Omc: Family Chapel

Advent (and really, the entire Christian life) is one of waiting. We await the return of our King as sojourners making our way home. But for the most part, we're pretty terrible at waiting. However, we are called to wait for Christ's return because his return is worth the wait and because his return is guaranteed. Furthermore, waiting isn't a passive activity, but rather we are to actively look forward to Christ's return by looking towards one another with kindness, by looking back at past examples of God's faithfulness, and by looking to maintain our Christian witness.

Matthew records Jesus' genealogy before he tells the Christmas story because he wants us to see what Jesus has come to do. In looking at his genealogy, we see that Jesus has come to fulfill all the covenant promises as well as to heal all our brokenness. The beautiful thing about Christmas is that Jesus invites us to attach our story to His story. From this peculiar family tree, we arrive at a Son, who would one day grow up to be nailed to a different tree so that all who put their faith in Him are able to join His family tree.

If sin kills renewal, repentance revives renewal. The Israelites come together to confront their sins and engage in heartfelt repentance through honest confession, intentional action, and accepting chastisement. Therefore, when we engage in heartfelt repentance, we experience the peace, restoration, and transformation of God.

As Ezra has returned to Jerusalem and begun teaching the people God's Word, hidden sins are brought to light. He mourns over sin because sin kills renewal. Sin kills renewal because sin leads to compromised faith, sin has serious consequences, sin dismisses God’s grace, sin disobeys God’s Word, and sin deserves God’s wrath. As such, we need to confess our sins before God in community with urgency, humility, honesty, and hope.

As Ezra has been called by God to go to Jerusalem to teach the people God's Word, he sets out to carry out that call to renewal. Through Ezra's example, we see three crucial components of rightly carrying out the call of God on our lives. Often, we can be so preoccupied trying to discern what God has called us to, that we don't think too much about how to carry out what God has called us to. But if we want to faithfully carry out God's call on our lives to pursue renewal, then we need to engage in faithful preparation, exercise risk-taking faith, and embody godly character.

Several years go by after the completion of the temple rebuilding and we are finally introduced to leader and scribe, Ezra. God sends Ezra in this pivotal moment in time to help Israel learn and obey the Word of God. This is a reminder that in the long process of renewal, the key to sustaining renewal is faithful adherence and growth in God's Word.

The Israelites begin rebuilding the temple once again and the opposition rises up to thwart their plans. But God, who works all things for the good of HIs people, uses their opposition to provide protection and provision for their renewal. Ultimately, God is the grand orchestrator of our renewal, and the people of God are called to respond with continual joyful worship.

As the returned Israelites set out to rebuild the temple in their pursuit of renewal, they face opposition from their adversaries. In our pursuit of renewal, we also have an adversary (Satan) and his playbook is quite similar to what the Israelites faced: deceptive lies, discouraging intimidation, and direct persecution. Thankfully, by God's grace, we can overcome these obstacles and hold fast in our pursuit of renewal through discernment, courage, and patience.

After the people return to the Promise Land, they prioritize practices that lead to renewal. While renewal is ultimately an act of God's sovereignty, God has graciously invited us to participate in certain practices that help cultivate renewal. In our passage we see three such practices: joyful obedience to God's Word, corporate worship with God's people, and honest lament in God's presence. May we prioritize these practices to better experience the work of renewal in our lives!

Paul is warning and assuring the Corinthians that in his third visit he will come with the power and strength of Christ in dealing with sin to enact church discipline. Therefore, he exhorts them to examine themselves. Through Paul's warning to the Corinthians, we will see the need for self-examination, the power for self-examination, and the hopeful result of self-examination.

As Paul is looking to wrap up his letter and make plans for his third visit to them, he makes his final plea to restore his relationship with them along with his final warnings. He emphasizes his desire for them, their growth, and reminds them of his own sacrifices made on their behalf. Since our horizontal relationships with others are connected with and evidence of our vertical relationship with God, Paul makes this horizontal appeal for restoration before he will call for a vertical examination of their faith in Christ.

To extinguish the boasting of the false teachers (who were boasting in their ethnic identity, ministry accomplishments, and spiritual experiences), Paul beats them at their own game. But more than boasting in his strength, Paul is eager to boast in his weakness - the frailty of human life in a fallen world. And the reason for that is two-fold: weakness humbles us out of our prideful delusion of self-sufficiency, and weakness invites us to rest in the grace and power of Christ's sufficiency. Through God's gift of weakness, we get to destroy pride and display Christ.

Paul calls out the false teachers in Corinth for what they are. While outwardly, they might shine and sparkle, they are actually fool's gold. They preach a different gospel, they are motivated by self-interest, and they operate out of an illegitimate authority. We would do well to heed Paul's warning since we too live in a world filled with false teachers peddling fool's gold. Let's seek to be discerning disciples who hold on to Christ, our true treasure.

We pivot away from the topic of collection and generosity/giving and move back into Paul's defense of his apostolic ministry and authority. He begins by speaking on his own validation through the power of the gospel. While his critics and opponents try to demean Paul and self-promote themselves, Paul asserts his validation is from the Lord and from his ministry as a minister of the gospel. True validation is from God. Freedom from the validation of the world is through the gospel.