Matthew 2:1-12

For whatever reason the wise men from the Christmas story have really been intriguing me this season. Who are they? Where did they come from? Why do they matter? It just seems odd to me that there would be these three guys coming from a far to see baby Jesus. I think there’s a few things we know for certain about these guys. They weren’t Jewish. They weren’t part of the faith that Jesus was being born into, so when they come to Herod and say “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” we don’t really know how this relates to them, but for some reason they want to meet this king. In the earthly scheme of kingdoms and monarchies Jesus would no dominion over them. That being said, we know they have knowledge of Jewish culture. We get a glimpse of this in the sentence above. They obviously knew something of the Jewish prophecies to know to follow the star and find the “King of the Jews.” They came to worship Jesus. “And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.” Even though Jesus wasn’t their earthly king they knew enough about Jewish culture to recognize Jesus as someone worth kneeling before.

The story of the wise men reminds me that, as a christian, we need to look outside our faith circle from time to time for wise men. Like the Jews in this story I get so caught up in doing religion or in the business of doing church that I can’t see the forest for the trees. Sometimes the wise men of the world can tell me where our community needs help. Sometimes the wise men of the world worship God’s creation better than I do. Sometimes the wise men of the world can remind me to kneel before Jesus.

Another thing that strikes me about the wise men is that they came so far and had to go through so many Jewish towns and villages and they were all alone. The Jews at this time were begging for their messiah to come and ready to worship him, but it seems these wise men were the only ones looking for him. I think this serves as a good reminder in this season that we need to be looking for Jesus this Christmas. We get so busy this time of year celebrating Christmas that we don’t celebrate Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25

For the New Testament reader this is the first instance that we have to have faith in something that seems unreal. A virgin pregnant by the Holy Spirit. That's a pretty incredible! Think of that as if you'd never heard of the Holy Spirit before. This intangible, unseen, never heard from, entity that's part of God but separate as well exists (that's a lot to believe in right there) AND came and made a virgin pregnant simply by it's power and God's will. Can this story get any more bizarre? It literally sounds like something from a sci-fi movie. Not only that, but the poor guy who was engaged (at that time they were called husband and wife at this point in the relationship) to this girl gets visited by an angel in a dream and tells him to stand by his girl and that this is God's plan and His doing.

I think we take for granted the impossibleness of this event because as christians we've heard about the Holy Spirit for most of our christian lives and we're numb to the Christmas story because we've heard it so often. Or perhaps we are too fixated on what is under the tree instead of what chose to die on a tree. Regardless, the spectacle that is the immaculate conception can be easily overlooked.

For Joseph there was no Holy Spirit. They hadn't talked about it in Synagogue much because God hadn't really sent it to His people yet. This had to take an enormous amount of faith on Joseph's part. If I were in Joseph's shoes I would doubt if the angel in his dream was real and that Jesus was really conceived by this Holy Spirit thing. Joseph had to believe the angel was real, the Holy Spirit was real, and that it conceived a child in his wife. That's three really big leaps of faith that is asked of Joseph on one night. And what about when Joseph figured it out (I imagine that it wouldn't take too long to figure something was special about Jesus)? How humbled would he have been?

I think for us it kind of works the same way. God get's us on a ledge outside of our comfort zone. An activity, relationship, position, etc. that makes us terribly nervous and asks us to have faith. To believe in more than we think we are capable of or really to believe that we are more capable through Him. It may not be send-an-angel-in-your-dream scale, but it is still something that requires you to have faith in God's plan. When we finally take the step and move forward in faith we're humbled to see what God has done through our actions. Like Joseph we had faith and were humbled.

A Christmas Story-Upcoming Nexus Series

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT:

Here is an overview of what we’re going to talk about at our last Nexus' of the year. Listed below the summary is a “parent cue” to help you dialog with your child about the session. The question is intended not just to be asked by you, but to be responded to by BOTH of you. Use this opportunity to find out what God is teaching your child, and allow your child to see what God is teaching you as well.

A Christmas Story:

Series Overview

Christmas is such a crazy time. Students are busy dreaming about what they want to get, and parents are shopping frantically for what they want to give. We all become consumed with malls and wrapping paper. It’s a Wonderful Life and How the Grinch Stole Christmasplay on TV and Santa Clause poses for pictures with every excited (and screaming) child. At church we tell the story about shepherds, angels and a manger, but so often the significance of the story is lost because it seems like just one more holiday tradition. Or we’ve heard it so much that we don’t hear it anymore. Our upcoming series is going to tell the Christmas Story—but in a slightly different way.

Session One (12/05/10)

Everyone has a vision for their lives. We dream of the type of home we’ll live in, the car we’ll drive, the job we want, the love we desire or the family we’ll have. And even if we wouldn’t dare share those things with someone else, deep within us we hope that life will turn out one way . . . even if we’re at the same time skeptical it won’t. But sometimes the life we envision is different than the one we actually have . . . okay, most of the time. So how do we react when life doesn’t turn out the way we hoped? And more importantly, what do we do with Jesus, because as wonderful as He is, He steps into our lives and makes things messy. He leads us down paths we never thought we would go. He asks us to do things we don’t always want to do. And even with all that, somehow life still turns out even better than we dreamed.

