Luke 2:28-32 NIV

Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
 

Luke 2:11-14

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:11

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

From Background Notes [BN] for Dec 20th & 21st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Christ was formed in Mary, but Christ also is formed in us.

Luke 1:38

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

From Background Notes [BN] for Dec 20th & 21st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

In her role as "handmaiden", the feminine form of the word for "servant", Mary submits to the will and purpose of God.

 

Luke 2:39

When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.

From Background Notes [BN] for Dec 20th & 21st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Placing Mary in Nazareth of Galilee was, to a large degree, to assign her a place on the margins of Jewish society. Galilee itself was nicknamed "of the Goyim [the Gentiles]"...

 

Luke 1:31

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.

From Background Notes [BN] for Dec 20th & 21st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The name "Jesus" contains within it the notion that "Yahweh saves" or "Yahweh helps". To whom does this salvation extend?

Hebrews 10:39

But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

From Background Notes [BN] for Dec 13th & 14th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

If Christmas is to become the fulfillment of Advent, there must be people determine to do the will of God, and their persistence must be unaffected by time or adversity.

Luke 2:25-26

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.

From Background Notes [BN] for Dec 13th & 14th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Using the Greek word prosdechomai, which means "to await" or "to welcome or receive", Luke paints a picture of Simeon as a "watchman" for Israel...

 

Matthew 1:18

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

From Background Notes [BN] for Dec 13th & 14th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What was the nature of Hebrew engagement? Behind the Greek word mnēsteuō (or –omai) is the Hebrew term for betrothal, namely, kiddushin which is based on the underlying root meaning, “make holy, separate.”

 

Matthew 1:1

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham

From Background Notes [BN] for Dec 13th & 14th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

“Matthew” no doubt had access to Jewish records, probably through contacts within the Temple or synagogue communities. Archaeology has shown time and time again that nations with firm identities kept records.

 

Micah 5:2

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

From Background Notes [BN] for Dec 6th & 7th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

When Matthew began his Gospel, he provided a family tree of Jesus which opens with "son of David, son of Abraham".

Matthew 1:24

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

From Background Notes [BN] for Dec 6th & 7th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Our text commences with the matter-of-fact statement, "Now the [one] Jesus having been born in Bethlehem of Judea in [the] days of Herod the king…" We follow a literally rendering of the Greek text here which uses something called a "genitive absolute" to declare the previous completion of an event as a prerequisite for what follows.

Daniel 7:14

He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

From Background Notes [BN] for Dec 6th & 7th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

We have similar language in the New Testament account of Jesus' baptism when the heavenly voice is heard, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased…"

 

Isaiah 9:1

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

From Background Notes [BN] for Dec 6th & 7th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Then the prophet offers a vision of a new future — a real future — that opens to God’s people, even though it has not yet arrived.

Colossians 2:6-7 (MSG)

My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it!

Psalm 95:1-2 (MSG)

Come, let’s shout praises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let’s march into his presence singing praises, lifting the rafters with our hymns!

Psalm 1:1-3 (MSG)

How well God must like you—
    you don’t hang out at Sin Saloon,
    you don’t slink along Dead-End Road,
    you don’t go to Smart-Mouth College.

Instead...

 

John 17:17 (MSG)

Now I’m returning to you.
I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn’t join the world’s ways,

Psalm 119:105 (MSG)

By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path. I’ve committed myself and I’ll never turn back from living by your righteous order.  Everything’s falling apart on me, God; put me together again with your Word.

Romans 12:1-2 (MSG)

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Colossians 1:21-22

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation

From Background Notes [BN] for Nov 15th & 16th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The truth found in Jesus the Messiah includes everyone without artificial distinctions that alienate, classify, marginalize, or segregate.

Matthew 16:13

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

From Background Notes [BN] for Nov 15th & 16th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

For followers of Jesus to come together and form new communities in the cities of the pagan world would require the assurance Jesus gives them in Matthew 16.

Matthew 18:18

“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

From Background Notes [BN] for Nov 15th & 16th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Togetherness is fostered by fair dealing between Christ followers, through practices that honor the truth and acknowledge the dignity of others who are made in the image of God.

Hebrews 4:9-10

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.

From Background Notes [BN] for Nov 8th & 9th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Yes, we must work for God and His kingdom, but we must also allow room for God to work on us, and that is the purchase we have in the Word of the Gospel.

