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North Street Christian Church is a place that loves the Word of God! We focus on verse by verse exposition of the text, aiming for the sanctification of the saints (John 17:7). God is the author of salvation and God explains it better than anyone else ever could throughout scripture. So open a Bible and let’s understand it correctly, aiming for the author’s intent as we study something that will stand forever (Isaiah 40:8).

Merry Christmas! With December 25 happening this week, I wanted to remind you of the appropriate response to Christmas. Luke in his gospel, gives us a repeated response by the different characters in this historical event. ~ Luke 1:29-45 -Elizabeth’s response to Christmas is to worship. ~ Luke 1:46-55 -Mary’s response to Christmas is to worship. ~ Luke 1:68-75 -Zachariah’s response to Christmas is to worship. ~ Luke 2:10-14 -The Angel’s response to Christmas is to worship. ~Luke 2:20 -The shepherd’s response to Christmas is to worship. ~Luke 2:28 -Simeon’s response to Christmas is to worship. ~ Luke 2:38 -Anna’s response to Christmas is to worship. As you can see, our response to God giving us Christ to save us from our sin needs to be true worship. You should have a Godward focus. Our society has turned Christmas into something that is all about us. For the Christian, Christmas is to be a season of overwhelming thankfulness that bursts out of us in true worship. God created us to worship Him. Your worship is a response to His saving work. So, get your focus off of self, keep your focus on Jesus Christ, and rejoice in God our savior.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. Hebrews 2:14-15The preceding text is a great New Testament passage for Christmas. While it might not be one of the passages that first enters your mind when you think of this season, it is certainly a Christmas text. This passage tells us first that Jesus became human because we are human. Christ came to save humans. He didn’t take the form of something else because he took the form of what he came to save, humans. Second, we learn that he because human so he might die. He came to seek and save lost humans. He became a human, so he could die for humans. this sacrificial death is why Christmas happened. Third, in his humanity he dies, therefore He destroys the devil. When Christ was crucified He destroyed the devil’s weapon of death. Christ destroyed the devil’s accurate accusation against us which was deserving of death. Fourthly from this text, Christ became human to free us from the slavery of fear that death produced. Death isn’t scary when we know the resurrected savior. Believers can look at death and know it has no sting because of what the God-Man accomplished.

Christmas is a great time of year. People have traditions that they love, families come together, and lots of great food is enjoyed. But perhaps one of the strangest customs of this season is the Christmas tree. Have you ever stopped to think about the idea of going out into the cold, killing a tree, then dragging it into your house where it makes a mess and continues to rot away? The Christmas tree has become a fun part of this holiday for families all over the world. The Christmas tree finds its roots in the pagan celebration of Saturnalia. Saturnalia was the celebration of the sun continuing to shine. When winter comes the amount of time that is bright from the sun gets shorter. As the light seemed to come in shorter and shorter stretches, what would happen when it went out completely? The light didn’t go out completely, it hits a certain point and the days begin to increase the amount of light provided. This recognition that the sun was unconquered and the light would still shine was celebrated at Saturnalia. December 19-25 was the seven-day celebration because that’s the week the days stop getting shorter and start getting longer. During this festival, they would exchange and decorate their homes with green trees. Evergreens don’t lose their color. In the darkest week of the year, they would add color to their homes. It is from this pagan celebration that we get the date of December 25, as well as our tradition to bring a tree into our home. While these things may have started as a pagan holiday, Christmas and its traditions can be an amazing celebration of redemption. Christ came that we might have life and have it abundantly. So, kill a tree and celebrate the redeemer that was born to seek and save the lost.

The Bible is full of verses encouraging us to be thankful. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. God’s will for you is to be thankful; “in everything!” No matter what your circumstance is, no matter what trial you are facing, we are to be thankful. God can orchestrate every event in our lives for our benefit.

