Advent Week 1
Starting November 30th
Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.
Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.
- Charles Wesley, 1744
What is Advent? Derived from the Latin word meaning coming or
arrival, Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. Its
the season when we look back to Christs first coming, as a baby
born in Bethlehem, and look forward to his second coming when he
will return to renew and redeem every part of fallen creation.
Jesus Christ has come and will come again. The advent season is
therefore a time to reflect upon the promises of God and to
anticipate the fulfillment of those promises. It is a time for
remembering and rejoicing.
ADVENT READINGS WEEK 1
First Sunday in Advent
GENESIS 3:115 The fall of man. Despite the bleakness of the
circumstances, God injects a strong note of hope in verse 15the
first prediction of the coming of Jesus.
Monday
ISAIAH 9:27 Christs birth and kingdom are foretold by the
prophet Isaiah. This coming King will be called Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Meditate on the four terms used hereeach one is amazing.
Tuesday
ISAIAH 11:19 Another prediction of the coming Messiah King.
Matthew 1:117 makes a point of showing us who Jesus family is
because of the words of God in the book of Isaiah that spoke of
Jesus as a shoot from the stump of Jesse.
Wednesday
MICAH 5:24 A prophecy which both pinpoints the exact location of
the Messiahs birth, as well as telling us about his character and
power.
Thursday
ISAIAH 53:112 The great theme of this section of Isaiahs
prophecies is Jesus Christ in his sufferings. The kingly
qualifications described in Isaiah are so matchless that only the
coming of the Lord himself can fulfill them. The question is: How
can any king be powerful enough to liberate us from slavery and
bondage? The answer: Only one who is God himself.
Friday
MALACHI 4:16 This is a reference to the first and to the second
coming of Christ. In both, Christ, the sun of righteousness, is a
light to those who revere his name.
Saturday
ISAIAH 60:122 A prophecy and description of the New Jerusalemthe
future glorious state that Christ will usher in when he comes
again.
FOR GROUP OR PERSONAL STUDY
There are numerous Old Testament prophecies and promises about
the coming of a Messiah.
The first comes in Genesis 3. In verse 15, God predicts that a
descendant of Eve will someday come and battle the serpent who, of
course, is Satan. What will the outcome be? Eves son will be
wounded (you will strike his heel) but Satan will be defeated (he
will crush your head.) Here is the first prediction of the coming
of Jesus. Gods words indicate that Jesus coming will undo the work
of the serpentof sin and all the wreckage it causesbut not without
cost to Jesus.
Isaiah is full of prophecies of a coming Messiah King. Chapter
9, verse 6 reads: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.
Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor. He is the true source of
wisdom.He is Mighty God. The word mighty is the Hebrew word gibor,
and it means hero, champion;
the one who faces overwhelming odds, is willing to give his
life, and saves the people.
Everlasting Father means that Jesus brings you into an intimate
family relationship with himthis champion is your dad.
Lastly, he is Prince of Peace, Prince of Shalom. Shalom is the
Hebrew word which means absolute spiritual and physical
flourishing. Jesus not only gives you a wonderful relationship with
him and gives you peace. He is here to eventually create a new
heaven and a new earth. He is here to bring peace and justice, and
to ultimately rid the world of poverty, injustice, violence, war,
disease, and death.
However, when we get to Isaiah chapter 53, this Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, who is
supposed to end violence, is instead the victim of violence: Yet it
was the Lords will to crush him and cause him to suffer (53:10); He
was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our
iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by
his wounds we are healed (53:5).
Then come the prophecies in Isaiah 60 which seem to be
predicting a future era in which Jerusalem and Judah have a great
deal of economic and political power and prosperity (the riches of
the nations.) If you look carefully, you will notice it is talking
about something that not only has never happened but could never
happen in human history as we know it. Verse 18 and followingtalk
about a society where there is no violence, no war, no sorrow or
sadness. There will no longer be a need for the sun or the moon
(Isaiah 60:19). We are looking at the new heaven and new earth.
We are told in Isaiah 55:12 that when God comes back to renew
the world, You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the
mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the
trees of the fields will clap their hands. This is the destiny of
Gods people when Christ returns.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION OR DISCUSSION
1. Isaiah calls Jesus: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. How does knowing this about
Jesus change the way we live on a daily basis?
