Archives: Pastors' Corner

We are now switching over to Matthew’s narrative of the early years of Jesus.  Matthew skips over much of the details relating to the birth after recording an angel’s visit to Joseph.  Matthew picks up the narrative in chapter 2, with a discussion of the circumstances surrounding the wise men.  Let’s read verses 1-4:  2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East […]

We are winding down the events of the Christmas story, looking at some of the things and people that we read about after Christ’s birth.  Today we read about the prophetess, Anna.  Let’s read Luke 2:36-38:  36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; 37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38 And coming in that […]

Everyone likes “prophecy” at Christmastime.  Or at least, most everyone would like to know ahead of time what they are getting for Christmas.  Some kids take matters into their own hands and look under the bed or in the closet or the attic; wherever they think their parents are hiding the presents.  But what happens after you “sneakily” open the presents and see them?  Isn’t there an inevitable emotional letdown?  You realize that you’ve ruined the surprise you would have had on Christmas morning.  Yes, I think there’s an ambivalence about Christmas present snooping.  If any young people read this […]

Many of us have received many Christmas presents under the tree over the years but like me, you’ve never received one with the name “God” on the gift tag.  Sure, we’ve been “given” many gifts by God including hope, peace, joy and love that we’ve been talking about in our recent sermon series.  You probably consider your spouse a gift from God….if not, I have some excellent marriage resources I can recommend!  You probably consider your children a gift from God….if not, see above comment only insert “parenting” for “marriage”…but I digress.  At the time of Jesus’ birth, God gives […]

After the birth of Jesus recorded for us in Luke chapter 2 we read some interesting verses about some key events in Jesus’ life.  Here is what we read in verses 21-24:  21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who […]

I’m taking a one day break from our Christmas advent series to talk about the shooting in CT.  I’m not planning on talking much about it, many others have said many things.  My thoughts this morning are simply on “what can we do?”  Law enforcement, school and government officials have lots of decisions to make on changes to procedures or even laws.  But I don’t have an affect on any of that and you probably don’t either.  So what can we do?  Here are two ideas: 1.  Pray!  Pray that all those involved receive God’s grace, comfort and mercy in […]

Let’s begin by reading the following verses from Luke chapter 2: 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.  For me today, the key word in this passage is the word “pondered”.  The Bible says that Mary “pondered” all these things in her heart.  We don’t use the word “pondered” very much in today’s vocabulary.  The […]

Some of you remember getting a really great present on Christmas morning.  Maybe it was something that you wanted or maybe it was a surprise.  After the morning was over and all the gifts were opened what did you do about that present that you received?  Most of us wanted to TELL someone about the gift.  As a child I lived in a “double house”, connected to my friend who lived right next door.  When Christmas morning was over we would visit with each other and show the various things that we got for Christmas.  He usually got way more […]

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!  What struck me this morning as I read these words is that the angels are the only ones who really know what is going on here.  They are the only ones who really understand what the birth of this baby truly means for all of mankind.  Yes, Joseph and Mary were told in broad terms what Jesus would do but they couldn’t have understood it, at least not completely.  The […]

When you have really important news to share who do you share it with?  Normally we share it with the people who are closest to us in relationship…mom, dad, spouse, children, brother, sister, etc…  But if we exclude family, we might share our important information with people that we think are important.  With whom does God share this incredibly important news about the birth of His Son?   He shares it with shepherds…ordinary, run of the mill shepherds.  Not rulers or political or religious leaders.  He doesn’t share the news with socialites but rather, shepherds. We are not given a reason […]