Brown's Daily Word: Brown's Daily Word 12/13/12

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Brown's Daily Word 12/13/12

"It is the most wonderful time of the year... It's beginning look a like Christmas everywhere you go... It's Christmas time in the city... I heard the bells on Christmas Day... O Come all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant... Hark the herald angels sing... Joy to the world the Lord has come". One of the worship services that we held aboard ship during the cruise was attended by people from many nations. I preached at the service. I felt like Peter preaching on first Pentecost to people from many nations. Before the message I had asked people to share about Christmas. There were many who shared joyfully and spontaneously. One woman with a beautiful accent said, "We need to pray for world peace; the world is in an inferno". One of the amazing gifts of grace the Lord gave us at the first Christmas is the Peace that came in the person of Jesus Christ wrapped in swaddling clothes.

"The Peaceable Kingdom" is the title early Nineteenth Century painter, Edward Hicks, gave to this benign menagerie of animals - wild and domesticated. He based his work on this Isaiah 11, the passage that speaks of such animals as the wolf, lamb, leopard, lion, kid and calf - all sharing the same pasture, grazing and resting together. Hicks’ vision, like that of Isaiah, is of a world of peace, love, and tranquility.
In chapter 11:1 Isaiah called the lineage of the Davidic dynasty the “stump of Jesse”. This is the only time in the Old Testament that David’s line is called by His father’s name. In verse 6 note that the word “Branch” is capitalized because it is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ, “the Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 The message that Isaiah portrayed to the people of Israel is a message of hope, that what God has cut off is also that which God restores. That the One who judges His people for their sins, is also the One who forgives them and restores Peace. Isaiah’s message to Israel was their need to know this coming Prince of Peace.
During this season of Advent we may feel like the people of Israel. It may be that something in our lives has been suddenly “cut off”. Our, dreams, our hopes, our aspirations seem to have disappeared. All that remains is the stump of unrealized expectations. The Good News of this Advent season is that our Mighty God wants us to know that he is the Restorer of dreams, He is the Restorer of hope, and He is the Restorer of aspirations.
The Prophecy found in Isaiah 11 reveals that the source of lasting peace is none other than the Branch of the Lord. Furthermore the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit are embodied in the Person Jesus Christ our Lord, as revealed in Isaiah 11:2

Our world longs for peace. We live in a society where injustice, unfaithfulness, and unrighteousness abound. We are invited to come to the manger, come to Christ. He is the Prince of Peace. Have you been victimized by unrighteousness? Have injustice and unfaithfulness cut a swath across your path? Then come to Christ. He will vindicate you, he will make the wrong right, and He will be faithful to you even when others are not.
Christ lifts the burden from our shoulders. He takes the burden of unforgiveness, the burden of despair, the burden of anxiety, and the burden of guilt from us. Let us come to the Branch of Jesse. Let the peace that is found only in the Prince of Peace pervade our lives, our homes, our churches, and the world in which we live.

In Christ,

Brown

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Living Nativity Presented by the Union Center United Methodist Church

Location: The Oakdale Mall, Johnson City, NY.

Date: Saturday, December 22, 2012

Time: 4-5 PM

Handel's Messiah Presented by the Down Town Singers of Binghamton

Date: Friday December 21, 2012

Time: 8 PM

Location: Helen Foley Theater in Binghamton High School (corner of Main & Oak Streets).