Advent-ish

Read: Isaiah 9:1-7 Sing: Joy to the World Memorize/write out: Isaiah 9:6 Sermon: A Child is Born & Name Above All Names AS we wrap up another Advent season shortly, it stands to be said Jesus changes everything. We approach Christmas typically with a quiet, awe struck wonder.  A babe in the manger. Yet cosmically, the Lord has come to earth. The angels sing! They burst forth into praise. The One who was always came in the form of a man. The Son of God walked among the people. At the garden God walked with His people, and yet again, the Lord would come and walk in the midst of mankind. We have such glorious hope when we stand back and take it in. Christ came- to save a people from their sin.  Daily, I receive an email called, "Matthew Henry's Method for Prayer," it is truly wonderful. It walks you through scripture and teaches you to pray it. Today's rang so true, so deeply, I thought I would share them and simply leave it at that as we meditate through the names ...

Read: Isaiah 9:1-7 Memorize/write: Isaiah 9:6 Sing: Who Would Have Dreamed For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given! Christ, gently, humbly, lowly taking on flesh and lying in a manger. The Creator was coming to bring redemption to the creation. He would condescend to take on flesh, humanity in its fullest- Fully GOD yet FULLY man and be held as a babe in a mother's womb and then in her arms.  The phrases born and given also point this out to us. Born in humanity; given by God. John 3:16 reminds us of this glorious truth, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believers in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life," John 3:16. A verse most have memorized and thought to be at times a child's verse is truly a heralding truth at Christmas. A proclamation of the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled.  And the sober reminder that grace and truth are also our reason to share with others. John 3 goes on to say, "And this ...

Read: Isaiah 9:1-7 Memorize/write out: Isaiah 9:1-5 Sing: There Blooms a Rose in Bethlehem Rolled in blood and burned. This is not a typical Christmas thought, or memory, or desire for us today. This verse (5) noticeably is not featured on many a Holiday card or greeting! So why is it here? Yet again, we are in the full counsel of God needing to read it in its entirety. To mine out the truths and dig deeper than a cursory glance. Ironically, this is a promise of hope and peace, and yet again a prophecy of Christ coming. The people who sat and hoped for a Savior were waiting for peace. They had been under siege, attack and oppression again and again. They sat in darkness longing...waiting. This was a completely hope and promise of peace, that those who attacked on every side would be defeated. Ezekiel 39: 9 but for context 7-10 is a declaration an promise from God that His Holy Name would be known in the midst of the people Israel, His name would not be profaned anymore. We get to gaze ...

Read: I saiah 9:1-7 and Judges 7-8 Sing: Prepare Him Room Memorize: I saiah 9:3-4 Verse 4 in Isaiah 9 references  "as on the day of Midian," and it is easy to scroll over this phrase without any thought. Just another hard to pronounce town in a series of hard to pronounce towns- that doesn't mean much. An obscure reference to things that don't bear any weight...but is that true? Do we read these passages as we should- do we look towards Christmas, towards Matthew with the announcement, towards the New Testament....through the lens of the Old or have we separated them completely? Understanding the promises of God, as fulfilled in and through and because of Christ's coming cannot start after the page break. It can't start after the 400 years of silence that those who called out on the name of the Lord sat in while they awaited a Savior, and it can't start on cherry picked verses on social media reels. It must start in Genesis and carry through to Revelation...

Read: Isaiah 9:1-7 Sing: Angels We Have Heard on High Memorize: Isaiah 9:3-4 It is amazing how when slowing down, and simmering on a passage verse by verse we are able to feast at the table of our Lord and Savior. Bible reading can become rushed and often just a cursory glance. Especially this time of year, it can be when it falls off the table all together and we will, "start again next year," waiting for the ominous January 1 Bible Reading plans to begin. Truly, we can always restart now, today, even 1 chapter. The Word of God, His Life giving Word sits at our ready every single moment of every single day. Yet we "don't have time," for it. We have time for media, exercise, shopping, cooking, cleaning, hair etc (you get my drift) but struggle to find time for His Word. Let me encourage you to find great joy and confidence in Christ this season as we see that the Lord is good! Isaiah 9:4 mentions 3 words:yoke, staff and rod. This is mention to be signs of oppre...

