We live in a busy world. While it is good to be busy with good things, there is such a thing as being too busy for your own good. Our culture often sends the message that your worth is tied to your productivity, so we constantly try to multitask as we move from one overcommitment to the next. This is not to say that hard work is bad. A Christian ethic of work teaches us to work hard, be diligent, and faithfully look after our responsibilities in life. But beyond our responsibilities, sometimes we’re just too busy. When we look at the life of Jesus, we discover a litmus test that you can apply to your life to determine if you are too busy: if you are too busy to pray, you are too busy.

Jesus was clearly a busy man. His public ministry entailed long journeys, hours of teaching, and endless crowds pressing in on him, hoping to be healed. Led by his compassion for the people who were “like sheep without a shepherd” he gave sacrificially of his time and energy for the well-being of others. But in the middle of such a busy ministry, Jesus still made time for prayer. And he didn’t just make time for prayer once in a while, when things were slow; he made a practice of praying because he knew how important it was to stay close to the Father and to nurture his relationship with his Father while in his ministry on the earth. In Luke 5:15–16 we read, “But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” Luke indicates that Jesus’ practice of withdrawing to remote places for prayer was not a sporadic occurrence, but a regular habit of his.

If Jesus was as busy as he was and yet still prioritized time to spend in prayer with the Father, surely we can do the same. Let’s follow in Jesus’ footsteps and be busy with good things, but let’s not forget to protect time for praying to God. If Jesus needed an active personal devotional life, how much more so do we? How can we expect to do the will of God in our lives if we are not spending time regularly with God, both hearing from him through his word, and speaking to him in prayer? Jesus’ example shows us the importance of having time to be alone with God, even in the middle of busy seasons of life. Undoubtedly, this practice of regular time with the Father provided the fuel he needed to keep going with his ministry. So what about you? Are you busy? There’s nothing wrong with being busy with good things. But are you too busy? Do you ever have moments alone, somewhere quiet, when you can pray undistracted? Remember, if you’re too busy to pray, you’re too busy.

“No pain, no gain.” “Sore today, stronger tomorrow.” “The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.” “Hard choices, easy life; easy choices, hard life.” These sayings are often repeated by highly motivated leaders, soldiers, and athletes to remind themselves that those who want great results in a career, on a mission, or on the ball field have to give everything in their training and preparation. These sayings and others like them remind us of the general truth that things worth doing are never easy. Understood in its right context, the same is true of our walk with the Lord. In fact, an episode from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry shows us that it is only those who deny self and submit to the plan of God who will experience the power of God at work in their lives. If you want God to powerfully work in you and if you want to be used by God in his kingdom, it is going to require an unremitting commitment to follow the will of God, come what may.

Jesus modeled this commitment during his temptations in the wilderness after his baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended on him. Luke writes, “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil” (Luke 4:1–2). After Jesus withstood the onslaught of temptations at the merciless hands of the tempter, Luke records that “…Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country” (Luke 4:14). Jesus was full of the Spirit before the temptations, but after successfully withstanding that season of vicious temptation without ever sinning once, he came back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. Just as the struggle that comes with lifting weights strengthens our muscles, in the same way, Jesus’ unyielding struggle against temptation filled him with the power of the Holy Spirit. 

We are to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18) to keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25) and to be led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14), but these things cannot happen if we stubbornly cling to our own selfish will. If you feel like you lack spiritual power to face and overcome temptation, ask whether you are surrendering to the Lord or whether you are trying to hold onto some of your own will. Pray for strength to fully surrender to the Lord’s will. But if you dare pray this prayer, be ready, because the more we become like Jesus, the more we can expect to be tempted, and the more subtle the temptations may become. Remember, Satan doesn’t need to bother tempting those who are not serious about their Christian life. He reserves his attacks for those who are submitting to the Lord, for they are a great threat to his diabolical kingdom. 

Do you know the names of your grandparents’ parents? As I’m writing this, I can only think of the name of one of my eight great-grandparents. It’s a little sad to me that I don’t even know the names of most of the eight people in the world who probably had the most influence on the four people in the world who probably had the most influence on the man and woman who gave me life. But I’m interested in learning more about my ancestry and hope to preserve that information for my children and their children some day. Recent advancements in genetic testing have increased popular interest in ancestry and can yield a wealth of information about one’s ancestors. Before all our modern genetic testing and date retrieval systems, however, people recorded genealogies on paper. The Bible records many genealogies, and although they can be filled with hard-to-pronounce Semitic names, they are important components of the Biblical narratives in which they are embedded.

