In this picture of Jesus’ power we see him raise a little girl from the dead and heal a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. Both not only demonstrate his unmatched power of the physical barriers of death and sickness, but also demonstrate his desire to create a new social order where women and children are given dignity.

Mark was the first account of Jesus’ life to be penned and he focuses the majority of his writing on the power Jesus demonstrated. He healed a man of leprosy and in his power to overcome an incomprehensible illness began to heal a spirit and a heart that was in even greater need of healing. His power over the physical was simply a foreshadowing of his power over sin.

We are created by a holy and amazing God. He designed us, unlike any other part of His creation, to be made in His image. We look around and see many people—spirit-filled, gifted and talented—all with creativity and an independent uniqueness being used by Jesus for some great purpose. And then we make comparisons. We are not like those with special gifts and talents; we’re just not good enough. We don’t have the creativity, skill, power or focus. Our lives are simply too busy and crowded with surviving the day-to-day requirements to have anything left to offer. And how can we possible measure up to God? Created in His image, yes, but containing any of His power and wonder…how can that be? And so, we hold back, we limit what we can do. We offer excuses and reasons why we fall short. Our comparisons between us and others and us and the Lord make us feel as if we do not measure up, so we quit. The Lord’s alternative to this is for us to step up and to wake up! Awaken the wonder provided by our Creator. Believe that God made us in His image and believe in the creativity and power He placed inside us. Isaiah heard the call of the Lord and responded; Isaiah awoke the spirit inside. Isaiah recounts, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, Here am I. Send me.’” Isaiah 6:8 (NIV)

In Matthew 13, we can read the “Parable of the Sower.” In Jesus’ day, sowing seeds was generally the way crops were planted. The sower would broadcast the seeds in a sweeping motion. As the seeds were thrown from the sower’s hand, they would cover a larger area, so not every seed would end up exactly where it should be. Everyone in Jesus’ audience knew that the seeds scattered would end up in very different places. Even though the sower is the first thing mentioned in the parable, he is not the main character. The parable is more about the seed and soil than the sower, who is not mentioned again after the planting. Some of the seeds fell on the path, where some alert birds saw them and ate them. Some fell in rocky soil, sprang up quickly and succumbed to the heat of the sun. Some seeds were choked out by the thorns and weeds as they grew. However, some fell on good soil and did exactly what they were created to do—produce abundantly. The main point of the “Parable of the Sower” is to realize that our reception of God’s Word is determined by the condition of our hearts. Salvation is more than a superficial hearing of the gospel. Someone who is truly saved will go on to prove it. May our faith and our lives exemplify the good soil.

We are created by a holy and amazing God. He designed us, unlike any other part of His creation, to be made in His image. We look around and see many people—spirit-filled, gifted and talented—all with creativity and an independent uniqueness being used by Jesus for some great purpose. And then we make comparisons. We are not like those with special gifts and talents; we’re just not good enough. We don’t have the creativity, skill, power or focus. Our lives are simply too busy and crowded with surviving the day-to-day requirements to have anything left to offer. And how can we possible measure up to God? Created in His image, yes, but containing any of His power and wonder…how can that be? And so, we hold back, we limit what we can do. We offer excuses and reasons why we fall short. Our comparisons between us and others and us and the Lord make us feel as if we do not measure up, so we quit. The Lord’s alternative to this is for us to step up and to wake up! Awaken the wonder provided by our Creator. Believe that God made us in His image and believe in the creativity and power He placed inside us. Isaiah heard the call of the Lord and responded; Isaiah awoke the spirit inside. Isaiah recounts, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, Here am I. Send me.’” Isaiah 6:8 (NIV)

We search our family trees looking for famous ancestors—presidents, war heroes, movie stars, athletes. Instead, we often find ancestors who are infamous—criminals, deserters, rascals, losers. One thing is for sure. Your family tree looks no better and it looks no worse than the genealogy of Jesus. His family tree includes glorious kings and decadent sinners. This provides an interesting perspective, which should help us avoid being too proud or too embarrassed about the family members who came before us. You may be wondering why all this talk about family trees is important. Why does the New Testament start with a list of names? Why are so many chapters in the Old Testament devoted to ancestry? Two reasons come to mind. First, the family tree provides historical legitimacy to the Christmas story and the prophecies fulfilled by the birth of Jesus. Second, by looking at the kind of people Jesus came from, we can see the kind of people Jesus came for. Regardless of your past, Jesus came for you. And that is the gift that will never stop giving.

