Christmas 2021: Just the Name We Need

IMMANUEL: God with us.  What does it mean? 

Sermons -- Warren Wiersbe

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Whoa! Persecution for their Christian Faith Results in This

An example of what has happened, may need to happen, and will happen as Christians the world over are hunted-down for their faith in Christ Jesus.

And the Lord,

he it is that doth go before thee;

 he will be with thee, 

he will not fail thee,

 neither forsake thee:

fear not, neither be dismayed.

Deuteronomy 31:8

FB: Release International

34.01.2020

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While I was Driving, 14: Christmas Babies & License Plate

1.  I know a baby (my cousin) born on Christmas day.

2. However, another far more important baby whom the entire world remembers on Christmas day is Christ Jesus, the Lord (who in reality was very likely born in the Springtime and not during Wintertime).

Whatever day the Lord Jesus Christ was born, it's His birth (predicted hundreds of years before he was actually born!) that I celebrate at our Christmas parties and on Christmas day. He alone is worthy of my worship.

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (Matthew 1: 23)

Isaiah wrote the above prophecy in the 8th century BC.
Accurate much?!!

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Run for your Life!

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” James 4:14 (KJV)

Short Sermon:

Ran, Run

Never Forget: The Real Lesson of 9/11 Tragedy

Pastor Carter Conlon

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Your Best Life: Be Not Afraid

I have felt anxious recently. No meds required, only this reminder:  Jesus speaks ...

but there are also other voices trying to choke out and dismiss His voice; 

 voices of doubt, fear, hopelessness, despair, guilt;

voices that lie, discourage and kill; voices that say: it’s no use, no need to pray, hope or try anymore; it’s a dead end situation, it’s over, it’s worthless; it can’t change; it’s obviously impossible. 

But listen to His voice instead of the world’s voices. He speaks Truth. He brings the dead to life. He does what no one else can do.

So, listen to His Words: “DON’T BE AFRAID; JUST BELIEVE!”

While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, 

Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master 

any further?

 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, 

he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, 

Be not afraid, only believe. 

( Mark 5:35,36)

-- via Mirela, fb

Dear Joy Behar

Women & Nature

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December 26: National Candy Cane Day

Look at the Candy Cane,
what do you see?
Stripes that are Red
like the blood shed for me.

White for my Savior
Who's sinless and pure
"J" is for Jesus
my Lord, that's for sure!

Turn it around
and a STAFF you will see
Jesus my Shepherd
is coming for me.

*************

Hanukkah and Christmas are celebrated on the same date in 2016

Hanukkah and Christmas are celebrated on the same date this year.

Jesus Celebrated Hanukkah

The Lord Jesus observed the celebration of Hanukkah in the Temple during the winter of AD 29 (?) (Jn 10:22–39). Just prior to this account in John 10, the Apostle John gives two “illustrations” (10:6) of Jesus as the Good Shepherd (10:1–5 and 10:7–10) and records Jesus’ interpretation of these parables (10:11–18).

The Jewish reader would immediately pick up the messianic connotation of this discourse. The Davidic Messiah would be a Shepherd (Ezek 34).

As Jesus walked thorough Solomon’s porch on the east side of the Temple enclosure, some Jews approached Him and asked Him point-blank, “Are you the Messiah?” (10:24). Jesus had to be careful how He answered that question. During the festival, throngs of Jews, caught up in the nationalistic fever, were visiting Jerusalem. The word “Messiah” might spark off riots because of its heavy nationalistic and political overtones.

Roman intelligence, headquartered in the Antonia’s Fortress to the northwest of the Temple, was aware of a popular song entitled “A Psalm of Solomon, with Song, to the King.” In this song, composed during the mid-first century BC by a Pharisee, the Messiah was acknowledged as King and a Davidic ruler that would reign forever. He describes how the latter Hasmonean rulers led the people away from Torah, and how the Romans under the leadership of Pompey punished the people in 63 BC. The Pharisee prays that the Lord will raise up a king, the Son of David, to rule over Israel. In so doing, this king would “destroy the unrighteous rulers,” “purge Jerusalem from Gentiles,” “drive out the sinners,” “smash the arrogance of sinners,” and “destroy the unlawful nations”! Their king, the Lord Messiah, would do all this! (Psalm of Solomon 17).

