Acts 16:4-5 As Paul, Silas and Timothy traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
 
MANY methods and ideas for church growth have been discussed and tried. It is a significant challenge to call people to live within a particular moral code. Our human nature wants to retort, “Don’t tell me how to live. I’ll do what I please.” What is a church to do to form and grow?
   The Bible is very sure about the pathway to a strong church: our purpose is to tell whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)
   The church should not ask the world, “What do you want?” Our task – and joy – is to proclaim, “This is the truth the world must know.” God has given the church to command to confront the opposition with God’s inerrant truth. To believe in God is to believe the Spirit will use God’s Word to turn many self-centered hearts to center on Christ.
   That’s what happened in Lystra and the other towns where Paul, Silas and Timothy ministered. They faithfully delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. Remember, those decisions were to tell the people to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. (Acts 15:20). Essential to receiving the truth, “Jesus saves.” in our heart is to faithfully live the truth the Savior teaches.
   Truth strengthens us when we reject the self pleasures God forbids. Strong Christians unite to create a strong church. A strong church will grow when it welcomes the Spirit’s nourishing power.
   In Acts 2, 6, 9, 12 we learn of strong churches growing quickly. The Spirit blessed the obedient. This is God’s way. Your Father in heaven wants you to strengthen you with his blessings as you obey his commands. Acts 3:26 “When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”  It’s very simple. Receive God’s love and love Jesus. Strong, growing Christians form a strong church. This is God’s church growth plan.
 
Note: This closes the time of Paul’s and his mission team’s ministry in Asia Minor. God is about to reveal his plan to expand his church Europe.
 

Luke 2:33-35 The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
 
IN the midst of this joyous moment for Simeon, he prophesies to Mary a summary of Jesus’ purpose. Jesus will cause change. People will oppose Jesus. People will rise, and people will fall because of Jesus’ life. How challenging these words would have been for the mother who is highly favored. Simenon’s prophecies would be further evidence that God had created the baby in her arms for the LORD’s covenant purpose.
   Mary would encounter many different emotions and thoughts as a result of God’s call. How true this is to all whom God has chosen to love Jesus. As Jesus says, “Come.” the invitation is about going to Jesus, so he will prepare us to enter into the disciple’s life. A true relationship with Jesus will re-form our purpose, emotions, relationships and thoughts to draw us near to God.   
   This is the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. (Romans 1:16a). Salvation is about becoming new. And we must learn to faithfully encounter this new life God’s favor has delivered to us. The Bible records each person Jesus personally touched experienced dramatic change. We’ve read this past month of Zechariah, Elizabeth, John, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and now Simeon experiencing God’s profound love effectually say to each person, to Israel and to  the world, “Come to me, and I will show you the way to my glory.” The entire Bible is a record of our Savior’s magnificent impact on mankind to bring us back into God’s image.
   You can see this in the changes Israel knew during Jesus’ ministry. We often focus on how people rejected him. But let’s remember more his salvation. At the conclusion of his gospel, the apostle John summarized the breadth of Jesus’ impact on Israel: John 21:25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
   How do you respond to God’s eternal invitation, “Come.”? Go first to the Holy God to hear him in the Bible’s words. Read it daily as an opportunity to listen to God’s love for you. Read with open ears and a humble heart to discover understanding for things you don’t comprehend. Find and listen to people who know Jesus. Believe the words of a pastor who offers you the truth. Be aware of Jesus’ voice speaking in both the quiet and the disturbing moments. Remember, God the Father, Son and Spirit is your Comforter, your Helper. He will save your soul from harm, deliver you from evil, offer you hope and show you his peace.  
 
And how good it is to know Psalms 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?

Luke 2:25-32 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
 
SIMEON is God’s very faithful servant. God had given to him a wonderful promise. In his lifetime Simeon would see the Savior. And then it happened.
   On that day to begin as any other, the Spirit moved Simeon to be where Jesus would enter the temple. Simeon experienced God’s great love come to earth and to his city. The baby Jesus’ presence was God’s favor upon the righteous man. Simeon would know the comfort of the Comforter, the provision of the Mighty God and the tender care of the Everlasting Father. In his heart, Simeon, too, would know the peace of the Prince of Peace.  
   You, too, can know this right now. The baby Jesus came to become the Christ Jesus, your Savior. He is your Comforter, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. God fulfilled his promise to Simeon, and as you are a Christian, he has fulfilled his promise to you to see the Savior before your physical body dies.
   That’s how God works, isn’t it? When the Spirit directs you to meet Jesus, your spiritual eyes see the Savior. You receive him with gladness to experience God’s promises come true. Seeing Jesus, the Son, you can then see the Father and the Spirit. You live in God’s comfort because you know his favor rests on you.
   Center your life on this good news. Consider that everything – that is each thing in the world – will fade and disappear. But God’s promised Savior is with you always. His light opens your eyes to faithfully let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:15-16)
         
Prayer: Thank you, Father, that you are so grieved over our sin you sent the Great Consolation to bring peace to our souls. Amen. 

