The season of Lent provides a time for us to contemplate the depth and passion of our commitment to Christ as we approach Holy Week and Easter. Forty days are set aside as a sacred time to remember the forty days of fasting and prayer […]
One of the resolutions many have for the new year is to read through the Bible completely in a year’s time. One good friend recently told me she was embarking on the Bible-reading journey. She wondered if I would mind answering some questions along her […]
The Christmas story presents the message of God’s gift of His Son Jesus to the people of earth. The Son of God is called the Messiah or the Christ. Through these five biblical lessons, learn more about the Christ of our Christmas.
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Here is the good news of the birth of baby Jesus from Luke’s gospel. In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor […]
The news breaking across the morning airwaves has become so common place we may not even notice the stories. Senseless gun violence in Seattle’s Capitol Hill area has more than tripled in the first half 0f the year 2022 compared to last year. Seattle Police […]
Are you ready to begin a 21-day journey having fellowship with each other and with the Word? Starting each day with Scripture will build a positive habit for the year, as well as encourage and strengthen your faith.
There are verses for each of our days posted on my website. I will make the page active and provide you a link to the website page over the weekend. I will place a link to the verse on the site in Facebook each morning. If you want to be online when I am posting the link, I will do so at 8:30am each day. You can interact with the verse at your own convenience.
In the examples below, there are “pop-up” boxes when you hover over some of the words to help you have a better understanding of meaning. For instance, hover over the phrase “translation or paraphrase” and the word “context.” Click on the words and a pop-up box will give you additional information about these important concepts.
The goals for our 21-day journey:
example: John 14:1-2
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example: Do you remember the first time you heard or read this verse? I remember memorizing this passage in Sunday School when I was about a third-grader. I always wondered why one version said “mansions” and another “rooms.” The older I get, the more it comforts me when I think about heaven as a “home.”
example: Father, we live in a world that can easily trouble us, particularly when we ponder our future. I am grateful that because of faith, You have prepared our future. I am looking forward to the day when I see you face-to-face. Amen.
example: You can interact with each other through the chat and messages at the bottom of the devotion, either on my webpage or in Facebook.
As of December 30th, we have about 50 people that are interested in joining us on this 21-day journey. If you have not yet signed up, sign up on the form to the right. It should be an exciting time!
“Carols and the Christ” from the lesson series Music of Christmas, December 2021
Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God
(Luke 2:13 NIV),
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We could not discuss the music of Christmas without spending a serious amount of time talking about carols and the Christ. Christmas carols celebrate the birth of Jesus. The earliest Christmas carol seems to date back as far as 129, when a Roman bishop presented a song to be sung during a Christmas service in Rome. The term “noel” is also used, especially for carols of French origin.
The word carol actually means dance or a song of praise and joy. Carols used to be written for all four seasons, but only the tradition of singing carols at Christmas has carved its place in history. Popularity of carols would ebb and flow during the years, but by the Middle Ages – around the 1200s – most people had lost interest in celebrating Christmas at all.
This changed in 1223 when St. Francis of Assisi started his Nativity Plays in Italy. The people in the plays sang songs or canticles that told the story during the plays. Sometimes the carols were in Latin, but most of the time they were written in the language that people would understand.
The carol had as its beginning the vocal accompaniment to a dance. The unique feature of the carol was a chorus that was sung at the beginning of the dance and then again after each stanza. Dancers would sing the chorus as they danced. The stanzas were performed by a soloist while the dancers rested.
In the eighteenth century, hymn singing was introduced into English worship services. Hymnists like Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley wrote texts that focused on the incarnation. While properly known as hymns, the songs have become known as “carols” because of the Christmas nature of their message.
Carols cross boundaries. They transcend cultures, ethnicities and even religious divisions. The carol forms the best known group of religious music in the United States and the world. Carols do not have a special role to play in the liturgies of worship services. The carol just replaces the singing of hymns during the Christmas season.
At one point in American history, “caroling” provided a reason for friends to get together and served as a form of the group’s entertainment. The practice of going from house to house has become less frequent as culture has become more urbanized and more influenced by technology. In addition, society has become busier and people have become more isolated and insulated from their neighbors.
The “house-to-house” tradition actually began in England in the seventeenth century. Town musicians, known as “waits,” were officially permitted to solicit and collect alms in the weeks before Christmas. Alms were gifts of food, clothing or money. The impoverished people could collect alms in exchange for the singing of Christmas carols.
Most Christmas carols prior to 1930 had a traditional religious theme. The time of the Great Depression brought a flood of songs which underscored the more secular traditions of Western culture. Most of these songs were focused on children, emphasizing gifts and Santa Claus. Their popularity spurred sentimental songs performed by favorite singers of the era for adults.
Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” is the best-selling single song of all time, while Elvis’ Christmas Album is the best-selling Christmas album of all time. The Time magazine website researched the most-recorded Christmas song since 1978, encompassing songs from “Jingle Bells” to “O Holy Night.” The website collected data on every Christmas album recorded through the US Copyright Office since that year. In a landslide victory, almost doubling its nearest competitor, “Silent Night” is the most popular carol with 733 copyrighted recordings. “Joy to the World” came in second.
Carols have several features that set them apart from other types of songs, including hymns. Let’s think about two characteristics that make them unique. First, for at least a month carols can be heard not just in churches, but in elevators, on the radio and across loud-speakers in shopping malls. You cannot imagine “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” being played on a secular FM radio station.
In addition, the Christmas carol is one of the few areas of American culture where public religious expression is still allowed and accepted. Nativities, Scripture readings and even prayers have been banned in the public square, but the carol can be heard or sung during the Christmas season by anyone anywhere.
The church may not have a better means of teaching the message of the Gospel to an “un-churched” world than through Christmas carols. Let’s allow our verse of Scripture today to direct our thoughts to the Greatest Story Ever Told. As the shepherds are being told the good news of the birth of the Savior, Luke records a simple verse.
The Bible uses the phrase “heavenly hosts” on several occasions (Psalm 148:2, 1 Kings 22:19-22, 1 Samuel 1:3, Psalm 24:10, Isaiah 22:14, Malachi 2:16, etc). The heavenly host are heavenly messengers, not bound by time and space as those of us on earth. The word “host” means “army.” The Lord of hosts is the Lord of the army. R.C. Sproul called them a “veritable army of angels” whose primary purpose is praise.
Is there a better weapon than this?
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife (Matthew 1:18-24 NIV).
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them (Luke 2:4-7 NIV).
And he gave him the name Jesus (Matthew 1:25b NIV).
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them (Luke 2:8-18 NIV).
Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.
“Songs of Reflection” from the lesson series Music of Christmas, December 2021
But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart (Luke 2:19 ESV).
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If there is a theme threading through this year’s lessons, it should become more than crystal clear during these thoughts. Our passage considers a portion of Luke’s account of the gospel story. While the Christmas season is a time of celebration, it is also a time to treasure and to ponder. There are several interesting concepts in this phrase in this short verse. Let’s consider some important things first.
The word that many translations render “treasured” has a military flavor. In many contexts, the word would be translated “guarded,” as a prisoner is guarded preventing escape. Mary exerted intense mental effort to store information in order to have continual access to it.
Do you keep scrapbooks? We kept photo albums and scrapbooks for all of our children. We have records of the births of each child, pictures of birthdays and celebrations, along with mementos of significant events along the way. We don’t want our memories to escape.
The tense of the Greek verb is the imperfect tense, which means that action is on-going. Mary continued guarding all of these things. She may have said nothing, but she continued pondering them in her heart. The verbs are in a participial form, again stressing the continued actions.
The verbs have a prefix with them that stresses “together with.” The idea is that Mary is throwing these things together in her heart, comparing one thing to another, letting one thing explain another. She begins to see everything through a particular lens, and the lens grows and changes with every event.
“Ahh, this explains everything! Now this makes sense!”
The phrase is interesting and fun to think about. If it had only occurred once, we would grin at the thoughtful and perceptive writer that Luke was proving to be. But he uses the phrase a second time down in verse 51. Luke wants us to pay attention to what is happening.
Notice also the events that occur between the two verses. I do not think it is an accident what the Scripture records after it tells us that Mary treasures and ponders the things of Christmas.
First Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple for ceremony required by Law (Leviticus 12:2-4). Forty days after the birth, a purification ceremony was required for Mary. At the same time, if the child were the first-born male, a special ceremony of dedication and sacrifice was required (Exodus 13:2). Mary and Joseph were trying to follow the Law.
Simeon, perhaps the attendant priest for the day, looked for the restoration of Israel because he was a righteous and devout individual. Upon seeing the baby, Simeon broke into praise and blessing to God, declaring that he has seen the salvation of the Lord. Simeon provides incredible information for Mary to “guard” – claiming that Jesus would be a revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for the people of Israel.
Mary and Joseph are amazed at was Simeon said. But Simeon is not finished. “Listen carefully,” he continued. “This child is destined to be the cause of the rising and falling of many in Israel. He will be a sign that will be rejected. He will be a sword that will pierce your own soul as well” (Luke 2:34-35 NIV).
