Micah was a contemporary to Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea. Though he wrote to both kingdoms of Israel Micah’s main focus was towards the southern kingdom where the line of David ruled. His message includes warning of impending judgment, communicating that God is the sovereign Lord and controls the destinies of all nations, and (though not the primary focus) to reiterate God’s promise of the future restoration of Israel and the fulfilment of God’s promise to David.

As we come into chapter 5, Micah, in verse 1, speaks of the final judgement upon the southern kingdom that would finalise the dispersion and end its status as its own sovereign nation.

Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. (Micah 5:1)

The final king (or as Micah calls him “judge”) of Israel to be removed from power was Zedekiah. Before him, Nebuchadnezzar had removed two other kings because of their rebellion against him. Jehoiakim was first to be removed, who was then replaced by Jehoiachin, who was then replaced by his uncle Zedekiah. When Zedekiah rebelled against the Babylonian rule, Nebuchadnezzar was finished dealing with the kings at Jerusalem. So he besieged Jerusalem, captured Zedekiah, killed his sons before him, put out his eyes, and carried him away captive to Babylon.

And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon. (2 Kings 25:7)

With such a devastating experience, you would think that the Davidic line had come to an end and that the promise made to David concerning one from his lineage ruling forever, would never be fulfilled. Yet Micah bursts into a glorious message found in verse 2 – “O Little Town of Bethlehem”.

There in that little town, in a little stable, lying in a feed trough, wrapped in swaddling clothes was the Everlasting Light.

For the past two chapters of 2 Corinthians the Apostle had been dealing with the importance and proper attitude behind Christian benevolence. As we saw a few weeks back giving is a result of growing in grace, and as Paul was meditating and dwelling upon the result of human generosity he became overwhelmed with gratitude to almighty God for the gift that made such generosity possible, God’s Amazing Grace brought through the work of Jesus Christ.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

Albert Barnes wrote, "All our peace and hope; all our comfort and joy in this life; all our prospect of pardon and salvation; all the offers of eternal glory are to be traced to him."[i]

But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. (Romans 5:15)

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. (Ephesians 4:7)

As many of you might take time out of your busy schedules to search for that one unique gift to bless others, may it not overshadow the “unspeakable gift” given to us by God through the Lord Jesus Christ! My you be overwhelmed as Paul, and not cease to sing “Redeemed, Redeemed, Redeemed!”

[i] Barnes, Albert. (Public Domain). Notes on the Bible. E-Sword Edition.

Can you imagine being one of those shepherds that night? How amazing it must have been to be the first people, outside of Joseph and Mary, to receive the royal announcement that God had become man. This was truly Good News; the Saviour of man was born. Mary had The Little Lamb.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

Mary had the Little Lamb

Mary had the little Lamb, who lived before His birth;

Self-existent Son of God, from Heaven He came to Earth.

Mary had the little Lamb; see Him in yonder stall —

Virgin-born Son of God, to save man from the Fall.

Mary had the little Lamb, obedient Son of God;

Everywhere the Father led, His feet were sure to trod.

Mary had the little Lamb, crucified on the tree

The rejected Son of God, He died to set men free.

Mary had the little Lamb—men placed Him in the grave,

Thinking they were done with Him; to death He was no slave!

Mary had the little Lamb, ascended now is He;

All work on Earth is ended, our Advocate to be.

Mary had the little Lamb—mystery to behold!

From the Lamb of Calvary, a Lion will unfold.

When the Day Star comes again, of this be very sure:

It won’t be Lamb-like silence, but with the Lion’s roar.

Marv and Marbeth Rosenthal[i]

[i] Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press.

Fear has tremendous power. It can influence our lives for better or for worse.

Vickie Kraft, in a book posted on Bible.org entitled Facing Your Feelings, wrote:

Fear is part of our Creator's loving provision for us. Properly controlled, fear protects us from harm and motivates us toward positive action.