Luke 2:21-24 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. 22 When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord.”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” 
 
WHY take pigeons to the temple? It was because God’s law commanded this. It was a part of the circumcision ceremony for the child and purification rites for the new mother. Leviticus 12:3-5 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4 Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying… And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting (now the temple) a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering…8 And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.  
   This is God’s law that is founded on God’s covenant to Abraham to raise up a nation that would bless the world. Circumcision for the male was a mark of his parent’s commitment to raise him in God’s law. Mary and Joseph took the pigeons to the temple because their lives were based on this core value: Obey God’s commands. Live into his promise for the world.
    This obedient couple lived this most basic life value. There were no angels with trumpets announcing the Savior coming into town. No heavenly music chorused the sky; the shepherds and their friends were not parading joyfully through town. 
   The One who would make this sacrifice law obsolete came to Jerusalem that day in the arms of his earthly parents. Joseph and Mary persistently obeyed God’s commands. This is worship. This is righteousness. Matthew says, “And her husband Joseph was a righteous man.” (1:19)
   Perhaps Joseph is the most forgotten man in the Christmas story. Yet we know his role is essential in God’s plan. His righteousness – obedience to God’s commands – was a vital element in Jesus’ birth to a virgin. Just as God’s favor was on Mary to choose her, God’s favor was on Joseph to choose him for this incomparable role. In each step of his relationship with a pregnant, betrothed woman, Joseph obeyed the Lord’s commands. And he would do so after Jesus’ birth to protect the Savior.
   Joseph is a man of God. He is a wonderful example of how to be such a man to your wife, children and church. Joseph and Mary also present to us a true discipleship example on how live together under God’s laws.
   Be righteous. Be willing to receive God’s words and live them to his glory. Be a testimony of faith for the generations of your family.            
Prayer: May my offerings, Father, be offerings of worship to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Luke 2:20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
 
THE angels had described Jesus’ birth scene to the shepherds in some detail. Then they told the shepherds to go and see the child who is Christ the Lord. The shepherds obeyed to see with their own eyes just as they had been told. These highly favored shepherds then spontaneously spread the good news praising God throughout Bethlehem before returning to the fields. Glorifying God is praising him and acknowledging him for the wonders he had done in Bethlehem and on earth that night. Joyfully, the shepherds had put God’s commands into action. In response, their words and emotions elevated God to the highest place in their hearts and minds. Their testimony also elevated God within the hearts and minds of Bethlehem’s people that night.
   This is a display of God’s love as an active, life-changing power. Love became flesh in the manger. Love also became flesh through the shepherds’ joyful response.
   That’s what happens when God breaks into the darkness, when he bids his people to come see him. Just as we have been told through the Bible, his love takes on flesh through countless people he has chosen to bear testimony to his work. We also see God’s love become flesh though people he has transformed from deep darkness into his eternal light.
   This is certainly true for a man I know. God has rescued him from drugs, alcohol and other addictions. It began years ago when he was near death in an emergency room with a drug overdose. God stepped into his dark life that night to say, “I love you.” And my friend began to see God’s love lighten his heart. For a time he sought God, glorifying his name, as he told what God had done. But then the darkness returned.
   But God’s love is stronger than sin. One cold night my  addicted, homeless friend was without hope. Then he saw a light through a doorway to a church. He walked into the room. Once more through the church, God held out his hand. “Welcome back. I love you. I’ve been waiting for you. Come see how I love you.” The church’s love became flesh. They received him, cared for his physical needs and nurtured his mind toward God. Through a long process, Jesus’ church fed my friend the gospel with the Spirit’s fruit. They helped my friend to the place he needed to be to heal, rest and begin anew. Joyfully, his love for Jesus has grown now to bear much fruit through his testimony. He has lived God’s love story, telling everyone he meets of Jesus’ power to transform lives. He will tell you and anyone he meets, “I love Jesus.” And it is evident he does because his life glorifies the God whose favor rescued him. Years have passed. The evidence is clear. My friend is certainly born again, a new creation in Jesus Christ.
   We all need to be such a church and that kind of loving child of the Father. We all have been separated from God. Some of us have desperately asked, “Where do I go? What must I do?” Then God has come to us to say, “I love you. I’ve been waiting for you. Come in and see my love for you.” Through his favor of faith on you, God has received you into the Light. The Holy Spirit has taken you to the doorway, so you can enter anew into God’s love. God wants you to know that his Word is just as you have been told.
   The church who received my friend glorified God. They put flesh on God’s love to be a difference in his life. What possible ways might you and your church be God’s love in the flesh to someone?
 
