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No Shepherds

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:8-14 New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 23:1-3 New King James Version (NKJV)

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

John 10:11 (NIV)

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

Luke 2:8-14 (NIV)

When they [the shepherds] had seen him [the baby Jesus], they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2:17-20 (NIV)

FRAN Network: Friends, Relatives, Acquaintances, Neighbors

NO Manger

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

Luke 2:1-5 New English Standard Version (ESV)

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Luke 2:6-7 (ESV)

NO Mary or Joseph

Therefore the Lord himself
will give you a sign:
The virgin will be with child and
will give birth to a son,
and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14 New International Version (NIV)

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

Isaiah 11:1-5 (NIV)

Micah 5:2 The Message (MSG)

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

Luke 2:1-5 (MSG)

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

Luke 1:38 (NIV)

NO Angels

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph,  and the virgin’s name, Mary.  Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:  “Good morning! You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,  Beautiful inside and out! God be with you.” She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus. He will be great,
be called ‘Son of the Highest.’ The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David; He will rule Jacob’s house forever— no end, ever, to his kingdom.”
Mary said to the angel, “But how?  I’ve never slept with a man.”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you; Therefore, the child you bring to birth will be called Holy, Son of God. And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”
And Mary said, “Yes, I see it all now:
I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me just as you say.”
Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:26-38 The Message (MSG)

…angels are sent by God to bring the truth,
especially the big truths, to specific people in
critical situations. God’s message can be a warning, or be a comfort in times of danger and fear….
What happens then is between humans and God. Angels are not there to be meddling fix-its,
but our helpers in responding to the truth.

Robert Longman, Jr, SPIRITHOME.COM

The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph.
Before they came to the marriage bed,
Joseph discovered she was pregnant.
(It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn’t know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.
While he was trying to figure a way out,
he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save
his people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:18-21 (MSG)

There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for:
a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”
At once the angel was joined by a huge  angelic choir singing God’s praises:   “Glory to God in the heavenly heights,   Peace to all men and women on earth  who please him.”
As the angel choir withdrew into heaven,
the sheepherders talked it over.
“Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.”

Luke 2:8-15 (MSG)

The Talk – Part 2

Today’s service is a very special conversation with some of our Connection family about race and how we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, can better love one another.

Walk Humbly with your God

He [the Lord] has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

MICAH 6:8 NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)

Humus > Ground
humilis> low/close to ground
humilitas> lowliness, humility, humbleness, servility
HUMBLE / HUMILITY: not arrogant, someone who is not overly proud, someone who is not self-centered…. someone who keeps themself low, close to the ground, so to speak.

“Humility is the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself. More simply, you could say the humble person is marked by a willingness to hold power in service of others.”

John Dickson, Humilitas, p. 24.

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”

CS Lewis

What if you could take a walk with God? Where would you go? What would you say? How would you act? I Can Only Imagine!
When we walk humbly with God, our hearts are centered on God and not ourselves…
We learn to adhere to Proverbs 3:5-6 by trusting in the Lord with all our hearts leaning not on our
own understanding. Walking humbly is remembering who’s in charge and releasing our way to God’s way. Most of all, the fastest way to humility is by serving others. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”
(Mark 10:45). Do you have a major decision that you need to make soon or this coming year? Before you allow yourself to “take charge” of the decision, walk humbly with God. Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29).
What do you need to release control over,
so you can walk humbly with God?

Dr. Lynn Brinkley, Campbell University Divinity School

…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come
to be served, but to serve, and to give
his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:43-45 (NIV)

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable:
“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.
If so, the host who invited both of you will come
and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Luke 14:7-11 (NIV)

In your relationships with one another,
have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to
his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV)

Love Mercy

He [the Lord] has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

MICAH 6:8 NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)

Hesed

Mishpat – Justice
Tzedakah- Righteousness
Shalom – Peace

Selected verses from PSALM 107 (NIV)

v.1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love [hesed] endures forever.

v. 21 Let them [those who rebelled then cried out to the Lord and He saved them from the grave] give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love [hesed] and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

v. 31 Let them [sailors in storms calmed by the Lord] give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love [hesed] and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

v. 43 Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds [hesed] of the Lord.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.

Psalm 23 – New King James Version (NKJV)

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God,
and God in them.

1 John 4:16 (NIV)

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not
know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for
our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:7-12 (NIV)

Act Justly

But you, Bethlehem, David’s country, the runt of the litter—
From you will come the leader who will shepherd-rule Israel.
He’ll be no upstart, no pretender. His family tree is ancient and distinguished. Meanwhile, Israel will be in foster homes
until the birth pangs are over and the child is born,
And the scattered brothers come back home to the family of Israel. He will stand tall in his shepherd-rule by  God’s strength, centered in the majesty of God-Revealed.
And the people will have a good and safe home,
for the whole world will hold him in respect—Peacemaker of the world!

MICAH 5:2-4 (THE MESSAGE)

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

Micah 6:6-7 NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)

He [the Lord] has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8 (NIV)

Mishpat – Tzedakah – Shalom

Selected verses from Amos 5:7-24 (NIV):

There are those who turn justice into bitterness
and cast righteousness to the ground….

There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth….

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts….

Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts….

Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard  for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!

—

Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless;  plead the case of the widow.

Isaiah 1:16-17 (NIV)

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Luke 4:16-21 (NIV)

Remade

The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.” When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.

Genesis 41:53-57 New International Version (NIV)

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?” He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”

Genesis 42:1-2 (NIV)

Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. As soon as Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked.
“From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.” Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

Genesis 42:6-9 (NIV)

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.

Genesis 45:3-8 (NIV)

So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Genesis 50:16-21 (NIV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation. The old has gone, the new is here!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Repaid

Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and put them in custody in the house of the captain of  the guard, in the same prison where Joseph  was confined. The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.

Genesis 40:1-4a New International Version (NIV)

When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread. In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” “This is what it means,” Joseph said.  “The three baskets are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will  eat away your flesh.”

Genesis 40:16-19 (NIV)

Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the  same dream. The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.”

Genesis 41:25-27 (NIV)

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his  second-in-command, and people shouted  before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him  in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh,  but without your word no one will lift hand  or foot in all Egypt.”

Genesis 41:41-44 (NIV)

Do we… will we…. allow
OUR situation to control our concentration, our determination, our motivation?
Will we choose better, rather than bitter, when the challenges mount against us?

Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt. During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.

Genesis 41:46-49 (NIV)

GRACE – God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense

I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.

John 10:10b Contemporary English Version (CEV)

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Archives: Messages

No Shepherds

NO Manger

NO Mary or Joseph

NO Angels

The Talk – Part 2

Walk Humbly with your God

Love Mercy

Act Justly

Remade

Repaid

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Ministries

Connect

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Ministries

Connect

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