If Jesus had answered the question “yes,” the Roman authorities would have arrested Him on the spot for insurrection. Jesus does, however, answer the question in the affirmative, but not directly. When He answers, He is careful not to use the contemporary term and understanding. After pointing out the security that a believer in the Lord Jesus has because of faith in Him, He says, “I and My Father are one!” (10:30). That statement had heavy religious overtones for the festival which they were presently celebrating. Those gathered on the Temple Mount recalled the events nearly 200 years before on the very mount where Antiochus IV, a mere man, proclaimed himself to be god. Jesus, God manifest in human flesh, made the same claim—but His claim was true. The Jews picked up stones to stone Him for blasphemy because, in their thinking, He was a man who made Himself out to be God (10:31–33). Jesus declared that He was the fulfillment of Hanukkah by saying the Father “sanctified” the Son of God and sent Him into the world (10:34–36). The Father was in Him and He in the Father (10:38). If the Greek word “sanctified” were translated into Hebrew, it would be “dedication” or Hanukkah!

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken 46 years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body (2:19–21).

A wicked and corrupt priesthood had defiled Herod’s Temple. The sinless Lord Jesus was “sanctified” by His death, burial and resurrection and is the New Temple.

The Apostle John selected “signs” (miracles) and events when he penned his gospel, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to convey two purposes (20:30, 31). The first was to present the deity of the Lord Jesus. John skillfully selects the Hanukkah event because of the festival impact on the crowd. In contrast to the arrogant and blasphemous statement by Antiochus IV, Jesus truly is God manifest in human flesh. The second purpose was to challenge people to put their trust (believe) in the Lord Jesus Christ as the One who died for their sins and rose again from the dead. When they trust Him, God gives them the gift of eternal life, forgiveness of sins and a home in Heaven. There seems to be a marked contrast between the response of the Jews on the Temple Mount (10:37–39) and those “beyond the Jordan” who believed on Him (10:40–42). What is your response? Have you trusted the One who is the fulfillment of Hanukkah?

Happy Hanukkah!

-- W.P. 

Lessons from a Camel

Dromedary Camel and a Creator/Designer

(From Moody Press)

If you ever doubted that God exists,

meet the Very Technical, Highly Engineered

Dromedary Camel.

  

When I'm hungry, I'll eat almost anything-

a leather bridle, a piece of rope, my master's tent,

or a pair of shoes.

 

My mouth is so tough a thorny cactus doesn't bother it.

I love to chow down grass and other plants

that grow here on the Arabian desert.

 

I'm a dromedary camel, the one-hump kind

that lives on hot deserts in the Middle East.

My hump, all eighty pounds of it,

is filled with fat-my body fuel-not water as some people believe.

My Mighty Maker gave it to me because

He knew I wouldn't always be able to find food

as I travel across the hot sands.

When I don't find any chow, my body automatically

takes fat from the hump, feeds my system,

and keeps me going strong.

This is my emergency food supply.

If I can't find any plants to munch, my body uses up my hump.

When the hump gets smaller, it starts to tip to one side.

But when I get to a nice oasis and begin to eat again,

my hump soon builds back to normal.

 

I've been known to drink twenty-seven gallons of water in ten minutes.

My Master Designer made me in such a fantastic way that

in a matter of minutes all the water I've swallowed

travels to the billions of microscopic cells that make up my flesh.

 

Naturally, the water I swallow first goes into my stomach.

There thirsty blood vessels absorb and carry it to every part of my body.

Scientists have tested my stomach and found it empty

ten minutes after I've drunk twenty gallons.

 

In an eight hour day, I can carry a four hundred pound load

a hundred miles across a hot, dry desert

and not stop once for a drink or something to eat.

In fact, I've been known to go eight days without a drink,

but then I look a wreck.

I lose 227 pounds, my ribs show through my skin,

and I look terribly skinny.

But I feel great!

I look thin because the billions of cells lose their water.

They're no longer fat. They're flat.

 

Normally my blood contains 94 percent water, just like yours.

But when I can't find any water to drink,

the heat of the sun gradually robs a little water out of my blood.

Scientists have found that my blood can lose up to

40 percent of its water, and I'm still healthy.

 

Doctor's say human blood has to stay very close to 94 percent water.  If you lose 5 percent of it, you can't see anymore; 10 percent, you can't hear and you go insane; 12 percent, your blood is as thick as molasses and your heart can't pump the thick stuff. It stops, and you're dead.