Matthew 6:6

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

From Background Notes [BN] for Nov 8th & 9th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The character of the unseen God, says Jesus, ought to influence the way we pray. In that way we honor the nature of God who dwells in secret, hidden ways, yet from there He brings life to His creation.

 

Matthew 26:39

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

From Background Notes [BN] for Nov 8th & 9th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Would not Jesus have prayed such things before the final hour, when early on he rose in the morning to seek the solitary place?

Mark 1:35

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

From Background Notes [BN] for Nov 8th & 9th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Of course, silence might also become self-indulgent, proud, and offensive. By contrast Christian silence is listening silence, humble stillness, that God can interrupt by His Word. What are the benefits of this sort of silence?

Mark 1:19-20

When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

From Background Notes [BN] for Nov 1st & 2nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Until Jesus showed up, all of these brothers shared in the good life for persons with their commercial opportunities.

 

Mark 1:16-17

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

From Background Notes [BN] for Nov 1st & 2nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The purpose driven life does not proceed with fits and starts.

Mark 1:15

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

From Background Notes [BN] for Nov 1st & 2nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

If God is becoming King once again, then “the time has come. The kingdom of God is near” (1:15a), according to Jesus’ public announcement.

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

From Background Notes [BN] for Nov 1st & 2nd written by Pastor Bob Brown:

More personally, however, the logos (the purpose-maker) gave power for human beings “to become children of God” when they receive him with genuine trust (1:12).

 

John 1:46

“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 25th & 26th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

We do know that Galilee, if not Nazareth in particular, was a hotbed of revolutionary activity in the 1st century as evidenced by uprisings of the sort exemplified by Judas the Galilean. Was Nathanael alluding to this fact, even though he too was from Galilee? It’s hard to say.

John 3:29-30

The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.  He must become greater; I must become less.

 

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 25th & 26th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

 

Consider it a potpourri of future followers in just a few verses of John’s Gospel.

 

John 6:67-69

“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 25th & 26th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What this series ultimately asks is “Will you follow Jesus?” What you won’t hear is “Will you accept this list of basic beliefs?” or

 

John 1:38-39a

Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 25th & 26th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Few Christians in the west (including the U.S.) are innocent in their religious choices, even if they check “No” on the recent census when asked about affiliation.

 

Luke 18:9-10

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:  “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 18th & 19th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The Pharisee prays largely about himself. The attention falls on himself, and he uses prayer as a means for judging the inadequacy of other people.

2 Timothy 4:7-8

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 18th & 19th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What is “the crown of righteousness”?

Psalm 65:3

When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions.

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 18th & 19th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

“We were overwhelmed by sins” (65:3). But … our “carts, grasslands, meadows overflow with abundance” (65:11-13).

Joel 2:28

And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 18th & 19th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

We will get beyond “as before” and land in “afterward” when God pours out, not rain, but His Spirit. Material blessings discover their deep rootage in the long-term purposes of God for “all people”.

2 Timothy 2:8

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 11th & 12th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The heart of the Gospel is the hopeful promise of new life. Not just an ethereal existence beyond this world, but the real possibility of new creation within this world. Hard to imagine this world as a transformed, renewed place of well-being. That’s what the resurrection of Jesus Christ makes possible.

2 Timothy 2:10

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 11th & 12th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Setting: Timothy is Paul’s young protégé. Paul is moving rapidly to the end of his life, and suffering is more frequent. He is “bound with chains as a criminal.” His condition is not unlike the Jews taken in Babylonian captivity.

Psalm 66:1-2

Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious.

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 11th & 12th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The world wants to keep us in fear and paint a dismal picture of the present crisis. The church can easily fall into the same attitude. Not the psalmist:

Jeremiah 29:4-5

This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:  “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 11th & 12th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The well-being of the chosen ones is tied to the well-being of that hated metropolis, which the chosen people fear and resent.

Genesis 50:24

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 4th & 5th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

But the great drama signaled by Joseph's life does not end. God, Israel's true hero, waits patiently for the next amazing act, which would unfold at a time when...

Genesis 50:20

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 4th & 5th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

This Joseph left his impression on history, not because he was any kind of hero, but because he knew where God stood in relationship to him. God was Joseph's hero, bringing good out of intended evil.

Isaiah 41:13

For I am the LORD your God  who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 4th & 5th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

God is at work in Joseph’s life, while Joseph also does his work in the land of Egypt. Both are true. Neither is diminished. God is free and so are we. In God’s working, we work. In our working, He works.

