Let’s begin today with the story of Christmas from the ESV translation… The Birth of Jesus Christ
“2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,[b] who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.[c]
The Shepherds and the Angels
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 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. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and 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 among those with whom he is pleased!”[d]
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”
In this tough time we can read this and remember we have hope in Jesus.
He came just like the Bible foretold.
He will come again just like the Bible foretells.
Our hope is in the Lord. Who will make all things new, stop suffering and be with us forever and ever. In the meantime let’s pray for one another and focus on the miracle of Jesus’ life and ministry.
Let’s rejoice at His birth and let’s try our best to have a wonderful day remembering Him.
The world will never let you forget your mistakes.
They will be constantly brought up to you, people will resent you for your past. You will always have that blemish in people’s minds.
Heck in the middle of a mistake the world won’t even let you stop it. They will remind you that shouldn’t have done it in the first place. It doesn’t matter that you immediately tried to fix what happened.
But with God it is the opposite.
God will forgive you.
God won’t resent you, God won’t forsake you.
He asks you to repent and when you truly change your ways God won’t bring up your mistakes.
The Bible says in Micah 7:19, “He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our[a] sins into the depths of the sea.”
And in Psalm 103:12, “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
Of course there may be earthly consequences for your actions and that is a part of the repentance process. But to God once your repentance is complete, that is it. He loves you and will not hold your sins against you.
His grace and His sacrifice is sufficient for you.
Even if the entire World hates you as long as God loves you can be joyous.
Because He is enough.
Have a Blessed Week, Chris
Below I have attached the online service of Heritage Baptist Church
Jesus was a first century Jewish Rabbi who was a son of a carpenter. He is also God.
You who are reading this are neither of those things.
Stop trying to fit Jesus into your world view, instead make Jesus and the Bible your world view.
If you try hard enough you can make the Bible say anything you want, instead of doing something so foolish, how about you take the Bible as it is written?
Take Jesus as He is.
It is not your job to manipulate scripture to prove why you feel a certain way or do a certain thing.
It is your job to submit to God and His Word.
This is not directed at one particular group or thought process. I don’t care what your theological, political or moral preferences are.
If you truly claim to follow Christ, than follow Christ. Don’t use the Bible and Jesus’ words to fit your lifestyle or world view.
Let God and the Bible form your world view and mold your lifestyle around it.
The Good Word 