We find one of the genealogies in Luke 3:23–38. Like the one given in Matthew 1, this is a genealogy of Jesus, but there are several key differences. For one thing, Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus begins with Abraham and lists the descendants down to Jesus. Luke goes in the reverse order, beginning with Jesus and going all the way back to Adam, not just as far back as Abraham. Additionally, Matthew and Luke follow different branches of the family tree in the generations after King David. They also differ in their placement of the genealogy within their gospels: Matthew places the genealogy at the very beginning of his gospel, identifying who Jesus is before detailing his birth. Luke, on the other hand, places the genealogy in between Jesus’ baptism and his temptation in the wilderness, which we know happened back to back. Why interrupt the narrative to put the genealogy of Jesus in such a seemingly random place in the gospel?

Upon closer examination, Luke’s placement of the genealogy of Jesus is anything but random. He has placed the genealogy here to highlight an important truth about Jesus. Squashed in between the baptism of Jesus and his temptations (two events that share a common theme about Jesus’ identity as the Son of God), Luke uses the genealogy to point us to the fact that Jesus—the true Son of God—will succeed where Adam—the first son of God—failed. Luke writes, “…and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’ Jesus… was… the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:23, 38). This beloved Son of God then marched into the wilderness where he faced the fiercest onslaught of temptations that the devil could muster. Jesus came to reverse the curse brought about through the sin of Adam, and he succeeded where Adam failed. He’s the son of Adam, he’s the son of God, he’s our Savior!

Of the four gospels, Luke’s gospel famously has the longest narrative about the birth and infancy of Jesus. Mark and John do not mention Jesus’ birth and infancy, and Matthew’s gospel only contains about 800 words detailing the birth of Jesus while Luke has about 1400 words documenting the same. Many of the memorable elements of the birth of Jesus have been popularized in Christmas nativities and plays—the Gloria of the angels sung to the shepherds in the field, the star guiding the magi to Bethlehem, the magi’s three gifts, and the babe lying in a manger. But I’ve never yet seen a Christmas play that included the prophecy by Simeon when the infant Jesus was brought to the temple for purification. Despite its relative obscurity, this encounter between an old man and the six week old baby Jesus is one of the most fascinating events in the birth narrative of Jesus.

When Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to the temple for his purification, Luke tells us that “…there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:25–26). This is nothing short of astonishing! The Jews had been awaiting the arrival of the Messiah for generations, and of all the people alive at the time this one man received a revelation that within his lifetime he would see the Messiah!

Luke continues the story: “And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel’” (Luke 2:27–32). Speaking to God, Simeon rightly says that Jesus is “your salvation”—not salvation for God, but salvation provided by God for sinners. Furthermore, Jesus is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles.” This salvation through Jesus is open to all people, both Jews and Gentiles. Simeon responded in worship and praise to God for the blessing of seeing the baby Jesus who would accomplish this great salvation offered to all people. We might think that Simeon’s was the greater blessing, since he got to see Jesus in person, but in fact ours is the greater blessing, because we live after Christ and have seen more of the unfolding plan of God. By faith, our eyes have seen God’s salvation too. Will we, like Simeon, lift our voice and bless God for the salvation he has given us?

In Luke 1 we read about the responses by two individuals who each received a revelation from an angel. The similarities—and differences—are intriguing. Several months apart, Zechariah the priest and his wife’s relative Mary each experienced a once-in-a-life-time experience: a visit from the angel Gabriel. Being well past child-bearing years and having never been able to conceive a child, Zechariah and Elizabeth had nearly given up hope of ever having a child of their own. But the angel appeared to Zechariah with an announcement about a remarkable birth: “…your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John” (Luke 1:13). About six months later, Gabriel appeared to Mary with an announcement of another remarkable birth and this time, a miraculous conception: “…you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:31). Here are two divine announcements about the births of two baby boys—one to be born to a woman past the age of childbearing and one to an unmarried girl. But Zechariah and Mary responded in two different ways to the news.

At first, their responses may seem similar but taken in their context it becomes evident that their responses revealed two different heart conditions. Zechariah responded with skepticism. He asked, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years” (Luke 1:18). Gabriel’s rebuke makes it clear that Zechariah’s response was rooted in unbelief. He was not merely expressing surprise but was actually questioning the truthfulness of Gabriel’s message. Zechariah was punished for his unbelief by being mute until his son was born. Mary’s response, on the other hand, showed her trust in the word of the Lord and her total surrender to his will. She responded by asking, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Her question may sound similar to Zechariah’s, but we see from Gabriel’s answer and Mary’s response that her question was about the means by which this would come to pass, not a question about whether it would happen. Gabriel answered her question, and then she responded again by saying, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Mary questioned how this promise would come about but she did not doubt that it would be so and she expressed her complete surrender to the Lord’s will, knowing what it could mean for her reputation to have a child outside of marriage.

