11-30-14 First Sunday of Advent: The Prophecy Candle

          I am going to be in a play this week – a musical based on the 1946 movie It’s a Wonderful Life’ produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story "The Greatest Gift", which Philip Van Doren Stern wrote in 1939 and published privately in 1945. The film is considered one of the most loved films in American cinema and has become traditional viewing during the Christmas season.

The film stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his dreams in order to help others and whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers). Clarence shows George all the lives he has touched and how different life in his community of Bedford Falls would be had he never been born.

          How would other people’s lives be effected if you had never been born – if you never existed?  I have a small family, but the world would not be blessed with my children; my son-in-law would not have his amazing wife.  There are some people who may not have come to a life saving faith in Jesus Christ.  We all could think of how others would be effected if we had never been born.   It begins to show us how much our life matters.  I am not talking about how life would be for others if we died, but if we had never been born.

          What would life be like if Jesus of Nazereth had never been born?  If the census had been taken and Mary and Joseph went there as an engaged couple. You likely would never have even heard about a town in Israel called Bethlehem. God could have waited at least another 2000 years and we would not know life abundant and eternal – we would not have intimate communion with God that we enjoy through Christ.  How do we know Jesus is God’s son?  How many other humans have had their birth prophecied and fulfilled?

1 John 4:1-2

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

          The first advent candle is about prophecy – telling that Jesus was coming into the world before he came into the world.  There are prophecies in the Jewish Bible or our Old testament, that found fulfillment in the birth of Jesus the Messiah 2,000 years ago.

Isaiah foreshadowed the virgin birth of Jesus

Bible prophecy: Isaiah 7:14
Prophecy written: Between 701-681 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 5 BC

In Isaiah 7:14, the prophet Isaiah addresses the "house of David," meaning the family and descendants of King David, and speaks of a virgin being pregnant with a child, and giving birth to the child. Isaiah says this in the context of it being a sign from God. He also says that the child would be referred to as "Immanuel," which means, "God with us."

The New Testament books of Matthew and Luke record details involving the birth of Jesus, who was born about 700 years after the time of Isaiah, saying that he was born of the virgin Mary and is the Son of God. Because he is the Son of God, Jesus literally can be referred to as "God with us."  (Remember what Joh is writing to protect the church against – Gnostic teaching).

Non-Christian scholars have challenged this interpretation. They say that the Hebrew word "almah," which is the word that Christian Bibles often translate as "virgin," actually means "young maiden" or "young woman." However, the Old Testament uses the word to refer to young, unmarried women, and that unmarried women were culturally and religiously expected to be virgins.

Isaiah 7:14: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem

Bible prophecy: Micah 5:1-2
Prophecy written: Sometime between 750-686 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 5 BC

In Micah 5:2, there is a prophecy that reveals that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the Messiah.

In the book, 100 Prophecies, by George & Ray Konig: "The prophecy is effective in a simple way: It eliminates all other cities and towns throughout the world as a place in which the Messiah could be born. It narrows the possibilities to one tiny village just south of Jerusalem."

And throughout the span of the past 27 centuries, from the days of the prophet Micah up through the present time, Bethlehem is credited as being the birthplace for only one person who is widely known throughout the world. And that person is Jesus Christ.

The New Testament books of Matthew and Luke name the town of Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus. Matthew 2:1-6 describes the birth of Jesus as the fulfillment of Micah's prophecy.  After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.  When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

In recent years, however, some non-believers have attempted to discredit Matthew's interpretation of Micah 5:2 by claiming that the prophecy refers to a person named Bethlehem, not a town name Bethlehem. This claim has been widely circulated on the Internet by a college professor who describes himself as a former Christian minister.

The first problem with this claim appears in Micah 5:1. In that verse, the prophet establishes that he is speaking of Bethlehem the town, not Bethlehem the person, by setting up a context in which he contrasts the great city of Jerusalem with the humble town of Bethlehem.

A second problem with the claim is that there is also evidence outside of the Bible that shows that Micah 5:2 was regarded as a Messianic prophecy involving the town of Bethlehem. Here is an excerpt from the Jerusalem Talmud, which is a collection of Judaism-related writings completed about 1600 years ago: "The King Messiah... from where does he come forth? From the royal city of Bethlehem in Judah." - Jerusalem Talmud, Berakoth 5a.

Micah 5:1-2:

Marshal your troops, O city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel's ruler on the cheek with a rod.  "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."

The Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah

Bible prophecy: Genesis 49:10
Prophecy written: As early as 1400 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 5 BC

In Genesis 49:10, Jacob is blessing his 12 sons. This blessing was also a prophecy. Jacob told his son Judah that his descendants would be rulers and that one of his descendants will be an ultimate ruler. According to the NIV translation: "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his." Christians acknowledge that this is a reference to Jesus Christ, whose kingdom will have no end. Jesus was born about 2000 years after Jacob died. Jesus' ancestry is traced back to Jacob's son, Judah, in Luke 3:23-34. (Joseph’s lineage) Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, (Skip further back in the linage…) the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham.

and in Matthew 1:1-16     (Mary’s lineage) This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:  Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, ³Judah the father of Perez, Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, King David.  (skip to…) Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,  and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

Genesis 49:10:  The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.

