Chapel Service December 3, 2013. Worship Worship Team.

transcript

Chapel Service

December 3, 2013

Worship

Worship Team

OPEN THE EYES OF MY HEART

Open the eyes of my heart, LordOpen the eyes of my heartI want to see YouI want to see You

To see You high and lifted upShinin' in the light of Your gloryPour out Your power and loveAs we sing holy, holy, holy

Holy, holy, holyWe cry holy, holy, holyYou are holy, holy, holyI want to see you

Holy, holy, holyHoly, holy, holyYou are holy, holy, holyI want to see you

YOU ARE MY ALL IN ALL

You are my strength when I am weakYou are the treasure that I seekYou are my all in all

Seeking You as a precious jewelLord, to give up I'd be a foolYou are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of GodWorthy is Your nameJesus, Lamb of GodWorthy is Your name

Taking my sin, my cross, my shameRising again I bless Your nameYou are my all in all

When I fall down You pick me upWhen I am dry You fill my cupYou are my all in all

You're my everythingThe beginning and the endThe first, the last You areThe great I am

Psalm 18:1-3

I love you, LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

Psalm 18:1-3

my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.

Scripture Reading

John 1:45-47

Catlyn Armstrong

John 1:45-47

45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

John 1:45-47

“46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

Come and see,” said Philip.

John 1:45-47

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him,“Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

Message

Dr. Fletcher Tink

FROM BETHLEHEM TO NAZARETH

Presented in Chapel at APNTS, Metro Manila, the Philippines

December 3, 2013

Dr Fletcher L Tink, APNTS

A PROBLEM• Dr. Tink,

• Today I received an email from a family who has recently decided to be Messianic Jewish. They've informed me that they won't be celebrating Christmas or Advent as they are pagan holidays. I'd be interested in hearing your opinion on this if you'd be willing to share and also how you might suggest responding to their emails. I fear for their 7 year old daughter who (if they continue coming to our church) will face incongruent messages between home and church.

• I've copied in a bit of her response below. This email came after I asked them to read our advent candle reading on Sunday. From a separate email from her husband to me, it seemed to me that after my request, her husband asked about it ("sounds catholic. Is it Jewish?"). She then explored and sent this email.

THE CHALLENGE:

• Her email:

• I am so sorry. we can't do advent. the origins are pagan. :-( we'll still be there, of course, and watch. but... we can't actually take part. this is in no way shape or form a reflection of our view of you or the Nazarene church.

•we also won't be celebrating Christmas. we knew that Jesus was born on Sukkot, but we thought it would be okay to still do the regular Christmas stuff. we had no idea that Christmas was the worship of a Pagan sun god adapted by the early roman church.

BIBLICAL RATIONALE

• "24 You are not to worship their gods, serve them or follow their practices; rather, you are to demolish them completely and smash their standing-stones to pieces.25 “You are to serve ADONAI your God; and he will bless your food and water. I will take sickness away from among you. (vii) 26 In your land your women will not miscarry or be barren, and you will live out the full span of your lives."

• -Exodus 23

MY RESPONSE:

• 1. Appreciation for their attentiveness to the historical facts.

• 2. Admitting that what they have learned is true.

• 3. Admitting that a lot of what we do at Christmas, is more influenced by commercialism and excess than by Biblical facts

• 4. However, just as God converts individuals from a life of sin, God can convert meaning from pagan influences to Christian meaning.

• 5. Christmas in its best form, is a "conversion" from paganism to Christian meaning, if done appropriately and for that purpose.

MY RESPONSE CONTINUED• 6. God accepts Christian worship under any excuse to do

so. Christmas time is just as appropriate as any other time.

• 7. Gift-giving is not bad, if it is not done in excess. However, gift-giving to the needy is in the spirit of Christ.

• 8. Christmas trees, parties, decorations are not necessary to the season, unless they are infused with Christian meaning and serve a Christian purpose

• 9. If not celebrating Christmas is a matter of conscience, we respect that.

• 10. However, we respect others to whom this does not violate their conscience. We are not their judges. That is contrary to the spirit of Christ

CHRISTMAS MYTHS AND DISTORTIONS

Myth #1:

Jesus was born on December 25.

Probably not. Shepherds are not usually out in the fields in the dead of winter in Israel. Most scholars believe Christ’s birth probably was in May or thereabouts.

Myth #2:

Jesus was born in the year AD 0.

Caesar Augustus, mentioned in the Scripture birth account, died in 4 BC. Therefore Jesus would need to be born that year or earlier.

