Thursday, November 26, 2009

prophecy

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Isaiah+7

Isaiah 7: 13 And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.

Isaiah 8 God's ultimate triumph comes through Emanuel

9 Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered;
give ear, all you far countries;
strap on your armor and be shattered;
strap on your armor and be shattered.
10 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
speak a word, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.

Isaiah 9

For to Us a Child Is Born

9:1 But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
4 For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Isaiah 11

The Righteous Reign of the Branch

11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, [1] from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.

12 He will raise a signal for the nations
and will assemble the banished of Israel,
and gather the dispersed of Judah
from the four corners of the earth.
13 The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
and those who harass Judah shall be cut off;
Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah,
and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
14 But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west,
and together they shall plunder the people of the east.
They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab,
and the Ammonites shall obey them.
15 And the Lord will utterly destroy
the tongue of the Sea of Egypt,
and will wave his hand over the River
with his scorching breath,
and strike it into seven channels,
and he will lead people across in sandals.
16 And there will be a highway from Assyria
for the remnant that remains of his people,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from the land of Egypt.

Isaiah 12


The Lord Is My Strength and My Song

12:1 You will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.

2 “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

Read Aloud, already done 4 u

Here are the ESV Christmas passages. Press the listen button if you want to listen.

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Matthew

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Luke+1

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=John+
John 1: 1-17

http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Isaiah+7 Prophecy Isaiah 7: 10 to Isaiah 14

Advent - John Piper's Poetry

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2009/4401_A_Chapter_Closes_in_Advent_at_Bethlehem/

This week I found John Piper's blog on Advent interesting! You can access his poems here http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Poems/ByDate/ It is easy to sift out the Christmas ones. All I can say is amazing, he is truly gifted.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Revision and colouring in

This week has seen us revising the Christmas stories on a very basic level, using New Testament Take Home Bible Stories, see http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=48722 .
We have made up 8 little booklets from this book and have made pockets in our new scrap book( just a file with scrap book pockets) to hold them. Colouring will take longer than a week and will keep little ones happy as we get deeper into the older kid discussions. All set up and ready to get serious!

I am writing up a some lessons for the children on The Character of God woven through the Christmas Scenes. Isn't it wonderful that these stories are truth not just fairy tales!

I am happy for my children to know the Santa related fairy stories about Christmas....but the real historical stories are so much more exciting! Can you imagine Zachariah's shock at seeing an angel and then at being made dumb for his unbelief. Imagine the surprise Mary would have felt when she realised that the promised Messiah everyone was waiting for would come through her. And imagine Mary's trauma as she was surrounded by suspicious sandal over the virgin birth, for the sake of her God

Here is a list of the revision we did this week:
Zachariah and Elizabeth have a baby. The Angel visits Mary , Jesus is born, Angels and shepherds, ( all found in Luke 1 and 2) Magi ( Matthew 2) , Simeon and Anna ( Luke 2 again) , Escape to Egypt (Matthew 2: 13) and then Jesus in the temple. ( Luke 2: 41)

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Why Christmas?

For many around the world Christmas is not about Christ... Santa, candy, traditional foods, present giving, beautifully decorated trees etc, etc crowd our lives as commercialism takes over in the bid to make more money out of our silly sentimentalism. Many go into debt, feel lonely and despairing at this time of the year. And quite honestly don't get the point of it all because really there is no point to Christmas with these traditions alone.

As for me Christ is central to Christmas- there is no point in Christmas without Christ and that includes not only his birth but gruesome death too! Just as Christ is the pivotal person in History, so too does Christmas pivot around Christ himself.

Christmas came to us when Christians reacted to heathen traditions and celebrations around them and turned around the course of history around by providing an opportunity to celebrate Christ in a special way. At Christmas we remember the birth of Christ.

I know there are Christians these days who won't celebrate Christmas and I can respect that they are uncomfortable with the way in which Christmas came about. But as for me I love any opportunity to indulge in my love for Christ and to encourage my family to do the same. So not only is Christmas for me a time set aside other things and to draw close to God, it is a time for making memories for my family too. My aim is to bring Christ so close to them that when they are adults and away form home they will see something 'Christmassy' and remember Christ. Remember family and love and warmth and celebrate too, yes. But most of all that they would love Christ. And infuse their children's lives with the love of Christ.

Come with us this year and enjoy our journey as we celebrate Christ!