West Park Baptist Church

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Advent 2020 – Micah 5:1-5 (Dec. 3)

These daily devotional readings accompany the Advent at Home guide prepared by the West Park Prayer Ministry Team. If you haven’t already, download the advent scripture reading schedule here.

Micah 5:1-5

1 Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.

4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.

5 And he shall be their peace.

2020 has been a year of bad news. Coronavirus, riots, a divided union, leadership struggles – these things have hit us hard.

701 B.C. was a year of bad news in Judah. The prophet Micah sounded the alarm, “Siege is laid against us; muster your troops!” Very soon the violent nation of Assyria was coming to invade Judah, and the people of God would be scattered abroad as they were stolen from their homeland.

But no matter the year, when we turn to our God, we find Him faithful to all His promises. And that gives us hope.

God promised to besieged Judah that He would produce for Himself a ruler for Judah from the insignificant town of Bethlehem. This small town was the original hometown of Israel’s greatest king, David. God’s promise to David that he would always have a descendent of his on the throne in Israel would one day be fulfilled by a man who would be “great to the ends of the earth.” He would gather God’s people together and shepherd them in the strength of the LORD. For God’s people He would be “their peace.” And God’s people would forever dwell secure.

These are promises of hope. We remember them this advent time as they were fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He is the descendent of David the king. And while He fulfilled many of the promises about the Messiah, some of these promises are yet to be fulfilled. But that is where we place our hope today. Just as God kept His promises in Micah’s day, He will keep His promises to us. We can count on Him, and our hope is secure and solid when we place it all on God’s promises. And while the world is not yet settled, and God’s people are not yet fully secure, we know that even now Jesus is our Peace. And whether it’s 701 B.C. or A.D. 2020, that’s the best news we could ever receive.

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Following the Resurrected King – Pt 1

On resurrection Sunday, Jesus made many appearances.

One has often often perplexed me. Not because of who Jesus appeared to but what He said on that occasion.

Today we’ll focus on the first appearance recorded to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18) and learn what Jesus meant when He said, “Don’t cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.”

John 20:11–18

[11] But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. [12] And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. [13] They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” [14] Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. [15] Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” [16] Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). [17] Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” [18] Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. (ESV)

What can we learn from this passage?

Mary was a woman from the region called Magdala, and that’s why her name appears as Mary Magdalene. Who was she?

Mary had followed Jesus ever since He had freed her from possession by evil spirits. Luke 8:2 reveals that Mary had been inhabited by seven demons. She had so much gratitude for Jesus that she followed Him with a group of other women who had likewise been delivered from evil spirits and infirmities all the way to the cross and the tomb. People sometimes mix up Mary with a sinful woman mentioned in Luke 7:36-50, but there is no evidence to support that link. Needless to say, Mary was reborn when Jesus saved her, and she truly followed Him as her Savior and Lord.

But what deep sadness she felt renewed when she discovered the empty tomb that Sunday morning. All she could think through her grief is that someone had taken the body of Jesus away. Two angels in bright appearance spoke to her urging her not to despair, but Mary didn’t seemed fazed by their appearance or words. Grief ran deep through her.

She even perceived Jesus Himself who appeared near her by the garden tomb as the gardener. It wasn’t until Jesus spoke her name, “Mary,” that she knew it was the Lord.

It is intriguing that Jesus said to her, “Don’t cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father,” particularly so since Jesus said about a week later to Thomas, “put out your hand and place it in my side” (John 20:27). Why the difference? From what I can understand, it wasn’t because Jesus’s resurrection body couldn’t handle touch. He was not by any means raw or fragile! Mary and Thomas actually had to learn a similar lesson: walk with Jesus by faith. Trust Him and take Him at His word. Mary, by “cling[ing]” to Jesus, tried to grasp onto Jesus with no intent to let Him go! I truly believe Mary was so glad to have Jesus back that she didn’t want to lose her Lord again. That is understandable, and we would all hopefully identify with her right desire. However, no one could have closer access to Jesus than that given by the gift of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus returned to His Father, that’s the promise He said He would fulfill (John 15:26-27).

Application: 

  • Jesus calls each of His beloved people by name. Can you imagine Jesus calling you by your first name? How wonderful it will be for believers to someday hear the voice of their Good Shepherd! Yet, even now He speaks to us by the promises He gave us. Which leads to the next point:
  • Jesus calls on each of us to live by faith in His revealed word. Mary didn’t need to cling to Jesus to try to control what would happen next and guarantee her joy and safety. Friends, you and I don’t need to live trying to control the outcome of our lives. Trust in the promises of Jesus our Lord! Look them up. Perhaps it would do you much good to read through John chapters 14-16 this week.

Prayer:

Our Lord and Savior, we love You and would gladly cling to You! But like You told Mary, it is good for us to know that You are with Your Father now and have sent Your Holy Spirit to us, communicating Your love for us and the truth of Your Word. Help us to live by faith in You today, to live by Your Spirit and live in His power. We long for the day when we can be with You face to face. Amen.

Worship:

He Will Hold Me Fast

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Global Perspective on Coronavirus – Pt 5

It’s been a great week getting a Global Perspective on how God is working mightily through the covid-19 pandemic. Today Fotis shares from his perspective in Greece. Over there the weather has been beautiful, and the birds are singing. Perhaps you’ve heard birdsong in your neck of the woods recently too. What can we learn from them?

Nothing Has Changed

Today in our staff meeting George R. shared with us about the following wonderful picture of some birds he saw when he woke up this morning outside of his bedroom window.

The first thought that came to his mind was: “Nothing has changed for them…”

And the deeper truth is nothing has changed for us either! The world has almost turned upside down, the public traffic is almost forbidden, the airlines have closed down, the various governments have taken severe measures for handling the coronavirus 19. But for us as believers in Christ nothing has really changed.

We keep praying and trusting Him for our protection and our provision.

We may not be able to meet face-to-face, but we keep having the precious fellowship with other believers (thank God for the technology…) sharing God’s promises, stories of comfort, Bible verses and prayer requests.

We keep serving the needs of people around us, and try to be people of hope in a very panicked and sometimes hopeless feeling environment.

Greece, as a whole country, took very severe isolation measurements at very early stage in this health crisis in order to minimize the losses during this global pandemic. All stores are closed and only the grocery stores along with the pharmacies and banks are still open to the public. Most companies have asked their associates to work from home, and our cities look more like ghost towns.

Our evangelical community had declared a national-wide day of fasting and prayer last week which took place on internet with participation of people from the entire country. One good result of this challenge was the unity of God’s people and the willingness to stand next to each other. We plan to repeat it every two weeks!

God has taught us to live our daily lives satisfied in His presence and not in the programs we may be doing for Him.  This time of solitude has reminded us to evaluate our priorities, to appreciate our relationships with other believers, to increase our fellowship with family members, to understand that we are not the epicenter of the universe and trust our Lord in everything He has in store for us.

We have people who have been sick among us, we see the news of people dying with great concern and prayer, and we reach out to help our neighbors in the best way possible. In the middle of this whole process, though, it seems we have regained something we had lost…we gained back our humanity!

It is true that nothing has changed for the sparrows singing every morning in our gardens in the biblical cities of Athens, Corinth, Thessaloniki, Philipi, Veria or anywhere all over our beautiful country, but in the midst of this we become every day more like the sparrows…recognizing finally our complete and total dependence on Him. This may be the greatest blessing we may get from this pandemic crisis…to trust more and more our all Mighty God exactly like the little sparrows.

Fotis R.