Prayer: Thank you, God, for revealing your love to me through your church. I pray that in return I love those you send to me, so more people will know your remarkable love. Amen.
 

Luke 2:19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
 
​LUKE tells us that on the night of Jesus’ birth, Mary paused for some time to look back and look ahead as we might do at significant moments in our lives. Mary certainly had much to treasure the eternal gift  God had bestowed upon her. When we experience God’s miraculous grace, it is good and right to ponder how good God is. And what will he do in the future? How do we anticipate his continuing work in our lives?
   We can picture Mary’s eyes gazing at her baby while considering all the events that had brought her to that historic moment. What was she thinking about Jesus’ future? Certainly she would have pondered hers and Joseph’s future, too, as ones to oversee this Messiah-child. What is her family’s future. What is Israel’s future?
   As Luke used the word “treasure” it indicates to us Mary highly valued what God had done in the past and what he would do in the future. Imagine, the Messiah! Would this manger-born baby rule in Jerusalem where the evil Herod sat? Would her son remove the Romans from the land? What kind of savior would he be?
   God had certainly surprised and shown her he would do very unexpected, humanly impossible things. After all, she became pregnant while she was a virgin! Then to assure Mary of the miraculous promise, God guided her to the miracle of the aged, barren Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Next, the Lord led her betrothed husband Joseph to accept a pregnant wife and to treat her with love and restraint. God protected this couple from their culture’s stigmas. Surely it was God’s hand that had moved them to Bethlehem and to the manger that night.  
   Putting these events together, Mary most assuredly knew there would be more wonders to behold. She, of faith, would treasure God’s choosing her to live amid these world-changing, kingdom-building events.
   On this night, the Spirit was guiding Mary to prepare for a life that would witness the Savior of the world grow into manhood. Mary would come to know that in each moment as she gazed upon this child, she would celebrate what God had done.
   As you close this year and begin to look ahead, open afresh your eyes, heart, mind and soul to ponder and treasure the miracles of the Savior come. Ponder and treasure your place in God’s kingdom. Be in awe he chooses you to live amid his world-changing, kingdom-building work. Keep your eyes on Jesus each moment of your life. Rejoice in the sure hope you have in Jesus, the Savior. Anticipate he will guide you through difficult times and challenges to your faith. Know he will draw you more closely to him as you ponder and treasure God’s Word.
 
Ponder & Treasure: James 4:7-8 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 
 
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for your amazing gift. Put my mind upon the Savior to treasure the wonders of your favor upon me. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Luke 2:16-18 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. 

CAN you imagine the conversations the shepherds had with people after they had left the Christ child? “Listen everyone! We have some great news! Tonight we were working as usual, watching our sheep. Then suddenly an angel appeared in the sky. He told us the Savior was in a manger here in Bethlehem! Then we saw the most remarkable sight. The sky was filled with angels praising God! They told us to go see the baby born in a stable of all places. So we went to that stable just up the street. There he was. The newborn baby boy, just as the angel had said he would be. That baby looks like any other baby, but we know  he is our Messiah. The heavens have told us. He is Savior of the world!”
How do you think people responded to the shepherds’ remarkable news? We read all who heard it were amazed. It seems the Holy Spirit had given some people in Bethlehem a willingness to consider the shepherds’ news. When God wants a revival, he will make it happen. 
You can certainly imagine, too, many doubted the shepherds’ words. “Really? The Messiah is born in a stable? How can we believe such a thing? After all, you are only shepherds. What do you know? Someone could have been tricking you.” 
How do people respond to your good news when you tell them: “Listen, everyone, here’s some great news. God’s Holy Bible says that Jesus, the Son of God, was born in Bethlehem as a baby boy. He did this because we are born in sin separated from God. Still, God loves you to the full extent. He came to earth to save you from the inexpressible horrible penalty of your sins. The message of all the Prophets and the Apostles is that you can know that the baby Jesus grew to become the Savior of our souls. He showed and taught us God’s ways, so you can live in an eternal loving relationship with the holy God. Through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus offers to you a faith to cleanse your sins from your soul. Believe Jesus is God’s Son! You will be free to live forever in a true relationship of joy and peace with God! Praise God! Jesus is the way to eternal life!” 
This is amazing news, isn’t it? 

The prayer is from the 8th-century Alchoin (al cue in), an English scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher: “Eternal Light, shine into our hearts. Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil. Eternal Power, be our support. Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance. Eternal Pity, have mercy upon us, so with all our heart, our mind, our soul, our strength, we may seek your face and be brought by that infinite mercy to your holy presence through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” Amen.

