The Joshua Victor Theory

By God’s grace may I make the Word of God fully known to you, the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints…this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim! (Colossians 1:25b-26, 27b-28a). Today we focus on Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth. Luke’s gospel always gets all the attention with the shepherds, angels, the birth, and the baby Jesus in the manger. Luke’s gospel certainly inspired far more Christmas carols, with its beauty and poetry. But Matthew’s gospel is no less important, though perhaps it points a little more to the trouble and uncertainty of the time. Joseph, Jesus’ adoptive father, comes into sharper focus. Under Jewish law at the time, Joseph was betrothed to Mary, which was the legally binding first step of marriage. A 1 year waiting period normally followed, and it was only after this that they entered the home together and consummated their marriage. During this time, Joseph discovered she was pregnant, and...

The Savior is Born! He is born in a manger! As we celebrate Christmas, one of the parts of the story that most captures our attention is the angels. But it’s very important to point out that the angels have a serving role in the story—angels never point or draw attention to themselves, but only to Jesus. One of our hymns sings: “Angels, help us to adore Him; you behold Him face to face.” The word “angel” means “messenger”—and this is just what they do—bring the joyful message(s) of God to us, and help us to worship God—because they see and know God face to face. They know and see more than we do, but they still do not know everything, as only God does. Today, the angels will help us to adore, or worship Jesus, as we listen to them glorify the Son of the Most High, and join in with our songs and praises. Hebrews 1 was one of our readings today. It says Jesus was blessed by God with a name that is far superior to, and more excellent than the angels. God never said to any of the angel...

            May the peace of Christ be with you! Another Christmas carol I love, we sang last night: Of the Father’s Love Begotten. The second verse opens: “Oh, that birth forever blessed, when the Virgin full of grace, by the Holy Ghost conceiving, bore the Savior of our race.” Truly there is no other birth in human history that is more blessed and more celebrated than the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Great men and women through history have had their birthday’s celebrated and remembered locally, nationally, or even internationally for certain periods of time. But none has had even remotely the universal impact and recognition throughout 2,000 years of history, as Jesus Christ. All other notable leaders and their birthdays have ultimately passed into the recesses of our memory, and their names eventually disappear from the calendars. None have had the influence that Jesus had.        ...

The concluding Sermon from a series on "Psalms for Advent." May your celebration of Christ's birth be filled with joy!             “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace good will toward men!” Our sermon text for this Christmas Eve is Psalm 98, and I’ll be quoting it as we go along, if you’d like to follow. As you may have already guessed, the great Christmas hymn “Joy to the World” is directly based on this Psalm, and I’ll be making references to both.      1     Oh sing to the Lord a new song, A song that celebrates God’s new work of salvation—a song to praise the redemption that Jesus brings as He is born to Israel, to all the earth—yes to all creation! For he has done marvelous things! He has made a new marvel for all time, the Virgin conceives and bears a child. The infinite and all powerful God, whose scepter rules over all creation, has joined Himself to lowly mankind. The Virgin conce...

Sermon Outline:  1.       This night shepherds came to greet One who would be a shepherd like them. As their dark night flashed into brilliance and joyful sound with the arrival of the angels and their announcement, these shepherds jumped up to run and see a miracle. God’s Son, born into the world, bringing peace and goodwill to men. They would come and find a shepherd par excellence. One who would excel in their profession. Jesus probably never tended the four-legged variety of sheep, but this child was born to shepherd His people Israel, and also others not of that flock (the Gentiles He would later call). 2.       Shepherd needs to be strong and brave to ward off danger and protect the sheep. Strength of His arm against foes, but safety for the lambs gathered in His arms. Like young David fighting off wild bears and lions to protect his flock. Not a weak or timid God. Jesus showed His strength and bravery in a remarkable wa...