Mary

After Gabriel appears to Zechariah, Luke presents the account of his appearance to Mary. And if the angel’s news for Zechariah seemed astounding, it was but a trifle compared to the bombshell Gabriel drops on Mary.

“You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Whatever upheaval Zechariah had to grapple with was minor league compared to Mary’s dilemma. Let’s consider her situation when confronted with the news that she would bear God’s Son through the virgin birth. What might this mean to her?

Mary was probably about 16, perhaps even younger. She becomes pregnant. Given the societal mores of the time, she could have fully expected that she would be disgraced, that her fiancee Joseph (who knew he wasn’t the father) would abandon her, and that she would probably never marry. It’s also important to understand that Jewish society in the first century took a real hard line on “blasphemy,” as later accounts of Jesus’ ministry and death make clear. A young, single woman claiming that God had made her pregnant would have encountered trouble.

We can try to imagine ourselves in Mary’s shoes, but I don’t expect we can ever really grasp the enormity of her situation. Mary must have known there could be problems. But rather than focusing on the size of her problems, she chose to trust in the size of her God.

“I am the Lord’s servant,” she replies. “May it be to me as you have said.”
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Zechariah

What would happen if one morning, during the middle of your daily routine, an angel appeared and told you that God had a plan that would completely change your life? How would you respond?

Luke’s account of the Christmas story includes two such incidents, and there are important truths and lessons to be found in these events.

In the first instance, the angel Gabriel appears to the priest Zechariah in the temple as he conducts his duties. Zechariah “was startled and gripped with fear.” Well, I suppose you and I would be, too.

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah,” Gabriel tells him. “Your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John … he will be great in the sight of the Lord. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous – to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Zechariah has been confronted with the heavenly glory of God’s messenger, a clearly supernatural interruption of his day. Yet his response to the angel’s astounding news is to try and fit it into his existing assumptions about his life and his future.

“How can I be sure of this?” responds Zechariah. “I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” Zechariah can’t believe that he and Elizabeth could have a child, much less grasp the magnitude of John The Baptist’s mission.
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Advent Devotions: The Manger vs. The Mall

For the Third Sunday of Advent our Devotional is “Encountering God in the Checkout Aisle: Finding the Manger Amidst the Madness of the Mall.” An excerpt:

Every year around this time, I have a familiar experience. I’m out shopping, and I’ll go through the checkout line, and pay for my stuff. When the cashier hands me back the change, they’ll say “Happy holidays,” or perhaps even “Merry Christmas.” I’m aware that they may be saying this because they’ve been told to, and suspicious of the whole business. But at least once every year, I have a cashier who looks me in the eye and says “Merry Christmas,” and really means it. And it changes my whole day.

Read the rest at our Advent Devotions pages. We’re featuring a different Advent Devotional on each Sunday of Advent, closing the series on Dec. 23. We hope these meditations will be a blessing to you!

Advent Devotions: The Messiah’s Mom

There was plenty in the Old Testament about the Messiah, but not a word about being the Messiah’s Mom. So when Gabriel appears to Mary to deliver the news about her role in God’s plan, the young girl has no Scriptural or historical playbook to work from. We can try to imagine ourselves in Mary’s shoes, but I don’t expect we can ever really grasp the enormity of her situation. Mary must have known there could be problems. But rather than focusing on the size of her problems, she chose to trust in the size of her God. You can read our entire Advent Devotional on Mary for additional reflection.

We’re featuring a different Advent Devotional on each of the next five Sundays, closing the series on Dec. 23. Our first devotional focused on Zechariah and his visit from Gabriel. We hope these meditations will be a blessing to you!

Advent Devotions: Zechariah

What would happen if one morning, during the middle of your daily routine, an angel appeared and told you that God had a plan that would completely change your life?

Zechariah’s dilemma is recounted by Luke in Chapter 1 of his Gospel. How would you respond? That’s the subject of the first of our Advent Devotions, titled simply “Zechariah.” We hope these meditations will be a blessing to you!

What Is Advent?

December 2 is the first Sunday of Advent, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christmas, and the beginning of the Western Christian year. The name Advent is derived from the Latin word “adventus” meaning “the coming” and equates to the Greek term “parousia” which is often used in reference to Christ’s Second Coming. The season serves as a dual reminder of the Israelites’ lengthy anticipation of the arrival of the Messiah, as well as our expectation of Christ’s return.

