CCC Gainesville | Blog
Sunday Isaiah 9:6-7 Theme: A Son is Given
These verses help us understand just how glorious Jesus is. He is a “Wonderful-Counselor.” People who heard Jesus teach often marveled because he was so wise and understood every- thing. He is also called “Mighty God” – even though Jesus was fully human, was born and grew up just like you and me, he was also fully God! So Jesus is greater than we can ever even imagine! He is also called the “Prince of Peace.” Peace is a word in the Bible that refers to everything being the way it is supposed to be. Jesus makes things right between God and us by dying for our sins and rising again from the dead, and he promises to make everything right when he comes again a second time – to bring peace. Can you think of some things that are not good in the world, or in your life, or in the lives of people you know (e.g. people who are suffering, grieving, sick, or who do not believe in Jesus)? Pray to Jesus and ask him to work to change those things, and remember: he is the Wonderful-Counselor, Mighty God, Ev- erlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.
Theme: God Keeps His Promises to Deliver Us
God promised his people a special land to live in, and promised to deliver them from sin. But their sin led them into being taken captive as slaves in Egypt. However, God was faithful, and when they were cornered against the sea, he simply parted the sea so they could escape! Then he brought the sea down on top of the evil people who wanted to hurt God’s people. This shows us that God keeps his promises to deliver us. And as wonderful as this story is, it is even more wonderful to think of all the people Jesus saved when he passed through death and rose again to save us all! Do you think that we can trust Jesus to come back and deliver us from sin once and for all? Thank him for his promise to bring us safely to the promised new world he is making for us.
Sunday, we’ll celebrate Holy Communion together and continue our meditation upon Mary’s song as it comes to us in the gospel of Luke. “Mary is all heart! Evidently her soul is on fire! While she muses, the fire burns. Then she speaks with her tongue. May we, too, call home our wandering thoughts and wake up our slumbering powers to praise redeeming love. It is a noble word that she uses here—”My soul does magnify the Lord.” I suppose it means, “My soul does endeavor to make God great by praising Him.” He is as great as He can be in His Being—my goodness cannot extend to Him. But yet my soul would make God greater in the thoughts of others and greater in my own heart.” –Charles Spurgeon
Theme: God Wants to Call Many People into His Family
God called Abram to move all the way across his world! Have you ever moved? God wanted Abram to trust him, and come to a land just for God’s people. Abraham believed God, and God gave him what he promised. Even more — he said, “I’ll give you more children to share this land than you can count, more than the stars.” Look at the stars; how many are there? Well, the New Testament tells us that ultimately this promise is fulfilled in Jesus. He will come back some day to the world God has promised him, and all those who believe in him will live in a new creation. Can you imagine what perfect a world would look like? Would you be willing to move to live in it, like Abraham did? Thank God for his wonderful invitation to live in the new world he is going to bring when Jesus comes back, and thank him that he wants billions and billions of people to be there with us!