What about you? What about me? How do we respond to God’s word and his promises? Do we respond with skepticism like Zechariah, or do we respond with acceptance and total surrender like Mary? Even if not directly through an angel, the fact is that God has sent his word to us too. How will you and how will I respond to his word today?

Recently a friend shared with me that there are three types of things that tend to grab our attention: something of value, something unusual, and something threatening. No matter what we are thinking about, the moment we observe something especially valuable, unusual (like the upside-down words at the top of this page), or threatening, some of our attention will momentarily be diverted to that object or situation. Many advertisements make use of this tendency of ours. Probably the majority of advertisements try to grab your attention by showing you something that you will think is of good value. Other advertisements try to attract attention by portraying something unusual, and a few may even appeal to your attention by implying that something bad is going to happen if you don’t buy their product, take their medication, etc., etc. These are three of the things that grab our attention. But if you think about it, the gospel has components of all three. The hope of the gospel is priceless in value, God’s love for sinners is remarkably unusual, and the righteous wrath of God against sin and unrepentant sinners is threatening.

First, the hope of the gospel is priceless in value. Paul reminded the Ephesians about their condition before and without Christ: “…no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). Life without the gospel is hopeless, but the hope of the gospel is invaluable. Jesus used a memorable analogy to teach about the value of the gospel when he said, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matt. 13:45–46). The gospel of the kingdom is pricelessly valuable—have you searched for it as for a hidden pearl of great price?

Second, God’s love for sinners is remarkably unusual. Paul put it this way: “…God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:7–8). His love for us in spite of our sin and rebellion is nothing short of incredible. Have you committed your life to him who loves you with this kind of love?

Third, the righteous wrath of God against unrepentant sinners is threatening. Speaking about those who willfully persist in their rebellion against the Lord, Paul said, “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Rom. 2:5). Those who refuse to give God the glory by yielding their lives to him will receive the consequences for their actions. God’s righteous judgement is not to be trifled with. Who can you tell this week about the righteous judgement of God, the jaw-dropping love of God, and the inestimable value of the gospel?

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sing with hundreds of other Christians in Nashville who were gathered to record worship songs for Praise & Harmony, a group that produces resources to help encourage the practice of four-part, a cappella singing among churches of Christ. One of the songs we learned and recorded was an arrangement of a song by Keith Getty, Matt Papa, and Matt Boswell titled All My Boast is in Jesus. Listen to the words of the first verse and chorus:

[Verse 1] What wonder of wonders, what love is this
That Christ would die for me
His goodness, His merit, His righteousness
This sinner’s only plea
O foolish pride, be crucified
The work is finished

[Chorus] All my boast is in Jesus
All my hope is His love
And I will glory forever
In what the cross has done

This song beautifully confronts us with some of the great truths of our faith. It truly is a wonder of wonders that Christ would die for me! We might consider dying for someone we already deeply love and who is dear to us, but who would die for someone who openly hates him? Yet this is exactly what Christ did: “…God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). In Christ’s substitutionary death he bore our sins, and now by faith we can bear his name. This means that when we stand before God on the judgement day, there is only one thing by which we can plead for his mercy—not any goodness, merit, or righteousness of our own, but his goodness, merit, and righteousness (Romans 3:21–22, 5:17)! 

Because of Christ’s offer of salvation to us, our boast is always and forever in Christ and in Christ alone. We do not boast in our riches or our intellect or our goodness or anything else—we boast in Christ. Knowing him is our greatest treasure, our deepest joy, and our highest calling. Truly, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD” (Jer. 9:23–24).

“But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD as his compensation for the sin that he has committed two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering” (Lev. 5:7).

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While sitting in the backyard this week, I was startled by a bird that flew into one of our windows before swooping down to a rough landing near my feet. It was a mourning dove and it looked stunned from its collision. As soon as he began to try to flutter away, it was apparent that he was not okay. I thought perhaps he had broken a wing in his accident. I watched as he moved several feet before he fell into a narrow hole where an upright 4×4 post had been removed on the property. Not wanting to leave him in there, I put on a pair of gloves and managed to pull him out again. Holding him for a minute, I couldn’t help but notice how small he was. There he was in my hands, tiny, helpless, and weighing just a few ounces. I left him in the yard overnight where he couldn’t fall into the hole again, and to my surprise, when I went out the next morning, he took flight and flew away into the trees, evidently recovered from his eventful night.

Reflecting on it later, I couldn’t help but think of the Old Testament sacrificial system, which prescribed the sacrifice of doves for certain sins and purification offerings. The act of taking a live dove up to the temple to offer as a sacrifice would have been a very tangible reminder that there must be a payment for sin. Offering a lamb or a dove would drive home the truth that if I am to be forgiven of my sins, payment must be made. Something else must take my place and bear the punishment for me in order for my sin to be atoned for. The sacrifices of the Old Testament served to teach the Israelites the truth that “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22). But those sacrifices could not actually take away sins completely.