2. Rooted in his desire for all of creation to experience his
kingdom and shalom, God shows a special compassion and protection
for the poor and marginalized throughout the Bible. In what
practical ways can you and your community group show compassion?
How can you (and your group) serve your neighborhood in ways that
are uniquely helpful?
3. In what ways can we celebrate the joy and hope of Christmas
and anticipate the joy and hope of Christs return?
PRAYER
Read aloud the hymn (or, if you can, sing it).
Thank God that Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Ask God to help you to reflect
on it, treasure it, and remember it.
Thank God that he is generous and the giver of all good things.
Thank him that he has always had a plan for us and for the world
that he revealed to the prophets and that finds its fulfillment in
Jesus Christ.
Pray that God would use you and that you would willingly do all
you can to help accomplish his great plan. Pray for help to live
justly and generously and to walk humbly with God.
Pray for His Toy Store (Hope for New York's outreach to provide
toys this Christmas to families in financial need and who have been
affected by Hurricane Sandy). Pray for the 750 families who are
invited to pick out toys this year, that they would experience
God's grace, love, and care. Pray also for the host churches and
pastors, who are ministering in some of the toughest neighborhoods
in NYC, that God will fill them with his strength and love as they
serve and care for their communities.
FOR FAMILY STUDY
Read Operation No More Tears! The Rescuer will come: prophecies
from Isaiah 9, 11, 40, 50, 53, 55, 60 in The Jesus Storybook Bible,
pages 144151 (or the equivalent story in your childrens Bible).
QUESTIONS
1. What was Isaiahs job? Isaiah was a prophet, so his job was to
listen to God and tell the people what God said.
2. Some of the things God told Isaiah were about the future.
Isaiah lived about 700 years before Jesus, but he knew a lot about
Jesus. What are some of the things Isaiah knew about the future and
Jesus? That Jesus will be the Rescuer King who will come to earth
and do many great amazing things, but then he will suffer and die.
But he wont stay dead; God will make him alive again, and he will
rescue his people and one day make the world perfect again.
3. Isaiah calls Jesus by many different names. Four of those
names are below but some of the vowels the A, E, I, O, and Usare
missing. Fill in the missing vowels to get the names of Jesus.
W__ND__RF__L COUNSELOR M__GHTY G__D EVERLASTING F__TH__R PRINC__
OF PEAC__
Advent Week 2
Starting December 9th
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satans tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory oer the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinais height,
In ancient times didst give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Latin hymn from the 12th Century,
translated into English by John Mason Neale, 1851
(Note: Emmanuel is derived from the Greek and Immanuel is
derived from the Hebrew. Both spellings mean "God with us".)
ADVENT READINGS WEEK 2
Second Sunday in Advent
GENESIS 22:1-18 God promises that through faithful Abraham all
nations on earth will be blessed. This is astonishing; God is going
to save his people through Abrahams family.
Monday
EXODUS 20:1-17 The Ten Commandments. Note that God first rescues
the people from Egypt, and then he gives them the Ten Commandments.
Keeping the Ten Commandments is not what saved them; God had
already done that. God did not first give the Law and then deliver
the peoplefirst he delivered his people, and then he gave them the
Law. Thus we are not saved by the Law, but saved for the Law. The
Law is how we conduct our love relationship with God, not the way
we merit the relationship. We are saved by faith in Christ
alone.
Tuesday
ISAIAH 40:1-11 The prophecy cited in the Gospels of Matthew,
Mark, and John announcing that John the Baptist would be sent by
God to prepare the way for Jesus.
Wednesday LUKE 1:525
The birth of John the Baptist is foretold to Zechariah.
Thursday
LUKE 1:2656 The angel Gabriel tells Mary of the incarnation.
Mary is the first person who hears the name Jesus. She is the first
one who gets the message that salvation is coming into the world
through a baby who is going to be born in Bethlehem, who is the
Lord, and who is descending into time and space to save us.
Friday
MATTHEW 1:125 Matthew starts with the genealogywho is Jesus,
what are his roots, who is his familyand then tells the story of
the angel of the Lord coming to Joseph in a dream. Immanuel is the
name given to Jesus in this annunciation text. It means: God with
us. Consider what it means that Jesus Christ is God and is with
us.
