Biblical Text: Hebrews 1:1-12
With three sermons in 24 hours sometimes you pick a different text. That is what I did here. The Author of Hebrews explaining why we have the perfect gift in the Son.
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Biblical Text: Isaiah 52:7-10
This is a Christmas Day mediation coming from the Isaiah Text which has a very specific context behind it: the decisive battle of a War. Christmas Day is the day that the messenger appears on the mountain with a message. Victory is ours. The victory has been given to us. And what are the effects of that victory? What does the coming of the Lord to Zion bring? Comfort, Redemption, Peace. For all who might be feeling at the end of a war, this is the proclamation.
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The text is Isaiah 52:7-10. The picture is a messenger bringing news of the war, and then how that message spreads. It starts with one. The watchmen see it. Those who had no hope receive it. And the good news spreads to the ends of the earth. The zeal of the LORD of hosts has done this. God has become man today, so that we might become Sons of God. Blessings on you and on your Spirit, and may the peace of God rest in your hearts this Christmas.
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A meditation on the Hebrews 1:1-6 reading – the Word Spoken long ago in many ways, today made ours.
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Biblical Text: Isaiah 52:7-10
Full Sermon Draft
Christmas Day is always a smaller, more intimate time. Sometimes I wonder what it was like when that was not the case. But anyway, the sermon attempts to honor that. It is less a polished piece of rhetoric and more a personal message. An end to Christmas reflection for those who mostly have been on this church service tryptic (advent 4, Christmas Eve, Christmas day) in two days.
I’ve left in our opening hymn (A Great and Mighty Wonder) which the sermon owes a debt too, and our close, Away in a Manger. The simple invite to keep these things and ponder them in our hearts.
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Biblical Text: Isaiah 52:9
A prize goes to the first person who is able to identify the hymns referenced in the sermon. As to the Sermon, proclamation gives way to praise, especially when the mystery is so great.
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