Posts with the category “christmas-with-compassion”

Highlight Here Paul gives us a picture of how it is possible for a follower of Jesus to forgive completely. Paul lists out several people who have disappointed and hurt him. Alexander the metalworker, in particular, has wounded Paul but Paul doesn’t instruct Timothy or anyone else to seek revenge. After all, ‘The Lord will repay him for what he has done.’ (v14) Tim Keller says, “Nothing is clearer in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, than that God will do justice and that he cannot shrug, wink at, or ignore any sin or evil.” Christians can be comforted by the fact that no wrong that has ever been committed against us will just be overlooked. God is angered by the evil that destroys the things that He loves - his creation and the human race he made for his glory and our happiness.  Read More

Highlight We must remember that this chapter that we are reading right now contains the last recorded words of Paul. His circumstances could not be worse: he is in a jail cell under a death sentence. Tradition of the early church tells us that very soon after this letter was sent off, Paul was beheaded for his faith by Emperor Nero. Paul knew his death was imminent, which can be seen in the perfect tense of the verbs he is using. ‘Have fought,’ ‘have finished,’ and ‘have kept’ all indicate that Paul sees his ministry as having been completed. Yet with that knowledge, he celebrates two things. First, that his life was glorifying God, shown in the fact that he views his very life as an offering of worship to Him. Second, that God is faithful and true and through the free gift of grace Paul will be in His presence soon. Are our lives on a trajectory to say the same things in our final words? Do we look forward to Heaven like Paul?   Read More

Highlight This chapter contains one of the great texts in the Bible about the divine inspiration of Scripture and what it is for. The word Paul uses is one of his own inventions (meaning that scholars have not found any other uses of this word in Greek earlier than this letter from Paul): theopneustos or ‘God-breathed.’ The term is genius, because it conveys the inspiration of God over all of Scripture while not denying that Scripture was written by human hands. God being the source tells us all that we need to know about Scripture because we know His character. He does not lie, so the Bible is true. He loves us, so His Word to us is for our benefit.   Read More

Highlight As Paul mentors Timothy in this chapter (and encourages Timothy to mentor others!), he uses three examples to help Timothy understand what virtues are required for him to persevere in his faith. The examples are a soldier, an athlete, and a farmer. In the soldier Paul highlights the virtue of single-mindedness: half-hearted effort is not enough. In the athlete Paul highlights the virtue of obedience: there are choices that will destructively undermine our ministry if we aren’t careful. In the farmer Paul highlights the virtue of diligence: a farmer’s work is not always glamorous but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth the effort. Paul includes hints with all three examples that there are rewards awaiting us in Heaven. Beyond warfare is victory, beyond competition is a crown, and beyond labor there is a crop!  Read More

Highlight Verse 7 is one of the first verses I ever memorized. The command “do not fear” is the most common command in Scripture, and this verse has always been a powerful reminder to me that the Holy Spirit’s presence within me means that I do not ever have to be afraid. But verse 8 is equally as important because Paul indicates how that power is to be leveraged: to walk knowingly into a life of suffering and trials for the sake of the Gospel. Here Paul establishes the call of Christianity as a chain of following the examples set before us, a chain with links that lead all the way back to Jesus. Timothy is to follow Paul’s example of being willing to suffer for the Gospel and not be ashamed of his teacher even though he is in prison. Timothy should do that because Paul did that, being willing to suffer for the Gospel and not be ashamed of his teacher, Jesus, even though he was shamefully crucified. And why did Jesus choose to suffer? “For the joy set before him He endured the cross, scorning its shame…” (Hebrews 12:2) That same joy, namely the power of salvation and the hope of being with our Lord forever, should lead us to be willing to scorn any shame or pain that may come from faithfully following our Lord.  Read More

Welcome Welcome to Week 5 of the 2023 Christmas with Compassion Reading Plan. This reading plan is designed to partner with Compassion Christian Church’s sermon series of the same name, which you can find information about right here. This is a special week at Compassion where we welcome a guest speaker named Bob Russell. It’s a special week because it is always a privilege to learn from a man who has led a faithful and fruitful life. Pastor Bob’s own discipleship has inspired the short book of the Bible we will read through this week: 2 Timothy.   Read More

Highlight While the Apostle John is in exile he receives a series of visions and images that he puts into letters to encourage and challenge the seven churches of his day. These letters are what comprise the Book of Revelation. In Chapter 12 John recounts the Gospel story from the perspective of Heaven. The woman represents the people of God and the child represents the Messiah. The dragon represents Satan and the spiritual forces of Evil who are defeated by the Messiah and cast to Earth where they attack God’s people to this day.   Read More

Highlight Yesterday we heard the writer of John try to explain the ‘how’ of the Messiah. Here, Paul, tells us the ‘why’. The Gospel hinges on these facts. Our sin separated us from God because He is Holy and blameless. God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus came from heaven to live among us and pay the price required for our sin so that we too would be blameless before him and could return to dwell with Him forever.  Read More