Saturday
LUKE 1:5780 The birth of John the Baptist. Zechariah, Johns
father, sang about the Christ, Praise be to the Lord, the God of
Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them (Luke
1:68).
FOR GROUP OR PERSONAL STUDY
God makes promises to his people throughout the Old Testament. A
rainbow appears as a promise that God will never again send a flood
to destroy the world. God promises to make Abraham a great nation.
God promises deliverance to the people of Israel during Passover.
God makes and keeps his promises again and again. And among these
promises there is an even greater promise God promises a Messiah, a
deliverer, an anointed King.
When God calls Abraham in Genesis 12, God promises in verse 23:
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will
make your name great, and you will be a blessing...and all peoples
on earth will be blessed through you.
This incredible promisethat ultimately God is going to save his
people through Abrahams family rests on another linchpin promise.
In verse 7 God says that Abraham will have offspring. But Abrahams
wife Sarah is barren. Genesis 11:30 says that Sarah was childless
because she was not able to conceive. So, the redemption of the
world hinges on the miraculous birth of a child to a barren woman.
And yet we read in Genesis 21:13, Now the Lord was gracious to
Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had
promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his
old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the
name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.
But, when God in Genesis 22 calls Abraham to sacrifice his son
Isaac, at first, it would appear, that God was abandoning his
promises to Abraham.
This call to Abraham reminds us of the other calls, especially
the first one in Genesis 12. On both occasions he was called to go,
leaving all his security, comfort, and everything his heart rested
in. He was called to make his hearts dearest objects into an
offering to God. In Genesis 12, those sacrifices were more general.
He was giving up his friends, most of his family, life in a
civilized, safe place. These are major sacrifices. God was asking
Abraham to trust in Gods promise as his security and significance,
not these other things. That is what God is doing again, as Abraham
is called to offer up Isaac, the dearest thing in his life.
In every case, God is saying, Dont look to anything but me. Make
me your ultimate security, worth, and hope. Dont trust in anything
but me. Dont rest your heart in anything more than me for your
significance and security.
But the ultimate nature of this test is summed up in the term
God deliberately uses with emphasis in Genesis 22:2: your son, your
only son. It is not literally true that Isaac is Abrahams only son.
But Isaac is Abrahams only son in that all his hopes are focused on
Isaac: he is the promised son, the one through whom God promised to
rescue his people.
Abrahams series of calls from God can be summed up like
this:
Go out. Where? Ill tell you later. Just go.
You will have a son. When? Ill tell you later. Just trust.
Now offer up your son on the mount. Why? Ill tell you later.
Just climb.
Did Abraham push himself up the mountain simply saying, I have
to obey God perfectly! I can do it! I must do it! and so on? No,
Genesis 22:8 shows that Abraham had decided to cling to the
goodness and promises of God despite all appearances. He says, God
himself will provide the lamb. Verse 5 also seems to be an
indication of Abrahams hope, because he tells his servants that we
will come back to you. We read in Hebrews 11:1719, By faith
Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who
had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only
son, even though God had said to him, It is through Isaac that your
offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God could even
raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac
back from death.
We read in Counterfeit Gods, God saw Abrahams sacrifice and
said, Now I know that you love me, because you did not withhold
your only son from me. But how much more can we look at his
sacrifice on the cross and say to God, Now we know that you love
us. For you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you
love, from us.
It is hard not to notice that centuries later another angelic
messenger comes to another incredulous woman to tell her about
another miraculous birth, and he answers her doubts by saying: No
word from God will ever fail (Luke 1:37). Unless Isaac was born,
Gods people could not be blessed and saved, but in the end, he only
points to the ultimate Isaac through whom all Gods promises are
ultimately fulfilled.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION OR DISCUSSION
1. Why was Abraham willing to give God his only son whom he
loved?
2. What things have you trusted in instead of Jesus for your
hope or happiness, significance or security? Where are you tempted
to forget or distrust Gods promises?
3. How do you respond when God asks you to do something
difficult or even, to your thinking, unfair?
4. What do we learn about God from the story of Abraham and
Isaac, and how should this change the way we live?
5. Do you believe that all we own and are belongs to God or that
our possessions, resources and gifts belong to us? How does this
belief shape your actions and the way you use your home, money,
time, and skills?
