Pastor’s Corner December 2005

The following was published in our monthly newsletter, the Redeemer Report.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Luke 1:26-33

I had planned to keep preaching through the book of Hebrews during the Advent season. When I mentioned this to the elders at our last Session meeting, the brothers encouraged me to consider doing an Advent series. To be honest, I really didn’t want to. It’s not because I’m Ebenezer Scrooge that I objected, but rather I don’t really like topical sermons and I find it difficult to prepare them, especially on a subject that has had so much taught about it- like Advent. What could I say that you haven’t heard? As I was pouting internally, I realized how beneficial such a study could really be for us at Redeemer. After our meeting as I started praying about what the series should look like, I found myself returning again and again to the great hymns written concerning the subject of Christmas. I have decided to use 5 of my favorite Advent hymns (preacher’s prerogative) to guide the sermon content for the Advent season. In these sermons, I will teach a bit of the hymn’s story, analyze the lyrical content to see its biblical depth, and try to make some modern applications regarding the deep
theological and spiritual truths proclaimed by the hymns. The hymns I will cover are: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, What Child is This? (Christmas Eve), and Joy to the World ! (Christmas Day). Pray for me as I prepare. If I do a poor job—blame the elders! Ha ha!

When we worship God, our ideas about God are formed by the Scriptures we hear and study as well as the songs and hymns we sing. Many of us can sing parts of all of our favorite
Christmas Carols from memory. Because we remember the words, these carols and songs have greatly helped build our faith. For 5 sermons, we are going to learn about a few of our
favorite Christmas hymns. We will learn about them because they help us to express our joy and hope which comes to us in Jesus Christ. These songs teach us about the mystery and wonder of child born to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Come prepared each Lord’s Day to lift your voice in joyous celebration, remembering the One who was born in a manger to die on a cross to be resurrected on the third day, who ascended into heaven and even this day makes intercession for us. He will come again, to take His own to be with Him and His Father forever.

The Elders were right—an Advent series will be good for all of us!

In the Lamb,
Pastor Tony Felich