Yesterday early in the morning, as we were getting
ready for Church, our two year old granddaughter Ada called. She talked about
the breakfast she had. She talked about her birthday that is coming in
January. Alice asked her about her favorite Christmas carol. Alice said Is it
Gloria? (Angels We Have Heard on High) No. Ada said It is, "Na Na Na" ..
(Every move I make I make in you).
Praise the Lord for this Advent season. It is the
season of anticipating the best. Indeed, the Lord loved us so much that He gave
His very best. We are blessed. We are loved. We are cherished. We have the
reasons to celebrate.. We have the reasons to feast. We have the reasons to
give joyfully and extravagantly. We have reasons to worship the Lord of the
Season with all of our hearts and lives.
The Lord blessed the Saturday Christmas gathering for
the banquet, singing, and sharing. The hall was full of people of all ages,
both young and old indeed. The Lord has shown how to celebrate. He turned
water into wine. He fed the five thousand with the loaves and fishes. His love
is extravagant.
The Lord blessed us with His reminder of His promises
yesterday during worship. Alice preached at Wesley. I preached at Union
Center. One of the readings for yesterday was taken from Isaiah 11:1-10. This
is a powerful passage of prophecy. One of the famous paintings by Edward Hick
is based on this Passage. His painting is known as "The Peaceable Kingdom".
In his painting, Edward Hicks tried to capture
the true flavor of what Isaiah was describing. He has a lion, a leopard, a
tiger, a wolf and a bear, interspersed among a cow, a goat, a sheep, and several
other small animals. All of the animals are wide-eyed as if in wonder that
they're all together. They are gathered along with three small children, one
near school-age, the other two apparently helpless toddlers. They all look
happy and contented and the children have at least one hand on hitherto
dangerous animals. The prophecy in Isaiah 11 describes of the One who will
come to usher in the Peaceable Kingdom.
"A shoot shall come out from the
stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the
LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of
counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. His
delight shall be in the fear of the LORD."
In this prophecy we see the the birth of Jesus when he
mentioned the shoot from the stump of Jesse. The Gospel readings in Advent
season deal with the second coming of Christ.
When Christ Jesus returns, it will be in great glory and He will judge – as
Isaiah says –with righteousness, and He will “decide with
equity for the meek of
the earth.”
In Luke
chapter 19 we find a story of a king who went away on a long journey and left
his servants in charge of the kingdom. When he returned, the king asked each of
them what they had done with the talents he had entrusted them. And that surely
is a reminder to us that how we serve the king matters. In fact if we believe
and trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior it should be the only thing that
ultimately matters. Now it may not be that we ourselves are called to fill the
whole earth with the knowledge of the Lord. But this Christmas time let’s think
about the streets and homes of our local area. Let’s think about the places
where we work and the places where we meet our friends and neighbors. How can
best can we declare His praise through what we say and do and think? How can we
use our talents to make His kingdom known?
In Christ,
Brown
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