Wednesday 10 December 2014

Christmas with a king #jesus #nativity #homegroup


We are just 2 weeks from Christmas now, so tonight I thought we could again think about the true meaning of Christmas and especially about what it was like for the wise men who journeyed following a star to visit the new born king.

Matthew 2:1-12  (CEV)
The Wise Men
When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and said, “Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem.  Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?”

They told him, “He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote,
’Bethlehem in the land of Judea,
you are very important among the towns of Judea.
From your town will come a leader,
who will be like a shepherd for my people Israel.’”

Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star.  He told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I want to go and worship him too.”

The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.   They were thrilled and excited to see the star.

When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshipped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and gave them to him.   Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.

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1. Who were these wise men?
They came from the east, probably from persia or babylon or through the arabian desert; they were men who examined the skies and knew the movements of the stars.

2.  Why were these foreigners chosen?
It matters that Jesus was visited by foreigners, by people outside of his Jewish faith.  This is a sign of his coming for everyone across the globe.  It also matters because the wise men saw something different, something unexpected and they knew that this was a sign which they had to follow; this was the bringing of people from across the world to Jesus.

3. What does it mean that Jesus is a King?
We might think of Jesus the baby, the gift to the world.
We might think of Jesus the teacher, telling us how to live.
We might think of Jesus the resurrected, forgiving us all our sins.
But we also need to remember that Jesus is our King; the King for all who rules us and guides us and leads us in our lives.

4.  How can we accept Jesus as our ruler and king?
How can we live with this idea of being ruled and led this christmas?
Does this make our christmas celebrations mean something different?

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Prayer
Let us hand over to Jesus all our worries about Christmas as it approaches at full speed.  Let us ask him to still our minds and quiet our hearts and know that Christmas is about love and celebration that Jesus is our king born to be with us always no matter what terrifying circumstances we might find ourselves in.

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