Weekend Review 12.1210

Songs:

Rockin Around The Christmas Tree [Mercy Me arrangement]

Light of the World [Matt Redman]

O Holy Night [Adolphe Charles Adam, Placide Cappeau, Chris Tomlin arrangement]

All Creation Sings (Joy To The World) George Fredric Handel, Isaac Watts, Steve Fee arrangement]

Band:

Drums: Mark Monteiro

Bass: Gerald Lay

Electric Guitar: Corey Wilkins

Piano & BGV's: Carly Absher

BGV's: Trisha Brock & Mary Beth Holmes

Acoustic, Electric, Loops, & Lead Vocals: (Me), Jason Eaton

There are three things about this song that show the importance of how and why God brought the Savior of the world to us the way He did. #1 The Timing. #2 The Place. #3 The Birth. The timing of the who nativity scene was so unexpected. For some reason God chose the time of Caesar Augustus. So at the peak of Mary's pregnancy they had to leave Nazareth to travel about 80 miles a 3 to 4 day hike to the town of David or Bethlehem. A Full term pregnant teenager hiking 3 to 4 days... Wow what timing. But God new exactly why He was doing what He was doing. In Galatians 4:4 we read, "But when the RIGHT TIME had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under law." The place in which Jesus was born was a huge prophecy being fulfilled. Nearly 700 years before Jesus was born the Prophet Micah announced it in Micah 5:2, "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times." You see the place, Bethlehem was so unassuming! It’s not the epicenter of activity. Not really a lot there, other than rocky fields. The city itself was just so small! Now, today Bethlehem has a population of about 15,000 (smaller than Bonney Lake). Now if I had to choose where the Son of God would be born, I would have opted for Athens or Rome, even Jerusalem. But God’s choice was this little city called Bethlehem. Can’t you picture two shepherds outside of Bethlehem complaining about what a boring, uneventful city that Bethlehem was? I mean, “Nothing really important ever happens around here!” It would be like Nebraska…anything good come from Nebraska? Not only was Jesus born in Bethlehem, but he was also born in a stable. Luke 2:7 (NIV) and 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. I bet Joseph was near panic when he couldn't find a place to stay. So out of desperation he found an old barn. Lastly the birth... Now, one last detail about the nativity…and that is the birth of Jesus was just so uneventful. Luke 2:6-7 (NIV) While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. It all sounds so ordinary, doesn't it? Once again, if we were in charge we would have had a lot more fanfare then that. We would have had a drum roll, confetti, fireworks, news bulletins, and photographs. But all the Bible says is "the time came for the baby to be born...and she gave birth." Max Lucado describes it like this: He looks like anything but a king. His face is prunish and red. His cry though strong and healthy is still the helpless cry of a baby. He absolutely depended upon Mary for his well-being. Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, thru the womb of a teenager in the presence of a carpenter. Meanwhile the city hums. The merchants are unaware that God visited their family. The innkeeper would never imagine that he has just sent God out into the cold. And the people would scoff at anyone who told them the Messiah lay in the arms of a teenager in the outskirts of their village. They are all to busy to consider the possibility. And those who missed his majesty's arrival that night missed it, not because of evil acts or malice, no, they missed it because they simply weren't looking.—Max Lucado, God Came Near Little has changed in the last 2000 years, has it?