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 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” –Luke 2:34-35
Ah, nothing like warm Christmas blessings huh? Can you imagine taking your child to the temple and the most faithful priest in the whole place comes out, lays his hand on your baby, and says the child will bring about the fall of many, be opposed, and pierce your own soul? That’s not exactly the stuff of Christmas cards.
But it is Jesus; that’s his life.
Here’s a scene illustrating this in Mark 2:6-8, Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things?
This made them want to kill him. Jesus taught in Luke 6:45, The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
In the Luke 2 passage above,
Simeon is telling them that Jesus will cause the falling of many in Israel…they’ll hate him for that.
Simeon is telling them that Jesus will reveal the thought of many hearts…they’ll hate him for that.
Simeon is telling them that Jesus will be a sign that will be spoken against…they’ll hate him for that.
We see the “sign spoken against” in Luke 11:29, As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.
In the same way that the prophet Jonah went to the Ninevites and announced God’s judgment because of sin, Jesus came to announce God’s judgment because of sin. Interestingly, the Ninevites repented for a time, but the generation at the time of Jesus did not. They spoke against him as a sign from God.
That generation (those who speak against him) is still with us, even at Christmas. Do not be deceived, however, God is not mocked. In all this “speaking against,” he has the last word!
And that’s the gospel. Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
O Come, All Ye Faithful
Angels We Have Heard on High
Away in a Manger
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed theology) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!
 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” –Luke 2:8-12
Some commentators have suggested that for there to be shepherds out in the field near Bethlehem watching their flocks by night indicates these were not just any shepherds watching just any sheep. These shepherds were watching sheep all night long to make sure they stayed pure for sacrificial use at the temple. Now this is interesting. If this is the case then these guys were acutely aware of cleanness (required in the sacrifice) and uncleanness (their condition because of their job). They couldn’t ever get purified…perpetual uncleanness.
And who among us doesn’t know of his or her own perpetual uncleanness because of sin! Imagine what good news it was, and not just your garden-variety good news, but good news of great joy, that the Savior was at hand. The One who makes sinners clean has finally arrived. And not only that, but just in case you doubt it, here’s a sign to confirm: he came among the uncleanness of a barn.
And that’s the gospel. Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this fourth Sunday of Advent.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
Joy to the World!
Our Community Advent Lunch is this Sunday following the worship service. For more information, click here.
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed theology) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his face . –Genesis 17:1-3
Abram had developed a little habit of talking back to God. In chapter 16 the Lord comes to him and says, “Fear not, I am your shield and very great reward.” You’d think that would elicit a very humble, “Thank you,” but Abram protests a bit: “Oh Lord, what can you give me? I don’t have a son.” God is patient, reiterates the promise, Abram believes, and is then justified by God through faith alone. Wow!
Then in the Lord’s incomprehensible generosity, he repeats and somewhat expands the promise of the land to Abram. Again, gratefulness is in order, but Abram doubts aloud, “Oh Lord, how can I know you’ll do this?” Then we are treated to one of the top five most glorious scenes in scripture. This is where God calls covenantal curses upon himself to assure that Abram and his true children will inherit nothing less than the New Heaven and the New Earth. Upon the cross we see that those curses were upon the Lord, not because he didn’t keep his promise, but because we broke it. Wow!
Chapter 16 is the Sarai and Hagar incident, which was a really bad deal. However, apparently Abram has grown in grace a ton through it because several years later in the passage above, God comes to him again and commands him with promises. This time, at ninety-nine years old, Abram has the proper response: verse 3, “Abram fell on his face.” The Lord is long-suffering, merciful, patient, and loving with sinners he’s making into his sons and daughters…even if they don’t get it until they’re ninety-nine years old.
And that’s the gospel. Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this third Sunday of Advent.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates!
Jesus Comes with Clouds Descending
Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed Treasures) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!
 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her. –Genesis 16:3-6
Abram is a hero of the faith. There is no question about it and he is a major part of the great cloud of witnesses which inspires us to run the race set before us. Thankfully scripture includes stories of his fallibleness too. This is one of them. Sarai suggests they not believe the promises made to them and set out in their own strength and understanding. In a real way, she suggests they should justify themselves rather than wait on the Lord to do it. Rather than pastor her, Abram basically says, “Sure, whatever.”
Then, as these things are wont to do, it goes awry quickly and he has two very unhappy women on his hands. Rather than step in and pastor them both, he turns on the evening news, so-to-speak, and lets them go at each other. What a pastoral and family disaster!
Our Great Shepherd, our True Pastor, Jesus Christ is not like this. By his Spirit, he constantly reminds us of his promises when we doubt them and start leaning on our own understanding. After we mess it up, he gets involved and continues speaking to us in the word as it is preached. He never takes the hands-off approach, but leads us in paths of righteousness, because, after all, it is for his name’s sake.
And that’s the gospel. Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this second Sunday of Advent.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
O Worship the King
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed Treasures) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!
 And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other…As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him…When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.–Genesis 15:7-10, 17
Abram is very concerned about getting the land God promised him. When he asks how he can be sure he’ll get it, the Lord “cuts” a covenant with him. The animals cut apart symbolize the curse that comes at the breaking of the covenant and the fire and smoke are the Lord as he passes through the pieces. He’s done something like that before in passing through the “cut apart” Red Sea. It is as thought the Lord is saying: “Let it be unto me as it is to these animals if I don’t see this covenant through.”
