This week we looked at the final decorations on our Jesse Tree. The writing tablet representsJohn the Baptist. He was a relative of Jesus. His birth was also miraculous, for his parents (Zechariah and Elizabeth) were too old to have children naturally. An angel appeared to Zechariah to announce they would give birth to a son and told him that his name was to be John; this baby would be a messenger who would point people to Jesus. Zechariah didn’t believe the angel at first, and so he was struck dumb and was unable to talk throughout Elizabeth’s pregnancy. When John was born and they were asked what they wanted to name him, Elizabeth said John, and Zechariah wrote that name down so the others would believe her. When he did that, he was able to talk again, because it showed he had listened to God in the end! John was known as John the Baptist, and he was a relative of Jesus who always told people that Jesus was the Lamb of God and the Messiah. He was the messenger sent ahead of Jesus to prepare the way of the Lord.

The hammer and a saw represent the carpenter, Joseph, chosen by God to be the earthly father of Jesus. Like his ancestors before him, Joseph had great faith and trust in God. Even when his fiancée, Mary, told him that she was expecting a baby and he knew he was not the father, he obeyed God’s command to take her as his wife and look after her and the baby, Jesus. He was with Mary when Jesus was born, and, when the wise men came to worship the new-born child, they found Joseph there, taking care of him. He did all that a father was supposed to do and cared for his family. Joseph was a carpenter by trade and probably taught Jesus these skills as well. During this past year, we have seen afresh the importance of key workers, people with crafts and skills, and we are grateful for the fact God has made each of us unique, all with different skills.

The flower is supposed to be a white rose (to symbolise the purity of Mary), but ours is a multi-coloured flower! Mary was just a teenager when the angel Gabriel came to her to tell her that she was highly favoured of God and would become the mother of Jesus, even though she was a virgin. Mary responded with great faith and courage and was willing to do what God wanted, even if it meant people thought she had done wrong. The flower represents her purity and obedience to God.

The star reminds us of the star that guided the wise men to where Jesus was, but ultimately, the star reminds us also that our Saviour, Jesus, is the Light of the World. Years before His birth, a prophecy was given that ‘a star will come out of Jacob’ (Numbers 24:17), and we see how God is able to use any part of His creation to point us to Jesus.

We also put a star on top of our tree!

Stephen spoke tonight about the relevance of Christmas – and indeed all of God’s word – to our lives today. When we buy food nowadays, there is often a ‘use by‘ date or ‘best before date’ on the packaging, which determines when it can be eaten.

We may well feel that the Christmas story as told in the Bible has no relevance to our lives in 2020 and can easily assume that the Bible itself is outdated. Nonetheless, when we read the Bible, we see that the Christian calendar is still current and relevant to our lives. Even our dating system reflects the importance of Christmas (since we date the years from Christ’s birth) and we should not simply relegate the Christmas story to history. 2 Tim 3:16-17 reminds us that God’s word is God-breathed and useful to us because it helps us to be ‘thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ When we read of angels, shepherds and a baby born in a manger, we may well feel this belongs to a different world to ours, but the truth is that this is His story as well as history, and as such has relevance to us because the Bible teaches us that the birth of Jesus was integral to our salvation. Prov 2:1-6 reminds us of the need to get wisdom and insight and grow in understanding; Prov 4:1-13 stresses the need to make wisdom our priority. Wisdom that is divorced from God is not true wisdom, so we do well to learn from Him.

The Christmas message is that in Jesus, God came to be with us: Immanuel (Matt 1:23). God with us totally transforms our lives and is vital to our everyday existence. We see that the Bible is never out of date and is as relevant to life in 2020 as it has ever been throughout the centuries. Don’t miss out on the true meaning of Christmas, dismissing the story as irrelevant fable. It is, rather, the most astounding story we can ever encounter and can be the experience that transforms our lives.

Dave spoke this morning from Matt 1:18-25, focussing on Joseph, the often forgotten character in the Christmas story. Joseph was an honourable and righteous man who found himself in an impossible situation. He was pledged to be married to Mary, but had found out she was pregnant. Mary had told him of her encounter with an angel, but it is not surprising that this miraculous announcement left him in turmoil. He did not want to betray Mary publicly, but must himself have felt hurt and betrayed by her, with the only logical conclusion being that she had been unfaithful to him. He wanted to be kind, even in those difficult circumstances, and in considering his crisis, he probably felt both anxious and afraid. His dreams had come crashing down around his ears, and he must have agonised over what to do.

