Fox Valley Church

Passage: Isaiah 6

Theme:  God’s holiness requires his just wrath for sins. Why was Isaiah not consumed by God’s holiness? Jesus took Isaiah’s “guilt away” and “made atonement” for his sins - and he can do the same for you too!

 

Passage: Exodus 34

Theme:   God is simultaneously described as forgiving, yet unwilling to clear the guilty. How does God solve this paradox? The answer is Jesus Christ. Rather than arbitrarily clearing the guilty, God punished Christians’ guilt on the body of Jesus, so that those who exercise repentant faith can be forgiven!

 

Matthew 10:34-39

There is a cost to following Jesus; it’s one He himself calls us to. But to follow with our whole selves, not just part of us, means life and freedom and victory.

Passage: Matthew 1:18-25

Theme:  The angel, a messenger of God, brings another reason why we need Christmas.  This angel gives Joseph a fuller understanding of God’s plan to be among His people through this One called Jesus and Immanuel.  [Note: There is good cause to take the angelic quote all the way through verse 23).]  With precious insight, we are told He will be called Immanuel—God with us.  We need a God who is with us always just as the name Immanuel reminds us and Jesus promised (Matthew 28:20).

Passage: John 18:37

Theme:  One person we have not yet considered is what Jesus says about Christmas.  He finds Himself in a conversational trap with Herod and is asked whether He is a King.  Jesus says “for this He was born: to bear witness to the Truth.”  We need Christmas because we need truth about God, about ourselves and about this world.  Jesus brings truth to all of these and more.  We need Christmas!

Passage: Matthew 2:1-6

Theme:  We get an unlikely source with the chief priests and scribes that we need Christmas because of the promises of God being fulfilled.  God’s promises are rich and full.  If one of them failed it would be impossible to trust Him for the promise of eternal life.  We were promised a Ruler who would shepherd His people in the way to find eternal life and on to victory.  We need Christmas for Victory!

Passage: Luke 2:25-35

Theme:  Simeon, carried along by the Holy Spirit, shows us in another way why we need Christmas.  With clarity and insight he reveals God’s promised salvation with Jesus’ birth.  He describes this salvation with a strong mood of hope as Light comes for the nations and glory for Israel.   By implication there is a great darkness (1:79) in which we find ourselves (see Isaiah 60:1-3).   This Light is revelation (truth) in a world filled with lies, hype and spin—hearts are revealed (35).  Without this Light, without Christmas, there would be no hope because there would be no truth.

Passage: Luke 1:66-75

Zechariah got pulled into the unfolding plan in a most mysterious way and adds an insight into God’s work (the Benedictus).  He is filled with the Holy Spirit (67) and gives tremendous insight on these events.  God’s visit of His Son is a gracious act of redemption from our enemies (the world, the flesh activated by sin and the devil) so that we would be freed up to worship Him.  Without Christmas we would be trapped and controlled by our enemies, not least sin!  Being delivered, the goal is that we would serve God without fear.

Passage: Luke 1:46-55

Theme:  Mary is thunderstruck with the announcement that God chose her to bear the holy offspring.  In her exuberance and by the Spirit, she gives us a unique insight into the work of God.  She understands what God is doing and she breaks out in praise (the Magnificat) to the Almighty One, the All-Powerful One who has moved to show mercy to those who fear Him.  It is mercy that God acts on Mary’s behalf and ours.  There is such a strong display of His power that the proud are scattered and rulers are brought down.  He has given help to us in remembrance of His mercy.  In a world filled with arrogant, God-denying people that live in defiance of the true God and His ways, we need Mercy.  His mercy fills “the hungry” with good things and gives help.  Without Christmas there would not be this act of mercy and we would be trapped in a world bent on destruction.

 

Passage: Philippians 3:12-17 

Theme: God changes us when we persevere.  So many Christians today are fainthearted and weak.  We know that trials and tribulations bring about perseverance . . . and hope which does not disappoint. The word is an anchor for our soul and so few Christians know the Word, the promises of the Word and the confidence that comes with the Word that they fall away and never see the change God intended.