Word Made Flesh 12/20/15 MVBC. In a world of fear, we also need to take note of the fear not s.

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1 1 Word Made Flesh 12/20/15 MVBC Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. In a world of fear, we also need to take note of the fear not s. In the Christmas narratives, there are several fear not s. 1. The fear not of salvation: And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings...which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10,11). 2. The fear not of the humanly impossible: Fear not, Mary, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: For with God nothing shall be impossible (Luke 1:30, 35, 37). 3. The fear not of unanswered prayer: Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John (Luke 1:13).

2 2 4. The fear not of immediate obedience: Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife. Then Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him (Matthew 1:20,24 NPS) Source unknown Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. A Politically Correct Christmas Poem Steven M. Sultanoff, Ph.D. Mirthologist and Clinical Psychologist Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck... How to live in a world that's politically correct? His workers no longer would answer to "Elves", "Vertically Challenged" they were calling themselves. And labor conditions at the North Pole, were alleged by the union, to stifle the soul. Four reindeer had vanished without much propriety, released to the wilds, by the Humane Society. And equal employment had made it quite clear, that Santa had better not use just reindeer. So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid, were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid!

3 3 The runners had been removed from his beautiful sleigh, because the ruts were deemed dangerous by the EPA, And millions of people were calling the Cops, when they heard sled noises upon their roof tops. Second-hand smoke from his pipe, had his workers quite frightened, and his fur trimmed red suit was called "unenlightened". To show you the strangeness of today's ebbs and flows, Rudolf was suing over unauthorized use of his nose. He went to Geraldo, in front of the Nation, demanding millions in over-due workers compensation. So...half of the reindeer were gone, and his wife who suddenly said she'd had enough of this life, joined a self help group, packed and left in a whiz, demanding from now on that her title was Ms. And as for gifts...why, he'd never had the notion that making a choice could cause such commotion. Nothing of leather, nothing of fur... Which meant nothing for him or nothing for her. Nothing to aim, Nothing to shoot, Nothing that clamored or made lots of noise. Nothing for just girls and nothing for just boys. Nothing that claimed to be gender specific, Nothing that's warlike or non-pacifistic. No candy or sweets...they were bad for the tooth. Nothing that seemed to embellish upon the truth. And fairy tales...while not yet forbidden, were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden, for they raised the hackles of those psychological, who claimed the only good gift was one ecological. No baseball, no football...someone might get hurt, besides - playing sports exposed kids to dirt. Dolls were said to be sexist and should be passé. and Nintendo would rot your entire brain away.

4 4 So Santa just stood there, disheveled and perplexed, he just couldn't figure out what to do next? He tried to be merry he tried to be gay, but you must have to admit he was having a very bad day. His sack was quite empty, it was flat on the ground, nothing fully acceptable was anywhere to be found. Something special was needed, a gift that he might, give to us all, without angering the left or the right. A gift that would satisfy - with no indecision, each group of people in every religion. Every race, every hue, everyone, everywhere...even you! So here is that gift, it's price beyond worth... "MAY YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES, ENJOY PEACE ON EARTH" No peace on earth Debate over Jesus being a 'revolutionary prophet' Spirited debate on Fox Searching for Jesus by Robert Hutchinson Evidence for a historical Jesus Arguments for a real Jesus Jesus was a prophet saying the world was coming to an end Jesus was a violent revolutionary Why are the Gospels a reliable source? Is Jesus really God? See what the scholars say.

