Author: missionspaul

Hark! the herald angels sing

“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ, by highest heaven adored;

Christ the everlasting Lord;

Late in time behold Him come,

Offspring of the favored one.

Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see;

hail the incarnate Deity

Pleased as man with men to dwell,

Jesus, our Emmanuel

Hark! the herald angels sing,

“Glory to the newborn King”

Advent – the ancestry of Christ

Acts 13: 23

“From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Saviour Jesus, as he promised.”

Jesus came from the line of David, he had earthly ancestry but it was God who brought him to the world. God had sent the Saviour but worked within the human lineage. The Saviour existed before the ancestors of old.

Jesus was fully aware that He existed before this life on earth. “The one who comes from above is above all” John 3: 31

He would say things like “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” Luke 10:18

He has seen it all. He has seen all that you hold dear. He saw it all come into being.

So often we reduce Jesus to the man, to his history on earth. We even reduce Jesus to the miracle worker, to the cross, to the tomb, even to the resurrection. He is far greater than all those descriptions.

He didn’t come to be the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. He didn’t come to be the Saviour, the Forgiver. He is the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world.

In the carol, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, we are reminded that Jesus, being God, took on human flesh. “Christ, by highest heaven adored; Christ the everlasting Lord; . . . Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity.”

He is the Ancient of Days, the Creator, with the Father and nothing was made that has been made without Him.

We cannot contain Him to a time and a place and a nation. He is beyond his genealogy! We cannot hold on to Him, He is beyond our grasp, we cannot understand all that there is to know about Him, He is beyond our capability to think. He is pre-existent, before Abraham was born, I am!

The Jews saw only the historical manifestation, the ancestry and not the eternal person.

Jesus did not begin 2000 years ago, that was just when the incarnation took place. He had no beginning. He was before beginning. Because of this we can say He has seen it all and He knows it all.

There have been no accidents in your life, neither your birth, nor your death, nor anything in between. He knows the beginning and the end for each one of us.

We can invite Jesus into our existence – but there is a far greater invitation: An invitation for us to live our lives in His pre-existence.

You might not know why some things have happened or why they haven’t. But He knows. We are called to be content in that.

God has and will always know what is going on in your life. He holds out His hand for us so that we can walk through life trusting in a pre-existent Jesus who knows.

Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.

 

 

 

 

 

Advent – the God of the AFTER

Acts 13:22

^“After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.”

Paul was heading to the message of Jesus but he is giving an overview of the history leading to this perfect ‘man’ that God brought to the scene. In this verse he introduces David, a man who was also disappointing in ways but whose heart was gracious and flexible. Saul was given to them as the king of the Israel because the people had proved themselves unfaithful by asking for a king so that they could be like the other nations, instead of trusting in God. However, after 40 years God removed Him because his heart was not right. The point is, God always has a plan. He always knows the next move and what will happen. After the best and worst of times, God is. He is the God of the AFTER.

Have you ever noticed this simple truth within the Advent story?

“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.” He is after your decisions.

 “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem” He is after your poverty and fear.

“After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.” He is after the distraction.

 “After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt” He is after your enemy.

“John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.” He is after you.

1. Today you may have made some important decisions, but even now, God can meet you to change it all around.

2. Today you may have nothing and you may be very afraid. But God can bring gifts of provision for you.

3. Today you may be distracted but God can attract you again along the right path.

4. Today maybe nothing significant is happening, it is simply a waiting period. Your circumstance will change and then the next thing will unfold. God will do it.

5. Today you need to know this simple but important Advent truth: God is after everything because He is before the world was created. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end!

Advent – the God of salvation

Acts 13:21

“Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.”

Benjamin was the youngest son of Jacob but received the fiercest of blessings.

“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil” (Genesis 49:27).

It was the smallest of the 12 tribes but at times the cruellest of stories involve this tribe. The worst has to be the horrific death and abuse of the unnamed Levites concubine and the refusal to hand over the perpetrators meant that they were nearly annihilated by the other tribes.