We are headed into the week where social media will be littered with people proclaiming that they are thankful. As I scroll through posts or hear conversations I can’t help but wonder to whom some of these people are thankful. True thankfulness is more than delighting in something, it’s gratitude toward a giver. It always concusses me when an atheist says they are thankful. In 2 Corinthians 4:15, it says “it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God.” The Greek word for grace in that passage is CHARIS. The Greek word for thankfulness is EUCHARIS-TIAN. You can’t get the word euCHARIStian without the word charis. You see thanksgiving is derived from grace and grace is a gift from God. When God graciously transforms one’s life, the only appropriate response is worship through thankfulness. But we are not thankful to our salvation, we are thankful for our salvation. Be thankful, but make sure your thanks are directed towards the Lord God. PSALM 107:1 ~ Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever!!!

Psalm 107 is my favorite chapter in the Bible for Thanksgiving. That chapter gives us four pictures of
salvation, and every time it wraps the picture up with this repeated line – “O, that men would give thanks
to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men.” Thankfulness is a
necessity of the redeemed because it’s God who redeemed you. Man can’t save themselves. This chapter
paints the picture of a desert wanderer, a bound prisoner, a sick dying man, and a shipwrecked crew, all
of those need to be saved. They can’t save themselves and it’s God who saves them, not because they
did anything to deserve it, simply because He is God and He chooses to. The redeemed have no other
option but to be thankful. Rejoice in the sovereign God who saves.

Last Sunday, October 31, was the celebration of Reformation Day. This is the remembering of the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Catholic church in Wittenberg Germany. To appreciate that history, one needs to know a little background that can be an encouragement to us today. Martin Luther was in law school, and on July 2, 1505, he got caught in a storm and lightning struck right next to him. This event scared him so much that he promised to become a Monk if he could get out of the storm alive. Luther kept his word and at age 21 became an Augustinian monk. The story goes that asLuther lived as a monk, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was a sinner before Holy God. By the time Luther was 28, he hadreceived a doctorate in theology and was placed in charge of biblical theology at the University of Wittenberg. Through studying, teaching, and meditating on scripture, Luther came to understand the idea of saving faith. God’s righteousness wasn’t a burden to sinful man when man through faith receives God’s righteousness. From then on, Luther was obsessed with scripture. He studied it, stood upon it as his foundation, and used it to address the issues with the system of Catholicism thathe was in. He was convinced that God’s word comes not through a bishop, not through a pope, but through the written word of the Bible. Today, my encouragement to you is to stand on the same foundation of the written word of God. False teachers are everywhere. Self-proclaimed messengers who spread false doctrine are easy to find. We as a church need to step away from tradition and familiarity and make every decision based on the written word of God. Psalm 119:130 -“The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.”

Are they saved? This is the first question we ask for everyone that walks through the doors of North Street Christian Church. We aren’t here to make people comfortable, we want to show people how desperately they need Jesus Christ. If someone is not a Christian we go into evangelism mode and this is our goal with that individual. If that person is saved, we move on to step 2: How am I helping them continue to be sanctified? Becoming like Jesus is an ongoing process. We use weekly Bible studies and various gatherings to get opportunities to teach scripture. Sanctification is the work of the Holy spirit in a believers life, and the Holy Spirit works through the Word. The more we can properly teach Scripture, the more growth we will see from believers. Maturing believers are to be serving believers! When one is saved by God, they are gifted by God. Ephesians 4:7-16 helps us see that the church is to function as a body, with each member doing their part. We want to see believers using their God given gift to be the church.

The beginning of Psalm 27:14 tells us to “wait for the Lord.” As I recently read that I was convicted of my tendency to go. Going for God is something I often pride myself in. Marching forward is good, but what about the times where we are to stand still. As one tries to serve the Lord in this life there will be seasons of frustration. Wait for the Lord. In dilemmas that will come, humbly wait for the Lord. Whether one is be-tween assignments, dealing with the foolishness of man, or stuck in a situation that seems impossible, in qui-et patience wait for the Lord. Though these seasons of waiting can seem long, wait in confidence that He is sovereign and He will come at just the right time. He always comes at just the right time.