Anna, a widow in the temple, continued the events that amazed Mary and Joseph. She began to speak of the child, giving thanks to God. She was thankful and excited that the Lord was finally bringing about the redemption of Jerusalem.
But Luke tells us about a third event in this setting. The event takes place twelve years later. It is the only biblical record we have of an event in the childhood of Jesus. Luke reminds us that Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem every year. We would expect such dedication from Mary and Joseph. They were meticulous in keeping the Law when Jesus was born. We would expect the same fervor throughout. There were three pilgrimage festivals which were kept by the faithful. At each setting, when possible the faithful would return to the Temple in Jerusalem. The Passover was one of those feasts.
When the feast was over, Mary and Joseph along with others, began the journey to return to Nazareth. They had traveled a day away from Jerusalem when they noticed they had not seen Jesus. They looked for him among their relatives and friends. They returned to Jerusalem looking for him, and found him in the temple courts, talking and listening to the rabbis. Luke adds the commentary, “All who heard Jesus were astonished at his understanding and his answers” (Luke 2:47).
Mary and Joseph did not completely understand what Jesus was doing or saying, but Mary “guarded” all of these things in her heart.
I wonder what Mary treasured.
Think about the things the Scriptures have recorded for us about the events to this point. Mary has had lots to treasure.
I wonder what sense Mary made of what was happening. I wonder how often she thought about the things she was guarding in her heart.
What do you treasure about your Christmas? How do those treasures fit into God’s scheme? Is all that you put in your scrapbook pictures of the presents? Or do you pause to remember what God has done for your family through the presence of His Son? Do you notice how the Lord has been weaving the events of your lives into the tapestry of His will?
Not everything that God does at Christmas is “merry and bright.” Some of the events pierce deeply to our soul. Christmas does not ignore our pain; neither does it allow us to wallow in them. Treasure the events and the people; guard their memories in your heart.
Don’t let the Savior and His work in your family be nothing more than a page in your scrapbook that gathers dust.
“Songs of Santa” from the lesson series Music of Christmas, December 2021
Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works
(Ecclesiastes 9:7 NASB).
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Does it strike you strange that a Christmas lesson for a group of believers in a conservative church would be titled, “Songs and Santa?” I thought so. Let’s explore this a little by wandering back to an Old Testament book, and maybe by doing so, we will understand that God is not opposed to us singing songs about Santa during the Christmas season.
The Old Testament book we need to consider is the book of Ecclesiastes. Hebrew scholars attribute the book to King Solomon, but the author identifies himself as “the Preacher, the song of David, the king in Jerusalem” (Ecclesiastes 1:1). I believe there is a great deal of the book that has been misunderstood or misinterpreted. Let’s try to examine a few teachings in the book, before we discuss a specific passage.
Seven times in the book of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher encourages the reader to pursue joy (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25, 3:12-13, 3:22, 5:18-20, 7:14, 8:15, 9:7-10, 11:7 – 12:1). Being joyful seems to indicate an individual finds sincere contentment and pleasure in God and His blessings in both time of pleasure and times of pain, in moments that are sacred and moments that are secular.
The book contrasts the ways of the world with the ways of the Kingdom. He uses imagery of light and darkness, the ways of the wise as opposed to the ways of the foolish, and the way of life as opposed to the ways of judgment.
The Preacher says, “Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes” (Ecclesiastes 11:9). The words are startling because Moses in the Torah characterized the people as “stubborn, unbelieving and rebellious” (Numbers 14:11, Deuteronomy 9:6-7) and scolded them, “not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes” (Numbers 15:39).
But the context here is different. Here the Preacher is speaking to the wise, not the fool. The context of Ecclesiastes helps us understand the Preacher is not encouraging unrestricted pursuit of pleasure. The wise see the sun as a manifestation of God’s goodness (Ecclesiastes 7:11-12). The wise “will know the proper time and the just way” (Ecclesiastes 8:5). If the wise heart is leaning toward God, your heart and your eyes will lead you in the right direction.
There is a stated caution with the words. Every step, every decision, every purchase, every television channel, every click of the mouse can lead you into judgment (Ecclesiastes 11:9). All things are permissible, though not everything is profitable.
If you are among the wise, if you have tasted that the Lord is good, do not hesitate to follow your eyes and your heart in your celebrations. Solomon’s words in our text guide our thoughts. If you want to sing songs of celebration about Santa during the season that celebrates the coming of the Savior, sing your songs in happiness with a cheerful heart. God enjoys seeing you smile.
