Anna’s Anticipation
We finish our short series as we have seen the response of the incarnation from the first chapters of the Gospel of Luke. We finish with a short story about a woman who had a hard life but was filled with joy and praise. Although she is only mentioned in these two verses, we should find that she is a great example of faith for believers. Her life has a memorial written in the word of God, one that we
Simeon’s Blessing
We come to our second to last person whom we are going to look at during our short study in people’s responses to the incarnation of Jesus. Today we will see a response of a man who I believe understood the promises of the Old Testament in a way that many people have missed. His name is Simeon; Luke begins this section telling us about a man in Jerusalem. We find out four things about him. Righteous, devout, waiting and
A Priest’s Prophecy
We come to the third response to the good news of the incarnation found in the gospel of Luke. We have met this person before, Zechariah. As he was serving in the temple the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him the news that his wife Elizabeth, who was barren and both of them were advanced in years was going to have a son. However, Zechariah did not believe the words that Gabriel had spoken to him. The last
Mary’s Magnificat
Last week we saw the angel Gabriel appear to Zechariah and give him the good news of the impossible task of him and his wife Elizabeth having a child because they were advanced in years. Then Elizabeth conceives and when she was 6 months pregnant with John the Baptist. Her response was one of joyous exclamation as she knew the promises of God were being fulfilled. This week we continue to ask the question about the correct response to the
Elizabeth’s Blessing
The most wonderful time of the year, apparently. Chaotic family gatherings, searching for sales and gifts in stores, disordered parking lot rules. Every year, this season comes around. We have heard the saying, ‘Jesus is the reason for the season.’ Nevertheless, we might know the reason for this season, but do we know the response that we should have? When we think or celebrate the incarnation of Jesus, the Son of God, coming down to earth and dwelling amongst his
Dwelling with the Lord
David’s heart for God Christian’s love the story of David. We relate to him in his sinful actions. We see him go through times of persecution and remain steadfast in those times. We see him win great battles as he trusts in God. We love reading the Psalms that he wrote. In all of this we either see a man of faith we seek to emulate, or he gives us hope even in our failures. We love to say that he
Mercy
We are looking at the assurances that David tells us about in the twenty-third Psalm. Last week we saw the assurance of pursuing goodness. This week we will look at the assurance of pursuing mercy. John Stevenson explains these two words in Psalm 23 that are inseparable, “Goodness that shall supply him when he is in want—and Mercy that shall forgive him when he sins:—Goodness following to provide, and Mercy following to pardon. Not goodness alone, nor mercy alone, but
Goodness gracious
The Psalmist has painted the news scene of the believer being served by the gracious host. We previously studied the passage and saw what type of Host the Lord is. But now the psalmist shifts the picture from the host to the menu. What does the Lord serve his guests? What are the benefits of the believers who sit at the Lord’s table? Like many lines of this Psalm, I think we have a poetic understanding of this Psalm. We
The Gracious Host
David changes his image from a shepherd to a gracious host. God becomes the one who prepares a table before him. Now before we look at this change it teaches us a vital truth about how we relate to God. God can only be compared to things we know, we cannot find a perfect example. Even the image of the church is found in different examples; bride, flock, family, living stones, etc. The change shows that every example we use
Creature Comforts
Creature comforts is a common expression in our vocabulary. The term started being used circa the 1650s. In Matthew Henry’s commentary of the whole Bible, he uses this expression (58 times) without any explanation of the term (implying a common understanding of the term).[1] We heard sayings like, I could not live without… fill in the blank. Every person will have their own answer, my phone, coffee, my truck, ice cream, my recliner, or my dog. This small, or big
