Monthly Archives: December 2014

Christmas Eve: Christ, the Son of God

advent candle wreathHappy Birthday, Jesus. Tonight we remember that you are Immanuel, God with us, the reason we celebrate.

When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, under the law, to redeem those of us who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Tonight is that night.

Jesus, the Son of God, who possessed both the power to create and the power to redeem, laid aside His rights as God, humbled himself and took on the role as a servant. Emmanuel, God with us.

He called Himself the Son of God, saying that He and the Father were one, and He could do nothing apart from His Father. He was God, coming in the flesh, to live among us, to model a life fully surrendered to His Father, to rescue us from our sins, to give us the power to do even greater works than He did.

This evening, as we light the final candle on the Advent wreath, we celebrate the babe in the manger. Emmanuel, God with us, the one who will save us from our sins. When we welcome Christ, the Son of God, into our lives, we are no longer slaves to sin. Instead we become God’s children, sons and daughters, ready to receive an eternal inheritance. Finally, the wait is over. Our king has arrived.

Let’s pray: Thank you Jesus, the Son of God, for coming to earth to save us from our sins. We can do nothing apart from you. Tonight, after waiting imperfectly and impatiently, we gladly surrender ourselves to you and invite you to take your rightful place in our lives. Thank you that we can become your children, sons and daughters who are no longer slaves to sin. At long last, You are here, with us.

 

 

Christ, the Holy Spirit

advent candle wreathWhen did life become so complex? Sweet Mary did everything her mother told her to do. Kind Joseph planned to marry her so she could support him at home while he supported her with his trade.

And then Mary announced she was pregnant. Suddenly their perfectly planned lives were thrown into chaos. Grieving Joseph planned to divorce the woman he loved. Frightened Mary understood he had no choice.

But then, an angel of the Lord appeared to unravel the mystery. “Fear not,” he said. “The child growing in Mary is from the Holy Spirit.” So Joseph, placing faith in what he couldn’t see, continued his engagement to Mary. He took care of Mary while Mary took care of the baby. They raised him from childhood and He raised them from the dead.

They trusted the Holy Spirit, who engineered the events of their lives, the third person of the trinity, the one who convicted them of sin and led them into truth. The one who promised to be with them, and who promises to be with us, too, even to the end of the age.

Today, as we light the fourth candle of Advent, let’s thank God that He is Emmanuel, God with us, the one who sees us through the events of our lives even when they seem unmanageable. Let’s prepare our hearts to receive Him as we wait impatiently for His coming.

Let’s pray: Thank you, Father, for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who has promised to be with us, to convict us of sin, and to lead us into truth, even in the midst of our troubles. Prepare us as we wait impatiently for His coming so we can give him His rightful place in our lives.

Happy Birthday, Jesus

Advent is a timadvent candle wreathe to prepare our hearts for the coming of our Savior, a time of great longing and anticipation. We wait for the day when Jesus will live among us, forgive our sins and restore our relationship with God.

The shepherds saw a tiny glimpse of that joy on a night, unlike any other night. While they were taking care of their sheep, the Angel of the Lord surprised them when he appeared, announcing good news of great joy for all the people.

Suddenly a group of angels, who had been waiting in the wings, jumped out from behind the angel of the Lord and yelled, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.” One had to wonder if the great expanses of heaven were too small to contain their joy that night.

The shepherds were common men, doing common work. Yet, God chose to tell them His good news first.

Today, as we light the third candle on the Advent Wreath, let’s ask God to fill our hearts and cause us to respond with joy as we remember that God chooses common people like us to hear His good news.

Prayer: Heavenly father, thank you for sending Jesus Christ to all the people to save us from our sins. Prepare our hearts during this season as we wait expectantly for his arrival. Thank you for choosing us to hear your good news. We welcome you into our lives.

Christ, the Prince of Peace

advent candle wreathAdvent means waiting. We wait for the day when we will celebrate our Savior, coming among us as one of us to pay for our sins and give us power over sin and death through the Holy Spirit.  

May you know Immanuel, God with us, the Son of God, this Christmas season.

