He's here!

 Luke 2

King James Version

2 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

He's here! Jesus is here! Can you imagine? It was a relatively quiet night in the stable, I mean with all of those animals, and the shepherds, and the little drummer boy banging away on the drum (yes, I know that he wasn't really there, but it's fun to think of him banging away with everything else that was going on). I mean, when the angels appeared to the shepherds it was loud, and the scriptures say that they were proclaiming Glory to God in the Highest, Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men! But the manger was a little different, there weren't any doctors or nurses, no machines monitoring mother or child. Just an unassuming baby being born in a stable, more like a little grotto actually. A poor carpenter and his betrothed. Yet, this family, now known as "The Holy Family" brought the most special gift ever into the world. The Messiah whose blood would be shed for the remission of sins and would be the sacrificial lamb to save the world if they just repented and believed on Him. Sadly, many would not, will not. The prophet Isaiah said it this way in Isaiah 53: 1-12: Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carries our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 

You see, this passage in Isaiah talks about Jesus being rejected as saviour, messiah, king, but the rejection started from the beginning as we learned in one Christmas Eve service we attended, normally, someone would give up their room for a pregnant mother, but He was rejected even back then before He was born, no one gave up their room, or their comfy bed. This pattern of rejection followed Jesus all throughout His life, sure there were some who followed  Him and believed, many, but think of the many of millions more who rejected Him, and reject Him still. Yet even knowing that this would happen, that He would be rejected over and over, He still came to Earth as an infant, grew into manhood and sacrificed Himself for us, and get this, His love, God's love for us was so great, that even when we were still sinners, still God's enemy, He gave this gift for us. Romans 5:8 says that He sent Jesus to die for us while we were yet sinners, His enemy! 
Would you die for your enemy? Jesus did! Jesus calls us to! Maybe not physical death, but maybe that is what the call is. Die to self, put them before yourself. This is how we show Jesus to others. 

The Good News is: He is here! He has conquered sin and death! You can have this assurance too! If you feel led, pray this prayer:

Dear Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner. I know that I can't do it on my own. I need you. I repent from my sins and ask you to be Lord and Saviour of my life. Thank you for your sacrifice. Help me to live like you and die to self. To put others first. Thank you for choosing me. 

If you said this prayer, I'd love to hear from you. If you have questions and aren't ready yet, I'd love to hear from you. One thing is for sure, we have a limited time to make this decision, so don't delay!

-Rev. Michael E. Washburn

Reflections on Christmas: A Wonderful tale of adoption?

Our Tale begins long before Jesus was born, long before Mary and Joseph were born. Back in the book of Isaiah the Prophet Chapter 7 verses 13-14: And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 

The book of Isaiah was written approximately 700 years before the birth of Jesus. Isaiah foretold Jesus' birth 700 years before it happened. In great detail, Let's look at the verses piece by piece: Who is the Prophet Isaiah addressing? The house of David (this is King David, and his descendants). Ahaz, who was a King of Judah, The Lord told him to go see Ahaz and give him a message. Ahaz had been hearing from God, and God told him to ask for a Sign that he might know that it was God he was speaking to. So Isaiah goes and sees Ahaz and gives him these specific details about Messiah, The Lord shall give you a sign, A Virgin will conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Immanuel (this means God with Us).

Flash forward 700 years to Matthew 1:1-18. Here we have the Genealogy of Jesus starting from Abraham, and ending with Joseph who is an ancestor of David the King, lots of begats. 

14 Generations from Abraham to David, 14 Generations from David until Israel is carried away into Babylon, 14 Generations from Babylon to the birth of the one called "The Christ" or "Messiah" the saviour, literally God with Us.

I want to look directly at verses 18-25 now: Now the birth of Jesus (who is called Christ, Christ is not his last name, remember) was on this wise: When his mother Mary (A virgin) was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, She was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, (Being espoused or betrothed is similar to our engagement, but moreso, in this time it was more similar to being married. You were promised.) being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. (Note that Joseph was called a just man, the dictionary defines the word just in this way: based on or behaving according to what is morally right and fair.) In these times, he would have been perfectly within his rights to publickly point out what would be perceived as her sin, she was a supposed to be a virgin, virgins could not possibly be pregnant, right? So she must not be a virgin and must have sinned by having premarital sex. What does the scripture say that Joseph is going to do? Put her away privily, not make her a publick spectacle, not draw attention to her circumstances and condition. 