6. Abraham did not withhold his son; God did not withhold his
Son but gave him for us. How does this shape or affect your
relationship with God and the way you live on a daily basis?
PRAYER
Read aloud the hymn (or, if you can, sing it).Thank God that he
sent his Son, his only Son, to live and die for us.
Pray that you would learn to trust God and to love him more than
anything else.
Acknowledging that all we have and all we are belongs to God,
pray that he would help us to release our hold on all that he has
given us.
Pray, praising God for all he has generously provided to
Redeemer in the past year and that God would graciously continue to
sustain Redeemers work and ministry.
FOR FAMILY STUDY
Read The Present: The story of Abraham and Isaac, from Genesis
22 in The Jesus Storybook Bible, pages 6269 (or the equivalent
story in your childrens Bible).
QUESTIONS
Fill in the missing letters.
1. Abraham was willing to give God his only son whom he loved.
Why?
ABRAHAM TRUSTED GOD AND _ _ V _ D GOD MORE THAN ANYTHING
ELSE.
2. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, whom he loved.
God also sacrificed someone he loved. It was the same sacrifice as
Abraham. Who was it?
GOD SACRIFICED HIS ONLY SON, J_ _ _ _.
3. We read in the story that: like Isaac ...another Son [that is
Jesus] would climb another hill, carrying wood on his back. What
was the wood this time?
IT WAS THE C_ _ _ _.
4. Abraham is asked to give up something he loves. Because
Abraham loves God more than anything else he is willing to do it.
Is that true for you? What do you find yourself wanting more than
Jesus?
5. How can you learn to love God and trust God more than
anything else?
PRAYER
Help your children to pray that they would love Jesus more than
anything else.
Pray with them for Redeemer and for all that God has generously
provided in the past year and that God would graciously continue to
sustain Redeemers work and ministry.
Advent Week 3
Starting December 14th
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love's sake becamest poor;
Thrones for a manger didst surrender,
Sapphire-paved courts for stable floor.
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love's sake becamest poor.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love's sake becamest man;
Stooping so low, but sinners raising
Heavenwards by thine eternal plan.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love's sake becamest man.
Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Saviour and King, we worship thee.
Emmanuel, within us dwelling,
Make us what thou wouldst have us be.
Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Saviour and King, we worship thee.
-Frank Houghton, 1934
ADVENT READINGS WEEK 3
Third Sunday in Advent
REVELATION 21:127 Johns description of the new heaven and the
new earthour future homewhere there will be no more death or
mourning or crying or pain.
Monday
MICAH 4:17 Micah describes the New Jerusalem. The Messiah will
be there. He will rule and all nations shall find peace.
Tuesday PSALM 98
The Lord will come again to the earth but this time as judge and
King.
Wednesday
PHILIPPIANS 2:511 In this amazing description of Christ and his
mission on earth we learn that one day all will declare that Jesus
Christ is Lord.
Thursday
TITUS 2:113:7 In the future, Gods glory will appear when Jesus
returns to this world in splendid power. We know that it will
certainly happen, so we wait for the blessed hopethe appearing of
the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Friday MATTHEW 25:146
Three parables about the kingdom of heaven, when the Son of Man
comes in his glory.
Saturday
REVELATION 5:114 John reveals the glory of the completed work of
Christthe exalted Lamb of God. The elder uses two special names to
describe Jesus: the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Root of
David.
FOR GROUP OR PERSONAL STUDY
In Revelation 21 and 22, when God describes and depicts the end
result, the climax, the apex of his redemption, he shows us a
citythe New Jerusalem.
When we look at the New Jerusalem, we discover something very
strange. In the midst of the city is a crystal river, and on each
side of the river is the tree of life, bearing fruit and leaves
which heal the nations of all their wounds and the effects of the
divine covenant curse (Revelation 22:23). This city is the
fulfillment of the purposes of the Garden of Eden. We began life in
a garden, but will end it in a city.
The new heaven and the new earth mean that this world will be
restored, purified, and beautified. It is a new material creation,
where everything sad that has ever happened will come untrue. It
will be the utter defeat of evil, because all the evil and
suffering you have ever experienced, and that the world has ever
experienced, will only make the eventual glory and joy greater. It
is not just that we are going to be consoled for it or compensated
for it. In some way it is going to be brought into that glory and
made even greater for it having happened. That is the reason why C.
