take a minute and pay attention to the words, the real power and greatness is in the words.
So today, I want to take a look at 2 popular Christmas songs – “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Silent Night”. I want to look at what do these songs really communicate and how that information can impact our lives.
Scripture
“Hark! The Herald Angles Sing” (Play Audio Clip)
1. What is the message here? What is being said?
I
t’s talking about a new born King and that through this King there will be peace on earth. Lastly, it talks about how, because of this King, God and sinners will be reconciled
2. Does this correlate with the Bible at all?
Yes, in Luke 2:10-16
It talks about a Messiah/Savior being born (v. 10-11). That correlates with the “new born King” and “God and sinners reconciled” part. As a Messiah was a savior who would bring salvation to the Jewish people (funny thing is that Christ brought salvation to everyone, just the Jews). This Messiah would also be King. Also, this passage talks about peace on earth. It says that the heavenly hosts praised God and said, “on earth peace to men..”
So, this song clearly has a message in it. That message is found in the Bible as well. It is a message of Hope that a Savior will come and bring reconciliation.
Let’s check out another popular Christmas song
“Silent Night” (Play Audio Clip)
1. What is the message here? What is being said?
It’s talking about Christ the savior being born. That this baby is the son of God’s love and that in this baby is redemption and grace.
2. Does this correlate with the Bible at all?
Yes, John 3:16-17: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
God loved us so much that he sent his son into this world. Jesus came offering Grace. He didn’t come into this world to condemn the world but to save it. Rather, he offered redemption and salvation by believing in Him.
Again, this song clearly had a message in it. That message, too, can be found in the Bible. It is a message of Hope that God wants to save us from our present condition. That he gives us grace and salvation.
Application
So again, the message in these songs is a message of Hope that involves love, salvation, reconciliation and grace.
This is the Gospel story – the Good News!
In this we have HOPE.
- Hope that God loves us despite what we have done in the past – Love and Grace
- Hope that God has the Power to save and help in all situations – Salvation
- Hope that God freely gives us grace and love – Reconciliation
As I said in the beginning, a lot of songs you sing this Christmas sound powerful, but you will realize that the true power is in the words that talk about God’s amazing gift to us – His son that has given us so much hope.
Is there 1 thing you can do this week to rest in that hope? Whether it is picking up a Bible and reading the story of Christ’s birth, or getting all the old Christmas hymns together and listening to them and examining the words of hope in them, or it might be putting your trust in Christ for the 1st time by believing and committing to Christ.
All the Carols sung and Christmas traditions followed, good deeds done for others, presents given to others mean nothing unless we individually and humbly recognize our own bankruptcy before God in our sin and our need to RECEIVE Jesus as our Lord. If you have never put your hope and trust in God, I challenge you to reflect this Christmas season on the hope that is found in God.
Whatever it might be, I want you to take 1 minute and think of 1 thing you can do this week to rest in God’s hope found in Christ’s birth.
Whatever it was, I want to encourage you to tell a friend and share your application with them. We’ll never be able to know God’s hope and power unless we leave here today and follow through with it.
In fact, for all of us, this Christmas, let’s live our lives with that hope comes from God and God alone.
Pray
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
Christ and his Family Tree
Opening Question:
Family trees. What’s the point of tracing your heritage? What’s the point of looking at family trees?
I have found out that most of the time, you can find out some interesting facts about your family when you do a family tree. In fact, this isn’t dating way back, but looking at Anne’s family tree, we were able to look back at her ancestors. And, did you know that Anne’s Great grandfather was the President/Prime Minister of Yugoslavia? He was. He was the Prime Minister from 1932-1934. Look him up on the web – Milan Srskic. I know that is Anne’s dad’s name, but that was also the name of her great grandfather. To go a little bit more, Anne’s grandfather was very influential in politics and was making some noise when, one day, he went to work never to return. Anne’s dad ended up being sent over to America where some relatives took him in at a very young age. He’s never been back to that area until this past spring.
You find out a lot about people based on their history. They are who they are today based on life experiences and the people in their lives.
Today, we are going to look at another family tree. Since it is Christmas season, I thought it would be good to look at the whose who of Jesus’ past. What do we learn from Jesus’ family tree? Who were some of the cast of characters in Jesus’ past? Let’s find out.
Scripture
I’m not going to read you the whole family history of Jesus. However, I want to highlight some people from Jesus’ family tree:
1. Ruth (Matthew 1:5 – Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,)
What do we know about Ruth? (Genesis 19:30-38; Ruth 1-4)
She was born through a history of incest. That’s right, her relative got her dad, Lot, drunk so that he ended up sleeping with her and got her pregnant so she could have a baby. Out of that history, years later, she was born.
2. David (Matthew 1:6 – and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,)
- What do we know about David? (Read 1 Samuel 16,17; 2 Samuel 11)
He killed Goliath and became King of Israel – not bad
Then he used his power, as King, to have an affair with a soldier’s wife. Once he found out that she was pregnant, he assured that the soldier – her husband – would be killed in battle by having him placed on the front lines of battle – not so good
3. Tamar (Matthew 1:3 – Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,)
- What do we know about Tamar? (Genesis 38:6-16)
Tamar was frustrated with being without a child. After all, her 2 previous husbands were killed.
So, she took matters into her own hands, prostituted herself and became pregnant by her dead husband’s father
This doesn’t look like the family line of God does it? It looks more like the Hall of Shame than the Hall of Champions.
Now trust me, there are plenty of other people in his lineage that weren’t like these. But these are just 3 I selected here. In fact, what does this show you about Jesus’ history? How do you think having these people in Jesus’ life impacted him? (Let students answer)
It impacted his life enough because he committed his life to helping others – in particular, people who were the social outcasts.
