The Christmas Story, Part II - Isaiah 40:1-8

By Amber Bruce

This is the second week in our Advent series. Last week’s theme was anticipation – looking at the prophecies throughout the Old Testament that anticipate the coming Savior. This week’s theme is preparation, looking at Isaiah 40:1-8 which heralds the coming King and shows us how to prepare for His arrival.

1. What are some things you do to get ready for company?

This is an opener, which gives everyone a chance to speak up at the beginning of the discussion and to set a tone where everyone feels comfortable sharing. It also connects loosely with the theme of “getting ready,” as Pastor Dave illustrated at the beginning of his sermon.

2. After listening to the sermon, do you have any new questions or insights?

3. Read Isaiah 40:1-8 and review the following:

a. What did “double for all her sins” mean to the original audience?

When we hear this phrase, it seems like it would mean that they got double punishment for their sins, which doesn’t fit our sense of God’s justice at all. But to the original audience, this more likely had a far different interpretation: it either meant that the debt certificate had been folded over “double” or had been covered over “double.” In either case, rather than meaning the punishment is doubled, this phrase means the sins have been forgiven.

b. What’s the big idea for each of the three main parts?

This is just a review of the overall sermon. The first part (Is 40:1-2) Pastor Dave labeled “Realize.” The second part (Is 40:3-5), “Get Ready.” And the third part (Is 40:6-8), “Rebuild.” Review what each term means and how you can see that in the text.

c. Who is speaking in each part?

Pastor Dave suggested that the three speakers are likely the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son, in that order.

d. What are the two meanings of “Word of God”?

Word of God refers to both Jesus (John 1:1-7) and the Bible.

4. Sing or listen to “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” together. We suggest you use this lyric video on YouTube. How have you experienced the “comfort and joy” God promises for you? If you’re not fully experiencing it, what’s in the way?

Put into modern prose, the first verse and chorus of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen mean:

“People of God, rest in God’s joy. Don’t be upset or anxious by anything because Jesus Christ, who is our Savior, was born to save us all from the power of Satan. We were like a flock of foolish, dirty sheep who had wandered away from their shepherd, but God came down as a human to seek us out and save us from evil and bring us back to safe pastures.

This is good news. This brings joy and comfort that lasts.”

We experience this comfort and joy by trusting in God (Matt 11:28-30), obedience (John 15:9-11), prayer (Phil 4:6-7), and the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:14-16). Dave Dawson’s sermon on “God’s Rest” at the beginning of November is a good reminder of how we experience this comfort and joy. See the sermon questions post here, and the audio, video and outline here.

5. Read Isaiah 40:3-5 again.

a. What did it mean to the original audience to “prepare the way” for a king’s arrival?

Recall Pastor Dave’s explanation of preparing smooth roads on which a king’s carriage could travel comfortably (without shocks!).

b. What could be some low places, high places, crooked paths, or rough places in people’s hearts?

The ESV Study Bible Note on Isaiah 40:4 has a helpful insight:

“These are metaphors—based on the rough terrain as one approaches Jerusalem from the east—for personal repentance and social reformation, remaking the world as a place fit for the coming King.”

For the aspect of personal repentance, Pastor Dave suggested low places could be lies we believe about who were are, that we are worthless, pond scum, that God doesn’t love us, that what we have done is too bad for God to forgive; high places could be our pride, that we are the center of the universe, that it’s all about us, that others are not as worthwhile as us, that we know better than the Lord, that we don’t need His help; crooked places could be lying, immorality, dishonesty; and rough places could be inappropriate language, corrupt thought life, lack of compassion and mercy toward others, unloving attitudes.

For the aspect of social reformation, valleys lifted up and mountains brought low remind us of the many promises that God is the one who lifts up the humble and brings low the proud (Luke 1:52; Ps 113:7-8; 1 Cor 1:27-31). This reminds us to not only be humble so that God will lift us up (1 Pet 5:6), but also to show special favor on God’s behalf to the fatherless, the single mothers, the poor, and the immigrant (Zech 7:10, Deut 10:18).

c. How can you apply this to your life?

6. Read 1 Peter 1:23-25.

This is a parallel passage to Isaiah 40:6-8, and quotes part of our text in Isaiah. Keep that in mind as you discuss the following.

a. What are some earthly things we might build our lives on?

We can all think of tempting examples: career, success, family, marriage, relationships, etc.

b. Why would we want to build our lives on the Word of God rather than earthly things?

The problem with earthly things is that they don’t last. No matter how much of our lives we pour into them, they will all fade away (Is 40:7). But God’s Word stands forever, and God Himself is eternal and unchanging (Heb 13:8).

c. How does one build their life on the Word of God?

Matt 7:24 answers this question: hear and obey the words of Jesus. Be careful not to let this become a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” answer. The first obedience to the words of Jesus is faith (Rom 1:5), and that faith produces obedience (Rom 1:17; Eph 2:8-10) by the power of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:16).

d. How does this challenge you?

