December 25, 2022, Christmas, A Sequence of Birth Narratives

Merry Christmas Eve!

I hope to see you tomorrow amidst all the hustle and bustle, freezing temperatures, and snow (this is more than we TX folk have seen in our whole life, and it's been here a long time).

What we want to do tomorrow is walk through the birth narratives of Jesus in chronological order. I'll make comments as we go through. I have taught all these texts before in verse-by-verse format, and they are a wealth of good information. I will try to highlight the most important and pertinent things. It is all very interesting how it transpired. There are so many doctrines that can be discussed along the way: God's love, God's providence, God's mercy, God's grace, God's promises, God's plan. There is soo much there is no way to cover it all! We will have eternity to unpack it.

Isn't it a great blessing that we are saved by the one who's name means "the Lord saves," so that we can celebrate Christmas for the reason it should be celebrated; to remember the great gift that God has given, His own Son who is the icon of His invisible nature, God in the flesh, who provides salvation past, present, and future, and the one in whom all the riches of wisdom and knowledge are hidden? There is simply no substitute for the reason for the season. .

See the attachment...

Also, many of you, out of appreciation, gave some financial gift to us this Christmas that will be received by us tomorrow. Your names will remain anonymous to us, but not forgotten by the LORD who said, "It is more blessed to give than receive." We are just glad that we can be here and minister spiritual things to you. You know that whatever you need I am always here for you to pray, to talk, to explain, or just to listen. Whatever it is that you gave, and even if you did not give, we want you to know that you are loved and appreciated. Every one of you are saved by grace, spiritually gifted, heirs of the eternal promises, and rich in spiritual things beyond all earthly treasure. What a blessing! You are our church family and we love you and pray for you and minister with you for His name's sake. We are also looking forward to what God does at SBC in 2023. Our emphasis will be on service and good works to the glory of God! In this way we will be fruitful for eternity.

Grace to you,
Jeremy

Attachment:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1STG4a3GUNouTloWYtRn0BiOjL8eTnFCt/view?usp=share_link