A Weary World Rejoices #3

 It is easy to have our eyes glaze over as we read a story that we have heard over and over again. It is easy to allow the Biblical narrative of the incarnation of Jesus to fall as flat as a Sunday School felt board manger scene on our hearts. It becomes ordinary. It becomes...dare I say...boring to us. " We have heard it before." 

If you find yourself in this camp this Christmas, may I challenge you to see the story anew. May we start with our posture and the understanding that every time we read scripture we are reading the living breathing Word of God? That every time we get to hear this and read this, we are  among the privileged people who have access to the Bible, who have had access to education that we may read, have access to finances that we can own not just a bible but usually multiple variations!

As we read through Luke 1-2:40 again today let us pause and consider ourselves blessed. Just as Luke writes to Theophilus, how good it is for us too as Gentiles alike to be given the good news of Jesus Christ!

Luke addresses Theophilus is a very specific manner. "Excellent Theophilus." This title is typically given to Roman officials. We see the same term used by Paul in Acts 24:3 and 26:25 for Felix and Festus. Theophilus "represents a Gentile class being systematically taught the Christian message"(RSB pg1521).

Incredible. God's word and promises for all people, of every nation tribe and tongue. We get to be partakers of this. 

A last thought this day...1 John 2 reminds us, "Do not love the world or the things of this world...For all that is in the world-the desires of the the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life-is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." Christmas, especially in our modern Western context seems to literally emphasize and sell these three things. Suddenly we are super concerned with appearance, possession and material things. It is perfectly off focus of Christ and on focus to nothing of eternal value. 

I am not saying Christmas and its traditions are inherently wrong, we love driving around looking at lights, watching Christmas movies and eating Christmas goodies, what I am suggesting- is that we each examine our hearts as we press forward. Are there areas that would be clustered into these 3 regions of warnings that we need to remove and repent of? Are there areas of idolatry or sin that we must steer clear of? And more so, are there areas that we can love Christ more, spend time in His Word more and exemplify him more?! The Gospel Coalition has put out some excellent articles lately that go more in depth into this if you are interested in diving more into this topic. 

My prayer is that we are ready to 'systematically be taught the Christian message,' and rejoice in its truths yet again. After all, the grass withers and the flowers fade but the Word of the Lord remains forever. <3

Prepare Him Room

A Weary World Rejoices #2

Have you noticed how many people decorated early this year for Christmas? I mean, between social media and driving through our neighborhood it seemed as if trees were up sooner and lights were one houses brighter this year. Even our kids noticed. I have been thinking on this quite a bit and my thought is...these have been a pretty rough few years globally and regionally. From illness and lockdowns to loss of life and loss of sanity it seems as if we are just weary. In an increasingly secular world, people are having a longing for something, anything in the darkness of despair. In comes...Christmas lights! They make people happy. The twinkle of lights, the beautiful decor...something about the beauty of light shining out in darkness.

Sound familiar? Those who are in Christ, those who are familiar with scripture, our hearts might quickly jump at this connection...those who once walked in darkness have seen a great light. 1 John 1 tells is it is their joy to write " that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all."

Which brings us to today's portion of scripture. We will again read Luke 1-2:40 to gain an overall with where we are going. But, lets consider the historical context of Luke specifically.

Luke was written sometime in the 60 a.d. period. Luke was a physician and gentile who was not one of the 12 disciples. He did however travel with Paul on some of his missionary journeys. Luke sets out to write " an orderly account," for a person by the name of Theophilus so that he too might have certainty in the message of Christ. (more on him tomorrow)

J.C. Ryle writes in his commentary on Luke, that he feels he must keep his book short and readable because "we live in a hurrying age." Ha! Imagine what he would think of society now. Not only do we live in a hurrying age but we like in a don't know, don't care age. May we challenge ourselves to pause as we work through Luke this Advent, that we would long to know with certainty the things of Christ, and that we can bask in the methodical and systematic way in which Luke has broken down the order of the events of Christ.

Luke contains many things not found in the other three Gospels. The histories of Zacharias and Elisabeth, the angel's announcement to the virgin Mary and a lot of the content from chapters 1 and 2 to name a few. 

J.C. Ryle sums it up, this is a "sketch of the nature of the Gospel- he (Luke) calls it a 'declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,' it is a narrative of facts about Jesus Christ." "The Gospel is neither more or less that the history of Christ."

This season, pray to know Christ with certainty. Pray for chances to share the history of Jesus birth with others. With so many longing for light this winter season, I pray ours is not kept under a bushel but set up high for all to see.

Prepare Him Room

Day 1: Luke 1-2:40

 Good morning! Here we are on Day 1 of our Advent Study. I am so excited. Today will be a general overview and layout of where we will all be going! 

This year we are studying Luke 1-2:40. It may seem like a shorter passage as in years past we have done huge chunks of the Bible or entire books. BUT, it will take us the entirety of the study to work through this. It is such a rich passage and I have been busting at the seams, since diving in months ago, to share the glorious truths of Christ and His coming with you all!

As always, this will be (mostly) methodical and done in an expository manner going verse by verse. We will have a Christmas worship song every few days to help prepare our hearts for the study and keep us meditating on it throughout the day. My favorite part of the Advent study is how it helps "right the ship," for me during a season that can get overwhelming and chaotic. It makes it a little harder to be stressed over Christmas cookies after spending a morning immersed in the mystery of the incarnation. 

It is hard to keep Christ at the center of the celebration, lets face it, it's hard to keep Christ at the center most days in general. But, as we pause and read, and see God's promise fulfilled we can once again renew our hope, for what He promised He has done. We also live in a society with loose theology, where Christmas and the message can be distorted or added too, let us heed Peter's warning "There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do other scriptures." The Incarnation of Christ, the Virgin birth, these can lead some to rabbit holes of conspiracy theories and myths, may we not be women who are easily deceived but rooted and grounded in the Word of God.

So for today and the next few days to follow we will start with a sweeping overview of what we are about to dive into. Please read with me Luke 1-2:40. I often will read it, listen to it, and then read while listening to it...(it takes a bit to get in in my head and heart...lol)

Resources I will be using: Reformation Study Bible ESV, Reformation Heritage Study Bible KJV, Luke Volume 1 by J.C. Ryle, Advent study books by Dr. James Montgomery Boice and Sinclair Ferguson, and Sermons on Luke 1 and 2 by John Calvin. Also, please look forward to sermon links that I listen to to deepen my study from both well known, and local pastors. 

Praying many blessings and marvelous wonders this Advent study.

Song for today:Prepare Him Room