7. Do you have a Bible reading plan for 2015? If not, take time in the next few weeks to form one.

There are lots of options to help you be in the Word regularly. The Navigators have a Book-at-a-Time Bible Reading Plan and a 5x5x5 Reading Plan. YouVersion has hundreds of options. Any bible reading app has several options to help you read and track. There will also be One Year Bibles available to purchase in the Richland Campus foyer on 12/21.

Special Parent’s Post: All About Santa

By Amber Bruce

So you want to keep Christmas about Jesus. About sin and grace and the glorious King of the Universe coming to earth as a humble baby born in a barn.

But then Santa shows up. At every Christmas party. At the mall. On television specials. In your kids’ conversation about what they hope to get.

And the question you keep asking yourself is:

What do you do with Santa?

Every parent has to answer this question at some point. Whether you wrestle through it deliberately, or just go with the flow, your actions become your answer.

We have a few suggestions to help you on your way to an answer for your family. You might want to start with some history about Santa Claus, and his origins in the life of St. Nicholas – a real-life bishop who exemplified the spirit of gracious giving. The article linked about is quite long, but has a lot of interesting information worth reading.

We highly recommend that your whole family take 45 minutes to watch Why Do They Call It Christmas? together on RightNowMedia. This fun, engaging video teaches the origins of many of our Christmas traditions, including Santa, Christmas trees, and even the name Christmas. You’ll probably learn as much as your kids do. I did!

Once you’re armed with background info on the origins and history of Santa, you’re ready think through the pros and cons of including Santa in your family traditions. This article from Keri Wyatt Kent in Christianity Today makes a good point about refusing to give into the way of thinking that vilifies Santa, but appreciating the history of St. Nicholas, the wonder of imagination and myth, and the positive ways Santa can be used to show grace through gift-giving to your children.

On the other hand, in this article from The Gospel-Centered Mom, Sarah Wallace provides several cautions on the myth of Santa: 1) That Santa promotes works righteousness (He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness’ sake!). 2) Santa blurs the line between fact and fantasy. 3) Santa is a type of god (He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake! He has the power to provide presents to children all over the world in a single night). 4) It’s hard to compete with Santa.

So putting all that together, what do you come up with? It will look different for every family. In our family, we watch Why Do They Call It Christmas? at least once a year. When we talk about Santa, we tell our kids that he is really St. Nicholas, who lived long ago and gave gifts to those in need. We tell them that it’s fun to pretend to be St. Nicholas and give gifts to others on Christmas. We even read and watch stories about Santa and reindeer and elves, and let our kids sit on his lap (if they want!) at Christmas parties.

But the focal point of Christmas in our family is definitely THE Christmas Story. I’ve already shared how we’ve been reading in The Jesus Storybook Bible throughout December and how our floor-banging liturgy is a highlight of the season.

You can’t just ignore Santa.

If you do, your kids will get the wrong message about the “true meaning’ of Christmas.

But as long as you don’t vilify Santa or let him detract from Jesus and grace, whatever you choose in your family can make for lasting memories and traditions that bring you all closer together and closer to Christ.

What do you do about Santa? Share in the comments below!

10-Day Liturgy for Families

By Amber Bruce

Death. Despair. Doom.

What do these have to do with Christmas? In a sense, they are the reason for the season.

We don’t like to focus on them. We’d rather go straight from Thanksgiving to Christmas, from grateful feasting to lights and music and presents.

But if we skip the darkness, we miss the effect of the light.

It is in the midst of this darkness that we celebrate Light. As we anticipate Christmas – the light, the love, the joy, the peace – we must not forget the reason that Jesus’ birth was so necessary, so longed-for, so welcome, and so glorious. Jesus came to bring light to a dark world.

So how can we imbue our children with these concepts of longing for a Savior and light contrasted with darkness?

A friend recommended this “floor-banging liturgy” to our family several years ago, and it has become one of our favorite traditions. It begins 10 days before Christmas. We look forward to the coming Savior through the eyes of Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, and the prophets. We sing a verse of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” that fits with that night’s theme, while keeping time with sanitized turkey bones.* It uses all five senses, with candles, sand, vinegar, keeping the rhythm, and a tiny taste of chocolate!

We have used this liturgy for the past five years. We used an abridged version the first few years when our oldest children were preschool-aged. Now that we have a couple adept readers, we use the full version, giving each of them a chance to read some of the lines.

*The author of the liturgy uses wooden dowels to imitate bones, but I thought the imagery would be lost on my young children. I suppose having worked designing orthopedic surgical tools, and having to handle human bones in that capacity, has inured me to the idea of using real bones. So one year, I took our Thanksgiving turkey bones and made broth, then cleaned the bones to use for this liturgy. However, I have learned to keep them in a box or in a back room because my neighbor was quite startled to see a pile of bones sitting on our side table last year!