Luke 2:15 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.”
 
IN 2000 I had the opportunity to travel to Baltimore on business. The night I arrived was the night the Baltimore Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV. Two days later, the city had a parade for the Ravens to celebrate their victory. The parade route was on the street in front of the building where I was working. I was a football fan to some extent. This was a great opportunity to experience a moment of football history. But the truth is, I didn’t stop my work to go see it. I was too busy working. I have no idea what happened. I missed a touch of football history.  
   Suppose the angels had gone into heaven and the shepherds kept working? What if they did not “go to Bethlehem and see”? Of course, they would have missed the turning point of history. They would have missed Jesus.
   God commanded them to go, so they would experience the Savior come down to earth. God had given them the privilege to be the first people in the world to announce the Savior had come! Responding to God’s instructions, the shepherds experienced one of history’s greatest moments.
   God’s commands are one way he invites us into history – his story. Obeying God’s words almost always requires stopping what we plan to do, so we can go to do God’s will.
   One thing we must know is that God’s commands point us to his character. All he commands us to do is to help us know his love. To reject God’s commands is to reject the intimacy of his love.
   That is Scripture’s purpose, isn’t it? God wants us to truly understand the depth of his gift to us: “God so loved the world he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will be saved.” (John 3:16)
   When God commands, do you go in faith or stay with the sheep? Do you prefer to focus on your own work, or you go see what the Lord has for you?  
   God’s messenger today is the Holy Spirit. He comes from heaven to reveal Jesus to you. Unlike the angels that night, he does not literally shine into your dark nights. Instead, he comes in the Father’s love to open  your eyes to God’s saving glory. The Spirit today is the light of heaven who points us to the Light of the World.
   Thank God for his light, too, in friends who invite you to a Bible study. Thank God for his light shining from people who pray for you. Turn to the light. Trust the light. Know God’s commands. Stop the things you are doing that prevent you from obeying his directives. Then go, see God’s victory parade. He has won the battle for you.
 
Prayer: Thank you, Father, Son and Spirit for your victory over sin. Thank you for commanding me to the parade of life everlasting. Teach me to go, so I will see how much you love me. In your name I pray, amen. 

Luke 2:12-14 “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
 
HAVE you ever wondered why God, the eternal Father and the Creator of the universe, reserved a manger and not a room in the inn to receive his Son? Animals drool into a manger. All manner of unseen creatures live in a manger. “Why the manger, LORD?”
   In truth, you could ask a number of “why questions” about Jesus’ life. For example, “Why was he born into a lower-class working family? Why did he grow up in Nazareth, a place of poor reputation? Why did Jesus wait until he was 30 years old to begin his ministry? Why did people hate him so violently? Why were some so eager to believe; but then, why did so many reject Jesus? Why did they kill you, Jesus?”
   Based on reading the entire counsel of God – that is, the Bible – the LORD God’s answer to us is something like this:
   “Why, you ask, did I cause my Son to have such a lowly birth, difficult life and tortuous death? My child, I did this for you. You see, my Son is my most treasured gift to you. Jesus’ life and his death is my demonstration of sin’s terrible, deadly assault on your life. My Son is also the visible display of the height, width, length and depth of my love for you. I sent my Son from his heavenly throne of glory and power to be a working man in a lowly place on earth, so you would know how to be a servant. When you join us in my kingdom, you must be humble to serve the world as Jesus did. Through Jesus’ life, I am directing you to do with me as I have done for you.
   “And do you know? I also sent my Son to a working life, so he more closely understands what life is like for you. As a man, he has experienced frustrations, temptations and pain. When you pray for protection and strength, Jesus knows your struggles and your deepest needs.
   “Yes, I sent Jesus into a suffering life. My Son was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and you esteemed him not. Surely, he took up your infirmities and carried your sorrows, yet you considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. He was even pierced for your transgressions; he was crushed for your iniquities. The punishment that brought you peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  (from Isaiah 53:3-5)
   “Yes, this is all for you, my child. I am God, who walks with you everywhere, even when it stinks and is uncomfortable, even when it’s deadly. My Son has experienced this. He knows your needs. You can trust him in all things, and turn to him because he’s now praying for you. Know the glory of God has come to a manger, so you will know eternal richness in my new heaven.
   “Yes, what joy there will be when you trust my Son! I will welcome you into my home to know the glory the shepherds saw that night is your eternal celebration.”
 
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for your Son. He has come to dwell among your creation and personally in me. Teach me the humility I must know to faithfully believe and serve you. In Jesus’ name, amen.