CHRISTMAS MYTHS AND DISTORTIONSMyth #3:

Jesus Christ was born in a stable, such as in a Western barn.

The stables back in those days were usually caves or overhangs. Indeed, Shepherd’s Field now in Bethlehem is a overhang cave.

Myth #4:

The manger was a wooden one with crossed wooden legs.

Most mangers were troughs for feeding the cattle, made of stone, so that animals would not knock it around.

Myth #5:

There were three Wise Men who came from the East

The Bible never says that there were three wise men, but only they were bearing three gifts.

CHRISTIAN MYTHS AND DISTORTIONS

Myth #6:

The Wise men were kings

There was no evidence of this. Rather they probably were Zoroastrian astrologers from Persia (Iran), very attuned to signs in the heavens

Myth #7:

The Wise Men and the Shepherds converged at the same time in the presence of the Christ Child.

The Wise Men came considerably later, and visited Jesus not in a stable but in a small house

Myth #8:

Many children were killed under the orders of Herod, out of jealousy in Bethlehem.

Bethlehem was a small village of several hundred people. There were probably not more than 5-6 children that were first born, male, and under two years of age. But for that village, it was a terrible tragedy. Children died for Jesus so that Jesus could die for them.

CHRISTIAN MYTHS AND DISTORTIONSMyth #9:

The innkeeper was a nasty man who was not hospitable

There is no innkeeper even mentioned in the story. If there was one, his or hers was probably the only place in town for putting up travelers, and was probably overwhelmed that night with visitors, and worked hard to accommodate the Holy Family with the only space that he or she saw available. Perhaps they or one of the guests probably had to serve as mid-wife and nurse for the birth.

Myth #10:

The angels sang “Glory to God in the Highest”

The Bible says that they said: “Glory of God in the Highest”

Myth #11:

Jesus and his family lived in Bethlehem for a considerable period of time.

It is believed that the Holy Family lived for no more than six weeks in Bethlehem before escaping to Egypt as refugees, then moving back to Nazareth where they lived for 30 years.

Myth #12:

Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father was a lowly carpenter, working in work in his carpentry shop.

The word to describe “carpenter” in Greek, is “tekton”, an artisan in wood, iron and stone. In other words, he probably was something of an engineer, architect, handyman, in a variety of assignments. And Jesus followed him in the profession.

Myth #13:

The baby Jesus looked like a European, white skin, light hair and blue eyes.

Jesus probably looked like other children of his culture, brown skin, dark eyes, dark hair and Middle Eastern features. He was born in Asia where 60% of the children of our world today are born.

Myth #14:

Jesus, as baby, never cried. “No crying he makes”

Jesus was a typical baby, with bodily needs and functions. His own self-awareness as God grew on him over time.

CHRISTIAN MYTHS AND DISTORTIONSMyth #15:

Jesus ancestry shows his noble kingly heritage

The Matthew account of his ancestry shows him to be linked to the good and the bad, including, incredibly, four women who would never be mentioned in anybody else’s heritage. Tabar, victimized by family incest, Rahab, a “madame” prostitute, Bathsheba, involved in an affair and murder of her husband, with King David, and Ruth, a widowed woman from an enemy tribe of Moabites. Could it be that Matthew highlights these connections as a “women’s support team” for an equally scandalous Mary of the Virgin Birth?

AN INDIAN DISTORTION

The Creche (Manger Scene)

Silent Night, Holy Night, and Round John Virgin

CHRISTMAS MYTHS AND DISTORTIONSThat First Christmas had nothing to do with . . .

Christmas trees: don’t naturally exist in Israel

Reindeer: come from Lapland, in Finland

Lechon: Jews don’t eat pork

Farols: Electricity didn’t exist then

Gift-giving within the family: Magi gifts were given to a poor family

Probably no snow: not in April or May

Black Fridays: none of the idiocy of Western mass shopping sprees

Credit Card debt: this was a cash-only society

Church Bells: Churches not invented yet

CHRISTMAS REFERENCES

Outside of Matthew and Luke accounts, Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus is never mentioned again or celebrated until hundreds of years later.

Why was Bethlehem ignored?

• In deference to the living Mary?

• Because Paul didn’t know the details?

• Because the risen Christ was more important to the life of the Christians than the birth of Jesus?

BETHLEHEM

We Love Bethlehem. How we sentimentalize Bethlehem!!! Pilgrimages to Bethlehem. Church of the Nativity

Six miles south of Jerusalem, now in Palestinian hands Means “House of Bread”. “City of David” Joseph’s ancestral home. Home sweet home! For Joseph and Mary, the end of a long difficult trip from the

north To fill out census forms and pay taxes.

