How God Came To Be With Us podcast, from Matthew 1:18-25. I preached this sermon on Sunday, December 23, 2007, using the fictional character of ‘Itzak the baker’ — a friend of Joseph of Nazareth. I hope it brings a new perspective for this Christmas season.
Filed under: Lectionary Yr A, Sermons, matthew , christma, christmas, church, how god came to be with us, itzak the baker, joseph, lectionary year a, Lectionary Yr A, matthew 1:18-25, matthew | Tagged: christianity, missional, podcasts, preaching, religion, sermon, sermon 4th Sunday of Advent, Sermons, Worship
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register. 4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Shepherds and the Angels
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Filed under: Journey, luke
December 23, 2007 • 9:55 pm
Here are photos of the Christmas party at our church for 83 kids from the Boys and Girls Club. This year a local business, First Piedmont, sponsored the party, and our own Chatham Fire Department donated the gifts. The kids had a blast, as you can see.
Filed under: Community, Congregation, Missional Church , boys and girls club, christmas party, church, collaboration, community involvement, gifts for children, kids christmas party, missional, partnerships
December 22, 2007 • 9:45 pm
How God Came To Be With Us
Matthew 1:18-25 NRSV
My name is Itzak. You would call me Isaac. Oh, no, not that Isaac, blessed be his name and his father Abraham. No, I’m just Isaac — a friend of Joseph, the carpenter. You know Joseph, don’t you? Joseph is often forgotten at this time of year. Not that he would mind, for he was a very humble man himself. But with all the talk now about Jesus, his son, and Mary, his wife, well, Joseph gets overlooked. But I was his friend, and I want to tell you a little about him and the wonderful thing that happened to him, and to Mary, and really to us all.
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Lectionary Yr A, Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, matthew, sermon , advent sermon, christian, emerging, fourth sunday in advent, immanuel, joseph, lectionary year a, Mary, matthew 1:18-25, missional, preaching, religion, Sermons, Worship
I added a new feature to the right sidebar — clips from my blogline that I find interesting. Click the post title to go directly to the original post on the original blog. You’ll find stuff about trends, culture, church, resources, and mostly things I like. Hope you enjoy and find it helpful. — Chuck
Filed under: Resources , blogline, Christianity, church, culture, emerging, feed, missional, religion, Resources, shared items, trends
Filed under: Sermon Illustrations, Sermons, Worship , 4th Sunday of Advent, advent, advent sermon, bethlehem, birth of Jesus, god with us, immanuel, joseph, Mary, matthew 1:18-25, preaching, sermon, Worship
December 21, 2007 • 9:37 am
Click thru these 
100 photos of storefront churches in Brooklyn. The church is alive and well and being reinvented by lots of people in contextual ways. Very encouraging. New expressions of church are happening in lots of places and cultures, and these are as authentic as you’ll find.
Send Steve Taylor a postcard of your emerging church community. In January, he’ll post up them up with comments to 4 questions he’s asking. Steve wrote The Out of Bounds Church, which is worth the price of the book just for the last story in it.
Three Advent videos that are free for downloading from Andy Michael.
See Jonny Baker’s blog for a reimagination of the traditional 9 lessons and carols. Jonny also writes about worship tricks, which is not at all like stupid pet tricks.
Real Live Preacher is going to the Dominican Republic to install water purification systems. You can help provide drinkable water for the YWAM headquarters there. Plus, RLP has a great story there, too.
Debbie has a heart-warming story about the Christmas that she and her family spent in Hong Kong.
My sermon may not go up until Saturday, as ole Sandy Claus still has some stuff to do today! Merry Christmas…
Filed under: Community, Congregation, Missional Church, Resources, culture , advent video, church postcard, contextual churches, emerging church, hong kong christmas, lessons and carols, storefront church, water purification
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