The tribe was the smallest but in its history great people emerge: Ehud the warrior who delivered Israel from Moab; Mordecai and Esther rose to deliver the Jews from death; the reluctant appointment by God of Saul, the first king of Israel; and of course it is not coincidence that Paul is referring to Saul as a man holding the same name and from the same tribe as him, for he too was an apostle ‘abnormally’ chosen.

So the truth is this:

1.Benjamin was the smallest, the youngest and the most insignificant of tribes.

That could be how you describe yourself.

However, a King has come to save you.

2. Benjamin is compared to a wolf, known for devouring and dividing, preying and spoiling.

That could be who you are, that could be a reputation of you or someone you love.

However, a King has come to save you.

3. Saul was chosen reluctantly by God. Though held within his Sovereignty, Israel should never have asked for a King, God was their leader.

That could be how you feel, unimportant to God, not having His full pleasure.

However, a King has come to save you.

4. In the family there can be horrendous skeletons where the past is best forgotten but it is difficult when so many know of it.

That could be within your history.

However, a King has come to save you.

5. Greatness can emerge, it is possible. Saul symbolised Israel’s sin against God but Saul/Paul symbolised God’s grace to man, a murderer was forgiven.

This grace is available to you and to all.

A King has come to save you.

That King was not Saul, son of Kish. That King is Jesus!

The man from Benjamin also said in a later letter: “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst” (1 Tim 1:15)

Christmas is not about anything else but this:

Jesus Christ came to save you from your sins.

After explaining that Mary was with child by the Holy Spirit, the angel told Joseph, “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21)

Advent is about God bringing salvation to the least and the most undeserving.

To you and me.

Advent – the giving God!

Acts 13:20

“All this took about 450 years. After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. “

God gave them the judges in the post-Joshua generation. Joshua (the Lord saves) had died and the people soon fell back into rebellion. The judges were appointed and given by God to maintain order among the Israelites and to lead them into relationship with God. Within the judges era the Israelites developed a cycle of disobedience and God continually gave them a new judge.

The Advent is the coming of the new Joshua, of Jesus (the Lord saves). Throughout the story we see a God who gives in order to bring man back to Him. Jesus, the new Joshua, is given once and for all, there is no replacement, no one else will come.

The angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream and confirms that Mary has conceived from the Holy Spirit.

Mary would give birth to a son.

Joseph would give that son the name Jesus.

Mary was told by Gabriel that she would conceive and then give birth to a son.

Mary was told that her son would be given the throne of his father David and he will reign and his kingdom would never end.

The angel of the Lord told Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth would bear him a son and he was to call him John.

Elizabeth gave birth to a son. He would give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins

The magi opened their treasures and presented Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The gift of Christmas is connected to bringing man back to God through Jesus who came to die. The same reason that God gave the judges after Joshua had died. We worship a giving God!

 

 

Advent – the overthrowing God!

Acts 13:19

“and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance.”

God overthrows the enemy so that His people can move into their inheritance. That is what He has done. This is what He does. Let us have a closer look at those seven nations, briefly examining the meaning of their names and as we do we will see the inheritance that is ours.

God defeats fear: The Hittites were the nation that brought fear.

To Mary, Joseph and to the shepherds the message from God is, “Fear not! Do not be afraid!”

God has defeated the fear in your life. He is still proclaiming this message over your situation.

 

God proclaims peace: The Girgashites were the nation that brought strife.

The good news is the announcement of peace on earth from the angels.

Peace with God has been given to you, unearned, it has come, it is yours!

 

God speaks: The Amorites were the nation that brought the command.

But at Christmas God is giving the commands. He speaks to the prophets ahead of time. He speaks to the angels and to man. He uses words and signs.

God is communicating now, to you.

 

God rules: The Canaanites were the nation that brought subjection bringing others under its rule.

The prophet Isaiah spoke, “Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.”

