This Sunday, 12.23.07, we had only one sermon. A brief summary appears below.
In His Name shall the Gentiles Trust (Mt 12.15-21) | Audio | Notes
Matthew presents the Gospel record thematically, not chronologically. Many of the events of Mt 12, for example, occur before Mt 5-7 in time. In his 12th chapter, however, Matthew is forcing us to make a choice about Jesus. He does this by displaying the Master as tender and compassionate to the needs and weaknesses of men. He also displays the irrational antagonism of Jesus’ enemies to this. Then he quotes Isaiah, describing the gentle compassionate character of the Servant, applying this to Jesus. We are left with a stark decision to make. Will we Gentiles trust Him? Is he really the son of David? Or is he the son of the devil [Beelzebub]? Which?
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Our second service involved our Children’s Christmas Play. You can find pictures here. [I was preaching from the middle of the stable in Bethlehem this Sunday!] Our little children were thrilled to dress up as shepherds, angels, and sheep. Our big kids seemed to like it, too.
In our third service we played the video of Duncan and Meg’s wedding. Duncan and Meg are here for Christmas with us and it seemed appropriate to find a time for our folks who couldn’t attend to see the record of the event. I was a little uncertain about using one of our service times for this, but my wife reminded me that I preached ‘for an awful long time’ at the wedding. I guess I did.
Our folks, most of whom have seen Duncan grow up, were delighted to see the video. I messed up the singing of the hymn at the beginning of the service because my mind was 21 years away, thinking about a little lad on the seat of yellow Ryder truck carrying us from SC to BC and our place of ministry. They had to stop me and we started over.
We had visitors again this Sunday, a crowd of 59. The year has been very good for us and our church. We will see what the Lord has for us in the New Year.
May all of God’s richest blessings abound to you and your families this Christmas.
Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
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