Read: Isaiah 9:1-7 Sing: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Memorize: Isaiah 9:3 Isaiah 9:3 reads, " You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil." Joy is an inherent part of Christmas. Yet a gift that is so often robbed or even given away or given up on at this time of the year. But joy is part of the promise of the Messiah.  We see the word written on Christmas decor, scribbled in all sorts of fonts on everything-yet so often over looked or eye rolled at. When our eyes get off of Christ at Christmas its easy to also trade in our joy for many other emotions- anxiety, fear, anger, resentment, apathy. These all can become place keepers in our hearts. So what are we to do? Set our gaze on the One who ushered in the season. Return our hearts and minds and thoughts to Christ. Seek our full satisfaction in Him by immersing ourselves in His glorious truths given through His word...

Read: Isaiah 9:1-7 Sing: O Little Town of Bethlehem Memorize: Isaiah 9: 3 and Ephesians 5:8 Today is an emphasis on verse 1 and 2 yet again. This study is simply looking closer at the verses on the side margins of our Bibles! Most Bibles will have tiny reference points in the side column. I use ESV as my primary Bible during these studies, although I keep a KJV study Bible open too, as I really appreciate the commentary and notes in that one as well.  A question was raised Friday about verse 1- where are these towns and why are they mentioned. Turns out they has significance in the fact that this is another part of the prophecy Jesus would fulfill during his time on earth. We read in Matthew 4:12-16 an exact reference to the passage we are studying. Isaiah was not just throwing out locations, he was giving exact details in which the Lord would fulfill hundreds of years later.  Pushing into verse 2 we get to read the beautiful words of Zechariah when his speech is returned to ...

Read: Isaiah 9:1-7 Sing: What Child is This Memorize: I saiah 9:1-2 Sermon: It is HIStory His Story. We will see this theme throughout the sermon series that will be linked from Pastor Allistar Begg. All of Christmas is a crescendo to the redemptive History of mankind. We have found ourselves in a perilous situation. We are born into sin. And all of sin is under the just penalty of God's wrath. We need a Savior. The Bible is the Word of God telling us about the Word made flesh, to deliver us from our sins.  It is no surprise that Christmas typically is a holiday best experienced at night. The lights dazzle brighter, gatherings often are around dinner tables, parties and carolers speckle in lit up windows and brightened sidewalks. Festivities shine brighter as all of the light and love dances joyfully in the darkness. And is that not the truth. We who were born into sin, into darkness have HOPE humbly lay in a manger with the Advent of Jesus time on earth. Sovereign Grace has a beau...

Read: Isaiah 9:1-7 Sing: O Come O Come Emmanuel Memorize: Isaiah 9:1-2            As we begin to study this portion of scripture, it is all we can do but meditate on the realities that this was prophesied hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. The same Lord who spoke into existence the stars and moon, plants and animals, declared this truth through His prophet Isaiah. We read in Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel." Yet- Why there therefore? One commentary writes, "Since Ahaz rejected the sign God offered him individually for the present, God would give a sign to a far greater audience to confirm the truth of all that He has said."  We as believers this side of the the cross can rejoice in the fact that what God says he will do- He does...declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done. (see Isaiah 46:9-10). ...

Read: Isaiah 9:1-7 Sing: What Child is This Memorize: I saiah 9:1-2 Isaiah. The book itself is named after the prophet whose ministry and prophecies are recorded within it. It is one of the most quoted Old Testament books within the New Testament, and we will get to see this as we study deeper yet and pull these verses out.  Isaiah ministered for roughly 40 years from 740 B.C. to 701 B.C. Tradition speaks of his martyrdom under the reign of Mannasseh.  Isaiah's name means, " the Lord Saves." Ironic isn't it?! We would typically think of Isaiah as the book where we find the chapters on the prophecy of the birth of Christ, and the chapters on the suffering Servant yet to come, or at least I do! His entirety was to proclaim the Lord down to his name! We have moments in the here and now to pause and think even on this. The Lord Saves. I was thinking of this as I was looking at our Christmas tree. A tree is where I can start this story. A tree in a garden consisting of fru...

 ADVENT IS HERE!!!! It is with this great joy and delight that we get to gather again in the Word of God and pause each day, soaking in the richness of just who He is and what He has done.  Each week Monday through Thursday the study will be published here on the blog- roughly before 9:30am. Every Friday I will link a sermon for the weekend to listen to to deepen our knowledge. I am using Allistar Begg's Advent series on this passage from 2012 for this (in case you want to jump ahead!) and daily our hymn will change. By the end of the season we have a pretty great worship list! This year we will be studying Isaiah 9:1-7. One passage. Parked. For 4 weeks. I can't wait. It's hard to gloss over a short passage if you are there for this long. We will mine the word for the glorious grace revealed in this Old Testament prophecy-that- this side of the stable we can hold tightly in all its unwrapped truths. As with previous studies- we will sing, read, and meditate on the Word. We ...