During the Kidtown-led worship service last Sunday, we saw some of the boards from Jesus’ family tree removed and used to form a manger like the one where Jesus was born. Later in the service those same boards were used to form a cross like the one where Jesus died. Each board had written on it the name of an individual found in Matthew 1:1-17, the genealogy of Jesus. One of the unique things about the list of individuals in Matthew is that five of the ones mentioned were women, four of whom were mentioned by name—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Mary—and one who was identified as the mother of Solomon, who we know as Bathsheba. Including women, especially identifying them by name, was not a common practice in the time this was written. Even more uncommon was including the name of one like Rahab. You see, Rahab was identified as a harlot, a prostitute, but her story in Joshua 2 centered on what she did to help two spies from Israel escape capture. The spies, in turn, protected Rahab and her family when the Israelites destroyed the city of Jericho. It wasn’t what Rahab did that made her right with God. As John MacArthur says in Twelve Extraordinary Women, “She is a reminder that God by His grace can redeem even the most horrible life.” No matter what sin was in your life or is in your life right now, no matter what you’ve done to make yourself right with Him, it is God who, by His grace, redeems you and puts your name on His Son’s family tree.

From the beginning of time, men have studied and watched the stars. On land and sea, men have been guided by the stars, so it was very practical and fitting that the wise men were guided to the Christ Child by the star from the East. More than likely, these men had studied the stars and knew something of their size and movement. When they beheld this unusually bright star in the heavens, they were sure it held special significance. Probably they would have followed this unique star even if King Herod had not ordered them to “go and search diligently for the child and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” Matthew 2:8 (ESV) There must have been something magnetic in this starlight that these wise men were drawn to follow to see if indeed prophecy had come true, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 (NIV) Surely the lives of these wise men were never the same after following the star and viewing the new born babe. Our lives can be changed too, if we would catch a gleam from that Star of Bethlehem this Christmas season and worship the Christ Child who was born some two thousand years ago to bring peace, hope and love into the world. Let us hear anew the angels’ song of Peace on Earth Good Will to Men.

Many of us may wonder what the purpose of Matthew 1:1-16 is. God said 1,000 years earlier that the Messiah must come from the line of David. How would the people know who to believe? One answer—check His genealogy. If He’s not from the line of David, forget it. He can’t be the Messiah. Matthew 1 begins this way: “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” We might say, in a sense, that this family tree is the original Christmas tree. In order for Jesus to qualify as the Messiah, He must be a literal, physical descendant of David. We also may wonder why only four women were mentioned. Israelite scholars usually only recorded the significant male ancestors. Sometimes entire generations were skipped, and usually all of the women were not mentioned. The first woman mentioned is Tamar. “Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother’s name was Tamar” Matthew 1:3 (NIV). On the surface, this seems normal enough, but Judah was Tamar’s father-in-law. After Tamar’s husband died, she behaved as a prostitute and had children with Judah. What does all of this mean? God isn’t like us. We can’t pick our relatives, but He can. We might assume He would pick only the most morally pure of heart for His lineage, but He didn’t. Jesus’ family tree is like any other. Can we see what God is saying even in a detail as small as Christ’s genealogy? We don’t have to be perfect to be used by God. No matter what we’ve done, He still has a purpose and plan for our life.

Just a few days ago we sat down with family and friends to share a Thanksgiving meal together. Things don’t always go right with those dinners. But things don’t always go right with us as we journey through life either. Consider these Thanksgiving stories. We were having a huge meal with lots of people. When the humongous turkey was done we each grabbed a side of the disposable foil pan and lifted. We got it just out of the oven before the pan bent and we dropped the turkey and the entire contents of the pan all over the kitchen floor! It went spilling out EVERYWHERE! Stephanie Sullivan I had everything cooked and sitting out on the counter except for the dressing, so I took it out of the oven and sat it on top of the stove. All of a sudden, I heard a small explosion. I did not realize the stove was hot and when I sat the glass dish on it, the dish exploded into pieces. Glass went everywhere. It got into all the food that was on the counter. The only thing salvaged was the mashed potatoes and bread. Dawn Brewer My friend’s mother-in-law always added a drop of yellow food coloring to the gravy to give it that golden glow. One year she accidentally used red, and everyone had to look away while eating what looked a lot like blood poured on their mashed potatoes and turkey. Diane Rinaldi None of us can go through life without mistakes and blemishes. But just as the food coloring covered the real look of the potatoes and turkey, the blood of Jesus covers our sins and errors in this life. Let’s be thankful that we have a God who loves us and wants to spend Thanksgiving with us for all eternity.