As Christians we know that “the land” Abram knew was only a shadow the New Heavens and the New Earth (Rom. 4:13; Heb. 11:8-10) where all believers will live forever with Christ as a kingdom of priests. This covenant has stipulations that we have all broken by our sin. But it was not we who were made like those animals on the cross for our sins, but Christ. He suffered for our sin that he could guarantee our inheritance in the land of the New Heavens and the New Earth (Rev. 22).
And that’s the gospel. Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this first Sunday of Advent.The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
The King of Love My Shepherd Is (Psalm 23)
And Can It Be That I Should Gain
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed Treasures) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!
And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he [Abram] believed the LORD, and he [the LORD] counted it to him [Abram] as righteousness –Genesis 15:4-6
The Covenant God tells Abram that the heir is coming, and he believes God. It is as though Abram is proclaiming, “I believe you have the power to do what you’ve promised, and I believe you have the character, the righteousness, to follow through.”
But we might want to know what is the “it” in verse 6? Many of us make the mistake of believing that the antecedent of “it” (of what “it” is referring back to) is Abram’s act of believing. But that’s not right: you have to go back one extra step to find that “it” is the promise of the heir. So if we filled in the pronouns, the verse might read, “Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord credited the promise of the heir to Abram as righteousness.” The blessing of the heir was credited to Abram, and God credited it to him as righteousness. And we know that the heir is Jesus, the true son of blessing. Thus Jesus’ words in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.”
And that’s the gospel. Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Christ the King (it is Christ the King Sunday, the final Sunday of the church year–Advent begins next week).
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Rejoice, the Lord is King
Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart
Crown Him with Many Crowns
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed Treasures) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!
 After Abram’s return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) –Genesis 14:17, 18
How fantastic that when Abram gets back from the battle that God fights for him, God then sends a priest out to serve Abram communion! And this is not just any priest, Hebrews 7 tells us this priest has the “power of an indestructible life,” by which Jesus himself derives his priesthood! This is a feast to celebrate the victory of God.
In every covenant-renewal worship service, the drama is unfolded again: Christ defeats all his and our enemies at the cross, makes us co-victors with him (not that it was by our might or power), and then serves us bread and wine in communion with him. When we go to that feast to celebrate the victory of God, we need not fear the King of Sodom or anyone else, for God Most High, Possessor of Heaven and Earth, is satisfied to look on Christ and pardon us.
And that’s the gospel. Come hear it preached and enacted in the victory feast with Jesus this Sunday.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
All Creatures of Our God and King
The Beatitudes
To God Be the Glory
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed Treasures) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!
 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you. –Genesis 13:14-17
The Genesis 13 story is a fascinating account of Abram believing the gospel (the promises God made to him) such that he was able to be meek (not fight for his cause and rights) to bring an end to strife. He was not ruled by his ambitions, wealth, reputation, or power. He was a man, as Isaac Watts paraphrased the beatitude, “of peaceful life who quenched the coals of growing strife.” And just think, he was in the right! He gave up his right to be right.
And so in the passage above, God takes him to a high place and shows him all that he didn’t take that was actually his.
That’s good, but there’s something better. Satan took Jesus to a high place and showed him all that was actually Jesus’, but Jesus didn’t take it. Jesus was not ruled by his wealth, reputation, or power. And he more than anyone gave up his right to be right, so that he would make us right. The meek shall inherit the earth.
And that’s the gospel. Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Be Thou My Vision
Our Community Lunch is this Sunday. For more information, contact us here.
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed Treasures) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!
 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. –Hebrews 12:1, 2
This Sunday, November 1, is traditionally All Saints Sunday. Many Protestants have been understandably wary of calling attention to a day like that because of prayers to saints and similar practices. Yet scripture bodly commends to us in both the Older and Newer Testaments to consider those who have run the race before us and to receive inspiration and comfort from their victories in Jesus with the joy that comes from knowing they are with him. We are responsible for telling of his greatness from one generation to another.
Looking again at the passage above, the “therefore” is there to connect the conclusion with the reason. The reason is chapter 11 where the saints are commended for their living by faith in the promises of God, most of which they did not experience in their time on earth. In other words, they did not have their best life in the “now.” That’s the reason, but the conclusion is that we lay aside every weight, and sin, and run with endurance. At this point the writer does not point us to the saint-ish folks, but to the One True Saint, Jesus. He is the beginning (founder) and end (perfecter) of our faith and didn’t have his best life in the now (cross and shame) either.
And that’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven
For All the Saints
Amazing Grace
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed Treasures) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!
For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. –Hebrews 6:13-15
And God has kept that promise in Christ, who ensures the Promised Land we will live in with him as a kingdom of priests forever, who is the Promised Son that leads us in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake, and who has the Name that is above every name.
That’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the Supper with Jesus this Sunday.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Holy, Holy, Holy!
Lead On, O King Eternal
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed Treasures) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!
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And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” –Luke 2:34-35
