Son of God - when love was born - I love Israel

Epiphany. Trettondagshelg. Joh. 3:16, Matt. 1:20, Matt. 2:10-12

Joseph's song (Michael Card) "When love was born" (Mark Schultz) Go tell it on the mountain (Anne Murray)

"Hallelujah, He is Christ, our King
Emmanuel, Prince of peace
Loves come down for you and me
Heaven's gift, the holy spark
To let the way inside our hearts"


* Mosab Hassan Yousef: "I love Israel" (video)
* Khde Stefan Sjöqvist (Rakt på sak-betraktelse)
* Rev. dr Scott Murray (Memorial moment)
* G Edwardsson (ELBK) Epifania, Heliga Tre Konungars dag
* O Österbacka (Predikan på Trettondag)


Joseph's song:

"How could it be this baby in my arms
Sleeping now, so peacefully
The Son of God, the angel said
How could it be
Lord I know He's not my own
Not of my flesh, not of my bone
Still Father let this baby be
The son of my love

Chorus 2

Father show me where I fit into this plan of yours
How can a man be father to the Son of God
Lord for all my life I've been a simple carpenter
How can I raise a king, How can I raise a king
He looks so small, His face and hands so fair
And when He cries the sun just seems to disappear
But when He laughs it shines again
How could it be"

Chorus 2

Chorus 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BARVAg0gl6w
Joseph's song (Michael Card)


"When love was born" (Mark Schultz)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKSU9Dbxvrw

"Starlight shines, the night is still
Shepherds watch from a hill
I close my eyes, see the night
When love was born


Perfect child gently waits
A mother bends to kiss God's face
I close my eyes, see the night
When love was born

Angels fill the midnight sky, they sing
Hallelujah, He is Christ, our King

Emmanuel, Prince of peace
Loves come down for you and me
Heaven's gift, the holy spark
To let the way inside our hearts

Bethlehem, through your small door
Came the hope we've waited for
The world was changed forevermore
When love was born


I close my eyes, see the night
When love was born"






"Go tell it on the mountain" (Anne Murray)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlqQSiMHEro





"Evangeliet handlar om att Gud blev människa i Kristus Jesus" (Khde Stefan Sjöqvist)
http://betrakt.blogspot.fi/2013/01/evangeliet-handlar-om-att-gud-blev.html

Kristus ger oss innehållet i det glada mysteriet, evangeliet:

 "Allt har min Fader överlämnat åt mig. Och ingen känner Sonen  utom Fadern. Inte heller känner någon Fadern utom Sonen och  den Sonen vill uppenbara honom för." (Matt 11: 27)

Detta är inkarnationen, människoblivandets mysterium.

Skriften lär att Kristus är sann Gud, att Han funnits före världens begynnelse, att Han skapat himmel och jord och är den eviga och allsmäktige Sonen. Skriften lär också att samme evige Gudason har blivit människa, d.v.s. fötts som människa,  antagit människonatur eller upptagit människonatur i gudomen  när Han föddes som ett litet barn i Betlehem.

Så medan Sonens gudomliga natur är evig och allsmäktig så är inte Sonens mänskliga natur evig. Den kommer från jungfru  Maria. Det är därför Kristus kan säga:  "Allt har min Fader överlämnat åt mig", d.v.s. eftersom Kristi mänskliga natur nu äger också det som Gudasonen ägt av  evighet. Det är därför Han, som sann människa kan säga i Matteus kap.28

"mig är given all makt"

Som sann Gud ägde Han all makt av evighet . Men det gudomliga är givet åt mänsklig natur, Jesus  från Nasaret. Och det Gudsonen har avstått sin likhet med Gud genom människoblivandet."


Kyrkoherde Stefan Sjöqvist, Rakt på sak-betraktelse


http://betrakt.blogspot.fi/2013/01/guds-sons-manniskoblivande-ar-ett.html
"Eftersom vi inte kunde genom vår lydnad bygga oss en stege tillbaka till Gud så blev Gud människa för att Kristus skulle vara vår bro tillbaka till Honom själv."





"Some royal court" (Memorial moment/Rev. dr Scott Murray) 4 January, 2012

"What kind of royal court does our newborn king gather around Him? Poor indeed. He accepts the incompetent, stumbling, pagan Magi, whom we have called wise men. And why? What good could they bring to the situation? What assets could they offer to His royal authority?

The answer is very simple and is tied directly to the kind of king this Baby claims to be. He is the God for us. Not we for Him. Like the Magi, we bring nothing to the table. We have no negotiating chips. We offer Him nothing of value.

This is why His name is majestic in all the earth (Ps. 8:1). He condescends to reveal Himself to those who come bringing nothing but their failure. He opens his royal court to those who bring to Him the burden of death. He embraces those who cannot take care of themselves without divine intervention. He seeks and saves those who are lost. A star shall come out of Jacob for those who cannot find their way without the light that He sends. He saves those who were spoiled by the demonic powers by freeing them from their bondage. He saves Gentile Magi like us. He saves us because He is for us."

