Tag: Christmas

God’s Presence; The Christ is Born

Rob Woodrum2 Comments

Have you ever had a frustrating Christmas?   Sometimes we struggle with feelings of disappointment when the holiday doesn’t provide for us what we thought, or hoped, it might.

There’s something about the birth of Christ that really can remind us about what it means that God is with us.  The presence of God in the world and in our lives is far greater than any other present we may get or give to others.

This Sunday, we’ll be looking at Luke 2:1-20, and we’ll consider what it can mean to us that God is present with us.  As you read the story, what are the challenges that are faced, and what can we learn about the nature of God’s invasion of this earth from them?

See you Sunday!

Magnificat: Song of the Revolution

Rob Woodrum3 Comments

This Sunday we’ll continue reading Luke’s gospel, and we’ll cover v39-56 of chapter 1.

What gets you really excited…so much so that you do odd things like jump up and down or scream or break into song?  For a lot of us, (especially men who are normally very subdued) sporting events have that effect on us.  When Bill Belichick decided to go for it in his now famous game losing decision, I stood in stunned silence.  When the Colts scored the winning touchdown moments later, I was a full bore lunatic.

There is a lot of that kind of “bouncing off the walls crazy” that comes through in our story so far.  And why not.  The Savior is about to break in on this world.  The REVOLUTION is about to begin!  The Hope of Israel is at hand.  If you were an Israelite, suffering for 500 years under one tyrannical empire after another…waiting for God to restore the golden age of David, and you heard that someone you were related to was CARRYING the Messiah in pregnancy…I think you’d whoop it up a bit too.

Mary goes to visit Cousin Beth, and finds the sign to be true…she’s pregnant.  Confirmation of what the angel told her was going to happen to her.  She also has Cousin Beth speak prophetically about what’s happening, without her even saying a word.  More confirmation that she hadn’t been hallucinating that day.  Mary gets so stoked, she breaks into a freestyle rap…or something.  She probably wrote it down later in her “secret pillow Hanna Montana” diary (what?…she’s just a kid remember)….and many years later she gives it to Luke as he’s compiling his narrative.  It could’ve happened that way…who knows?

Her song talks about herself…and God’s coming revolution on earth.  What does she say about herself, and her interaction with God?  From verses 51-56, how does she describe the things God is going to do in the world?  How do they help us understand what God will be doing through US?

We’ll talk about it more on Sunday.