Genesis 42:1-2

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?”  He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”

From Background Notes [BN] for Oct 4th & 5th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Firmly established in his new role, matured by nearly fifty years of life experience, Joseph must face once more the reality of his covenant family.

1 Peter 5:6

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 27th & 28th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

For Joseph, his exaltation took place at the time of God’s choosing, not unlike the instruction and promise found in Peter’s first letter

Genesis 41:15

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 27th & 28th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

No sooner is he finished giving explanations of the twin dreams than Joseph tells Pharaoh what he must do to prepare for the coming famine. There is no Middle Eastern fatalism for Joseph.

 

Genesis 40:8

“We both had dreams,” they answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 27th & 28th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

What the dreams in this chapter reveal about God is that He, not the empire and its dream handlers, truly knows and shares His knowledge with those he chooses. Here is mystery, both for the two men and for Joseph.

Genesis 41:1-2

When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds.

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 27th & 28th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

While having a general sense of who the Pharaoh was in the time of Joseph, the fact remains that from an Israelite perspective, it really didn’t matter who he was. After all...

Genesis 3:2-3

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 20th & 21st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

"You shall be as God, knowing Good and Evil." This is the word of the Serpent, the planter of doubt and the purveyor of falsehood.

Genesis 39:20

Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 20th & 21st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

And God was, apparently, not limited in the places where he could carry out that plan. Neither the pit of his brothers nor the servitude of the Ishmaelites could interfere with the purposes of God on his life.

Genesis 39:1

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 20th & 21st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Potiphar must have marveled at his Hebrew servant. Not only was Joseph successful, he brought blessing to the house and field of his master.

Genesis 15:13

Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 13th & 14th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Even if we go to Egypt, still God’s word proves true! And so we shall surely come up out of Egypt “with great possessions.”

Genesis 37:29

When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 13th & 14th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The compensation did not help Reuben deal with the implications of what his brothers had done. They had insulted his authority as natural firstborn and acted in his absence and against his wishes.

Genesis 37:21

When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said.

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 13th& 14th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Soon the brothers are not alone, and Reuben's plans, well-intentioned though they were, are now foiled by the arrival of Ishmaelites, distant relatives, descendents of Abraham's "other son".

Genesis 37:19

“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other.

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 13th & 14th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

No longer content to be angry or jealous or filled with hate, the brothers determine to make good on their ill will. This week’s text traces that determination to its penultimate conclusion. Once they allow the emotion to fill their hearts, it is difficult for them to imagine otherwise.

Genesis 37:5

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 6th & 7th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

For Joseph, the challenge is to sort out the dream in light of God’s call on his life. From this point forward his road is not smooth and a grounded awareness that God is with him will come slowly, painfully, and deliberately.

Genesis 37:4

When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 6th & 7th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Many years ago, Alice Miller wrote a ground-breaking work on the struggles of childhood titled The Drama of the Gifted Child. The book examines the loss of the self that occurs in childhood and the subsequent process by which an adult can retrieve his or her true identity that was misplaced in earlier years.

Genesis 37:3

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him.

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 6th & 7th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The Joseph narrative is among the longest accounts in the Bible. In its entirety it unifies the story of Jacob's family, with Joseph as the pivotal character.  Filled with drama, intrigue, sibling rivalry, the life of Joseph also serves larger purposes by showing how God fulfilled his covenant plan made first to Abraham.

 

Genesis 37:2

This is the account of Jacob’s family line. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

From Background Notes [BN] for Sept 6th & 7th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

So we say, “My father was not rich, and so the house we lived in was either rented or shabbily apportioned.”

Mark 7:7

They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules

From Background Notes [BN] for Aug 30th & 31st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Jesus says that some worship is “vain” — it is vain because it draws considerable attention to the worshipper and pays no attention to the sinner.

James 1:25

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

From Background Notes [BN] for Aug 30th & 31st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Freedom comes from this Word which guides our steps: freedom to face squarely the deep issues inside our hearts, and honestly begin working on each one with the Wisdom that the Father gives us.

Psalm 15:1-2

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart.

From Background Notes [BN] for Aug 30th & 31st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

As the Psalmist tells us this week, speaking the truth in our hearts helps us to walk well. It’s all about the word on our lips and where those words come from.

Deuteronomy 4:9

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

From Background Notes [BN] for Aug 30th & 31st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The Word of God guides our steps, it doesn’t weigh us down or bind us up or push us out. The Word of God guides our steps by teaching us how to walk. That’s right, how to walk.