At the center of any society are its festivals. What you celebrate defines and manifests who you are and who you wish to be. They have both descriptive and prescriptive power. If you want to see what is important to a culture, don’t look at their work, look at what they take off work for. Look at the parades, the feasts, the holidays.  

We see this in the Israelite feasts and festivals. God ordained yearly, monthly, weekly festivals for His people. We are gathered right now in continuation of the Sabbath: the festival at the heart of Israelite life. What and how we celebrate defines who we are.

This is why the Pride parades and the drag shows and the Juneteenth observances are big deals, because they are attempts to redefine a people. And it is also why the seasons of Advent and Christmas are so charged and fraught with temptation, because they are strategic points in the battle for the soul of a people.

So as we enter Advent and the Christmas preparations begin, recognize that you are entering the fray. The powers of Earth and Hell are arrayed against you, and they are subtle and crafty and have long desired this last bastion of Christendom to crumble. You may encounter outright persecution and snarling atheists flinging themselves at the walls, but more likely you will face subtler ploys, treachery and sappers under the walls: temptations to envy, to sloth, to sentimentality, to gnostic notions disguised as spirituality.

But your God has not left you defenseless. He has given you fudge. And hot chocolate and eggnog and some of the finest songs ever written and trees that stay green all year long, giving us token of the eternal life that is ours, and lights and savory meat and bright tablecloths and rich wine. In other words, our weapons are Gospel joy and hope and charity.

So get ye to battle, and above all else, resist the sidelong glance. You are brothers and sisters in arms defending an ancient fortress. Spur one another on towards love and good deeds, but don’t waste time envying one another.

Joshua Edgren – December 17, 2023

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One of the most striking things about Advent is the way that it seeks to combine longing for future deliverance with present joy in the midst of waiting. One of the oldest and most beloved advent songs, “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” written in the early eighteenth century but containing elements that reach all the way back to the eighth, beautifully combines these seemingly contradictory emotions.

O Come O Come Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear.

Note the longing and sadness: Israel is captive, mourning in lonely exile. The cry is for God to come. But then note the chorus:

Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Yes, there is mourning and longing in the midst of captivity and oppression. But nevertheless, the poet calls us to rejoice, because the Son of God will come. God has promised deliverance, and his word is sure.

O Come Thou Dayspring Come and cheer

Our spirits by Thine Advent here.

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night

And death’s dark shadow put to flight.

Again, note the pain: we are in sadness and in need of cheering. Night’s gloomy clouds hang all about us. Death’s dark shadow suffocates us. And again the chorus rings out:

Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

The pattern continues in the remaining verses. And this pattern is meant to instruct us. We are waiting in a land of deep darkness. We are burdened with a heavy yoke; we are bruised by the rod of the oppressor. Pain and Death are everywhere: Pain of broken relationships. Death from cancer. Families and communities wracked by accusation, bitterness, and confusion. Global turmoil. Envy, strife, and sorrow abound on every side. And so we mourn, we grieve, we ache. We cry out, “Come Emmanuel!”

But we do so in hope. We do so with joy. In the midst of the oppression, in the midst of the sorrow, in the midst of the captivity, we rejoice. Or at least, we’re called to. It’s never easy, and we stumble in many ways. But God’s word remains sure.

Joe Rigney – December 10, 2023

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As the wise men ventured into Jerusalem seeking the toddler-king of the Jews they got a pretty shocking reaction, after they started asking around Matthew says in v.3 of ch.2 that “When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” 

Herod’s reaction is not shocking. He knew when he heard this that his job as Caesar’s puppet-king was over so it’s not a surprise that this news riled him up. What is shocking is that it wasn’t just Herod who was troubled but “all Jerusalem with him.” You would expect the average citizen to be excited about their new king.

Well, you might say, maybe they just didn’t get the memo. Maybe they really thought it was a rival king or maybe Herod had manipulated them. No, it’s worse than that. They knew exactly what was going on. We know that on two separate occasions the news of the Messiah’s arrival had spread through Jerusalem before the wisemen came. The first time Luke says in ch.2 v.18 that when the people heard about the birth of the Messiah they “marveled”. They were filled with wonder and were amazed at the news. The second time a prophetess Anna came and told Jerusalem that redemption had arrived. So Jerusalem wasn’t troubled due to their ignorance; they were troubled due to their arrogance. They knew the truth. 