PROBLEM WITH BETHLEHEM

• We think of Jesus only in terms of Bethlehem

• We sentimentalize Jesus, keeping him in a cradle.

• We love baby stories, because that allows us to be in control.

• Only a small snippet of Jesus’ life. Never mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament

BUT WE NEED TO MOVE TO NAZARETH

Don’t linger in Bethlehem

Nazareth is uncomfortable!

Different accent, different culture, A working man’s city. A blue collar town Where Jesus’ mission was rejected Where the Nazarenes threatened to throw him off a cliff Where a prophet is without honor in his own country

NAZARETH

Much larger town, maybe 2,000 people Located in Northern Galilee, a world apart from Jerusalem Jesus lived there 30 years, his childhood, his teenage years, his

adulthood, “coming of age” Where Jesus suffered the pain of loss of his father, and assumed the

responsibilities of family Where he learned his formal profession of engineer (carpentry) Where he learned his identity of “Son of God” Where he learned about his mission

JESUS OF NAZARETH

• Carpenter? “Tecton”, i.e. contractor, builder, handyman, Mr Fixer-Upper, an engineer

• Designed buildings, bridges, houses

• Used cements, stone, bricks and woods

• Instruments such as: handsaw, hammer, square, tape measure, chalk line, chisel, flat driver, philips screwdriver, tin snip, bar level, prying bar, putty knife, plumb line, outlet tester.

• Repairs, fixes up those things broken: I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. He renews all things!

• Creates new things: new song, new covenant, new heavens and new earth

JESUS, THE NAZARENE

• We need to move from Bethlehem into Nazareth

• Naming of the Church of the Nazarene

• Not the Nazarene Church, but Church of the “Nazarene”

• Dr J. P Widney “calling to live among the poor, the blue collar workers, the disparaged, those looked down upon”

• Dr Bresee: “We can live without the rich, but we can’t live without the poor”

• Our calling is to minister among those that the world looks down “Church of the Undignified” (Seattle, WA). The “unworthy”

JESUS IS DOING HIS ENGINEERING WORK ON US: RESHAPING US

• Gives us a new conversion from sin

• Gives us a new Christ-life

• Gives us a new communion with God

• Gives us a new character molded after Him

• Gives us a new community and accountability

• Gives us a new calling in life

• Gives us a new contentment despite the troubles of life

• Gives us a new confidence in the future

• Gives us a new covenant of eternal life

FASHIONED AND SHAPED BY THE TEKTON OF NAZARETH

• We are called to be “instruments for special purposes”---gold, silver, wood, clay.

• Not just the outside appearances, but in us.

• Not just good works, but holy living

• It is a process. He is constantly fashioning us, shaping us

• The process is not necessarily comfortable, hammering, cutting

• We are unique vessels, each person with a special mission

• He is the Master “Tekton”. We must allow him to work on us

NAZARETH IN ACTION: A STORY FROM THE UKRAINE

A “Nazareth” story of Jan:

• Pregnant out of wedlock

• Despairing in marriage

• Husband, abuser, alcoholic

• Redemption and Change

CONCLUSION

• Have you moved from Bethlehem to Nazareth yet?

• Can you allow Jesus to “grow up” in your life? Not somebody to coo and coddle over, to get warm “fuzzies”, to control and manipulate, to feel sentimental over.

• Are you letting Jesus control you, fashion you, remake you?

• Do you have a calling to the Nazareths of life? To the “unworthy”, the undignified?

I STAND AMAZED IN THE PRESENCE

I stand amazed in the presence Of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could love me, A sinner, condemned, unclean.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful! And my song shall ever be:

O how marvelous! O how wonderful! Is my Savior's love for me!

He took my sins and my sorrows, He made them His very own;

He bore the burden to Calvary, And suffered and died alone.

When with the ransomed in glory His face I at last shall see,

’Twill be my joy through the ages To sing of His love for me.

Response Song

Worship Team

HOW MARVELOUS

I stand amazed in the presence

Of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could love me,

A sinner, condemned, unclean.

HOW MARVELOUS

O how marvelous!

O how wonderful!

And my song shall ever be:

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!

Is my Savior's love for me!

HOW MARVELOUS

He took my sins and my sorrows,

He made them His very own;

He bore the burden to Calvary,

And suffered and died alone.

HOW MARVELOUS

When with the ransomed in glory

His face I at last shall see,

’Twill be my joy through the ages

To sing of His love for me.

Benediction

Dr. Fletcher Tink

Chapel Service December 3, 2013. Worship Worship Team.

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