His assigned text was Matthew 1-2, "The Gift . . . Promised". He opened with a verse from Proverbs:
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. "
(Proverbs 13:12, NIV)
He divided the first two chapters of Matthew into four literary units, with this dominant theme: The Promised Gift would not be deferred by:
- Questionable Roots (1:1-17)
- Suspicious Origin (1:18-25)
- A Looney King (2:1-18)
- Seeming Obscurity (2:19-23)
Mark did a masterful job, which drew me towards Christ. The audio should appear on the college website within a couple days. I recommend you check it out. You can either listen online, or download the sermon file in MP3 format.
The songs selected during the worship time contributed to the service. Songs were interspersed with Scripture readings taken from Matthew 1-2. The lyrics to a song we sang were especially significant to me, and probably put me into the Christmas spirit, Welcome to our World, by Chris Rice:
Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting
Welcome, Holy Child
Welcome, Holy Child
Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited, Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home.
Please, make Yourself at home.
Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word, now breaking Heaven's silence
Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world
Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born
So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy
Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world.
May the Christ of Christmas indwell your world.
DGF
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment