The Shepherds and the Angels

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

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“Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Active Faith: Taking Possession of the Purpose

Mike Mantooth

Week 3:  God With Us

Main Passages: Hebrews 2:14-18, Matthew 1:22-23, Hebrews 4:14-26

Now that Jesus has taken on human nature, what does that mean for our relationship with Him?  The Incarnation opens up a door for the Lord to be with us in a brand new way.  He can sympathize with our weaknesses.  He prays and intercedes for us. He is our faithful high priest.  Christmas invites us into a truly intimate relationship with God.  Will we receive such a gift?  No wonder the angels are singing!

Keywords: Emmanuel, Gift, Savings Bond, God With Us.

Nothing like this has ever happened before or will again.  In order to save us God would take on human nature in order to save us.  Jesus thus was both fully God AND fully man.  Both natures are necessary for our salvation.  What incredible love must the Lord have for us for Him to send His Son, have Him take on flesh, and then submit to death on a cross.  It is a mind boggling, yet incredibly encouraging reality!  O Come let us adore Him!

Week 1: A Light in the Darkness.

Main passages: Hebrews 2:14-18, John 1:1-14

We have no idea just what kind of predicament we are in.  Humanity as a whole is enslaved by sin, owned by Satan, and destined for death.  We can’t beat any one of these enemies.  And so Jesus comes to saves us!   If we are to understand the magnitude of this miracle we must see the magnitude of the problem He came to solve.  This was the only way to save us and He is the only One who can do it.  When Jesus comes to earth He is true light breaking into the darkness of our world to give us hope, life, and peace.  Joy to the World indeed!

Main Passage: 1 Timothy 2:1-4

As we are on mission in the world it will not be the case that everyone we meet will immediately give their lives to the Lord.  We will face opposition.  But we must not lose heart!  The Lord calls for us to pray for the lost, just as He prayed for us before we were saved.  We must be consistent in praying for individual lost people, our city, culture, nation, and the world.  We se great examples of this in Simeon and Anna in the temple, Daniel in captivity, and Nehemiah in captivity.

Main Passage: John 13:34-35

We cannot simply speak the gospel.  If we have been transformed by Christ then this should change the way we live.  Jesus said that people would know we are his disciples by how we love one another.  Thus we should live out the gospel in how we love.  This starts with our Christian community in our local church.  From there it extends to all that we encounter.  But we must show the love of God in our lives so that people will be able to hear the gospel we speak.

Jesus has given us the gospel and it is our job to tell that good news to others.  We cannot simply live this out, it must be spoken!  But how do we do that?  We see many examples in Scripture of how to share the gospel and all are valid. But it must be spoken by all of us, not just those who are gifted evangelistically. Are we speaking the gospel to our neighbors?

This Sunday we will step out of the series to do a retrospective on our missions efforts over the past 20 years.  We will have multiple partners on hand as well as video testimonies to share.

Main passage: Acts 1:6-8

Keywords: missions, two feathers, native American, ACFS, Romania, YUGO, IMOJ, Tanzania

Main passage: Mark 1:14-15

Jesus always challenged people to repent and believe in the gospel.  How do we teach this to others.  Through the framework of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration we can clearly tell people the plan and will of God for them. These are also bedrock realities that shape our understanding of life.  We must understand these realities and then be willing to share it.