But don’t lose sight of the real reason that you sing and are happy. You have not been saved by Santa. As you robustly sing the songs of Santa, let every note, every crescendo, every stanza remind your soul:
But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in time of trouble (Psalm 59:16 NIV).
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them (Acts 16:25 NIV).
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, an in your name I will lift up my hands (Psalm 63:3-4 NIV).
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance (Psalm 32:7 NIV).
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts (Colossians 3:16 NIV).
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples (Psalm 108:3 NIV).
My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you – I whom you have delivered (Psalm 71:23 NIV).
Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord praise His name, proclaim His salvation day after day (Psalm 96:1-2 NIV).
Do not let a song of Santa ring through the air that you do not remember the evening when Mary gave birth to her firstborn son, in the city of David.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:13-14 ESV)!
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come (Revelation 4:8b NASB).
Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for you created all things, and because of Your will they existed and were created (Revelation 4:11 NASB).
Peace on earth will come to all, if we just follow the Light.
Let’s give thanks to the Lord above.
Santa Claus comes tonight.
“It’s the Celebration Season” from the lesson series Music of Christmas, December 2021
The Lord said to Moses,2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.
3 “‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.
4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times (Leviticus 23:1-4 NIV):
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The holiday season is upon us. With the start of November, we begin the annual two-month journey through the grandest of seasons. Our days and weeks slowly meander through rituals of decorations, apparel, food and gifts. Parades and promotions watch with anticipation as the temperatures systematically march by on their way to freezing. We are working our way to Christmas!
The time before the holiday helps us prepare for the celebration of the event. Shopping, music, baking and parties get our hearts and spirits ready for the festive day. Has our celebration become too secular, too commercial? Should a Christian take part in enjoying the festivities of Santa and the holidays?
There are several principles believers should remember.
Celebrations have always been an integral part of the life of people of faith. The Jewish faith celebrated several annual feasts and festivals. The major festivals were Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles). Three of these feasts were pilgrimage, when the entire nation was to return to the Temple. After the exile, Israel added Purim and Hanukkah, as well as a memorial for the fall of Jerusalem. The feasts and festivals of the Jewish people were times when Israel could remember the magnificent ways that the Lord redeemed His people.
In addition to the annual festivals, the people were required to hold a weekly feast – a Shabbat – to observe God’s rest.
Leviticus 23 describes the seven appointed feasts, four held in the spring and three in the fall. There are three phrases in this short passage that we need to consider. The first is the phrase, “These are my appointed festivals.” When we think about celebrations, including our Christmas time, we usually think that these are our times to remember God – specifically the coming of His Son. But God says these celebrations are appointed by Him. His blessing is upon our time and our remembrance. This is not just something we are pondering on our own.
The second phrase is “proclaim.” When we hold celebrations like this, we proclaim several things to an unbelieving world. We are declaring the mighty acts of God, and how those acts touch our lives. But we are also proclaiming our allegiance and service to the Lord.
Finally, we need to look at the words, “sacred assembly.” When we gather to celebrate and remember, the time we spend is sacred. We are worshiping God when we sing our songs, when we enjoy our food, and when we give our gifts. This is a time when we understand the holiness of God.
Through the feasts, the people of God celebrated their history, their faith and the blessings which God had provided for them. Each feast looked forward to the coming Messiah, and the hope found in His person and work.
So let’s turn our thoughts to the Christmas story and our celebration of the season. Please look at a verse in Matthew’s gospel.
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about (Matthew 1:18a):
In that tiny passage, we are reminded that the birth of Jesus was a part of a much larger plan put together by God. Since the fall in the garden, God had been orchestrating the development of a plan of salvation through which not only the Jewish people, but all men could be saved.
Paul realizes God’s involvement in this plan and writes, “But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (Galatians 4:4-5 NASB).
John crystalizes it this way, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 NASB).
So, can a Christian celebrate the season of Christmas in the way that Christmas has evolved today? Yes, but there are a few principles that we must always remember that harken back to the lessons from Leviticus:
How do we worship in a culture that is so far away from the sacred in how it enjoys the season?
Do you remember Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians? It seems that the Corinthians faced the very same problem that we face. How do you weave being Christian into a very non-Christian, non-religious culture? When the Corinthians tried to combine the two, the result was drunkenness and gluttony at fellowship dinners and during times of remembering the Lord’s Supper.
How do you celebrate this season? How do you weave your faith into the culture? How do you wait in line at the store? Are you the first in line when alcohol is served at the party? Do you take your slice of cake and two pieces of pie as well? How much of your food is thrown away? Are your gifts only given to people who can give back to you?
How we celebrate the season proclaims who we celebrate this season. The time is appointed by the Lord.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.