S. Lewis says in The Great Divorce: They say of some temporal
suffering, No future bliss can make up for it, not knowing that
heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony
into a glory.
We read in Revelation 21:4: There will be no more death or
mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed
away.
Jonathan Edwards in his sermon Heaven, a World of Love puts it
like this: The most stately cities on earth, however magnificent
their buildings, yet have their foundations in the dust, and their
streets dirty and defiled, and made to be trodden under foot; but
the very streets of this heavenly city are of pure gold, like unto
transparent glass, and its foundations are of precious stones, and
its gates are pearls.... There are many principles contrary to
love, that make this world like a tempestuous sea. Selfishness, and
envy, and revenge, and jealousy, and kindred passions keep life on
earth in a constant tumult....
But oh! what rest is there in that world which the God of peace
and love fills with his own gracious presence, and in which the
Lamb of God lives and reigns, filling it with the brightest and
sweetest beams of his love; where there is nothing to disturb or
offend, and no being or object to be seen that is not surrounded
with perfect amiableness and sweetness...where there is no enemy
and no enmity; but perfect love in every heart and to every being;
where there is perfect harmony among all the inhabitants, no one
envying another, but everyone rejoicing in the happiness of every
other...where love is always mutual and reciprocated to the full;
where there is no hypocrisy or dissembling, but perfect simplicity
and sincerity; where there is no treachery, or unfaithfulness, or
inconstancy, or jealousy in any form...where there is no division
through different opinions or interests, but where all in that
glorious and loving society shall be most nearly and divinely
related, and each shall belong to every other, and all shall enjoy
each other in perfect prosperity and riches, and honor, without any
sickness, or grief, or persecution, or sorrow, or any enemy to
molest them, or any busybody to create jealousy or
misunderstanding, or mar the perfect, and holy, and blessed peace
that reigns in heaven!!
That is our future. That is our living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION OR DISCUSSION
1. In the biblical passages for this week God is described in a
variety of ways and given a variety of titlesamong them are the
following: the Lord God Almighty, the Lamb, he who was seated on
the throne, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the
God of Jacob, the Lord our God, The LORD, the King, God the Father,
our great God and Savior. What do we learn about God from these
titles and what does it mean for our relationship with him?
2. According to the description in Revelation the future city
will be full of peace and righteousness. There will be no violence
or ruin or destruction. The sun and moon will not be necessary
because Gods presence in the city is all the light needed. In what
situations might we draw on this description of heaven? What other
descriptions of eternity have you drawn on in the past and why?
3. How can the knowledge that there will be no violence or
destruction in the future kingdom help us, and those we come into
contact with, to cope with the violence and destruction we
experience around us?
4. How does your life reflect your belief in the promised return
of Jesus? Is it something you think about and long for? What can
and should you be doing more of to prepare for Jesus return?
5. The community described in the future city is one of
perfectly restored shalom. What are some tangible ways that we and
the church can be a better foretaste of that community?
(Examples include compassion and justice ministries, radical
commitment to reconciliation with one another, forgiveness, unity,
sharing of wealth and power, fighting disease and hunger and
providing help for the sick and physically afflicted, doing our
jobs with excellence, with integrity, with love, and with an eye to
helping others around us, etc.)
PRAYER
Read aloud the hymn (or, if you can, sing it).Thank God for the
amazing future he has promised and planned for us. Pray that God
would help us to set our minds on things above.
Pray that we would be generous to those in need this Advent
season and for opportunities to welcome the broken, and to practice
reconciliation and forgiveness because God has reconciled and
forgiven us.
Pray for all those who are still suffering and who have lost
loved ones and homes as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Pray for those
for whom Christmas is a difficult season due to loss, grief, or
loneliness. Pray that they would know the loving provision of
God.
FOR FAMILY STUDY
Read A Dream of Heaven: John sees into the future, from
Revelation 1, 5, 21, 22 in The Jesus Storybook Bible, pages 342 350
(or the equivalent story in your childrens Bible).
QUESTIONS .
1. Who wrote the last book of the Bible which describes what
things will be like when Jesus returns?
