Today's Reading: Isaiah 52:13-53:12Without the death and resurrection of Jesus, Christmas would lose its meaning. In this passage, Isaiah describes a Messiah who would be rejected and despised by His people (similar to what we read in John about the darkness rejecting the light). That little baby born in a manger in Bethlehem would grow up and willingly subject Himself to the humiliation of the cr...  Read More

Today's Reading: John 1:16-17Grace and truth correspond to the two central attributes of God that we we throughout the Old Testament - His steadfast love (remember "hesed"?) and His faithfulness. Jesus is the ultimate expression of God's covenant loyalty and His unmerited favor to world that has largely rejected Him.Take some time today to thank God for those attributes and for loving you so much ...  Read More

Today's Reading: John 1:9-14It's really easy to overlook the significance of what John writes here. Unfortunately, we often hear people say something like, "After all, we're all God's children". But that just isn't true. Only those who are willing to "receive" Jesus and "believe in His name" become God's children.As we've talked about often before, the kind of "belief" that John writes about in hi...  Read More

Today's Reading: John 1:6-8, 15John's role was to testify to Jesus, the light of the world. Even though God used him mightily, he understood his role and acknowledged that Jesus was far superior to him.If you think about it, that is the same role God has given us. Fortunately we don't have to dress in camel hair and eat locusts to do that. But each of of us who have seen the light have a responsib...  Read More

Today's Reading: John 1:1-5, 18John's gospel account doesn't give us any of the physical details regarding the birth of Jesus, like Matthew and Luke do. But He does reveal the purpose and meaning of the birth of Jesus. As "the Word", Jesus is God's final and most complete revelation of Himself - though no on has seen God, when we see Jesus, we understand the nature and character of God more comple...  Read More

Today's Reading: Luke 2:22-40What really strikes me here is how God continues to reveal the Messiah to common people rather than the religious or government leaders. We don't know anything of Simeon or Anna other than what we read here. They both seem to be just ordinary people who loved God and were seeking Him. Are you seeking God like that in your life?...  Read More

Today's Reading: Luke 2:8-21Ryan covered this passage in detail last Sunday so if you missed that you'll want to watch or listen to it.I want to focus on what this passage teaches us about evangelism. These shepherds weren't well educated. They hadn't been to seminary and probably didn't attend the synagogue each week. But when they encountered Jesus, it was their natural response to go and tell o...  Read More

Today's Reading: Luke 2:1-7A lot of our ideas about the Christmas story have been shaped by our own traditions as well as familiarity with the story. For instance, how many of us haven't been to a Christmas pageant or heard a sermon about the innkeeper who didn't have a vacancy and been exhorted to make sure we have room for Jesus in our lives? (By the way that is an important principle, just not ...  Read More

Today's Reading: Luke 1:67-80This song of Zechariah is often called the Benedictus, which is based on the first words of the song in Latin. The song is filled with Old Testament references that confirm that both the birth and ministry of John and the birth and ministry of Jesus are the fulfillment of God's promises that had been made centuries earlier. This means that the incarnation of Jesus was ...  Read More

Today's Reading: Luke 1:57-66It took a while, but Zechariah finally believed what God had revealed to him 9 months earlier. He demonstrated that belief by confirming that the child was to be named John, and not Zechariah after him. Throughout the Christmas narrative, we are reminded that the kind of belief that God is looking for always requires action on our part. It is always more than just an i...  Read More

Today's Reading: Luke 1:46-56This beautiful song of Mary is known as the Magnificat, which is Latin for "magnify". What is important to note here is that Mary magnifies God, and not herself. In spite of the fact that she has found favor with God and has received Elizabeth's blessing, she acknowledges that she is a sinner who needs a savior (see verse 47).I think that Mary would be appalled at some...  Read More

Today's Reading: Luke 1:39-45When Mary heard from the angel Gabriel that her relative Elizabeth was pregnant, she made the long  journey from Galilees to Judea - probably close to 100 miles - for a visit. I think Mary probably thought that if there was anyone who could understand her experience it had to be Elizabeth, who was also going to have a miraculous birth.Filled with the Holy Spirt, Elizab...  Read More