κήρυξον τὸν λόγον

It all happened so quickly. The trip to Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, the angels , the shepherds , the start . Then after a short time, the Magi , who like the shepherds before them, fell down on their faces to worship the baby Jesus ... the Lord of all creation, the promised Messiah, Israel’s King of Kings, our Immanuel.  But as they say, all good things must come to an end.  The angel of the Lord appeared again in a dream and warned the Magi to return to their homes without going back to Herod. Now when they had departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet ...  OUT OF EGYPT, AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME, GOD CALL...

And when the days of their purification were to be fulfilled according to the Law of Moses, they brought him into Jerusalem to stand him before the Lord ... and to give a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”  If I didn’t know better, I might gloss right over this. So Let me paint a picture for you. There is no small detail here.  This place is huge. ... 2,000 years ago, Jerusalem was a hustling-and-bustling city with nearly 80,000 people. The Jewish historian Josephus estimated there were 6,000 Pharisees. The temple complex Herod built was about the size of nine city blocks here in Appleton City. I am talking about from Hickory to Beech and Main to First Streets. There are people coming and going to offer their sacrifices. There are merchants lined up selling their animals for the sacrifices. There are priests going to and fro performing their religious duties. Members of the Sanhedrin are gathering along ...

It’s no surprise to find God “in the beginning.” At the beginning of Genesis, at the beginning of John, at the beginning of creation ... We hear about God.  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. This was the beginning. Apart from this there was no other beginning, for God didn’t begin to be ... he is eternal. Thus it follows that the word is eternal because it didn’t begin in the beginning but was already in the beginning as our Gospel for this beautiful Christmas Day declares.  In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The word is uncreated, infinite, and eternal. He’s always been, and he always will be. He was in the beginning . And He always will be.  If it were any other way, well, he wouldn’t be God, now would he?  Everything else ... everything that is not God, whether visible or invisible ... is part of God’s creation. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1). He created everything ...

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother, Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:  “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. One name, ...