 

But that's not true with me.

Why?

Scientists say my blood is different.

My red cells are elongated. Yours are round.

Maybe that's what makes the difference.

 

This proves I'm designed for the desert,

or the desert is designed for me.

Did you ever hear of a design without a Designer?

 

After I find a water hole,

I'll drink for about ten minutes

and my skinny body starts to change almost immediately.

In that short time my body fills out nicely, I don't look skinny anymore,

and I gain back the 227 pounds I lost.

 

Even though I lose a lot of water on the desert,

my body conserves it too.

Way in the beginning when my intelligent Engineer made me,

He gave me a specially designed nose that saves water.

When I exhale, I don't lose much.

My nose traps that warm, moist air from my lungs

and absorbs it in my nasal membranes.

 

Tiny blood vessels in those membranes take that back into my blood.

How's that for a recycling system? Pretty cool, isn't it?

It works because my nose is cool.

My cool nose changes that warm moisture in the air

from my lungs into water.

 

But how does my nose get cool?

I breathe in hot dry desert air,

and it goes through my wet nasal passages.

This produces a cooling effect, and my nose stays as much as

18 degrees cooler than the rest of my body.

 

I love to travel the beautiful sand dunes.

It's really quite easy, because

my Creator gave me specially engineered sand shoes for feet.

My hooves are wide, and they get even wider when I step on them.

Each foot has two long, bony toes with tough, leathery skin

between my soles, are a little like webbed feet.

 

They won't let me sink into the soft, drifting sand.

This is good because often my master wants me to carry him

one hundred miles across the desert in just one day.

(I troop about ten miles per hour.)

Sometimes a big windstorm comes out of nowhere,

bringing flying sand with it.

My Master Designer put special muscles in my nostrils

that close the openings, keeping sand out of my nose

but still allowing me enough air to breathe.

 

My eyelashes arch down over my eyes like screens,

keeping the sand and sun out but still letting me see clearly.

If a grain of sand slips through and gets in my eye,

the Creator took care of that too.

He gave me an inner eyelid that automatically

wipes the sand off my eyeball just like a windshield wiper.

 

Some people think I'm conceited because I always walk around

with my head held high and my nose in the air.

But that's just because of the way I'm made.

My eyebrows are so thick and bushy

I have to hold my head high to peek out from underneath them.

I'm glad I have them though.

They shade my eyes from the bright sun.

 

Desert people depend on me for many things.

Not only am I their best form of transportation,

but I'm also their grocery store.

Mrs Camel gives very rich milk

that people make into butter and cheese.

I shed my thick fur coat once a year,

and that can be woven into cloth.

A few young camels are used for beef,

but I don't like to talk about that.

 

For a long time, we camels have been called

the "ships of the desert" because of the way

we sway from side to side when we trot.

Some of our riders get seasick.

 

I sway from side to side because of the way my legs work.

Both legs on one side move forward at the same time,

elevating that side.

My "left, right left, right" motion makes my rider feel like

he is in a rocking chair going sideways.

 

When I was six months old,

special knee pads started to grow on my front legs.

The intelligent Creator knew I had to have them.

They help me lower my 1000 pounds to the ground.

 

If I didn't have them,

my knees would soon become sore and infected,

and I could never lie down.

I'd die of exhaustion.

 

By the way,

I don't get thick knee pads because I fall on my knees.

I fall on my knees because I already have these tough pads.

Someone very great thought of me and knew I needed them.

He designed them into my genes.

 

It's really difficult for me to understand

how some people say I evolved into what I now am.

I'm very technical, highly engineered dromedary camel.

Things like me don't just happen.

 

They're planned on a drawing board

by Someone very brilliant,

Someone very logical.

 

John 1:1 says,

"In the beginning was the Word.

And the Word was with God,

and the Word was God."

The Word means "logical, intelligent One."

  

Verse 3 says,

"All things were made by him and without him

was not anything made that was made."

Who was the Word?

Look at verse 14.

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,

and we beheld His glory."

Who was made all flesh?

The Lord Jesus Christ,

the Word who created everything,

including the dromedary camel.

 

by Bob Devine Reprinted by permission from Moody/September 1981

Mr. Devine is the creator and narrator of

"The Storybook Room"

on Moody radio and the author of eight children's books on nature

(Moody Press)*

*from a forwarded e-mail

The Amazing Camel & Its Creator

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