God is your ruler and king. Let Him bring order to your life.

 

God sees: The Perizzites were the nation with un-walled villages, they were unprotected from God.

But God protects the characters of Christmas. That is seen clearly in the protection of the Magi who were warned to return by a different way because of Herod.

God is watching over you.

 

God of truth: The Hivites were deceivers, just like the meaning of their name, they were serpents.

Herod sent the Magi to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

God enlightens us to the truth.

 

God within pain: The Jebusites were the nation that trampled down others.

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. The story of Christmas is told in the violent circumstance of this time. Whether the violence of Christmas or the vulgarity of the cross the gospel survives.

No matter what pain you are walking through, the good news in your life will survive.

Now revisit each one, thanking and worshipping God for His overthrowing victory.

He has done this for you. You are free today.

Advent – our enduring God

Acts 13:18

“for about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness.”

The word endurance here probably means to provide for people’s needs despite an ungrateful response. The translations use the words ‘He suffered’, ‘He put up with them’, ‘He took care of them’, ‘patient with them’, ‘he nursed them’.

That God would do such a thing is amazing love in itself.

In fact, Paul was probably referring to Deuteronomy 1:31 when he used the word ‘endured’.

“There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”

Despite their behaviour, he carried them as a father carries his son.

In the coming days there will be many re-enactments of the story of Christmas. Maybe this year you can have a fresh understanding of the endurance of our God, that He cares enough to carry.

Some people are like King Herod. He wanted to kill Jesus for the Christ-child threatened his insecure position. They live their life questioning God’s existence. They are threatened by the claims of Christianity and so choose to dismiss them. God endures the Herod’s for He loves them.

Some people are like the Chief priests and teachers of the Jewish law. They knew where the promised Messiah would be born. Were they looking for the birth? No. Some can recite the nativity, they know the beliefs of Christianity, but it means nothing because they do not yet know Christ. God endures the religious for He loves them.

Some people are like the Magi. Maybe this year has been a year of investigation, looking at the claims of Jesus Christ. For some people along the way there have been seasons of doubt and even of fear and they have thought about turning around. God endures the Magi for He loves them.

Some people are like the Shepherds. Granted they didn’t have an angelic host sing to them, but this year their life has turned around. God has come to them, He revealed Himself to them. To those who know what it is to nurse and care for straying sheep, God endures the Shepherds for He loves them.

Some people are like the Innkeeper. Some are sympathetic to Christianity. If they had more time or more room in their life they would seriously consider its beliefs. God endures the innkeepers for He loves them.

Some people are like Joseph. He initially had been a doubter. He believed what sadly some believe today. The virgin birth did not happen, Jesus was conceived naturally. Some people have a very small God. The God of Christmas is Supernatural, Almighty, Powerful and He chose to come into this world the virgin birth way. God endures the Josephs for He loves them.

God endures all these characters and more. He carries them within the Christmas story for His love for the world.

Okay so who are you? Which character are you?

Whoever you are, God endures you. He carries you. For He loves you.

 

We are staying on the same verse as yesterday, I don’t want to move from it because it is so important!

Acts 13: 17

^“The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country”

 He chose the ancestors of our faith and He has chosen you. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were thankfully people who were very human and who sinned, they were not perfect, but He chose them.

The Kings, Prophets and Priests lived lives with a mixture of godliness and sinfulness, but He chose them.

The 12 disciples were a mixed bunch of people who really tried their best but who were by and large failures and loud-mouths, but he chose them.

You may not feel very chosen. You may even feel you are more like Zechariah who was chosen by a lottery, by chance and even an accident perhaps, but he went into the temple which then kick-started his experience of God at the Advent.

Circumstances and feelings vary, you may doubt it at times, but He has chosen you!

The word ‘chosen’ means to select, by a deliberate choice with a definite outcome.

When the angel went to Mary to tell her he had chosen her he used the words ‘highly favoured’. The word is ‘Charitoo’, it means ‘a once in all role’.

