Vintage Church

Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears (Crossway).

CHAPTER ONE
WHAT IS THE CHRISTIAN LIFE?

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. Colossians 2:6

Jesus. If one word were to be chosen as the most important word in the history of the world, it would be the name Jesus.

God preached the first gospel to our parents, Adam and Eve, shortly following their sin in Genesis 3; he promised that Jesus would come. From that day onward, God inspired his prophets to reveal in great detail the events surrounding the coming of Jesus.¹Consequently, for roughly a few thousand years God's people longed for Jesus' arrival.

Jesus came into history in the most humble manner. He was born roughly two thousand years ago in a barn to a poor, young virgin woman named Mary. Although he was God, Jesus' first earthly throne was the feeding trough of an animal, which was used for his crib.

Jesus' unparalleled humility is one of his most shocking attributes.² Our culture believes that pride is our greatest friend although it is the reason why Satan himself was kicked out of heaven. Pride covets the success of others and is about self--my glory, my arrogance, and my independence. Our culture, tragically, considers pride a virtue rather than a vice. Conversely, Jesus came in great humility and lived his life in great humility. Before repeatedly and emphatically declaring himself to be God,³ Jesus spent the first roughly thirty years of his life in relative obscurity in a humble town with humble parents working a humble job as a carpenter.

Jesus in the Old Testament

Written by Rev. Daniel Forster

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14, ESV)

It is common today to think of Jesus only in conjunction with the New Testament. We look at Jesus as the baby in the manger as the place where the story begins and sadly miss what He fulfilled – the promises that came to pass. Jesus is mentioned and prophesied about all throughout the Old Testament. Jesus was with God before creation even began and was with God and His chosen people all throughout the Old Testament until it was time for Him to be revealed.

God sent prophetic words and promises about salvation to the prophets of the Old Testament – promises of freedom from sin and an eternal life with God. One of the most common of these scriptures is in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Epiphany

"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.'" Matthew 2:1-2

Seem odd to still be talking about Christmas? It shouldn't. Today marks the venerated twelfth day of Christmas. The holiday did not end on December 25th, it began. You'd never know it. On the 26th people immediately ceased singing "Joy to the World" and talking about Immanuel, God with us. It seemed unseasonable to talk about Jesus' birth even 24 hours after His birthday. Christmas cards and greetings looked "out of place." Yet in ancient church times, people sang carols for a full twelve days after Christmas, at which time, on Epiphany Sunday, the celebration culminated with the appearance of the wise men from the east.

Fulfilled Prophecies at the Birth of Christ

by Tim Chaffey, AiG–U.S

Another Reason to Rejoice this Season

Then the shepherds returned, glorifying God and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. (Luke 2:20)

Millions of Christians around the world choose to celebrate the birth of Jesus during this time of year—some on December 24 or 25 and others around January 7—while some choose not to celebrate at all. Whenever a Christian decides to celebrate, or if he elects not to celebrate His birth, we can all rejoice in the fact that, by putting on humanity, the Son of God became one of us to deal with our sin by dying in our place before conquering death when He rose from the dead.

History in Advance

God Your Father

Written by Barbara Alpert

Are you waiting on God for something? Let us pray for you.

“The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” (Proverbs 18:10)

Do you know that if you are a believer in Christ Jesus, you have been adopted into God’s family? Through faith in Jesus, God is now your heavenly Father and you are his daughter. In Ephesians 1:5 we read that, “he predestined us to be adopted as his sons (daughters) through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” God was delighted the day He adopted you into His family.

God wants you to call Him “Abba”. Abba means “Daddy”. In Galatians 4:6 we read, “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”Since you have the very Spirit of God residing within you, you can call out to Him in prayer by saying, “Abba, Father, Daddy”.