She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—which means, God with us.” Matthew 1:21-23
“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 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.” Luke 2:6-7
Dear Faithful Seed-Sowers,
We are in week two of Advent! This week we lit the candle of LOVE! My wife came across a great acrostic for love this week:
L— Listen
O — Overlook
V — Value
E — Encourage
I encourage you to put LOVE into practice this week and listen to those you love, overlook the little things and even some of the big things and forgive, then value your family and friendships, and then encourage others with the LOVE of God in your heart and home!
Home for Jesus was Bethlehem. Bethlehem! What do we know about Bethlehem? Why did God choose Bethlehem?
Bethlehem was a small town six miles southwest of Jerusalem. It is first mentioned in the Bible in relation to Jacob and Rachel. (Abraham, Isaac, then Jacob and Esau) Jacob had twelve sons; this is where we get the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob had several wives but Rachel was the love of his life. Rachel was the mother of Joseph (coat of many colors) and Benjamin. Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin. “So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.” (Genesis 35:19-20)
Jacob buried Rachel near Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. This all takes place 2,000 years before the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. The next time Bethlehem is mentioned in the Bible is in the Book of Ruth. We are told about the famine in the land and how Naomi and her husband left Bethlehem and traveled to Moab. Listen to how it is written in Ruth 1:1-2 — “In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.”
Because of a famine, Naomi and her husband left Bethlehem and headed across the Jordan River to live in a foreign land. Their sons take wives from Moab. Elimelech dies as do his two sons. Naomi is a widow and decides to head back home to Bethlehem. Ruth, a Moabite woman, was married to one of Naomi’s sons and insists on going back the Bethlehem with Naomi. Remember these powerful words in Ruth 1:16-17, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17)
Ruth is a very short book you can read in one sitting. In Ruth you will also find the story of Ruth and Boaz. Boaz is a relative of Naomi and the kinsman-redeemer who ends up marrying Ruth and providing for Naomi. They have a son and name him Obed. Obed has a son and names him Jesse, and Jesse has a son and names him David—as in the second king of Israel. This makes Ruth, the foreigner and a Moabite woman without Jewish blood, the great-grandmother of King David. This is powerful when you consider that prophecy declares the Messiah will come from the line of David and will be born in Bethlehem! Boaz was not just Ruth’s kinsmen redeemer…his blood made Jesus from the line of David, house of Judah! That is why Bethlehem is called the city of David. All of these people (except Ruth) were born in this little, farming town six miles south of Jerusalem, the town called Bethlehem.
God is sovereign over time and place!
· 700 B.C. Micah prophesies the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. All this time God has been working.
· God was preparing a place for the coming of the Messiah. Around 2000 B.C., Rachel is buried near Bethlehem with a pillar set up to make her place.
· Seven to nine hundred years later (1375-1050 B.C.), God calls a foreigner by the name of Ruth into the story. Ruth, a foreigner, an outcast, and outsider makes her home with Naomi in Bethlehem. Boaz marries Ruth. Obed, Jesse, and King David are born.
· Three to four hundred years (742-687 B.C) go by and here we are: God sends the prophet Micah to tell the people that out of Bethlehem–will come the Messiah.
· It is worth noting that the name Benjamin means “son of my right hand,” and the name David means “beloved.” Both of these names apply to our Lord, for He is the Beloved Son (Luke 3:22) at God’s right hand (Psalm 110:1)
In the Hebrew language Bethlehem means “House of Bread.” Bethlehem was located in a fertile area in Judah and produced great crops of figs and wheat. Don’t you find it fascinating that here in Bethlehem, the “house of bread,” the Bread of Life was delivered from heaven to earth?
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
The Scriptures record the journey of the Jewish nation–God working out the ultimate purpose of having the Messiah born in Bethlehem, the house of bread, before the beginning of time or place. God is SOVEREIGN over time and place!
So What?
It is my prayer that as we journey through these Advent Sundays, we will come to realize that we are home. It is not a dream! You are home in God’s hope and love. Ever since the beginning of time, we have been planned and placed exactly right here into God’s story. We are home! We are not lost — Immanuel is here, “God is with us.” God has been with us from the beginning of time to today. God has been working out His plan to bring us home for Christmas since Jacob and Rachael, Ruth and Boaz, David and Bathsheba, Mary, and Joseph—and Jesus! If we are with God this Christmas Season—we are not lost at all.
The “So what?” for us today is that God is sovereign over time and place. God is the Authority with supreme rank and power over all of time. God is working even when we do not see or understand. God is sovereign over where we are right this very second! And the same God who spoke to Micah, who spoke to Ruth and Boaz, who spoke to King David and to Joseph and Mary—this marvelous God has called us here–to this place and time–so we will find our hearts’ home in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus!
Here is what I heard as I prayed, studied, and sweated over “this message” for this Christmas season: “Dave, tell my people I have a plan. I have had a plan all along—since the beginning of time. Tell them about Micah, Ruth, Boaz, David, Zechariah, Isaiah, Elizabeth, Joseph, and Mary. Tell them the story again—about shepherds and angels and wise men. I want my people home for Christmas—home at the manger…home in Bethlehem…home where my ONE and ONLY Son was born. Home where LOVE is! We do not need all the bells and whistles. Keep it simple. I want my children to be home for Christmas.”
“Home” means a shelter, a house, a residence, or birthplace. This Christmas I believe with all of my heart that God wants our lives, our hearts, and our homes to be the shelter and residence for the Christ Child—and THAT is the real “so what?” for us this Sunday of Advent! As long as God is the ONE who is writing HIS STORY, we are not lost! We are HOME in His LOVE!
No matter where we travel to for the holidays, let’s be HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!
Count on God’s HOPE and LOVE to abide with us this Advent Season. We’re halfway through Advent! JOY is on deck…then PEACE!
REVIEW OF THOSE PASTOR DAVE acronyms for Advent:
HOPE: Holy One Prepares Everyone….Heaven’s One Promise: Emmanuel
LOVE: Listen…Overlook…Value…Encourage!
God loves you and so do I,
Pastor Dave
www.theseedchristianfellowship.com
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