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christ worship

The Riches in Christ -07: The Virign Conceives

Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14 KJV)

Anyone who has ever spent any time near or around people celebrating Christmas have heard this verse. Matthew refers to it pointing out the fulfillment of a prophecy by the Mesiah, the King of the Jews, evidenced in the child Jesus born of a virgin by the name of Mary. Matthew looked into the scriptures with the Holy Ghost guiding his hand, and he made a connection as to the fulfillment of this prophecy.

But what is so astounding about this is the fact that God chose to fulfill this prophecy.

What do I mean by this?

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godhead

God Our Resource

…no longer walk as the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind? – Eph 4:17

The time of the Judges was a time where the children of Israel were living in the Land by the rule of their own lives. They did not yet request a king, but they found themselves being judged by people who God had raised up.

This particular illustration is from the third captivity of the People of God (Judges 4 and 5). If you remember, the Children of Israel would disobey God and backslide into some form of sin and subsequently one of their enemies would come up and oppress them. Holding the People of God under captivity and oppression, these gentile nations would hold them underfoot until the day God would raise up a judge out of the People of God. These Judges would be God?s hand to lead the Children of Israel out of captivity.

Sisera, a commander and chief of King Jabin?s, army enforced this third captivity. Sisera lived in Harosheth of the Gentiles (hagoyim). It is curious that the Holy Spirit has decided to label these Canaanites as ?Gentiles? when we know that the other captivities were also by Gentiles but they were not labeled as such.

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church pray

Pleading With God on Behalf of the Next Generation

I look at my son, two and a half years old, and I see awe and wonder every time he looks around. We go outside and see a plane, he beams, tilts his head all the way back and points. We go to the park and walk a winding path and he’ll spend most of his time positioning himself, adjusting then jumping up and landing with a dramatic “boom!” as if he has crossed a tremendous chasm. He’ll chatter to people in the park and even break into song if he’s in the mood, dead center of a supermarket.

It’s that complete and unadulterated innocence that really tugs at the heart strings. Pearl Jam had a song a few years back with this lyric that stuck in my head: “If I knew now what I knew then”. That innocence, that sense of awe and wonder, to be grasped today by my (almost) mature mind and tainted thinking–man that would be great.

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church worship

Evolution of the Altar 5: Carelessness towards the Altar

Let us once again enter into the Temple made from the pattern of the tabernacle that was made from what was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai. Years have passed since God?s commandment on how He is to be worshiped. Years have passed since Nadab and Abihu?s sin of the strange fire, doing that which God had ?commanded not?. Years have passed since Jeroboam?s sin of degrading what God had commanded concerning the altar to convenience by setting up worship centers in the North. If we recall, there was also a certain King Ahaz who set up two altars in the Temple, one based off of man?s pattern, offering a choice to the approach to God.

In this temple that we enter we may quickly note some things. It is not as glorious as the temple of Solomon?s day but it is also imageless. Some years have passed since Israel had polluted the land with their idolatry, eventually getting sacked by the Assyrians and subsequently the Babylonians. Some years have passed since Cyrus? mandate to rebuild the temple and here we are, sacrifices are being offered up and the priests are doing their duty. From this distance in the outer courtyard, everything is as it should be. Israel has learned his lesson and now is worshipping as he should.

Yet, as is often the case with appearances, there is something wrong that we cannot see from this distance.

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christ worship

The Riches in Christ – 06

Doug McHone (Coffee Swirls)

Matthew 11:25-26 (NIV): At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”

There are a few references to children in the gospels, always showing them to be the standard that we are judged by. Why is this? What is so special about children that we should take note of their attributes and apply them to our lives? To gain a measure of understanding, let’s take a quick look at what it means to be a child.

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