2. One day, when Jesus returns, there will be a new heaven and a
new earth. Everything is going to be made new. This world will be
our true, perfect home. Gods people will live with God forever.
Nothing will ever separate us from God again. Look at the letters
below and remove the letters Q, X, and Z, then write the other
letters in order to get a description of what this will be
like:
TEQARXXSSAQXDZZNEZSSXXDEZAQTH XLONQQELINEXSSZZZSIQCKNESQSPXX
AIZNFEQXXARQSXINZZ
NO MORE ...__ __ __ __ ____ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ ____ __ __
____ __ __ __
__ __ __
3. How does this vision of the future kingdom and our future
with God forever help us live in the world today?
PRAYER
Help your children to pray, thanking God that one day there will
be no more tears or loneliness or sickness or pain or death or sin
and that we will one day live with God forever in the new heaven
and the new earth.
Advent Week 4
Starting December 21st
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th' angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"
Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
late in time behold him come,
offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th' incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"
-Frank Houghton, 1934
ADVENT READINGS WEEK 4
Fourth Sunday in Advent
LUKE 2:121 Luke tells the story of Jesus birth. The first people
to hear the good news about the birth of Gods Son were
shepherds.
Monday
MATTHEW 2:123 The wise men (Magi) find the King they have been
searching for, and they give Jesus gifts and worship him.
Tuesday JOHN 1:136
John describes the incarnationthe coming of the Lamb of God.
FOR GROUP OR PERSONAL STUDY
Augustine said this in a sermon about the incarnation: The Word
of the Father, by whom all time was created, was made flesh and was
born in time for us. He, without whose divine permission no day
completes its course, wished to have one day for His human birth.
In the bosom of His Father He existed before all the cycles of
ages; born of an earthly mother.... The Maker of man became man
that He...the Bread, might be hungry; that He, the Fountain, might
thirst; that He, the Light, might sleep; that He, the Way, might be
wearied by the journey; that He, the Truth, might be accused by
false witnesses; that He, the Judge of the living and the dead,
might be brought to trial by a mortal judge; that He, Justice,
might be condemned by the unjust; that He, Discipline, might be
scourged with whips; that He, the Foundation, might be suspended
upon a cross; that Courage might be weakened; that Security might
be wounded; that Life might die. To endure these and similar
indignities for us, to free us, unworthy creatures, He who existed
as the Son of God before all ages, without a beginning, deigned to
become the Son of Man.... He did this although He who submitted to
such great evils for our sake had done no evil and although we, who
were the recipients of so much good at His hands, had done nothing
to merit these benefits.
The incarnation is the great miracle. In many other religions
the founder is a human being sent to show us what to do to be
saved. But Jesus is God himself come to earth. His coming means he
will not just tell us what we have to do to be saved, but will do
for us all that we cannot do ourselves he will live the obedient
life we should have lived but did not; he will die to pay the
penalty for the disobedient life we shouldnt have lived but did. He
came to accomplish our salvation for us.
The following are some of the wonderful implications of the fact
that the Savior is not only truly God but truly human:
If God became truly human, we have a remarkable resource to face
pain and suffering. Only the Christian God descended into the
world, became vulnerable, and suffered and died himself.
Jesus knows what its like to experience hunger, danger,
injustice, rejection, torture, suffering, and death. Moreover,
because he is God with us (Matthew 1:23), he gives us his personal
presence in our suffering.
If God became truly human, then we should not be too impressed
with glitz, physical beauty, status, and power. The incarnation
means that God was willing to empty himself of his glory and power
and live humbly as a servant. In the incarnation God associated
with undesirables. The first people to arrive at the stable were
shepherds. Shepherds in Jesus day were at the bottom of the social
ladder. They were marginal and disdained. Yet, God announces the
birth of Jesus to them first and it is the shepherds through whom
others learn about JesusLuke 2:17 says: When they had seen him,
they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this
child. The incarnation should mean the end of our snobbery.
The following are some of the wonderful implications of the fact
that the baby born in Bethlehem is God himself:
If Jesus is God, he is not simply to be admired and respected
but to be worshiped, adored, and delighted in. The purpose of our
lives is to behold his glory and beauty (John 17:24). He is the
ultimate object of worship. How can you come to grips with someone
who gave himself utterly for you without you giving yourself
utterly to him? We need to give ourselves wholly to him. That is
the only reasonable thing to do for someone who gave himself wholly
for us.
