Merry Christmas!

They knew He would be coming, the Messiah. The one who would save the world. The Jews waited with longing.

They knew Scripture; they knew it talks even from the beginning about a Man whose heel would be bruised by Satan, but who would crush Satan’s head in return (Genesis 3:15). Our first parents, having chosen sin over fellowship with God, were ushered out of the perfect garden — yet not without hope. God would not let death have the final word.

But because sin cannot stand before a holy God, sacrifices had to be made. Time and time again, the Jews brought their sacrifices to the temple as atonement. The blood of a lamb, shed. Over, and over, and over again. But they knew – it wouldn’t stay this way forever. God had promised a Savior. He gave them pictures of salvation throughout the history of Scripture; He would come for them. Isaiah talked of this Redeemer and all that He would do:

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:1-3).

“For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder,
And His name will be called,
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end.
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:1-2).

They waited for Him. This Redeemer, God. This Redeemer, man? How would He, God, come to earth as a Savior? The Almighty God, who resides in Heaven and looks down upon mankind – Him, coming as the Messiah? They had to wait and watch how the Lord would cause this to unfold.

They knew from Scripture the timeframe in which He would come. There was a hopeful expectancy around the time of Jesus’ birth. One man in particular, Simeon, was given the gift of meeting his Savior before he died:

“And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

‘Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel’” (Luke 2:25-32).

He had come! He had come as an infant, born to a virgin. He didn’t sweep in and take over Jerusalem with pomp and power; He came as every one of us comes. He grew as we do, He learned and was filled with wisdom (Luke 2:40). He watched His mother in her daily tasks, and was trained by His father as a carpenter. He was tempted and tried, yet resisted sin perfectly.

People followed Him – some puzzled, some awestruck, some skeptical, some full of hope. They followed the God-Man and were healed, fed, taught, encouraged. There were still those who hated Him, and when He had lived on Earth a little more than 30 years He was horrifically murdered by His own creation. But this was what He had come for: to conquer death and be the one – the final – sacrifice. The perfect, sinless Lamb. He took our sins and paid the price for them. Three days later He rose from the grave, having defeated death and making a way for all to come to Himself. No more sacrifices, no more burdens – He had set them free! All people could now be free, forgiven of our sins and made clean!

Is your soul grieved? Are you without hope? Are you weary and brokenhearted? This Savior has come! This Redeemer accomplished what He promised He would! The freedom He brought is available for you and me and our children and grandchildren. We do not have to be slaves to sin (Romans 6), bound by our own shortcomings and failures.

We do not have to be burdened with sorrows, with bitterness, with anxiety or fear or depression. In fact, we shouldn’t be. He has set us free and given us His joy! He gives us peace that only He can provide; He gives us hope and comfort and guidance and wisdom. He gives us life that we may live it fully, and He lavishes us with blessing upon blessing. He gives us good works to walk in, and His Spirit resides in us that we might be full of His good fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). We can have the most abundant, wonder-filled life!

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). We can join with Paul in exclaiming: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)

May our homes be full of joy and laughter and thanksgiving this Christmas, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior and Lord. What a wonderful God, a mighty Savior. Merry Christmas, friends!

Wonder on a Trail || Friday Magnify

"Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together."
Psalm 34:3

If you look closely, there are two boys hiding in those trees. Two boys bundled up in warm coats, hats, and gloves for a cold New England winter. Two boys with energy to rival race dogs, ready to explore some local trails.

Behind the camera is a mom whose heart is full and whose fingers are starting to freeze. A mom holding a small dog who would like to be a race dog, but who is restrained on a long lead.

To the side is a path full of rocks the two bundled boys love to pick through. Beyond that are trails with little waterfalls, exposed roots, hidden mushrooms. Joy-inducing nature, delicately crafted by a most amazing Creator.

Down one trail are views of a river, bitterly cold but not frozen yet. A few more months and two boys and their mother and dog will walk down and watch ice chunks floating downstream. For now, they watch birds duck under the water and reappear a few feet away. Giggles ensue.

One boy decides he needs a bathroom, and fast. Three bundled people turn the dog around and hurry back along the trail, hating to say no to the distractions of new mushrooms and rocks to climb and bridges to run across. They make it to the car with little time to spare.

Home again, home again, jiggity-jog. The door unlocked quickly, children and dog scramble out, everyone hurrying to remove bundles. Bathroom door slams.

Mom sighs, takes a sip of cold coffee. Immensely thankful for coats, hats, gloves. For a pocket camera, an energetic group of littles, a place to take in the wonder of Creation. For a home to return to, cozy and warm, to talk about findings and make plans for the next venture out.

What joy this Creator gives!