Highlight The deity of Christ and the humanity of Christ are difficult to comprehend. Jesus, fully man, yet fully God. Not just a prophet, or messenger of God, like John. The creator of the universe, who chose to submit Himself to the very nature He created. It’s difficult to wrap our minds around. You can almost sense the writer’s quandary here. How can he possibly explain something so supernatural, so wonder-ful? And yet we must, with the power of the Holy Spirit, grasp this ultimate truth.  Read More

Highlight You might be wondering, ‘how do you lose a 12 year old child for a whole day without noticing?’ Well, there were 3 annual festivals when Jews who were able would have made the journey to Jerusalem (Exodus 23:14-17). The detail of Jesus being 12 years old at the time is an important one. Luke is telling us that he was at the age when every Jewish boy would have made this journey to undergo a course of religious training including fasting and public worship. Whole villages would have made this journey together including all the families with boys aged 12-13. For safety and company they would have traveled together and no doubt the boys would have been off playing or talking and eating with other members of their family or community. Mary and Joseph would not have had reason to worry or look for Jesus until he never showed back up that evening.  Read More

Highlight The flight of Joseph and Mary to Egypt fulfills the Old Testament prophecy from Hosea 11:1, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” No doubt religious scholars had wondered how the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, but ‘come out’ of Egypt. Here we see God’s long-laid redemptive plans finally unfolding. What a harrowing beginning to Jesus’ story on Earth.  Read More

Highlight Here we see God reveal Himself not just through supernatural, but natural means. These wise men are also called Magi or ‘royal astrologers’. They’re men of science and of faith who, in their studies of the constellations, notice an anomaly. A star out of place that behaves unlike any they’ve seen before. They start to put the puzzle pieces together in the ancient texts and it leads them to Jerusalem where they inadvertently launch a conflict between the political and religious leaders of the day and Jesus that will follow him the rest of his life and eventually lead to his crucifixion. Again, beginning a chain of events that will continue to fulfill every prophecy in the Scriptures.  Read More

Highlight We’re starting to catch a theme here. God comes to us in the most vulnerable form and chooses to exalt the humble by revealing Himself to the most vulnerable of His people first. Social outcasts, teenagers, the poor, the elderly, widows. Here we meet Simeon and Anna, both gifted by God with the presence and discernment of the Holy Spirit before He’s sent as a helper to all who believe in Jesus. They already believe. They’ve been waiting and watching for God to fulfill the ancient prophecies.  Read More

Highlight The fact that the shepherds are with their flocks in the field overnight gives us a clue about the timing of Jesus’ birth. The season for pasturing in open fields would have been after passover in April through early autumn. The shepherds would likely have been staying for days or weeks in the fields in huts or tents to protect their flocks from predators. At night they would have made a plan to take turns keeping watch. It wasn’t an easy job. Remember that King David was once a shepherd and recounts his time in the fields fighting lions and bears (1 Samuel 17:34-36). Shepherds would have been sturdy, rugged, brave men. Yet no encounter with fearsome beasts could have prepared them for what they would see that night.  Read More

Highlight Here we see the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah continue to be fulfilled (Micah 5:2). Without any intentional maneuvering of Joseph and Mary a governmental decree moves them from their hometown of Nazareth to Bethlehem, the town of David from whose line they descend. Perhaps they were already putting the pieces together and a trip to Bethlehem seemed like a logical next step, but surely they weren’t expecting the stable…or the manger.  Read More

Highlight We don’t know much about the specifics of Joseph and Mary’s courtship, but based on what we know about the Jewish customs of the time we know that they were likely young. Mary was probably in her early teens and Joseph not much older. They would also have come from the same tribe, perhaps related in some way which would have been a normal practice. It’s possible they knew each other well, but their families would have made the match. In the Jewish custom an engagement was a covenantal arrangement between families. It would have begun with a contract presented by Joseph to Mary’s family and would normally last around a year before the marriage was officiated. During this time preparations for an elaborate wedding feast would have been underway and Mary’s family would be preparing her dowry. In other words, this engagement period was significant and public.  Read More

Welcome to Week 3 of the 2023 Christmas with Compassion Reading Plan. This reading plan is designed to partner with Compassion Christian Church’s sermon series of the same name, which you can find information about right here. In this plan, we will take the time to study a few of the Old Testament messianic prophecies, journey through the Christmas story found in the Gospels, and the spiritual description of Jesus’ birth found in Revelation.  Read More

Highlight And so it begins. What has only been whispered as secrets until now between Elizabeth and Mary is revealed in the lifting of Zachariah’s silence. John the Baptist's role in the coming of the Messiah was also prophesied hundreds of years before his birth. He is the “voice of one crying in the wilderness” described by the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 40. John would have been well known at the time of Luke’s writing, not because he was a relative of Jesus, but because he was making serious waves in Israel before Jesus was a household name. In fact many wondered if John was the Messiah, but he was quick to set the record straight (John 1:19-34). John knew his role from the beginning and he was faithful to it just as his parents had been. He was paving the way for one far greater than he would ever be.  Read More