Leo the Great:

"The wise men were led into Bethlehem by obeying the guidance of the star. They rejoiced exceedingly with great joy, as the evangelist has told us, And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh (Mt 2:10-11). What wondrous faith of perfect knowledge, which was taught them not by earthly wisdom, but by the instruction of the Holy Spirit! How did it come to be that these men, who had left their country without having seen Jesus, and now had not noticed anything in His looks to encourage such obvious adoration, observed this method in offering their gifts? Unless it was that besides the appearance of the star, which attracted their bodily eyes, the more refulgent rays of truth taught their hearts that before they started on their toilsome road, they must understand that He was meant to whom was owed in gold royal honor, in incense divine adoration, in myrrh the acknowledgment of mortality. Such a belief and understanding no doubt, as far as the enlightenment of their faith went, might have been sufficient for themselves and have prevented their using their bodily eyes in inquiring into that which they had beheld with their minds fullest gaze.

"Their wise diligence, persevering till they found the child, did good service for future peoples and for the people of our time. Just as it profited us all that the apostle Thomas, after the Lords resurrection, handled the traces of the wounds in His flesh, so it was of advantage to us that His infancy should be attested by the visit of the wise men. And so the wise men saw and adored the Child of the tribe of Judah, of the seed of David according to the flesh (Rm 1:3), made from a woman, made under the law (Gal. 4:4), which He had come not to abolish but to fulfill (Mt. 2:10-11). They saw and adored the Child, small in size, powerless to help others, incapable of speech, and in no way different from the general way of human children. Because the testimonies were trustworthy which asserted in Him the majesty of invisible Godhead, so it ought to be impossible to doubt that the Word became flesh (Jn 1:14) and the eternal essence of the Son of God took mans true nature. Therefore, neither the inexpressible marvels of his acts which were to follow or the infliction of sufferings which He had to bear would overthrow the mystery of our faith by their apparent inconsistency. This is essential because none can be justified except those who believe the Lord Jesus to be both true God and true Man."

Leo the Great, sermon on feast of the epiphany

Prayer: 

O God, by the leading of a star You once made known to all nations Your only begotten Son; now lead us, who know you by faith, to know in heaven the fullness of Your divine goodness; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen




 
 
"I love Israel"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHDvqfSrVgk
Mosab Hassan Yousef - Great speech!


Morsi in 2010: "No negotiations with descendants of apes"
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163865#.UOarh6yM7sM 


- Well, if the Jews are called "apes and pigs" then the Cristians are apes and pigs, too, because of our Jewish-Christian faith. Our Lord and God Jesus Christ was a Jew, too. And he was a Jewish carpenter. 
Morsi only refers to Quran, poor man.








Inför Trettondagshelgen - Trevlig trettondagshelg från familjen Lindén!

Joh. 3:16 "Ty så älskade Gud världen att han utgav sin enfödde Son, för att den som tror oå honom inte skall gå förlorad utan ha evigt liv." “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16 ESV)

Matt. 1:20 "Men när han tänkte på detta, se, då visade sig en Herrens ängel för honom i en dröm och sade: "Josef, Davids son, var inte rädd att ta till dig Maria, din hustru, ty barnet i henne har blivit till genom den helige Ande." But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." (ESV)

Matt. 2:10-12 "När de såg stjärnan, uppfylldes de av en mycket stor glädje. Och de gick in i huset och fick se barnet med Maria, dess mor. Då föll de ner och tillbad det, och de tog fram sina skatter och överlämnade gåvor till barnet: guld, rökelse och myrra. Och sedan de i en dröm hade blivit varnade för att vända tillbaka till Herodes, tog de en annan väg hem till sitt land." When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way." (ESV)




Earlier:
http://minkristnasamhllsblogg.blogspot.fi/2012/01/fralsningens-gava-dopets-nad.html
Trettondag 2012,  Rakt på sak betraktelse och ur Stora Galaterbrevskommentaren



In the bleak midwinter (Chanticleer):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjRXIiZ8bs0

In the bleak midwinter

"In the bleak midwinter, frost wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our god, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The lord God almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, Whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, Whom angels fall before,
The ox and lamb and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But his mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshiped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wise man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give him: give my heart."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnzL6ZI0PrU
"In the bleak midwinter" (Charlotte Church)


Predikan (ELBK) Epifania (Heliga Tre Konungars dag) G Edwardsson:
http://www.elbk.org/data/images/predikningar/epifania13ge.pdf




J.S Bach Cantata BWV 1 (1/6) Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern - "One of the very finest hymns ever written is “How Lovely Shines the Morning Star," (here in German) Thanks to rev. Paul T McCain (Cyberbrethen)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0kXTXxN5l0
"Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
Voll Gnad und Wahrheit von dem Herrn,
Die süße Wurzel Jesse!
Du Sohn Davids aus Jakobs Stamm,
Mein König und mein Bräutigam,
Hast mir mein Herz besessen,
Lieblich,
Freundlich,
Schön und herrlich, groß und ehrlich, reich von Gaben,
Hoch und sehr prächtig erhaben."




Messias, vår store Kung (predikan på Trettondag) Ola Österbacka:
http://forumjohanneum.blogspot.fi/2013/01/messias-var-store-kung.html





Foto: Joanna Lindén (december 2012)