! “Peace – The Visit of the Magi” Theme: The Promise of Christmas Scripture: Ma.hew 2:1-12 Things I’d like to remember from today’s sermon _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________ Family/Community Ac8vity for the week – Read John 14:27. Jesus was a person of peace and desired for his followers to also be people of peace. Choose to spend some quiet Kme together with your family. Maybe you want to take a brief walk. You might each want to spend some Kme reading. Maybe you prefer listening to music. Encourage everyone to ask God to calm their hearts and to fill them with peace during their quiet Kme. Also ask each person to find a word or an item during the quiet Kme that will help him or her carry that peace every day. Share your experiences as a family and pray God’s peace for one another and for the world. Move towards beginning each day of the New Year asking God to help you be a person of peace. Medita8on Moments for Monday, December 25 – Read Luke 2:21-24. Mary and Joseph were devout Jews, and they followed the Jewish laws about their newborn son Jesus. We get a clue to the parents’ poverty in this story. LeviKcus 12:8 said the reason for offering “two turtledoves or two pigeons” was, “if the mother cannot afford a sheep.” It seems clear that they couldn’t. • Jesus’ parents took him to be circumcised eight days a[er birth, like other Hebrew boys. It was a sign that even as an infant he was one of God’s people. That model is one big reason we bapKze infants at First United Methodist Church—it’s a sign that the child is part of God’s family. Were you bapKzed when very young, at a later point in your life, or never? (If never, give it some thought. You can contact the church office to learn more about bapKsm.) How does belonging to God shape the way you live your life? • God had sent Gabriel directly to Mary and Joseph, saying their son was God’s promised Savior. Yet they came to the Temple like ordinary worshippers to offer their sacrifice. Are there any tradiKons or tasks that you’re tempted to feel “above” or “beyond”? How might our individualisKc culture blind us to the value of honoring pracKces that grow from the history of God at work in the family of faith? Sermon preached by Jeff Huber – December 23-24, 2017 Page !1 Prayer: God, some*mes I serve you in my own personal way. Some*mes I worship and act because this is the way your people have done things for centuries. Fill both kinds of service with power and meaning for me. Amen. Tuesday, December 26 – Read Luke 2:25-32. Joseph and Mary would have been strangers to most everyone in Jerusalem. It must have been unexpected, perhaps even a bit alarming, when elderly Simeon first approached them. But in the busy Temple court, where others saw only a poor couple with a baby, Simeon, “led by the Spirit,” recognized their child. By staying open to God’s inner nudges, Simeon had the honor of holding the infant Savior he had waited for so long. • Simeon’s words of praise echoed Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6, which said “the servant of the Lord” would be a light to the GenKles. At a Kme when many of Jesus' followers struggled to accept GenKles (cf. Acts 11:2-3, 15:1-5), what qualiKes do you think allowed Simeon to see and accept Isaiah’s far-reaching vision? How can you stay open to God’s message and mission, even when it stretches your comfort zone? • If you’ve ever been a parent, or been around new parents, you know how insKncKvely protecKve of their infant’s mothers can be. Luke wasn’t just recording an everyday happening when he wrote that “Simeon took Jesus in his arms.” What do you think Mary must have seen in Simeon’s face, or heard in his voice, that led her to trust this elderly stranger to hold her precious baby? Prayer: Jesus, what a precious scene—an aged follower of yours welcoming you to earth when you were a *ny baby. Give me the spiritual eyes and heart to welcome you in whatever ways you come into my life. Amen. Wednesday, December 27 – Read Luke 2:33-38. The elderly Simeon was full of joy that the Savior had arrived. But he was percepKve, too, and he warned Mary that there were powerful people who would resist even a Savior sent from God. Another elderly saint, Anna, “approached at that very moment and began to praise God.” • Simeon warned Mary that she would see many reject Jesus, that pain like a sword would pierce her heart. We can only wonder if she may have remembered his words as she wept at the foot of Jesus' cross. What helps you trust God and live out God’s purposes when it’s not easy or popular? When has following God brought you pain, as well as posiKve benefits? • Luke called Anna a prophet (verse 36). “Prophet” meant not so much one who tells the future as one who sees present spiritual realiKes clearly and speaks for God. When has “confirmaKon from the body of Christ” (the kind Simeon and Anna gave Joseph and Mary) given you the courage to move forward? When have you been able to encourage another Christ-follower? Prayer: Lord Jesus, just a baby in a Temple—and yet, just to get there, you were hurling yourself into a dark, dangerous world. And you did it to rescue and redeem me from that broken world—thank you. Amen Thursday, December 28 – Read Philippians 3:3-9. As a New Year approaches, it’s natural for most of us to take stock of our life, reviewing where we’ve been and looking ahead to where we hope to go. In Philippians, the apostle Paul looked over his life and said that, in the past, he had human “credenKals” that could match the best, a promising career as a member of the Jewish ruling council. But he’d wri.en off all those “assets” in order to know Christ and live in his gi[ of righteousness. • Review Paul’s list of “assets” in verses 5 and 6. What might be some modern equivalents to which we’d be tempted to lay claim, in church, in business, in the academic world, or in any other area of acKvity? What heart issues could turn these outward badges of service and achievement into things we’d need to discard to serve Christ wholeheartedly? • “In Christ,” Paul wrote, “I have a righteousness that is not my own and that does not come from the Law but rather from the faithfulness of Christ. It is the righteousness of God that is based on faith.” Is whatever righteousness you believe you have “your own,” or does your confidence rest fully on God’s gracious gi[ of divine • Read Philippians 13:10-17. In these words, the apostle Paul tesKfied about how he kept reaching to grow into all God called him to be. The Message version of the Bible says, “I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. – I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.” Sermon preached by Jeff Huber – December 23-24, 2017 Page !2 • In verse 13, Paul shared an essenKal truth in pursuing God's goals: "I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me." The process of growing spiritually focuses on what is to come, not what lies behind. Are you leng anything from your past define you in the present? If so, ask God to help you let it go. Focus your energy on the year ahead, not the things (bad or good) in the past. • Scholar William Barclay said Paul’s word for reaching out, “is used of a racer going hard for the tape. It describes him with eyes for nothing but the goal. It describes the man who is going flat out for the finish.” In 2018, how can you live your life in such a way that you, too, are going flat out for the goal of living the life God calls you to? What choices can you make in the New Year that will empower you to run God’s race with eyes for nothing but the prize? Prayer: Lord Jesus, make it true of me this year that, “the goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus.” Keep my eyes on the prize of the ul*mate goal of life in your kingdom. Amen. Saturday, December 30 – Read RevelaKon 21:1-6. We typically value the fresh start a New Year brings. But even as we celebrate the New Year, we are aware that each human year also brings some disappointments and pain. In those moments, we can remember that the Bible’s grand story ends in Paradise restored. Images drawn from the prophet Isaiah (especially chapters 28 and 65) pictured the world as God meant it to be, with no pain, suffering or death.