The earliest Advent can begin is November 27 and the latest is December 3. Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, which is the Sunday nearest November 30, and ends on Christmas Eve (Dec 24). When Christmas Eve is a Sunday, as is the case this year, it is counted as the fourth Sunday of Advent, with Christmas Eve proper beginning at sundown.

For more, see our Advent Resources page.

Cyber Monday and Christians

Today you’ll be seeing lots of media coverage of Cyber Monday, probably describing it as the kickoff of the online holiday shopping season. This site seeks to focus attention on the spiritual heart of Christmas, rather than the commercial hype. Cyber Monday, like the Black Friday “doorbuster” sales, is the product of heavy promotion by some of the largest retail chains. Contrary to much of the spin, it isn’t even the busiest day of the year for online sales.

Rather than adding to the hype and sales for Wal-Mart, Best Buy and other retailers, I felt this would be an opportunity to instead shine a spotlight on the many Christian retailers. These companies and individuals have placed their faith at the center of their lives and their business. I encourage you to visit these web sites and consider supporting these businesses. Keep Christ at the center of Christmas with gifts that uplift your family and your faith.

• Crossings: A major online Christian bookstore. Get your first 5 Christian books for just 99 cents.
• Family Christian Boosktore: Save up to 75 percent at FamilyChristian.com’s Clearance Center.
• JesusBranded.com: Witness Wear. “We make the clothes. You live Jesus Branded.”
• Bibles.Org: Select Bibles in many styles and more than 200 languages.
• Simply Youth Ministry: Teaching help for high school and junior high students from Doug Fields.
• VisionVideo: Quality Christian movies and videos from Gateway Films.
• YouthMinistry.com: Ministry tools for Junior High students.
• Answers In Genesis: Resources for life, family and apologetics.

If you have dealt with other quality Christian web merchants, feel free to share your experiences in the comments.

Christian Christmas Poems

This year we’ll be blogging about many facets of the Christmas season, and pointing to quality sites and information resources for Christians. One subject we haven’t covered previously is Christmas poetry. We’ve reviewed many resources for Christian Christmas poems, and here are a few we’ve found worthwhile:

• Christmas Poems: An extensive collection of Christmas poems compiled by the Marian Center at the University of Dayton.
• Christmas Poems: A nice collection of traditional Christmas poems, some dating as far back as the 14th century.
• Apples 4 The Teacher: Excellent collection of Chirtsmas poems and recitals for children.
• A Holy Christmas – Poems: Richard Fairchild’s excellent collection of Christmas links has a fine poetry section.

Are there any good resources we’ve missed? If so, share them in the comments.

Christmas Music

One of my favorite Christmas albums is “Noel” by Josh Groban. If you weren’t among the millions who bought “Noel” last year, I heartily recommend it for your holiday listening this year. Groban’s version of “Ave Maria” alone is worth the price of the CD. He mixes traditional carols (Angels We Have Heard on High, The First Noel, What Child Is This) with popular holiday chestnuts including “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and “The Christmas Song.” The only drawback: this collection Groban’s version of “O Holy Night,” which is one of my favorites (I have a whole collection of Christian and pop artists’ versions of “O Holy Nioght,” but that’s a story for another post …).

Advent Devotions: Is God Your Co-Pilot

For the Second Sunday of Advent our Devotional is “Switch Seats.” An excerpt:

There’s a company that makes T-shirts with spiritual themes. One of them shows an airplane being flown by a frantic pilot. The shirt says “If God is your co-pilot, switch seats.” That’s a statement that’s simple, but sort of sums up our struggle. We often talk about how faith is hard. But I believe a certain amount of faith is really not difficult at all. It’s not hard to acknowledge God. And I don’t think it’s hard for me to make God my co-pilot. Like this: “God, you keep an eye on the horizon and the dials and gauges while I fly the plane. But you be ready in case a storm comes up or we lose an engine or the wing falls off, because then I’m gonna need you to save the day.”

Read the rest at our Advent Devotions pages. We’re featuring a different Advent Devotional on each Sunday of Advent, closing the series on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24. We hope these meditations will be a blessing to you!

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