Highlight What a refreshing time this must have been for both Elizabeth and Mary. Two women in very different seasons of life, and yet sharing the most life altering events of their lives together. Can you imagine what those three months must have been like? The conversations, shared fears, hopes, questions, prayers, encouragement. No doubt Mary is gearing up for what faces her at home. And Elizabeth must have welcomed Mary’s company during a time of isolation. What a gift God has given these two women to one another. What kindness He displayed in giving them someone to walk alongside. They don’t have to be alone.  Read More

Highlight It would be impossible to overestimate how transformative this encounter with the angel Gabriel is for Mary. Luke takes the time to point out yet again the fulfillment of prophecy here. Mary is from Nazareth, a place in Galilee which is the same region as Bethlehem where the Messiah is prophesied to be born (Micah 5:2). She is engaged to be married to Joseph, a descendant of David, whose royal line was to produce the Messiah. But Luke is also pointing out that Mary is an unlikely character. She’s an unknown, young girl from an inconsequential village, and no one is more surprised than Mary that God has chosen her for this monumental task.  Read More

Highlight This is the opening act of the gospels. We begin with a miraculous birth, but it’s not the one you’re expecting. Before there was Jesus, there was John. John the Baptist’s parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, receive high praise from Luke. He’s also giving a nod to the parallel of their story with that of Abraham and Sarah, who also suffered years of infertility. These were faithful people, ‘blameless’ even, that carried a heavy burden of grief.  Read More

Highlight We start this week by moving a little ahead in the gospel of Luke to review the genealogy of Jesus. Don’t worry, in the coming days we’ll return to the events leading up to Jesus’ birth. Here Luke pauses in chapter 3 to tell us the genealogy of Jesus in the middle of the story of his baptism by John. Why? We may be tempted to gloss over what may seem like trivial details to us, but Luke is highlighting something that would have been of primary importance to his Jewish audience. As Jesus is baptized the heavens are opened and a voice proclaims, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (v. 22). These words from the Lord are recalling Old Testament prophecies, specifically Psalm 2 & Isaiah 42. At the start of Jesus’ ministry God the Father is establishing His authority as the Messiah.  Read More

Welcome Welcome to Week 2 of the 2023 Christmas with Compassion Reading Plan. This reading plan is designed to partner with Compassion Christian Church’s sermon series of the same name, which you can find information about right here. In this plan, we will take the time to study a few of the Old Testament messianic prophecies, journey through the Christmas story found in the Gospels, and the spiritual description of Jesus’ birth found in Revelation.  Read More

Highlight “And he will be our peace” (v. 5a). In the midst of an exile and fighting, this statement probably would have been welcomed by the audience. Because the Hebrew word for peace is Shalom. It is about a state of wholeness or completeness, not just the absence of fighting or conflict, but about truly repairing and working together – have wholeness with those around you.  Read More

Isaiah is an Old Testament prophet whose ministry begins in the midst of a brief calm and continues all through the Assyrian, Babylonian and Egyptian nations regaining power. This is important to keep in mind while reading Isaiah and specifically chapter nine. While we have the knowledge of knowing this is a Messianic prophecy and knowing the full story. The original audience only knew the calm and then destruction around them. They had an idea of the longing anticipation and hope of a future Messiah. But that hope can be hard to see when in the midst of pain.  Read More

Highlight Today’s passage is another covenant that has a long term hope or waiting with anticipation attached to it. We find King David in his palace at rest from his enemies, and compelled to build God a lasting home. Yet, that is not what God required of David. In fact, He sent the prophet Nathan to David to tell him God would “establish a house for you…I will raise up your offspring to succeed you…and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (vv.11-13).   Read More

Highlight A call and a covenant. That is the promise God gave to Abraham. A call to leave his country and family to a place God would show him, and a covenant to be with him and make his descendants as numerous as the sand on the seashore.  Read More

Highlight All throughout the Bible we have stories of individuals or groups of people with detail and personal narratives. Yet, here in this chapter, we have the perspective of all of humanity. “The narrative gives little or no help in understanding their (serpent, Adam, Eve) plight as individuals…Rather, they come to us as representatives of humanity as a whole” (Longman III & Garland; “The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Genesis - Leviticus”). The author paints a broad enough picture for us to relate and see the story impacted all of humanity. Especially the consequences of their actions – total separation from God and curses upon the creation and humans.  Read More

Welcome Welcome to Week 1 of the 2023 Christmas with Compassion Reading Plan. This reading plan is designed to partner with Compassion Christian Church’s sermon series of the same name, which you can find information about right here. In this plan, we will take the time to study a few of the Old Testament messianic prophecies, journey through the Christmas story found in the Gospels, and the spiritual description of Jesus’ birth found in Revelation.   Read More