The Messiah would be a descendant of King David

Bible prophecy: Jeremiah 23:5
Prophecy written: Sometime between 626-586 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: By the birth of Jesus about 2000 years ago

In Jeremiah 23:5, as well as in other Bible prophecies, we are told that the Messiah would be a descendant of King David.

The New Testament books of Matthew and Luke trace back Jesus' genealogy to King David. (Some scholars believe that the genealogy in Matthew is Jesus' legal line, through his adoptive father, Joseph, and that the genealogy in Luke is Jesus' bloodline through Mary).

Jeremiah 23:5: "The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.

Isaiah 41:21-23 - Jehovah challenged the idols to prove they are gods. God can show us what will happen, declaring things to come hereafter. Man cannot, but God can. If idols cannot, then they are not gods.

Isaiah 42:8,9 - “I am the Lord; that is my name!   I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.  See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”

Jesus himself prophecied things that came to pass - further evidence that he is God.

John 13:19 "I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.' "From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He.

Mark 14:27-31   “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd,     and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.”  But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same.

          What if First Baptist Church of Twin Falls had never been born?  How would life in Twin Falls have been different over the past 109 years? Do you realize how important this church is to our community?  Do you know how many lives have been saved for eternity because faithful people have made sure that this church not just survives, but thrives. If you think church is just somewhere you go you are sadly mistaken.  Church is who we are and what we do with our lives that make a Jesus impact upon the world.  Because we are here, Jesus can be born in the hearts of others who may not come to know him any other way.  Praise God as FirstB brings Chirstmas to those in need.

11-23-14 Children, give thanks!

1 John 3:1-2

         How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Who here was ever a child?

Who here ever had or currently has a child or children?

Who here has grandchildren?

Who here has great grandchildren?

Proverbs 17:6  Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.

Actual prayers of Children

Dear God, if you watch in church on Sunday I'll show you my new shoes.

God, please take care of my family and take care of yourself. If anything happens to you, we're gonna be in a big mess.

Dear God, in Bible times, did they really talk that fancy?

God, maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they each had their own rooms. It works out OK with me and my brother.

God, I went to this wedding and they were kissing right there in the church. Is that OK?

Dear Jesus, It must be super hard to love all the people in the world, especially my brother.

Dear God, are you invisible or is that just a trick?

God, I want to be just like my daddy when I grow up but not so hairy.

God, did you mean for giraffes to look like that or was it an accident?

Dearest God, we read Thomas Edison made light but in Sunday school they said You did it. I bet he stole your idea.

Dear God, I didn’t think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday night. That was really cool.

Dear Lord, I don't think anybody could be a better God, and I am not just saying that because You are God already.

How awesome it is to be a child. How awesome it is to be a child and have great parents.  How awesome it is to be a child whose Father is the King – a loving caring generous King. Children of the King have much to be thankful for.

John 1:10-13

 The word/Jesus was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to

become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

7 verses of thanksgiving

Ephesians 5:20              Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18         Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Psalm 100:4                            Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

Philippians 4:6              do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Psalm 116:17                 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.

1 Corinthians 1:4           I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ.

Psalm 95:2                     Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

CONCLUSION

Psalm 8

     O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory above the heavens.  From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.  O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

11-09-14 Walkin’ in the Light

                                                          1 John 1:5-10

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

Ps 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

1 John 5a    This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you:

More messages have been sent in the past 24 hours across the globe than there had been sent between the birth of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ and the birth of “the king” Elvis Presley. What am I saying? With texts, email, facebook, not to mention a plethora of other e-mediums as well as the old letter and stamp variety and a telephone call, more messages are delivered and received then anyone in the bible could have fathomed. In verse 5 John says “This is the message…” OR the reason I am writing to you or speaking to you is this. The words are about to come that describe why he is writing a letter at all.

It is a message he and others have heard.  This is not John’s message.  This is a message from someone else that John and others have heard and want to repeat. So much so, in a day when pen and ink were not readily available, where sending a message was not a few mouse clicks or thumb types away, John thought this message was important enough to write and send and circulate so many people could hear it and do what he was doing, repeat the message for other – like I am doing for you now.

The message is one they have heard from “him” – who is “him”? 1 John 1:1-3 (appropriately from the bible version called the MESSAGE) From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in — we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands.  The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.

Therefore, this important message worth repeating is form God’s son, Jesus Christ.  Here is that message from Jesus to the early church, and to the church today: 1 John 1b God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

We know that God is many things. But the important thing to know about God at the moment is that God is light.   How important is light to our lives?   Gen 1:1-5   In the beginning

God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day. First thing created was light, because without it, darkness rules and life is not possible.

1 John 1:6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  What happens when you walk in darkness? You walk cautiously, you walk slowly, you walk blind. You run into things, trip over things, can’t find things. Walking in the dark is DANGEROUS.  If we say, we and Jesus are like this (fingers crossed) but walk in the darkness we are lying to ourselves.

