Love Came Down At Christmas

the cross in christmas from tammi dryden on Vimeo.

The Fourth Sunday of Advent - The Shepherd's Candle - December 18, 2011

The angelic announcement has been made: the Savior has been born!  This was "good news of great joy" ...for all people.  Yet, was the announcement given to or heard by all people?  Did God's own people, the Israelites, hear the angels?  Perhaps just the Jewish religious leaders were the ones to hear God's message from the heavenly hosts.  No, the only ones to witness the glory of the Lord that accompanied the angelic announcement were shepherds out in the fields guarding their flocks. 

In the culture of the first century, shepherding was one of the lowest jobs on the social scale.  In some cases, it was even considered a despised trade.  Wealthy men lived in the cities, but their flocks still needed to be out in the hills, so they hired men to shepherd their sheep and goats.  I don't think that it is a coincidence that the flocks outside of Bethlehem were thought to be the flocks that supplied sacrifices for the temple in Jerusalem.  God chose this rough and uneducated group of men tending sheep near Bethlehem to be the first to hear the Good News. 

The Fourth Candle reminds us that the shepherds responded to what they had witnessed. 

"When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.  When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.  And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds."
~Luke 2:15-18

The Son of God, the Savior, came so that all people could have life.   God has given us His Son, help us to respond to this marvelous gift.

"The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them."    Isaiah 9:2 

The Third Sunday of Advent - The Angel's Candle - December 11, 2011

"And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;  for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
"This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
~Luke 2:9-14  

Prophecies of old foretell of the coming of Messiah; a baby, born of a virgin is born in Bethlehem; and now, the announcement that the Prince of Peace has arrived!   The Third Sunday of Advent is known as the Angel's Candle, because God's messengers made a spectacular appearance to announce that the Savior had been born.  Before this event, any time an angel was sent by God, the angel appeared singularly to deliver the message.  But here, after the message is delivered, the entire night sky is filled with angels rejoicing and praising God.  This was different, this was the birth of God's Son, Jesus, and all of heaven burst into praise. 

You may have noticed that the candles of the Advent wreath are not the traditional Christmas colors of red, green, silver, or gold.  There are three purple candles, one pink candle, and one white candle.   In Bible times, purple was a costly dye and was therefore a color of royalty.   It is used for three of the Advent candles to denote the royalty or "King"liness of Jesus, along with the ideas of seriousness and repentance.  In the center, the white candle represents Jesus, the sinless Son of God.  On this Third Sunday of Advent, the pink candle is lit - the Angel's candle.  The pink joyful color reminds us that God has heard the yearning of our hearts for a Savior, and indeed He has come and we are filled with joy.

Joy to the World, the Lord has come!

The Second Sunday of Advent - The Bethlehem Candle - December 4, 2011

"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
      Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
      His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”          Micah 5:2

The Second Sunday of Advent directs our attention to the birthplace of Christ--the tiny city of Bethlehem.  This amazing event was foretold in Micah approximately 700 years before Joseph and Mary made their way to Bethlehem for the census.   The longed-for Messiah was to be from the lineage of King David, and Bethlehem was David's family's hometown.  Bethlehem is a story of a humble, yet devout, young couple making an imposed journey, at an inconvenient time, to a very small and insignificant town.  Yet this was an "itinerary" carefully orchestrated by the Sovereign God of the universe who loves us!   It is the story of the insignificant arrival of the significant God.

Think about this: God Almighty, the Maker of all things, is about to enter into our world.  He is Lord and King and worthy of all praise and glory, yet He chooses the insignificant provincial town of Bethlehem to quietly breathe His first breath.  In the humblest of conditions--certainly not conditions for a King: a stable, dirty, stinky, and dark--the Light of the World is born.  

The last place you'd choose or expect the Son of God to arrive is the express choice of God!

On that holy night in Bethlehem, prophecies were fulfilled, faith intersected with history, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.  Glory to God in the highest!

 

Immanuel: God With Us

"Everywhere and always God is with us, near to us and in us.  But we are not always with [God], since we do not remember [God]. . .  Take upon yourself this task--to make a habit of such recollection.  Make yourself a rule always to be with the Lord, keeping your mind in your heart, and do not let your thoughts wander; as often as they stray, turn them back again and keep them at home in the closet of your heart, and delight in converse with the Lord."
                                              ~Saint Theophan the Recluse
                                                                The Art of Prayer

A prayer for always, but especially for Advent.

The First Sunday of Advent - The Prophecy Candle - Sunday, November 27th

Advent begins four weeks before Christmas, and ends with Christmas Eve. From the ancient Church calendar to now, it is traditionally a time set aside to remember the Lord, to remember His promise of a Savior, and to remember the fulfillment of that promise in the Lord Jesus' birth in Bethlehem.   As Beth A. Richardson writes in The Uncluttered Heart, "Advent is often the busiest time of the year. And yet, we are called to make time and prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ."

Lord, quiet our hearts, and prepare our hearts to hear what You might say to us this season.  You are near, and we don't want to miss You.


"Advent" comes from the Latin adventus, meaning "the approach" or "the arrival." Since the time of The Fall, God's people were watching and waiting for "the arrival" of the Savior.
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
- Genesis 3:15

Then, at the perfect time, God sent His Son into the world, to save the world.
"But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law," -Galatians 4:4

The Infinite became an infant; the Eternal One stepped out of eternity and into time; the Omnipotent One became a helpless babe.
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."  John 1:14

The Savior, the Messiah, was to be born in Bethlehem.
"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.  His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”  Micah 5:2

He will be a descendant of Abraham.
"And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”   -Genesis 12:3


He was to be born of a virgin.
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."  Isaiah 7:14

His way will be prepared.
"A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."  -Isaiah 40:3-5

“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.  He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”   Malachi 4:5-6


*Over 360 prophecies foretell Jesus as the Messiah. 
The first candle of Advent can also represent the first of the gospels, Matthew.  Interestingly, the gospel of Matthew quotes the Old Testament more than any other gospel.  Authored by a Jewish tax collector, the gospel of Matthew is written for the Jews and presents Jesus as 'the Son of David,' connecting Him to the lineage of King David-the line through which the Messiah was to come.  A key verse in the book of Matthew is: "....the kingdom of God is at hand." (Mt. 4:17)

God wanted mankind to know His plan to send a Savior, and His prophecies were to help His people
trust, watch, and be ready. What hope and comfort it must have been to God's people to trust in God's promise to send a Savior. What hope and comfort it is to us to read these prophecies and see their fulfillment in Christ's life.  Two thousand years ago the God of the universe came to dwell with us, to redeem us unto Himself, and is near to us today!


The first candle of Advent--the Prophecy Candle--is a candle of Hope.
Behold, I bring you good news of great joy!