In order to completely pay for our sins and remove them forever, there had to be a much greater sacrifice—a representative for us, a perfect man, a willing sacrifice. And this is the beauty of the gospel, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a man and became a sacrifice for us. He was our representative, the perfect man, and a willing sacrifice. Without animal sacrifices to tangibly remind us of the cost of our sin, we are in danger of cheapening the cross. But his sacrifice was much greater than all the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament. This Sunday let the communion be a reminder of the sacrifice that was made for you—a sacrifice much greater than that of doves.

On a recent trip to Chicago, I made a brief stop at the University of Chicago’s campus in order to visit their Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures. I know that museums are not everyone’s cup of tea, but this one has an exhibit that is of great significance for Christians. The exhibit I am speaking of is a six-sided clay prism about 18 inches tall, commonly referred to as Sennacherib’s Prism. Inscribed on each side of this object are about 80 lines of miniscule writing. The writing on this artifact is a royal decree by the ancient Assyrian King Sennacherib in which he boastfully describes several of his military campaigns. If his name sounds familiar to you, that’s because we also read about Sennacherib in the Old Testament. Sennacherib’s prism is a well-preserved piece of history that confirms the reliability of the Old Testament. It provides corroboration that the events recorded in the Old Testament really did happen.

On the prism, Sennacherib recorded the following: “As for the king of Judah, Hezekiah, who had not submitted to my authority, I besieged and captured forty-six of his fortified cities, along with many smaller towns, taken in battle with my battering rams. … As for Hezekiah, I shut him up like a caged bird in his royal city of Jerusalem. I then constructed a series of fortresses around him, and I did not allow anyone to come out of the city gates.” (Column 3, Lines 18–30.) He also describes how he imposed a tribute upon King Hezekiah. Compare that with 2 Kings 18:13–17a: “In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. … And the king of Assyria sent [his officials] with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.”

Sennacherib conveniently omitted the fact that although he confined Hezekiah in Jerusalem like a caged bird, he never managed to take the city. That’s because the Lord was fighting for Jerusalem and decimated the Assyrian army (2 Kings 19), leaving Sennacherib to limp home with his tail between his legs. While my faith in the reliability of the Bible does not rest on the archaeological record, it is confirming to see that time after time, the archeological evidence does support the Bible. Sennacherib’s Prism is one of many such pieces of evidence showing that the Bible is historically reliable. The prism is also a tangible reminder that the things we read about in the Bible really happened in real places to real people with real fears and hopes and dreams, just like you and me.

If you’ve been waiting for a sign to visit church, this is it! Whether it would be your first time visiting a church or whether you already have lots of past experience with church, I want you to know that you are always welcome to join us for Bible class and Worship! I know that people have lots of different feelings and thoughts when they hear the word church. To some, it is a reminder of how people have failed them in the past. For others, it might bring to mind images of dusty cathedrals with stained-glass windows. Still others might be unsure of what church is even all about. I’d like to briefly share a few reflections on what makes the church so unique and why I think you should consider taking the time to learn more about the church and the message of Christianity.

First, in a world full of bad news, the church has good news. The good news is that because of Jesus Christ, our relationship with God can be restored and we can have hope. Second, in an age of isolation, the church has a place for you to belong. God created us for relationships—it’s part of what it means to be human! Although we are by no means perfect, the church becomes something like an extended family to belong to. Third, in contrast to the emptiness of the current secular worldview, the church has the solution to humanity’s greatest problem. Our greatest problem is that we have all committed moral crimes against a perfect and holy God. But Jesus is the answer!

I want to emphasize that the church has these things—good news, a place for you to belong, and the solution to humanity’s greatest problem—not because the people who go to church are better than other people but because God freely gives these things to those who believe in him and obey him. For all of these reasons and many more, I want to invite you to consider learning more about the message of Christianity. I invite you to do this not merely because I think it will benefit your life (although it will do that too, in many ways) but because I am convinced that Christianity is true, and that it is the key to our greatest need as humans and to making sense of the world we live in. I encourage you to approach Christianity with an open mind, to look at the evidence carefully, and to see for yourself whether the church does in fact have something that the whole world desperately needs.

Once again, I want to invite you to come join our church for Worship this coming Sunday at 11:00 am. I hope that you will see that the church is a special place, not because we are better than anyone else, but because God has given us hope and purpose in life, and we want you to have that, too. I hope that if you have any questions you will not hesitate to ask. We’d be glad to find a time to talk about any questions you have or to study the Bible more.