My hope is that the stories have become a part of your Advent tradition as you remember and celebrate the Good News of the advent of our Lord and Savior.

If you missed the first three episodes of the series, i invite you to go back and listen to them.

And, as always, i pray this post and my books challenge and encourage you in your walk with the Master.

This is the second of this year’s weekly Advent episodes. Those of you who have followed the podcast for more than a year know that it is my annual practice to post a weekly episode for the season of Advent about the incarnational birth of Jesus. My hope is that the stories have become a part of your Advent tradition as you remember and celebrate the Good News of the advent of our Lord and Savior.

Joseph was an unlikely choice to be the earthly father of Jesus. There was nothing about him on the surface that would have prompted any of us to consider him worthy. And yet, no other man in history has been charged with the tremendous responsibility he was given.

The Wilderness Tabernacle was completed exactly as the Lord specified and was erected on the first anniversary of Israel’s departure from Egypt. That day, the Lord’s glorious presence descended upon it, covering and filling it with His awesome glory. His presence, previously seen in the guiding pillar of cloud, now took residence within His dwelling place among the people.

In many ways, our world today mirrors the one to which the apostle Paul set out. We have become so post-Christian that society now resembles a pre-Christian culture. In that sense, we are not unlike the ancient city of Athens.

As Jesus sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, teaching His disciples, He told them He would one day return and that they must be on the alert for His arrival.

Jesus often used simple stories (parables) to communicate profound truths. Such is the case with the three parables recorded in Matthew chapter 13. The parables of the weeds, the mustard seed, and the yeast.

On their fifth full day in the Promised Land on the west side of the Jordan, the first Israelite walked out from camp to gather the daily portion of manna and discovered it wasn’t there!

God instructed Moses to collect the staff of each leader from the twelve ancestral tribes, along with Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi. These thirteen staffs were placed overnight in the tabernacle. God promised that the staff of the man He had chosen would sprout buds, signifying His selection.