Christ Church (Moscow, ID)

This psalm overlaps a good deal with what David prayed in Psalm 18, as well as in 2 Samuel 22, near the end of his life. His life had been a long series of battles and conflicts, and he certainly knew the truth of what he was expressing here. This is a psalm of jubilation, rejoicing in the sort of prosperity that the deliverances of Jehovah can bring to a people. It begins with war, but concludes with the harvest of true peace.

THE TEXT:1 Thessalonians 1:1-7

This psalm is offered up to God in a time of great distress. We do not know if it is from the time of Saul’s persecution, or from Absalom’s rebellion, or from some other time. Regardless, the need is pressing and great, and David is presenting his prayers to God with great urgency.

First, imitation serves as an example of God’s design in how he made the world. He is the master craftsman, and his world is built to run on a certain mix of fuel. Inputs drive outputs, and imitation links these together. In this sense, imitation is inescapable. It’s not if, but who? Second, the principle of imitation is intricately linked to how we live our lives and how we raise our kids. Finally, Scripture show us to how we can take this principle of God’s design and push it into the corners of our daily lives. The fact that we are starting a new year, adds the spice of considering how we can work our understanding of imitation into real change in our lives versus vain resolutions.

As you might know by now, the tone coming out of Moscow has gained a little bit of notoriety. For good or ill, this reputation shows no signs of going away, and because you are likely to be fielding questions about it, I thought that it would be good to use our annual “state of the church” message to help you sort through the relevant issues.

This year, for my State of the Church message, I want to take a 30,000 ft. view. The church at large is beset with great danger to moral compromise. However, locally, we should not think ourselves impervious to the onslaught which is attacking the church of our Lord Jesus. We live in perilous times, and I want to summon our local congregation to look at the perils which surround us, and to take heed.

The Psalmist said that the wicked dig a pit for capturing the righteous, but they fall into it themselves. Wicked men and godless kings have hounded God’s people, persecuted the righteous, and done the bidding of the Dragon in trying to stop God’s redemptive purposes. But all their schemes miscarry. All their plots are foiled. All their dreams are disappointed. The birth of Christ is the moment when the tide of redemption turned. Christ’s dawn meant that the darkness of despair was driven back. Evil’s doom had come.

The point this evening is not to load your Christmas down with any exegetical postmill work, which has been done elsewhere. This is just intended as a simple word of Christmas encouragement—I do not seek to persuade you in these few minutes, but rather to embolden you.

The Text: Luke 2:21-40

We have emphasized in the past that the gospel consists of two aspects—the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first has to do with who He is, and the second aspect concerns what He has done. Regarding the person of Christ we confess that He is YHWH come in the flesh, Jehovah Incarnate. With regard to His work, we are talking about His life of sinless obedience, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead. What did the Messiah do? He became one of us, only without sin, and He was crucified, buried, resurrected and crowned in Heaven. And who was it that did this thing? It was Emmanuel—God with us. This incarnate reality is closely connected with various Old Testament prophecies concerning the Lord’s nativity. Let’s consider some of them now.