Uncontrolled fear, however, can lock us into an emotional prison and stunt our personal and spiritual growth. Unrestrained fear darkens our lives; it colours everything we do. It is a great obstacle to our spiritual growth.[i]

There is a healthy level of fear and an unhealthy level of fear. One calls you to respect something that has power (see Proverbs 1:7). While the other hinders you from doing what you know you are supposed to do or encourages you to do that which you should not do. (see Proverbs 29:25)

[i] Kraft, Vickie. (2007). Facing Your Feelings. Retrieved from https://bible.org/series/facing-your-feelings.

Anger, what is it? Is there a right kind of anger or is all anger wrong? How do you deal with anger?

It is complicated, but listen as Robert shares from God's Word how we can make sense of this challenging issue that affects all of us.

Whether you believe that tithing is for the church age or not, the practice of giving to support the work of God and His people is relevant to the church. It is something that was practised by the church and has continued to be practised by the church. Though many times, sadly, the spirit behind the instruction to give and the actual practice of giving have been wrong.

Giving is something that is not to be coerced or guilt-ed out of anyone. It is a Christian grace rooted in the working of the grace of God within our lives. It is a way by which we display our thankfulness to the Lord and our gratitude towards those who have served and are serving the body of Christ. (2 Corinthians 8:9; 1 Timothy 5:17–18)

For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.

It is not something we do to earn God’s favour or for the praise of men. (Psalm 40:6; Matthew 6:1)

Under the sovereign direction of the Spirit of God, this is the truth the Apostle Paul is trying to communicate to the church at Corinth.

Humanity is plagued by a disease that is wreaking havoc. We are in a state of deathly decay. (Romans 5:12) This disease has dug deep into our spirits and is growing like an invasive weed perverting our thoughts, perverting our feelings, and perverting our actions. If left untreated it simply adds more and more confusion and pain.

This disease does not need to cripple your life, you can be healed. The cure is found in the work of a Great Physician. He has devoted His life to providing a cure to this sickness that is destroying our lives and creating so much confusion. The Physician’s name is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19)

And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. (Luke 4:21)

In front of His home crowd, Jesus declared that this part of the prophecy recorded in Isaiah 61 was fulfilled. Jesus was declaring that He is the one who was promised to cure humanity of this destructive disease.

We are sick with a disease that eats away and destroys our unique construction. What white ants are to wood buildings, sin is to our lives. Sin digs down deep into our “spirit” and takes hold, and this disease corrupts every area of life. It corrupts “our thoughts, our behaviours, our desires, and our emotions”.[i]

We are in a state of deathly decay, and if we are going to make sense of our emotions we must have an understanding of this disease and how it is destroying our lives. What we will see through this message is not pretty, and by the end, most of us I know will feel quite discouraged. It will be brutally honest with the problem we face as humans.

[i] Haddow, Catherine. (2017). Emotions: Mirrors of the Heart. (pg. 20). Leyland, England. 10Publishing.

Humanity would become the pinnacle of God’s incredible creative power. Though everything else was spoken into existence God took special care in creating humanity. There is no phrase, “Let there be...” associated with the creation of humanity, there is a change in narrative, and this points to the care God gave in creating us, and after forming humanity from the dust of the ground this change in narrative continues with the fact that I have been given life by the very breath of God.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)

Though many try to say that we are nothing more than highly developed animals, God’s Word says otherwise. Humanity has been formed by the very hands of God in His image and been given life by the very breath of God. Humans are living souls; we are a unique creation. God used an exceptional set of blueprints to guide in His construction of humanity.

Though God called all creation good, we can see there was a higher quality of construction used in the creation of humanity. Plants have amazing features and are full of beauty. All the creatures found on land, as well as, in the sky and sea are truly remarkable. Yet there is no reference to them being created “in the image of God”. Only we, human beings, have this title.

So what makes me so unique? What sets me apart from the rest of creation? What makes me human? To be human means you are composed of some unique faculties.

What motivates you? This is a question that should run through our minds on a regular basis. However, in the busyness of life, we often get distracted. In Matthew 19:16-30 we read of the young ruler who was motivated by the riches of this world. He inevitably chooses the things of the world over eternal life. We want to discover what interferes with our focus on God and what we need to do to drive us deeper in our relationship with Jesus Christ.