Renewed by God’s Goodness (Sunday and a new week)

Frankly, we’re glad that last week is over. It’s what I would call in Spanish, una semana tremenda. A tremendous week.

Health issues. Financial issues. It was crazy.

But we started off this week on better footing, with a great service in Las Palmas. Rod started with a great lesson about salvation. It’s not easy to explain things clearly in a short time, but he did a great job and brought up some important culturally relevant points. We even heard from some people in the church about how they came to faith.

Rod and some guest musicians led us in some Christmas carols. And we had a time of sharing. We prayed for some of the incredibly difficult challenges that people are facing right now, and also gave thanks for great things that God has done. We’re thankful for news about the mother of one of our friends, who could very easily have died recently. But God heard our prayers!

I preached, and I’m not sure how well it went for everyone else, but I keep learning new things from Luke 2:1-20.

This part of the message of the angel alone is so rich with meaning, we could do a series of sermons on it…

Unto you is born this day
in the city of David
a Saviour,
who is Christ
the Lord.

Imagine – the great Messiah being born (Isaiah 9:6)! And Luke repeats over and over the connection to David – reminding us that God promised an Eternal Ruler from the house of David (2 Samuel 7:16). A Saviour? It is God who is the Saviour (Isaiah 45:21)!

“Christ” – well, in that word is wrapped up all the promises of the Old Testament. That’s a HUGE word.

But most interesting to me this time was the last part – “The Lord”. Go into Luke and see how he uses this word. The “temple of the Lord” (Luke 1:9). The Lord is the God of Israel (Luke 1:16; Luke 1:68). The Lord God who keeps His promises (Luke 1:32). The glory of the Lord shone around the angels (Luke 2:9). The Lord revealed the Messiah to the shepherds (Luke 2:15).

And who was born? Christ the LORD!

The gospel is truly in this story. As Rod pointed out in his lesson, it is God who takes the initiative – His Word sets all this in motion – and He brings us the long awaiting Messiah – who is the Lord of all. Incredible!

Now we’re continuing the week with two more mad days of work and school – trying to finish exams and assignments and whatever else. And then – hopefully – at least a partial break over the holidays!

As you can see from this picture that Shari took yesterday, even the bicycle taxis are getting into the spirit, by decorating with garlands, bows, and even little trees. 🙂