 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”  (Luke 2: 13, 14 ESV)

On the night Christ was born, the angels announced peace. Peace to Mary who gave birth to a child conceived by the Holy Spirit. Peace to Joseph who married his pregnant bride and walked beside her throughout her journey.

Peace to the shepherds watching their flocks on just another ordinary night. Peace to those who were near and those who were far away. At long last, the unfettered reign of sin was about to expire. Emmanuel, God with us, was on his way, providing a pathway to peace with God.

Today, as we light the second candle of the Advent Wreath, that same Jesus, the one we wait for, has broken down the dividing wall of race, gender and privilege. In these heated days of division, while our culture screams for war, and the injustice in our midst astounds us, we wait impatiently and imperfectly for Jesus, the Prince of Peace to join us in the flesh and be Emmanuel, God with us.

Let’s pray: Jesus, as we wait impatiently for your coming, break down the dividing walls in our lives and in our cities. Prepare our hearts to receive you as our Prince of Peace.

Christ, the Anointed One

advent candle wreath

Advent means waiting. We wait for the day when we will celebrate our Savior, coming among us as one of us to pay for our sins and give us power over sin and death through the Holy Spirit.  

May you know Immanuel, God with us, the Son of God, this Christmas season.

Week 1: Christ, the Anointed One

At the beginning of his earthly ministry, Jesus stood in the temple and read from the scroll of Isaiah:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

 

Jesus, God’s chosen Son, the anointed one, came filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, announcing good news to the poor, freedom for those trapped in slavery, sight to those who were blind, relief for those carrying heavy burdens. God’s favor rested on Him.

Through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and death through sin which spread to all men. Through another man, Christ, came an abundance of grace, the undeserved gift of having our sins forgiven, of being made right with God.

As we prepare to light the first Advent candle and prepare our hearts to receive our king, let’s take a moment to remember Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, who came as flesh and blood to live among us. He not only paid the price for our sins on the cross, he gave us the power to overcome sin and death.

 

Let’s pray:

Father, thank you for sending Christ, the anointed one, chosen and set apart to live among us and become the payment for our sins, to set us free from slavery, to open our eyes when we were blind, to provide relief from our heavy burdens. Prepare our hearts to receive our coming king as we wait for his arrival.

(These are scripts read at church during the lighting of the Advent wreath).

 

Merry Christmas!

A lot of history and experience came together for us in our ministry this year. We’re looking back on 2014, and beginning to plan 2015, with gratitude to God.

Anne Marie returned to the office as a writer last winter. In June, on short notice she made a trip to Korea to report about how our staff members are using short films to share the gospel. Stories from that trip have already appeared online at Cru.org, and more will appear in the next issue of Worldwide Challenge magazine.

She also continued to build Writing for Life, teaching 25 staff members in Orlando and going on the road twice to teach 24 others. Writing for Life gives us a chance to help a growing number of people use the written word in print and online to proclaim Christ’s love. That is Cru’s focus, and the reason we have both served as staff members for more than 30 years.

I continue serving as editor in chief of Worldwide Challenge. My work on the magazine increased this year as one of our editors took a leave. I did much more editing this year and I enjoy the process of working on stories with our team of writers, making each story better and helping the writers increase their skill.

What are your highlights from this year as it comes to an end? And what do you look forward to in 2015? Let us know in the comments below.

We’re excited about the coming year. Anne Marie will continue to write for the magazine and our websites. And she plans to continue offering Writing for Life training. She’s been invited to teach a session here in Orlando, and has tentative invitations to teach in Texas, Colorado and Ohio. Two of those trips would be to train more Cru staff members, and the other would take the training beyond Cru staff members, as it will be offered to communicators with a wide array of ministries.

Her next magazine story is designed to help our more than 50,000 readers learn how they can share the gospel with their friends and others they know.

My work with the magazine will continue. And in May I’ll become the president of the Evangelical Press Association, which serves the staff members of about 300 Christian publications. It is a volunteer position that has to be added to my other work, so I’ll be busy.

We also look forward to family events this year. Michael plans to graduate with an engineering degree from the University of Central Florida next December. Bethany is in her junior year at Trevecca Nazarene University, and she plans to be done with an internship.