The angel’s first words to him were not to fear. So often, these are the words God brings to us: ‘Don’t be afraid!’ (Matt 1:20) We worry and fret, trying to resolve our problems ourselves, but instead, we need to commit our impossible situations to God, for with Him, the impossible becomes Him-possible. Joseph believed what he was told and even though this explanation was also incredible, it was enough to redirect his plans. (Prov 16:9)

Joseph still had to tackle many obstacles, for though he and Mary had been privileged to receive news from God directly, they still had to live with the incredulity and scepticism of all around them for many long months. Nonetheless, when God speaks to us and we choose to believe Him, we will find that nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)

Advent hope:

Anticipating.

Waiting.

Looking.

Searching.

He’s coming.

Advent peace:

Soothing troubled hearts,

Relaxing furrowed brows,

Calming anxious frowns.

Wholeness.

Well-being.

He’s coming.

Advent joy:

Bubbling from within,

Tremulous at first,

Just the occasional bubble,

Then overflowing like a lava lamp,

Light and colours,

Lightness and ebullience.

He’s coming.

Advent love:

Arms holding us,

Cuddles,

Warmth.

Everlasting Father,

Everlasting love,

Wrapped in swaddling cloths in a manger.

He’s here.

God with us.

Jesus,

Born to save us.

We have waited so long for this moment.

We tiptoe to the manger.

We peer in anxiously,

And hope, peace, joy, love make sense now.

You’re here.

All will be well.

Once more, we looked at different decorations for our Jesse Tree, which help us to understand better the significance of Jesus’s birth and how this fits into the bigger picture of God’s story. The first decoration this week was a scroll, symbolising the prophets who spoke out God’s word to people. Isaiah told them that the Saviour would be born of a virgin and that he would be a light in the darkness. One of his prophecies said that a new king would appear among the descendants of Jesse ‘just as new shoots sprout from the stump of a tree.’ (Isaiah 11:1-2)  The scroll represents these prophecies and show us God’s amazing foreknowledge and planning.

The second decoration was a house, symbolising Bethlehem, the place where Jesse and his family lived. Not only does this remind us of Jesus’s ancestors, but it also reminds us that Bethlehem was chosen to be the place of Jesus’s birth, to fulfil a prophecy in Micah 5:2. God was able to organise world events so that Joseph and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem for the Roman census! Such is His power and majesty; nothing ever takes Him by surprise!

Next came a harp, to symbolise worship and praise, especially relating to Jesse’s son, David, who became king of Israel (probably the most famous of them all!) When young, David would play the harp to soothe King Saul; he would later write many songs, some of which are recorded in the book of Psalms. Singing and music have always been ways people worship God joyfully and this harp (made by Garry’s 3D pen!) reminds us that it is good to sing to God and praise Him for all He has done.

Finally, the crown reminds us of the kings of Israel, including David and his son, Solomon, who was renowned for his wisdom and for building a magnificent temple for the Lord. Most of all, however, the crown reminds us that Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We celebrate His birth as a helpless baby at Christmas time, but we must never forget His true identity.

Acts 21:17-36 demonstrates to us once again the ongoing opposition which the presentation of the gospel aroused. Jewish opposition had been evident from the beginning of the book of Acts and has been a constant theme throughout:

• The Sanhedrin imprisoned Peter and John and then all the apostles and forbade them with threats to teach in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:1-5:42)

• Stephen’s martyrdom (Acts 7:54ff)

• Jewish persecution of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1ff)

• Jewish opposition to Paul (following his conversion) began with an attempt to lynch him in this section (Acts 21:27-36), continuing with a hysterical demand for his death (Acts 22:22-23) and concluding with the secret plot under oath of more than forty men to murder him. (Acts 23:12ff)

Paul seems to have regarded this opposition as inevitable (after all, Ananias was sent to him after his miraculous conversion with the message ‘I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’ (Acts 9:16)), so perhaps we should not be surprised by his later words to Timothy that ‘everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Tim 3:12). Our attitudes tend to be very different. Paul’s message of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus aroused much opposition, to the point of masses seeking to kill him. Ongoing opposition may not always be a sign that we are wrong, but rather a sign that we are doing something right. Paul was not deterred by opposition. As he wrote to the Corinthians, ‘We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.’ (2 Cor 4:8-9) This can be our testimony too.