The scripture goes on to say in verse 20: But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Can you imagine seeing an angel in a dream? We think of angels, and we think of certain images that are popularized in our media. The Cherub, that cute little baby cupid from Hercules comes to mind. Or a person with wings and a harp, or sometimes, in the case of a Warrior angel like Michael, A sword and maybe a shield, but still he looks like a human with wings, right? Let's briefly take a look at what angels really looked like, this comes from a Website, but I have studied angels in the Bible, in the old testament books, especially books of prophecy like Isaiah and Daniel, which are the first that come to mind for me angels looks something like this: Biblically accurate angels are supernatural beings that serve God and have various forms and functions12. Some angels have six wings, some have four faces, and some have eyes on their wings12. They have powerful voices that can shake the heavens, and they carry swords to execute God's judgments2. They move quickly and obey God's commands2. This description is taken from text on the website: https://bibleangels.com/7-biblically-accurate-angels/, but don't take my word or theirs for it, read it for yourself in the books of Ezekiel and Daniel, and even Revelation if you aren't afraid of apocalyptic prophecies (If you know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you have absolutely no reason to be).

So Joseph sees this angel in his dream, now picture yourself in his place with the image above in your dream instead of how we typically think of angels. What would your response be? Probably startled? Afraid? Right? I'm not ashamed to say that is what my response would be. Joseph did exactly what the angel told him to do, it might have been out of fear I suppose, but I think that there was more to it than that. Look again at the description of Joseph in 18-25, he was a just and righteous man, keep in mind how the dictionary defines Just, morally right and fair. He followed God. Because it was the right thing to do. 

Mary gets a lot of recognition at Christmas time, and she should, she is the mother of God. Jesus, it's when we celebrate His birth, the Son of God, saviour of the world, He literally paid the price for our sinful ways so that we could be reconciled to God the Father, in fact, if we look at it Romans 5:10 says this: "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." We were God's enemies, and while that was the case, God in the form of Jesus laid down His life so that we could be reconciled and saved to be with God. Would you do something like that for someone who was your enemy? 

Joseph is kind of the unsung hero of this story, think about it. He was a laborer, a carpenter, who worked with his hands and the sweat of his brow to provide for what would be his family.  He took Mary to be his wife, even though people would maybe talk about her situation. He accepted that child, Jesus as his own, essentially adopting Jesus and making him his own. He chose to be the father to that child. It takes a lot to love a child although it is one of the easiest things to do, just think of how much more it takes to love a child that is not your own, but love and support that child as though they were of your own flesh and bone. To me, this has a special meaning because you may or may not know, my father adopted me, chose me to be his son. Both of these instances, my own dad and Joseph are perfect living examples of what God the Father did for us through the death of His son Jesus on the cross and the resurrection. Romans 8:17 says it this way: "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." God chose to adopt us and make us heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ. His adopted children, chosen by Him. All we need to do is admit and repent of our sin and ask Jesus into our hearts as our Lord and Saviour. It costs us nothing except our shame and some humility to admit that we are sinners and that we can't do it on our own. At the same time, it costs us everything, we have to choose to make Him the one we answer to. In reality, we will answer to Him whether we do this or not, the difference is that when we do this, we choose to spend eternity with Him, we choose to be reconciled with God by Jesus' sacrifice.

I'd like to encourage you to enter into the adoptive family of God today. Make Him your Father, Jesus your brother. Find a good, Bible teaching church. If you would like help with that, reach out and let me know, I'd be happy to help. If you feel that stirring right now that this is a step that you need to take, please pray this prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, I know that I'm a sinner. I know that I can't be reconciled with you but through the sacrifice of Jesus. I repent of my sins and commit to following Jesus. Jesus, please come into my life and be my Lord and Saviour. Thank you for making me your adoptive child. Amen

If you prayed that prayer, please let me know. I'd love to be the first to welcome you into the family and talk to you more about your new life and journey and help you find a church that is right for you.

God Bless,

Rev. Michael E. Washburn