1 John 1:7     But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we walk in the light, we not only get to walk with God but also know what heaven is like on earth through fellowship with each other.  And we live KNOWING our sins are wiped out by the blood of Jesus!

1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

          One of the greatest joys in life is to know you are walking well with God (walking in the light). The problem is, we get in the way.  I want you to know for certain that you are walking right with God.  Let’s experience 1 John 1:9 (pray for and declare forgiveness)

*******************  You have received that forgiveness through no effort of your own – it is the work of Jesus on the cross.  For Jesus, that work took a lot of effort.  We don’t apply effort to be forgiven, we apply effort because we are forgiven.

When Pat Riley coached the Los Angeles Lakers from 1982 to 1990, the team won four NBA championships. In taking over the New York Knicks in 1991, Riley inherited a team with a losing record. But the Knicks seemed able to play above their abilities and even gave the eventual champions, the Chicago Bulls, their hardest competition in the play-offs.

How does Riley do it? He says his talent lies in attention to detail. For example, every NBA team studies video and compiles statistics to evaluate players' game performances. But Riley's use of these tools is more comprehensive than that of his rivals. "We measure areas of performance that are often ignored: jumping in pursuit of every rebound even if you don't get it, swatting at every pass, diving for loose balls, letting someone smash into you in order to draw a foul."  After each game, these "effort" statistics are punched into a computer. "Effort," Riley explains, "is what ultimately separates journeyman players from impact players. Knowing how well a player executes all these little things is the key to unlocking career-best performances."

     Why a story on effort?  Knowing the light – even having the light is not enough – we MUST shine the light for others. We have work to do.

John 8:12    When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Matt 5:14-16        "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Keep the Light Burning

On the coast of Norway is a lighthouse where a keeper lived with his two children. One day he went to the distant shore for provisions. A storm arose, and he was unable to return. The time for lighting the lamp came, and Mary said to her little brother, "We must light the lamp, Willie." "How can we?  We ain't big enough." But the two children climbed the long, narrow stairs to the tower where the lamp was kept. Mary pulled up a chair and tried to reach the lamp in the great reflector; it was too high. Groping down the stairs, she ascended again with a small oil lamp in her hand. "I can hold this up," she said to her little brother. She climbed on the chair again, but still the reflector was just beyond her reach. "Get down," said Willie; "I know what we can do." She jumped down, and he stretched his little body across the chair. "Stand on me," he said. And she stood on the little fellow as he lay across the chair. She raised the lamp high, and its light shone far out across the water. Holding it first with one hand, then with the other, to rest her little arms, she called down to her brother, "Does it hurt you, Willie?" "Of course it hurts, but keep the light burning." Are we keeping the light of God's love burning in the world even though it hurts?

11-02-14 Through 40 years, 2 things are important!

                                                         2 John 1:1-13

Author: Unlike most NT letters, 1, 2 & 3 John do not tell us who its author is. The early church fathers: Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and Origen all recognized the writer as the apostle John.  The description of the heretics as antichrists, liars and children of the devil is consistent with Jesus’ characterization of John as a son of thunder.

Date: The letter is difficult to date with precision, but likely somewhere between a.d. 85 and 95, after the writing of the Gospel, which may have been written c. 85.

Recipients: Addressed to believers. But the letter itself does not indicate who they were or where they lived. The fact that it mentions no one by name suggests it was a circular letter sent to Christians in a number of places.

Gnosticism: One of the most dangerous heresies of the first two centuries of the church was Gnosticism. Its central teaching was that spirit is entirely good and matter is entirely evil. The human body, which is matter, is therefore evil. It is to be contrasted with God, who is completely spirit, and therefore good.

Salvation is the escape from the body, achieved not by faith in Christ but by special knowledge (the Greek word for “knowledge” is gnosis, hence Gnosticism).  Christ’s true humanity was denied in two ways: (1) Some said that Christ only seemed to have a body, a view called Docetism, from the Greek dokeo (“to seem”), and (2) others said that the divine Christ joined the man Jesus at baptism and left him before he died, a view called Cerinthianism, after its spokesman, Cerinthus. This is the heresy John is fighting against.

Since the body was considered evil, it was to be treated harshly.  At the other end, this dualism (matter vs spirit) also led to sin. The reasoning was that, since matter—and not the breaking of God’s law - was considered evil, breaking his law had no moral consequence.

Occasion and Purpose: John’s readers were confronted with an early form of Gnostic teaching; the throwing off all moral restraints.  So, John wrote these letters with two basic purposes in mind: (1) to expose false teachers and (2) to give believers assurance of salvation. In keeping with his intention to combat Gnostic teachers, John specifically struck at their total lack of morality; and by giving eyewitness testimony to the incarnation, he sought to confirm his readers’ belief in the incarnate Christ.

2 John 1:7-14    Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. (Have left the church)  Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. (one who leads people away form Christ) 8 Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, (Eternal Salvation through the incarnate Christ) but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead (loses sight of what you already know, ie. LDS) and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. 11 Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work. 12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. 13 The children of your chosen sister send their greetings.

2 John 1:1     The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth — and not I only, but also all who know the truth— 2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love.

4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

    

John 13:34-35     A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

John 8:32     Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.