Herod was a cruel and diabolical man. He was incredibly jealous and hopelessly suspicious of everyone. He was threatened by everyone and everything, and so he spent his entire life plotting the murder of people. There are accounts of multiple times when he killed someone (or groups of people) because they were somehow seen as a threat to him. His victims even included one of his wives and several of his own children. Herod had a lust for power, a constant suspicion, and an insane eagerness to avenge himself that enslaved the man all the days of his life. He was a cruel and bloodthirsty tyrant. I share all of this with you today to give you a glimpse into the heart of this evil man—his mindset and his character—so that we can better understand his role in the nativity narrative.
Some of you are thinking… Christmas is over! Why are we still talking about Christmas? Well, the nativity narrative includes events that occurred after the birth of baby Jesus. So, this week and next, we’re going to be looking at the final two characters in the Cast of Christmas—the Magi and King Herod.
We do not know everyone who knew the reason for Mary’s sudden departure to go stay with her relatives near Jerusalem, but we assume that Joseph was aware of what was going on. But what was happening with Joseph during these three months that Mary was gone? What was he thinking? How did he feel? I cannot answer these questions definitively, but we can deduce some aspects of the situation back in Nazareth based off of what we learn in Matthew 1. Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, had made a difficult decision for his life and future; and God chose to intervene by sending one of His messengers to inform Joseph of vital details about the situation before it was too late.
While waiting for her wedding day, an angel appeared to Mary to explain what was about to happen to her. When the angel spoke to her, he said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you.” Mary was a recipient His grace. God pursued her with His grace! So today, we’re going to focus in on the interaction Mary had with the angel, Gabriel, and with her cousin, Elizabeth, from Luke 1. We will look specifically at Mary’s character and the struggles that she experienced—social, mental and emotional struggles—as she carried the Promised Messiah.
Before the world began… before mankind was created… before we ever chose to disobey God in sin… God had a plan to reconcile mankind to Himself. He knew that we would sin, and so, He provided a way to be made right in His presence. That way was, is, and always will be Jesus Christ. That was God’s Plan A and there was no Plan B! So, throughout the recorded history of the Bible, God chose to use people who were willing to yield their lives to Him to pronounce the truth of His Word concerning the coming Messiah—the One who would deliver His chosen people once and for all!
One of the great struggles for people in their spiritual journey is trying to understand why so many bad things happen in the world today. The prevailing thought is that if God is a god of love, then all these bad things should not be happening. But since they are happening, people often conclude one of two things: either (A) God doesn’t exist, or (B) God doesn’t love. Both of these conclusions are wrong because they ignore the foundational teachings from the Word of God. Evil exists in the world today because the first man and woman chose to disobey God. The consequences of their disobedience brought about not only physical and spiritual death, but also pain, suffering and difficulties in life. Without the consequences of sin, we would never look to Him for salvation and reconciliation—we would keep on sinning. Because of the gospel of reconciliation which brings salvation, we can experience joy in the midst of pain, suffering and difficulties. In our text today, the Apostle Paul wrote about some of these difficulties, but not in a negative or complaining manner—he wrote for our comfort and encouragement!
Every follower of Christ is called to pursue holiness–to leave behind their sinful lifestyle and pursue a life of Christ-likeness. But how does this purpose work itself out in our daily lives? What hinders us from successfully pursuing holiness? And if it is so costly, why should we even pursue holiness in the first place? In today’s message, Paul addresses these questions and reminds us what it looks to pursue holiness.
We are all ministers of the gospel of reconciliation. Each of us is responsible to do the work of the ministry. So, as we serve as His ministers, it is important that we demonstrate the love and character of Christ as we serve Him. This serves as proof of our relationship with the Lord. It is validation of our calling to the ministry of reconciliation. Our text today focuses on four ways that we are able to validate our call to ministry. We validate our call to ministry by removing barriers to the Gospel, by suffering for the Gospel, through spiritual growth and maturity, and by responding to situations in life with contentment.
As Paul begins this next section of Scripture, calling us to be responsible for the ministry of reconciliation, he does so by reminding us to “fear the Lord.” We should not look at this responsibility flippantly—rather, we should be serious about it and about living a life of obedience to God’s commands. It is in this framework that he sets out to motivate his readers to do this ministry. Our goal today is to look at six factors that should be present in our lives when it comes to our motivation for this ministry of reconciliation.
I am a bi-vocational pastor here at Temple Baptist, and a pretty consistent theme both at the work place and at Church is the worry or anxiety that nags at people’s lives. Jesus in Matthew chapter six addresses not only our worry but what we should do instead. Today we will be exploring how anxiety lies to us, and why we should be putting our trust, hope, and faith in Jesus.