It’s a Christmas of “firsts” at Trinity Mount Barker!
Last night we had a wonderful time at our first ever Carols by Glowstick. It was a great opportunity to sing all our favourite Christmas carols and to share the good news of Christmas with hundreds of people from our community.
There are many, many people to thank for their part in making Carols happen – too many to name! To everyone who helped with the Free Family Fun, the setup and packup, serving on stage and off stage, please let me say a very heart-felt thankyou. Most of all, we should remind each other to give thanks to God to broke into our world in the person of Jesus Christ that very first Christmas, when the light truly did dawn and push back the darkness.
This Sunday we begin a new teaching series, Waiting for God. Our aim, during the lead up to Christmas, is to explore some of the lead up to the very first Christmas as recorded in the opening pages of Luke’s gospel. This morning we start with the announcement of the news of the approaching birth of the baby who we know as John the Baptist.
John is a somewhat strange figure in his later life, wearing clothes made of camel’s hair and eating locusts and wild honey. The announcement of his birth, given by an angel to his father, is strikingly parallel to the announcement of the news of Jesus’ birth, given by an angel to Mary. So why is this fairly odd figure so significant that his birth is promised the same way as Jesus’ is?
Have you given it much thought? In my family I have to supply a list! Which makes early December a fairly taxing time for me, thinking about what I’d like to receive! (Actually, no, that’s a lie! I find that incredibly easy!)
What are you anticipating about Christmas? Maybe you’re going on holidays and anticipating that. Holidays are one of those things that highlight the differences between me and Kathy. She says the anticipation is as good as the holiday itself. I say sitting at my desk working hard anticipating being on holiday is nothing like actually being on holiday!
When it comes to hope and anticipation the people of Israel in the time of Isaiah pretty much had the marked cornered. You’d be hard pressed to out-hope or out-anticipate them. For centuries God had been making promises to his people and they’d seen bits and pieces of those promises fulfilled so they knew they could trust the promises and really there was no greater promise than the promise of the Messiah the long-long-awaited leader of God’s people. Israel, once led by the great king David was weak, worn out and downtrodden. Here’s how God made his promise of a new leader through Isaiah: A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. (Isaiah 11:1).
Notice, this promise is not about one coming from the stump of David. What is promised is not just another one in David’s line. This promised one comes from Jesse, David’s father. God here is promising another David. The Apostle Paul, one of the messengers of the early church wrote to Christians in Rome in about 57 AD and quoting this passage, said, it’s Jesus who is the shoot from the stump of Jesse. (Romans 15:12).
But God continues his promise through Isaiah, in verse 10 he says In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. The Messiah is not only a shoot from Jesse, he is also the Root of Jesse. Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God was before Jesse.
When people look at and hear and encounter the Messiah, they will look at and hear and encounter God himself. As we look forward to Christmas, I wonder what our preparations say about who we think came into the world that first Christmas.
I’m not very good at waiting. Just ask my wife! For her, anticipation and expectation are among the most enjoyable pleasures of life. For me, anticipation is simply a fancy word for frustration!
I can remember though, as a young child, the anticipation and expectation that grew as Christmas approached. There was a “feeling” that Christmas was coming, good things were approaching and though I could not yet see them, I knew they were coming and I waited with bated breath.
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2
Centuries before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah the prophet spoke these words:
A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed” Isaiah 40:3-5
There are many, many people to thank for their part in making Carols happen – too many to name! To everyone who helped with the Free Family Fun, the setup and packup, serving on stage and off stage, please let me say a very heart-felt thankyou. Most of all, we should remind each other to give thanks to God to broke into our world in the person of Jesus Christ that very first Christmas, when the light truly did dawn and push back the darkness.
This Sunday we begin a new teaching series, Waiting for God. Our aim, during the lead up to Christmas, is to explore some of the lead up to the very first Christmas as recorded in the opening pages of Luke’s gospel. This morning we start with the announcement of the news of the approaching birth of the baby who we know as John the Baptist.
