Sunday, December 22: Christmas

Luke 2:1–20

Merry Christmas!

This week, we are taking a break from the Book of Acts to look at the Christmas story in Luke 2:1–20. This is fitting, as Acts is actually the second book in a two-part series we could call Luke-Acts. So, before we finish up Bound by the Spirit next week, we are returning to the beginning to recall how the story started.

At the beginning of Luke-Acts, the world is bleak. Israel is ruled by Rome. A puppet King Herod sits on a throne of lies and violence. The high priesthood is auctioned off to the highest bidder. The temple is a predatory lender more akin to a gambling den than a house of prayer. All the evidence suggests that God has forgotten his people.

All this changes, however, one night in Bethlehem.

It’s not immediately obvious that anything has changed. Caesar still sits on the throne. The money changers still have tables in the temple. Sin and death still reign. But to those who are paying attention (shepherds, mostly), the curtains of heaven peel back and God himself steps on to the stage. The calendar of human history subtly changes from BC to AD, and hope is restored.

Join us this week as we celebrate the birth of Jesus and remember the true King who has freed us from bondage to sin!

Merry Christmas!