Mary was deliberately chosen for a once in all history role.

There was no one else like her.

Special.

Privileged.

Chosen.

She was amazed, she could hardly believe it.

When Paul says in Ephesians 1:6 “his glorious grace which He has given us.” He used the same word ‘Charitoo’.

This Advent know this: His coming tells us we worship a God who is forever choosing. He chose His one and only Son to come to a world that He had already chosen. He chose the characters of the Bible and we have these incredible stories that shape our lives.

And He has chosen us because of the Advent of Christ.

We have been given a once in all role.

There is no one like you.

Unique.

Special.

People are alike but they are not the same.

Where you are, where you live, what your story is, there is no one like you.

God has chosen you!

 

Advent – ancestry and the power of God.

 

Acts 13: 17

“The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country”

 

I love old people who remember what God powerfully did when they were younger. Not so that they can scorn and despise what is happening today. But that these people serve the new generation needing to trust God for many things.

We need old people to tell stories of the pioneers of old; the missionary zeal; the courage to cross over into new seasons of God; the ability of God to open ways that seem impossible. We need old people to shout from the rooftops, “All things are possible here.”

Come on old saints the Church needs you. Show us the memorial stones of past years when God performed miracles, signs and wonders. Tell us the stories of personal sacrifice. Testify of the days of passion and of the church surrendering to God in order to be sent by Him.

We need old people in the present to prophesy from the past into our future. We need to know of the stories of our ancestors. We need to know God is a God of His people who makes us prosper and who leads us out into a new place.

Advent is a reminder that whether it is Bethlehem or Egypt, something is about to happen in the insignificant place that will determine your significance. There is a divine power to be found in the insignificant place because our powerful God is there. The God of our ancestors is our God today. What He did then He can do now.

Advent – the God we worship

Acts 13: 16 “Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!” Paul welcomed the invitation to speak. He is going to deliver his sermon. This will be our Christmas sermon, an Advent journey. “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!” God is who we worship! Last night I was sat in a field in Salem, Tamil Nadu, India with believers worshipping God. Everything couldn’t be more different than what is my culture. But they worshipped God. Within a 10km radius there were 10,000 villages who do not know Jesus and who worship idols. But on that patch of land we worshipped God. Jew. Gentile, they both were worshipping God. Mission is for every tribe, every language, every culture of every nation worshipping God. That’s the ultimate dream. That is what will happen at Christ’s second Advent.

Advent always involves worship. It seems like Christmas comes earlier every year and with it come the songs many which are meaningless. In the Philippines the shops have been playing Christmas songs since September!

However, the number one Christmas song of all-time will always be by that multitude of singers:

“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests”

A song that declares that God is great and that Peace has come to replace anxiety.

So as Advent worshippers let us do what Paul asks of the synagogue. Let us listen.

Speaking words that truly encourage

 Acts 13:15 After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak.”

So as there service was coming to the end, the team as guests of the synagogue were invited to speak as was their custom.
A message of encouragement is what they hoped for and what they were used to.
They are a people oppressed by their enemy, the Romans.
They long for freedom, for the Messiah to come.
That’s why they ask for encouragement.
There is an expectation that the guests would say similar things to what they always hear.
But this is Paul! His encouragement will come in a different package than they usually got.

Using the Law and then through the messages from the Prophets Paul will clearly lay out in his sermon the forgiveness of sins by Jesus is now available. It is going to stir up the whole city and will cause major problems for the religious leaders

Sometimes what is needed is not a pat on the back, a sympathetic shoulder to cry on, we need a hard word, a revelatory word, something spoken that hasn’t been said before, we need outside of the box thinking.
We need the encouragement that will move us out of a position we may be stuck in.
We need the encouragement to think the opposite.

We need the encouragement to dare to believe in the face of opposition that something just maybe true!

This Advent if given an opportunity to speak then do so with an encouragement that changes lives.