Does He Not Care?

“On that day, when evening had come, He said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was. And other boats were with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?’”
Mark 4:35-41

“Lord! Do You not care?”

This passage struck me so deeply the other day. Without saying it aloud, I have whimpered: “Lord, do You not care? Do You not see this – do You not see me?”

We need this reminder – Jesus looked at His disciples, who were full of fear and forgetfulness, and He reminded them Who He is.

“Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” He asked them.

We often look for Him to change our circumstances, and it would be tempting to read this passage as proof that He will change things if only we have faith enough. Yet as He rebukes the wind and waves, He takes the emphasis off of the circumstance and turns their attention to Himself.

“Who then is this, that even the wind and sea obey Him?” they marvel.

Can you hear their reverent awe? Who is this God, who commands obedience from even nature? How mighty, how powerful, how above-all must He be? Who is this God, who can sleep through storms with complete peace? Who is He, that He knows the future and spends His days without worry – for Himself or for us?

Like the disciples, we forget that He is all we need. He alone is wholly sufficient.

“Then Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘“The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’” and they ask me, ‘“What is His name?’“ what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ And He said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: ‘“I am has sent me to you.’”’ God also said to Moses, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: ‘“The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’” This is My name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.’”
Exodus 3:13-15

He is I AM. He is too lofty for us to understand, too wonderful to comprehend. He is great. He knows the beginning and the end of every circumstance and He is present as we walk through them all. There is no day that He has not already seen, nothing He does not already know. Do the winds and the waves still seem so troublesome?

Take heart, dear Christian.

“Do You not care?” – Oh, but He does! Let your cares be cast upon Him, “because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

The mighty God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God who is the same yesterday, today and forever; He is sufficient. These storms that try us - they come by His allowance and do not leave us stripped bare. We may have only Him left – but friend! We have Him!

“I have heard of some good old woman in a cottage, who had nothing but a piece of bread and a little water, and lifting up her hands, she said, as a blessing, What! all this, and Christ too?”
C.H. Spurgeon

Let us remember who He is! We have Him, and He is all we need.

“The Name of the Lord is a strong tower;
the righteous man runs into it and is safe.”
Proverbs 18:10

A Blessed Interruption

“We’ve got no sound,” my husband said as I made my way over to his spot in the sound booth.

Our pastor was doing his best to string sentences together into the mic so the tech team could troubleshoot.

“It was good and then it made a pop,” Josh continued. “Now the mid-range isn’t working…ha, we’ve got ten minutes to fix it.”

Well, there was no fixing it and I sat down feeling pretty giddy. The thought of unplugged voices and instruments, followed by our pastor having to project for the crowd… I tried to find some sympathy for everyone’s to-be-stretched vocal chords but instead found myself praying they’d be stretched and strengthened.

“Good morning everyone,” our pastor’s wife hollered (in a beautiful way, in case you’re reading this ;)). “Our sound is out, so we are going to do this old-school which fits because this building is just as old. Would you all please move forward and get close and comfortable?”

I moved up a few rows with the kids, and everyone else did their own shuffling. A blessing in disguise, to get a bunch of New Englanders squished together to worship. We tend to like our space.

With a piano and a box drum, we began singing praises to our King. What joy, and what gusto! We all were there for Him, unified together in our desire for Him. We shared communion and continued worshiping.

Our pastor came to the front, opened in prayer, and got right into Philippians. He preached a fantastic sermon on sinners and saints, our standing before the Lord, and how this applies in our daily life. If only I could transcribe all that he said - it was so, so good. Convicting, encouraging, truth.

I looked around the room and noticed eyes glued to the front, faces of people deep in thought. My heart swelled with gratitude. To be in a room of people who desperately want Jesus, and want to live according to His Word… to be with other parents who want to raise their children according to His Word… to see strangers-turned-friends sitting nearby… All of us, there because we want to take our faith seriously and see God glorified. What a wonderful little interruption, to have to manage without the normal equipment. Worshiping the way many of our brothers and sisters do across the world. Oh, what a gift!

The sermon ended and we finished* with this song, which fit so well.

“Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom pow’r and love
Our God is an awesome God!”
- Michael W. Smith

Praise the Lord for the work He is doing in His Church! I know our local church is not the only one He is knitting together tighter. Praise Him for the stripping and re-prioritizing He has worked in us over the last year. He is strengthening His Church and drawing us closer to Himself. Hallelujah, we are here for His glory!

If you are local to Southern NH/ME, come join us!

*Edit: It was brought to my attention that we sung the above-mentioned song earlier in worship, and ended with All I Have is Christ. Both songs are excellent, and fit perfectly with our time together Sunday morning.