Session One Parent Cue: What are some events in your life that turned out differently than you hoped? Looking back, did things work out better than you expected at the time?

Session Two (12/12/10)

It’s the easiest thing in the world to do, and that’s probably why so many of us are guilty of doing it. God gives us something--a talent, a provision, a relationship--we take it, make big plans for it, then somehow forget all about Him. In the act of serving God, sometimes we completely miss Him. Sometimes our big God becomes very small in our lives. Perhaps that’s why God chose Mary, someone who was very aware of what little she had to offer, to provide the gift that the world so desperately needed. Mary is remembered not only for what she did, but for why she did it--simply to honor God’s request.

Session Two Parent Cue: Have you ever had a moment when you felt like God asked you to do something specific? How did you respond?

Look forward to seeing everybody there!

Matthew 1

The first chapter of Matthew in the Bible was to me, at a time, a terribly boring section of the Bible. It appeared to me simply a list of names that led to Jesus, his family tree, so to speak. There's power in a name though and these names come alive if you know a little about them. It seems every type of person was used in the line that led to Jesus; great kings like David, prostitutes like Rahab, and even people that we don't know too much about. The moral of the story here is if God can use these people to bring His son to the world then he can use anybody to help the world.

We're all incomplete in some way. We may have family issues, lust issues, money issues, or any number of faults, but in the end we still are "issueless" when God sees us thanks to Jesus. So let that be a certain comfort to you today, knowing that the creator of the world values you, in fact, cherishes you and wants you to do great things in Jesus' name.

Final Review: Principal of the Path

On vacation I finally finished the Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley. The book offered many good insights and illustrations of how our attention determines our direction which determines our destination. Really it's a common sense lesson, but Andy Stanley does a fairly good job of keeping the stories funny and relevant. I think the essence of the book is to have the reader look on in their own lives and determine what path their on and where they would like to go. These two observations are the first and sometimes hardest steps when it comes to making a change. I had insights into every area of my life that in some way or another I needed to change my attention-direction-destination. I've come to think of Andy Stanley's messages at being directed a lot at leaders, but this book is applicable to anyone and is a great read for young people as well as they have yet to get on their paths and determine their destinations.

Summer Activities

Here is a run down of the summer activities that we have planned for Nexus; we may have some more informal events, but this is what is set so far. I would encourage all your students to invite their friends to any of these events as each one will serve as a great way to introduce new students to Nexus and Connection Church.

I've made a public google calendar that has all the dates and details on it you can see it at the really long link here: http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=t3c10j95ma426jb2opqcpqaoi0%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York

6/19-Gwinnett Braves (Bobble Head Night)

- The game starts at 7:05pm, but we'll meet at 6:30 at the Publix at the corner of Old Peachtree and 20. Same as last year.

- Cost is $5, so please have students bring that plus whatever spending money is necessary for food and drinks.

- RSVP by 6/13

7/16 Stone Mountain

- We'll meet at Baxley Point at 6pm to drive down to the park

- We'll hang out at Stone Mountain Park and watch the Laser show.

- Have students bring enough money for food & drinks. Entry fee is covered.

- RSVP by 7/11

7/24 Malibu Lock-in

- The time is tricky, it's from 1am to 6am. We'll meet at the Baxley Point Parking lot at 12:30am

- We're going with Lawrenceville First UMC.

- Cost is $25

- All Go Karts, Putt Putt Golf and Bumper Boats are free
- Non-Ticket Games are Free
- Unlimited Sodas and 2 Slices of Pizza

- RSVP by 7/11

The Principal of the Path: Chapter 4

Finally after a long hiatus I've gotten to chapter 4 of the Principal of the Path. I've been reading another book for work, which took priority. This chapter centers around the idea that we often chose the path of least resistance when faced with a decision. "The pie sure would taste good." "I deserve a little treat." We rationalize and excuse small decisions away and the wonder "why didn't things work out?" Stanley breaks down Proverbs 27:12: The prudent see danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. We all know what a prudent person looks like, they plan. They see things and make changes that will best suit their desired destination. The simple take the path of least resistance. They fail to make the necessary, but hard decisions to get where they would like to go. Stanley has a great example and he says that the prudent see the future as now. That any decision can impact the future they want and they act accordingly seeing that that piece of pie will not help them loose the weight they desire.

I have a friend at work that has lost at least 41lbs. It's been a long road for him. He likes to eat, but more than that he wants to see his grandchildren graduate high school He has a destination and he is staying on the path. I think we all have had moments where we say "I didn't see that coming." I know I have. Let's try and take advice from the Proverb and "take refuge" when we see danger.