Christmas!

Luke 1:30-33

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of his father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.

  

AWANA Caroling

@ the Nursing Home

Past, Present and Future

Our speaker during Family Bible Hour was Mr Steve Modrzejewski. His message was based on Titus 2:

¹¹For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
 ¹²Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
 ¹³Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
 ¹⁴Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
 ¹⁵These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

The passage speaks of the Past, Present, and Future of the Christmas message-

• Past vs 11 -- the grace of God had appeared
• Present vs 12 -- the discipline, righteousness, godly living, change in attitude, and growth in sanctification that is now possible because of the message of salvation in Christ
• Future  vs 13 -- we can look forward to Christ's glorious and majestic return

Mr Modrzejewski's message, in full and in context, is available on DVD. Please see Romy.

Luke 1: 5-25

Our speaker during Family Bible Hour was Mr Steve Modrzejewski. His message was based on Luke 1:

⁵THERE was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

 ⁶And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

 ⁷And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

 ⁸And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,

 ⁹According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

 ¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

 ¹¹And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

 ¹²And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

 ¹³But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

 ¹⁴And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

 ¹⁵For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

 ¹⁶And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

 ¹⁷And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

 ¹⁸And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

 ¹⁹And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

 ²⁰And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

 ²¹And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.

 ²²And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.

 ²³And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

 ²⁴And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,

 ²⁵Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

From the above passage, we learn the following about God -

• He uses faithful, common people
• He "moves" when we are faithful
• He answers prayers
• He has a plan for us
• His timing is perfect
• and, He honors His Word

Mr Modrzejewski's message, in full and in context, is available on DVD. Please see Romy.