If Jesus is God, he is to be absolutely obeyed and given central
priority in our lives. He must be Lord. Jesus is Godand therefore
he should be the preeminent concern of our choices, the ultimate
Lord over our wills.
If Jesus is God, his salvation is of infinite value. His blood
was shed as a ransom (Mark 10:45) to pay for our sin. But his blood
was the blood of God (Acts 20:28)! Imagine how valuable that is. No
sin is too great to be forgiven; no brokenness is too great to be
healed.
If Jesus is God, then there is endless hope for the world and
for you. Jesus, the true King, has returned and has begun to put
the world right with his power. Right now that healing is only
partial, but some day all deformity, decay, sin, disease, and
imperfection will be wiped away. Whatever problem we face, Gods
power will eventually triumph over it.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION OR DISCUSSION
1. How does the incarnation challenge todays reigning world-
views?
(Examples include: The incarnation challenges the empiricist
view that denies either that there is any eternal, supernatural
world or at least it denies that the supernatural can ever break in
and violate natural laws in the form of miracles. The incarnation,
however, is the great miracle. On the other hand, the incarnation
challenges the view that all depictions of reality are socially
constructed to serve the purpose of the dominant group, that there
is no such thing as Truth at all. The incarnation, however, teaches
that there is an absolute Truth and it has become a human being.
Finally, the incarnation challenges the modernized versions of
religion which consist almost entirely of ethical behavior or which
make God a very vague and generally impersonal being or mysterious
life-force. But the incarnation tells us that we have a very real
Godone who can be known, talked to, listened to, served, and loved.
The incarnation gives us the most personal God in the face of
modern efforts to de- personalize the deity.)
2. What practical difference does it make to you that your
Savior is not only human but God? 3. What practical difference does
it make to you that your Savior is not only God but man?
4. We read above, How can you come to grips with someone who
gave himself utterly for you without you giving yourself utterly to
him? Give yourself wholly to him. That is the only reasonable thing
to do for someone who gave himself wholly for you. Think of some
ways you give yourself wholly to God during this Advent season.
PRAYER
Read aloud the hymn (or, if you can, sing it).
Thank God for the marvelous gift we have in Christ. Thank him
for the extravagant love that he has lavished upon us by sending
his Son. Pray that the knowledge and experience of that love would
motivate us to be generous with ourselves and our resources.
Pray that you would see Jesus as he truly isin all his glory,
but also in the humanity around us.
Pray for opportunities to share the good news of Jesus birth in
a meaningful way with friends and family this Christmas.
Pray for those who do not know Jesus, that many would attend
Christmas Eve services and that God would open blind eyes so that
people would see the glory of his Son.
FOR FAMILY STUDY
Read Hes Here!: The nativity, from Luke 12 in The Jesus
Storybook Bible, pages 176 183 (or the equivalent story in your
childrens Bible).
QUESTIONS .
1. Instead of being born in a palace or a castle, where was King
Jesus born?2. What does the birth of Jesus show and teach us about
God?3. Why is the birth of Jesus a wonderful gift?4. What does the
name Immanuel mean? Unravel the letters to get the answer.
________ ____
IHTW SU
5. Why is Immanuel a good name for Jesus?
6. If something is important to us, we like telling others about
it. Can you talk about something important to you for 20 seconds?
It can be anything at all. You can talk about a sport for 20
seconds or about usyour familyor your pet or your favorite toy or
anything you like for 20 seconds. But you have to talk about your
subject nonstop for 20 seconds. (Allow each child a chance to play
this game). Can you talk about Jesus for 20 seconds? Again you can
say anything you know about Jesus but you need to talk nonstop for
20 seconds. (Allow each child a chance to do this). Since Jesus is
important to us, we should like telling others about him. Who can
you tell about Jesus?
PRAYER
Help your children to pray, thanking God for Jesus birth.
Pray with them for opportunities to share the good news of Jesus
birth in a meaningful way with friends and family this
Christmas.
This Advent study is a resource from Redeemer Presbyterian
Church (www.redeemer.com).