5 5 What the Bible says about itself 2 Timothy 3:16 ESV All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, Romans 15:4 ESV For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Isaiah 40:8 ESV The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. 1. Look in the mirror (Ugh! I am showing it too: wrinkles, loss of height, age spots and varicose (As Nelson would say very close) veins. 2. Look at the planet 2 Peter 1:21 ESV For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 4:12 ESV For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 1 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. Deuteronomy 4:2 ESV You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. Psalm 119:105 ESV Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

6 6 John 5:39 ESV You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, Luke 8:11 ESV Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty (2 Peter 1:16). "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18). These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." (Luke 24:44). "But the soulish man receives not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him, and he is not able to know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (I Corinthians 2:14). Our soul (a combination of the body and spirit in man, Genesis 2:7, 1 Corinthians 15:45) is what gives us our consciousness and personality. It is our soul which is subject to judgment. Of course, the word nature is not used in the Bible as we use it today in common English to denote human nature. The word soulish best translates the Greek word psuchikos. It is the adjective of the noun soul which should always be translated from psuche. How else would anyone translate the adjective psuchikos except soulish? However, the word is translated with all-too-common KJV confusion as natural 4x and sensual 2x. Describing our nature as a soulish nature is very accurate. The following verse translations use the adjective natural or sensual but the Greek word is psuchikos,meaning soulish, derived directly from the root noun psuche or soul.

7 7 Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. These words were written by the prophet Isaiah more than 700 years before the birth of Jesus. WONDERFUL COUNSELOR This is an expectation of wisdom. MIGHTY GOD This is an expectation of power. EVERLASTING FATHER This is an expectation of care. PRINCE OF PEACE This is an expectation of wholeness. Prince is a leader, military commander or noble. Illustration: Peace Can Be Found in the Person of Christ One of America s greatest poets is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The year 1860 found Longfellow happy in his life, enjoying a widening recognition, and elated over the election of Abraham Lincoln which he believed signaled the triumph of freedom and redemption for the nation. The following year the Civil War began. On July 9, 1861 Longfellow s wife, Fanny, was near an open window sealing locks of her daughter s hair, using hot sealing wax. Suddenly her dress caught fire and engulfed her with flames. Her husband, sleeping in the next room, was awaked by her screams. As he desperately tried to put out the fire and save his wife, he was severely burned on his face and hands.

8 8 Fanny died the next day. Longfellow s severe burns would not even allow him to attend Fanny s funeral. His white beard, which so identified with him, was one of the results of the tragedy the burn scars on his face made shaving almost impossible. In his diary for Christmas day 1861 he wrote, How inexpressibly sad are the holidays. In 1862 the toll of war dead began to mount and in his diary for that year Longfellow wrote of Christmas, A merry Christmas say the children, but that is no more for me. In 1863 his son who had run away to join the Union army was severely wounded and returned home in December. There is no entry in Longfellow s diary for that Christmas. But on Christmas Day 1864 at age 57 Longfellow sat down to try to capture, if possible, the joy of the season. He began: I heard the bells on Christmas day. Their old familiar carols play, And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men. As he came to the third stanza, he was stopped by the thought of the condition of his beloved country. The Battle of Gettysburg was not long past.

9 9 Days looked dark, and he probably asked himself the question, How can I write about peace on earth, good will to men in this war-torn country, where brother fights against brother and father against son? But he kept writing and what did he write? And in despair I bowed my head: There is no peace on earth, I said, For hate is strong, and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to men. It seems as if he could have been writing for our kind of day. Then, as all of us should do, he turned his thoughts to the One who gives true and perfect peace, and continued writing: Then peeled the bells more loud and deep; God is not dead, nor doth he sleep! The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men.

10 10 And so there came into being that marvelous Christmas carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Humor: On August 22, 1879, a female admirer traveled to Longfellow's house in Cambridge and, unaware to whom she was speaking, asked Longfellow: "Is this the house where Longfellow was born?" Longfellow told her it was not. The visitor then asked if he had died here. "Not yet", he replied. FOR THE PERSON WHO HAS EVERYTHING Some gifts you can give this Christmas are beyond monetary value: Mend a quarrel, dismiss suspicion, tell someone, I love you. Give something away anonymously. Forgive someone who has treated you wrong. Turn away wrath with a soft answer. Visit someone in a nursing home. Apologize if you were wrong. Be especially kind to someone with whom you work.

11 11 Give as God gave to you in Christ, without obligation, or announcement, or reservation, or hypocrisy. SOURCE: C. Swindoll, Growing Strong, pp Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.