Crossroads

I recently received an email that directed me to a document created by Donald Whitney that provided some questions to start a conversation at a Christmas gathering. No doubt many of you will be spending Christmas with family, relatives, friends, etc. and will have opportunities to interact with unbelievers. Here are some simple questions from Dr. Whitney that may help us in starting a meaningful spiritual conversations:

1. What is the best thing that’s happened to you since last Christmas?
2. What was your best Christmas ever? Why?
3. What’s the most meaningful Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
4. What’s the most appreciated Christmas gift you’ve ever given?
5. What was your favorite Christmas tradition as a child?
6. What is your favorite Christmas tradition now?
7. What do you do to try to keep Christ in Christmas?
8. Why do you think people started celebrating the birth of Jesus?
9. Do you think the birth of Jesus deserves such a nearly worldwide celebration?
10. Why do you think Jesus came to earth?
    

Recently our pastoral team had an opportunity to take a field trip to the Sackler Gallery in DC to see an exhibition called In the Beginning: Bibles Before The Year 1000. They are now displaying some of the oldest copied manuscripts of the Bible in existence. Some of them are dated from earlier than 200 CE. Scholors have argued that some of these manuscripts might have been copied by people who knew the apostles! It was quite an experience to see these pages of the Bible from hundreds of years ago and think that people back then were reading the same words that we have in our Bibles today. I was amazed to see how God has preserved His Word over the centuries and also grateful to Him for His kindness in doing that so sinners like us can come to know Him.

Jeff Purswell, Dean of the Pastors College, said, "This is NOT simply another exhibit—it’s the real deal, and no doubt the only time you’d ever have the opportunity to see a collection like this…so I definitely encourage everyone to go." This may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So go and see this amazing exhibit! It ends on January 7, 2007. 

I normally would hesitate to recommend a movie publicly, but this one I highly recommend. No, it’s not Rocky Balboa. (I haven’t seen it…) It’s The Nativity Story. This movie hasn’t really been talked about a lot, but I thought it was a faithful-to-the-Bible depiction of the birth of Christ and surrounding events, although some scenes are invented for cinematic quality. Tears welled up at one point as I saw the birth of Christ in such a lowly place, thinking it was to save sinners like me that the infinite God became a man. What an extravagant display of divine love! Read the accounts of the birth of Christ in Matthew and Luke and see the movie if you have time. I trust it will assist you in glorying in God’s love as we celebrate this season.

Last night our senior pastor Mark Mullery taught us at our Crossroads meeting on the topic of hermeneutics - how to interpret the Bible. He gave us three simple questions that we can ask every time we open the Bible in order for us to understand God’s Word better:

1. What is the original author’s intended meaning?
2. What is the genre?
3. Where is Christ?

To answer the third question, we can ask more questions like:

• How does this passage connect to the overall storyline of the Bible?
• How does this passage reveal man’s need for a Savior?
• How does this passage reveal God’s disposition to provide a Savior?
• How does this passage predict, point to, or reflect on Jesus Christ?

As we start asking these questions when we read our Bibles, I trust it will help us understand that the whole Bible is about the story of God’s redemption of man through Jesus Christ. And as we see Jesus Christ everywhere in the Bible, it will help us to be more amazed by God’s plan of salvation. If you missed the message I encougage you to get the message here.

We have our monthly Crossroads meeting this Thursday. I know some of you are busy with your finals, etc., but you really don’t want to miss this one because Mark Mullery is coming to teach us! We are now back to our series on the Word, and Mark will be giving a message on how to interpret the Bible accurately titled, The Word: "What Do We Do With It? As we apply this message I trust this message will help us read our Bibles better and know our Savior better. So come out on Thursday night to worship God and learn how to know Him better…

From Created for Worship by Noel Due:

"…men and women are shaped morally by the objects they worship. Worship is not a static event, but a dynamic one. Engaging in false worship actually has an impact on the worshipper. To engage in idolatry affects the moral and spiritual condition of a person, or a nation. The character of the idol is borne in upon the soul of the society as much as it is borne in upon the soul of the individual.

Psalm 115:8: "Those who make [idols] become like them; so do all who trust in them."