They marveled at the fact that the Messiah had come to rule with an Iron rod, but cowered at the thought of Him actively ruling their hearts. They were excited that he had come to take away sin, but were troubled when they realized that they’d have to confess their search history. And on top of all that they preferred the artificial peace of Herod to the Holy war of their rightful King.

It is easy, during this time of year, to fall into the same pattern. It’s easy to marvel that Christ came to take away sin all while disguising envy and bitterness as jokes and then hurling them at others like snowballs with rocks in them. See it is not enough to simply hear the truth. It’s not even enough to hear the truth and be amazed! You must also lay down your sins in faith and submit to Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah Jasso – December 10, 2023

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Psalm 128 is one of our community’s favorite psalms: “Blessed the man who fears Jehovah…” But do you stop and consider that opening line? Blessed is the man who fears Jehovah. It is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10), and especially when it comes to worship, we are required to draw near with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:28-29). 

When John saw Jesus, it says that he fell down at his feet like a dead man (Rev. 1:17). God is described in Scripture like a great and terrible storm of glory and majesty. “The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein” (Nah. 1:4). When Israel met with the Lord at Mt. Sinai, thick smoke and clouds descended on the mountain, full of lightning and thunder, and the whole mountain shook (Ex. 19:16-18). Think of standing in front of a volcano, a tornado, and tidal wave of glory as high as a mountain towering over you. 

Even the presence of angels are described as terrifying. The first words out of the mouths of angels are almost always: “do not be afraid/fear not.” If the messengers of God make people tremble, how much more God Himself? 

God is immense, majestic, and even in His goodness, there is awe and reverence, and the sense that we deserve to die. The fear of God shows us that we are next to nothing compared to Him – dust and ashes compared to Him. And then add to that our sins, and yes, even our forgiven sins, creates what John Bunyan called a “blessed confusion” – deep shame combined with profound relief. 

This is the salt that is to season our entire lives: God’s immense greatness, our miniscule frailty, and His glorious goodness in the face of our filth and rebellion. 

And it is to be particularly evident in our worship. The psalmist says, “rejoice with trembling.” As they sang on the banks of the Red Sea: “Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Ex. 15:11)

Toby Sumpter – December 10, 2023

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The Christian faith is a bloody faith. There really is no nice or polite way to put this. We could talk about the color crimson or red as so many hymns hint at but that would not capture the fact that the shedding of blood was a necessity for this world. 

Consider with me the beginning of Genesis when the God of all glory opened Adam up in order to create the necessary Eve. No doubt there was blood involved. This act does not necessarily point to our salvation but it does show us that our God is involved with the things that bring life and where there is blood there is life. Eve is after all named the mother of all the living.

We then have our gracious God who covers Adam and Eve’s shame from their sin with animal skins and though it is not necessary to shed blood when you kill and skin an animal the fact remains that the internal blood flow has stopped. 

Life has been taken. Sin has been covered. A return to a right relationship with God has been called for. 

But animals could really never satisfy our righteous God’s holy wrath, could they? They certainly had flesh and blood as indicated by the sacrifice laws. We see animal blood being splashed on the altar and being put on the extremities of the high priest. Blood is splashed here and splashed there. Blood is everywhere.  Day after day the priests offered sacrifices but they never truly took away sin. This is because all of the grain, oil, drink, blood and even animal life offered never was the substance of a man. 

No, only a man, a sinless man, a true man, a man with the blood of kings and the breath of God inside him could take away the filthy sin and shame of this world. 

And Jesus did just that… for you. He offered himself for you. With all of your pride and greed and lust and dirty thoughts. With all of your laziness and complaining. With all that marred you as a sinful creature. When you didn’t even know you needed him. He gave his life up. Could it not have been another man or woman to take away your sin? Perhaps you could give even your own life? No. Never. The only way back to a perfect Father is through the shedding of the perfect son’s blood. And he did it once for all. 

His body was spent. His spirit was given up. His blood ran red. And when this happened, the whole world came alive. A life taken to give life. Jesus offered himself once for all time and sat down at the right hand of God and entered his rest. 

And would you have that rest? Then trust in the blood of the sinless one and let it cover you from this time forth and forevermore. Amen.

Joshua Dockter – December 10, 2023

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