Application
Jesus comes from a lineage of outcasts, fallen kings and prostitutes. They aren’t all those types of people, but there are enough of them to show you that he wasn’t raised from Kings and trained to be royalty. No, he was raised from normal people, with everyday struggles.
To me, that means that he can relate to us. He understands us.
Although he was destined to be king, he wasn’t trained to be above us or raised to by royalty. No, he grew up from a carpenter dad who probably struggled to make ends meet. He grew up from mom who probably had to escape rumors about her infidelity. After all, who has ever heard of a virgin giving birth?
Not only did he grow up with it, but he dedicated his life to ministering to the outcasts, the “people that didn’t matter”.
So, as you go home today, I want you to take this home: Jesus can relate to the circumstances you are in. He understands what you go through. How? Because he lived through it and grew up with it.
Jesus isn’t someone who is “too good” for you who looks down on you when you mess up. He is someone who can relate to you and help you through all things.
Hebrews 2:18 – "Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted."
He knows what you are going through and he can help you through it all.
The question you will have to answer now is, will you let him? Will you let him come into your life and help you through it, one day at a time? Or will you brush him aside and continue to take your chance at your way?
Remember, as I pointed out at the beginning, you are today based on life experiences and your history. Starting this week, let’s change our experiences and the course of our history by putting 100% trust into Christ and his ability to help us and lead us. Let’s not waste another day, week, month or year. He knows what you are going through and can help you through it. Let’s put our trust in Him.
Pray
Family trees. What’s the point of tracing your heritage? What’s the point of looking at family trees?
I have found out that most of the time, you can find out some interesting facts about your family when you do a family tree. In fact, this isn’t dating way back, but looking at Anne’s family tree, we were able to look back at her ancestors. And, did you know that Anne’s Great grandfather was the President/Prime Minister of Yugoslavia? He was. He was the Prime Minister from 1932-1934. Look him up on the web – Milan Srskic. I know that is Anne’s dad’s name, but that was also the name of her great grandfather. To go a little bit more, Anne’s grandfather was very influential in politics and was making some noise when, one day, he went to work never to return. Anne’s dad ended up being sent over to America where some relatives took him in at a very young age. He’s never been back to that area until this past spring.
You find out a lot about people based on their history. They are who they are today based on life experiences and the people in their lives.
Today, we are going to look at another family tree. Since it is Christmas season, I thought it would be good to look at the whose who of Jesus’ past. What do we learn from Jesus’ family tree? Who were some of the cast of characters in Jesus’ past? Let’s find out.
Scripture
I’m not going to read you the whole family history of Jesus. However, I want to highlight some people from Jesus’ family tree:
1. Ruth (Matthew 1:5 – Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,)
What do we know about Ruth? (Genesis 19:30-38; Ruth 1-4)
She was born through a history of incest. That’s right, her relative got her dad, Lot, drunk so that he ended up sleeping with her and got her pregnant so she could have a baby. Out of that history, years later, she was born.
2. David (Matthew 1:6 – and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,)
- What do we know about David? (Read 1 Samuel 16,17; 2 Samuel 11)
He killed Goliath and became King of Israel – not bad
Then he used his power, as King, to have an affair with a soldier’s wife. Once he found out that she was pregnant, he assured that the soldier – her husband – would be killed in battle by having him placed on the front lines of battle – not so good
3. Tamar (Matthew 1:3 – Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,)
- What do we know about Tamar? (Genesis 38:6-16)
Tamar was frustrated with being without a child. After all, her 2 previous husbands were killed.
So, she took matters into her own hands, prostituted herself and became pregnant by her dead husband’s father
This doesn’t look like the family line of God does it? It looks more like the Hall of Shame than the Hall of Champions.
Now trust me, there are plenty of other people in his lineage that weren’t like these. But these are just 3 I selected here. In fact, what does this show you about Jesus’ history? How do you think having these people in Jesus’ life impacted him? (Let students answer)
It impacted his life enough because he committed his life to helping others – in particular, people who were the social outcasts.
Application
Jesus comes from a lineage of outcasts, fallen kings and prostitutes. They aren’t all those types of people, but there are enough of them to show you that he wasn’t raised from Kings and trained to be royalty. No, he was raised from normal people, with everyday struggles.
To me, that means that he can relate to us. He understands us.
Although he was destined to be king, he wasn’t trained to be above us or raised to by royalty. No, he grew up from a carpenter dad who probably struggled to make ends meet. He grew up from mom who probably had to escape rumors about her infidelity. After all, who has ever heard of a virgin giving birth?
Not only did he grow up with it, but he dedicated his life to ministering to the outcasts, the “people that didn’t matter”.
So, as you go home today, I want you to take this home: Jesus can relate to the circumstances you are in. He understands what you go through. How? Because he lived through it and grew up with it.
Jesus isn’t someone who is “too good” for you who looks down on you when you mess up. He is someone who can relate to you and help you through all things.
Hebrews 2:18 – "Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted."
He knows what you are going through and he can help you through it all.
The question you will have to answer now is, will you let him? Will you let him come into your life and help you through it, one day at a time? Or will you brush him aside and continue to take your chance at your way?
Remember, as I pointed out at the beginning, you are today based on life experiences and your history. Starting this week, let’s change our experiences and the course of our history by putting 100% trust into Christ and his ability to help us and lead us. Let’s not waste another day, week, month or year. He knows what you are going through and can help you through it. Let’s put our trust in Him.
Pray
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