FOUNDRYcast

What are the things we expect as part of a good life? Especially the ones that motivate us.

Some of them when can assume, such as relationships, eating, sleeping…etc. You know, the whole Maslow's hierarchy of needs. We might even them jump into things we might prefer, or we would think would lead us to have a thriving life. It could be a better job, a bigger house, and even better relationships.

How about we twist the question a little more? What are the things we would expect having as part of a healthy spiritual life? We could go on and on about that. And we would all probably have a different set of answers and expectations.

This Sunday, we are jumping into a story about the baby Jesus, and two pretty chance encounters with folks who were expecting big things. I bet it freaked Mary and Joseph out a little bit.

Jesus Is Presented in the Temple 21 Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived.

22 Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. 23 The law of the Lord says, "If a woman's first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord." 24 So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord—"either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."

The Prophecy of Simeon 25 At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him 26 and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah. 27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, 28 Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,

29 "Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. 30 I have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared for all people. 32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!" 33 Jesus' parents were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby's mother, "This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. 35 As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul."

The Prophecy of Anna 36 Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. 37 Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. 38 She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem.

39 When Jesus' parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. 40 There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God's favor was on him.

Luke 2:21-40. NLT

Two folks who had been expecting an experience with God for a long time. One of them was a pretty deliberate, definite experience. The other, Anna, was simply someone who had made the decision to be in a place of consistent experience with God.

Does anyone else tend to over-complicate things?

What about during the holidays? Seriously, isn't that the plot of my 2nd favorite Christmas movie? (You serious Clark?)

Over the last few weeks, as I've been reading and re-reading and re-re-reading the Christmas story, I see two different storylines. One of the is absolutely magnificent. It's wild. It has angels hanging out in a field, the heavenly host (read army) singing a bunch of songs, plus the story of an over-zealous politician counting people so he can make sure he get's the right amount of tax money.

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger."

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

14 "Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased." 15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem! Let's see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." Luke 2:8-15

And in the middle of it is a simple story.

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds' story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. Luke 2:16-20

Both are absolutely wild. Both are absolutely necessary. But the simple story is this, a young girl gives birth to a baby in the most normal way, and the first action of human care and worship to Jesus are the same actions of care any mother would direct towards any child. This is the miracle, the sign the shepherds were coming to check out.

Small things often seem to be inconsequential, but they can change the world.

Have you ever tried to fix something? I typically end up trying a few different things before the issue is actually resolved. At that point, I don't know if it can actually be called a repair or it was simply a half-way successful adaptation of trial and error.

This week we are talking about Resetting our Priorities.

And it is a little different than we might expect. We've all see the "10 way to Rock the New Year" listicles on Facebook. They end up a crapshoot, figuring out if we sort all the right things, we can eventually call it a success. The problem with that generic approach is we far too often never get to the actual root of the problem.

Resetting The First Thing Resets All The Things

Paul, an early church planter and missionary, wrote a letter to his friends. They were sorting out priorities. He had some stuff he wanted to tell them to help out.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

God's purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

Ephesians 1: 3-14

Paul focused them on on the first thing. The whole thing. And it isn't just our first thing…but the very first thing we have in this whole life with Jesus. God had a first plan. And when we understand what that looks like, it helps all of the small stuff that worry us fall into place.

Let's all reset a few priorities. And it'll be easier than you think.

Chad grabbed JD Walt, author of Reset (our advent devotional) and sower-in-chief of Seedbed publishing, for a phone call about Advent. No matter if this is your 1st or 100th Advent, we can all find something as part of this conversation.

Resources:

Reset Book Seedbed Publishing

The Daily Text

What are your favorite parts of the Christmas season? Are you a food person? Maybe it's all about the Christmas movies or lights? I think we all have our favorite part of the season. I, for one, am a big fan of Christmas stories. Each family has cool stories that become part of their tradition.

But I am also a big fan of Advent. (more to come on that one).

And Advent is the absolute best family Christmas story. Ultimately, it is about us learning what it looks like for God himself, the real deal, to be in our world. Not only is he here, but he is with us.

This week we are talking about why the gospel is absolutely good news, not just good advice. We are jumping into a classic advent text for our part of the story. Straight into one of the passages of scripture many of us are familiar with and many people identify with the Christmas season.

Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory.

2 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. 3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. 4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor's rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. 5 The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire. 6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven's Armies will make this happen! Isaiah 9:1-7

Gospel means good news. It's one of those church words we throw around sometimes and forget what it actually means. The folks Isaiah was talking to needed some seriously good news. And let's be honest, many of us need some legit good news.

So let's have a conversation about resetting our own idea of goodness this season.