Who is Christmas really for anyway? Luke 2:8-20 has three answers & this message unpacks the third: Christmas is for God! It’s something we don’t often think about but realising this truth really is the key to a great experience of Christmas.

Luke 2:8-20 is a well known story that addresses a question that we might not ask out loud, but it’s one that has a huge effect on us. Who is Christmas for? The first answer is simple but profound: Christmas is for everyone… but it’s not the same for everyone. The angel in this story proclaimed good news of great joy that is for all people – however the shepherds had a very unique experience of it! The same is true today – Christmas is for everyone, but what does it mean to let God direct our particular Christmas so that it can be a time of great joy for us?

In the latest controversy with the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus once again shows us how to do things God’s way! As we follow the story in Matthew 15:1-20 we see how Jesus exposes the real heart of the conflict; how He places authority in what God has actually said rather than the traditions of culture; and how He empowered people for transformation rather than imposing conformity. We explore the cultural pressures that we face – which are very different from those in the story – and think about how we can have conversations which apply these principles and lead to changed lives.

In Matthew 13 Jesus has been teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven, but then we read 2 stories straight afterward where people resist the Kingdom because it doesn’t fit with the storylines of their own lives. In Nazareth, they can’t see Jesus as the Saviour King because they’re determined to see Him as the kid who grew up in their backwoods town. For King Herod, his family story was one of lust for power and sensuality and he didn’t respond well to John the Baptist’s ministry of inviting people to repent in order to receive the Kingdom – particularly when John was very specific about what he needed to repent of! Being aware of the storylines of our own lives – how we’ve been shaped by family and community in particulary – can help us understand the areas of our lives where we struggle to live as citizens of God’s Kingdom or why we even refuse His invitation to be part of it. What we think we know and what we think will make us happy can get in the way of us understanding truly and experience real satisfaction and joy. How does the storyline of your life fit with Jesus’ message of the Kingdom?

As we think about our partnerships around the world in sharing and declaring the love of God, we turn to 2 Timothy 1 where Paul urges his partner in ministry Timothy to “fan into flame” the gift that is in Him. As we think about how we and our partners can also do that, we break down the instructions in this chapter to three components. The first: knowing, loving and living the gospel. Timothy had people in his life that modeled this for him and Paul urges him to continue to grow in how he does that for others. What’s your next step in growing a sincere faith in the true gospel?

What is the difference between healthy fear – which keeps us safe and moves us toward positive change – and unhealthy fear? In this message we explore Jesus’ question of the disciples in Mark 4:40 to help us understand some of the symptoms and key drivers of unhealthy fear and discover how faith in Jesus disarms unhealthy fear.

This confronting question from Jesus is actually a great kindness. When He points out an area of our lives which is not in line with what He says, He is giving us the opportunity to be spared from the destruction of sin in our lives and positioned for the blessing of obedience.

Kingdom Principles for Kingdom People Here’s a short list of passages where the written word of God speaks to the issues highlighted in today’s message.  Which other passages would you recommend for study? (There are many!) Isaiah 58:6-11 Amos 5:7,10-12,15 Zechariah 7:9-10 Matthew 12:18-21 (Jesus fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 42) Ephesians 6:1-12 Colossians 3:1-17 Titus 3:1-2 Hebrews 10:32-36 Hebrews 12:14-15 James 1:19-21 James 2:8-9 James 3:17-18 1 Peter 2:13-17