While some of Israel has been rejecting the Messiah because he is not meeting their expectations, Christ continues a ministry that is explicitly counter-cultural. Christ's declares that his true family is the family of faith. Believers are adopted in as sons and daughters of the Only Living God.

As we begin this new year of our Lord, 2013, have you taken time yet in the past week to inventory your spiritual health in Christ? Where would you like to be in your walk with Christ this time next year? Can you say with confidence what Paul says here in Philippians 3, "forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead"?

All through the passage and throughout the book of Matthew, we've been watching the tension build between the religious leaders and Jesus. Instead of being Jesus' best witnesses of his testimony as the Messiah, the religious leaders and teachers of the law are plotting ways to kill him. Their hearts are hardened against Jesus. Are we any different in our natural state? What is a person to do with a wretched and calloused heart?

God calls Isaiah in a very tragic time in Israel's history. The country was in moral decline. Israelites had become a wayward people and had abandoned God's Word. The respected King for over fifty years died, while the neighboring enemy expanded their forces. Nonetheless, it is in this time of crises that Isaiah gets a glimpse of the Lord Almighty and finds comfort. Similarly, as we experience a country in crises, God calls His church to action as He lifts high the torch of revelation to show us that He alone is Holy and Righteous.

Dr. William “Bill” Blocker became the fourth president of the College of Biblical Studies-Houston in July 2012. CBS-Houston is a nationally accredited Bible college founded in 1979 that has provided biblical studies courses to more than 20,000 people in the past 33 years. The school’s 500-plus students are diverse in age, ethnicity, gender and cultural perspectives.

Prior to moving to Houston, Dr. Blocker served as vice president and dean of educational services at Moody Bible Institute and as senior pastor for Christian Fellowship Church on the south side of Chicago. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Chicago Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Dallas Theological Seminary.

His recent professional involvement has included the Evangelical Theological Society, Baptist General State Convention, National Baptist Congress of Christian Higher Education, representative to the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE) and representative to the Higher Learning Commission.

He and his wife Zelda have five grown children and one granddaughter: daughters Zaneta, Angela, Rebekah and Victoria, and their son, Jeremiah, who is attending CBS.

A Christmas Eve meditation, celebrating our Lord's birth.

We sing about them, we tell stories about them, but who were these "Wise Men?"

Simeon's life was energized by a singular passion - awaiting the appearance of the Son of God.

Christ comes to the earth performing many signs and miracles which no man has done before. While some are left wondering if he's the Messiah, others claim he is empowered by demons.

In his gospel, Luke wrote these words of Christ: “He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him” (Luke 20:38). We know a God who authored life. We love a God who offers life. May we be invited into and reminded of the abundant and eternal life of the Lord as we open His Word together.

This week, we have the privilege of looking at just twelve verses of Scripture. Before you begin your lesson, take a moment to read through all of Acts 9:31-43, asking the Lord to speak life to you through His Word.

We need to have a blind eye and a deaf ear toward things that would otherwise become a distraction in our lives. By doing this, we will relieve suspicions that would otherwise consume us. And we will have peace.

This message is adapted from C.H. Spurgeon's "Lectures to My Students" ca. 1880.