“The Task Force faces the challenge of creating multiple reforms which must be designed from the ground up. We have had to divide the team into smaller groups to work simultaneously on these important initiatives” - BPNews

Read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

We ended last time by thinking how the Messiah would be the son of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob—and Judah (see Matt. 1:2-3; Lk. 3:33; Heb. 7:14; Rev. 5:5).

“When I asked my fundamentalist teachers and mentors how to reconcile portions of the Bible with each other I was harshly put down as trying to use reason on what is essentially beyond reason.” - Roger Olson

“I believe churches should move away from these kinds of services. My reason is simple: music-specific services actively promote division in the body of Christ.” - 9 Marks

“Evangelical, Orthodox, and academic sources weigh security concerns against the right to associate with historic patriarchate losing popularity and suspected of war collaboration.” - CToday

“In his book, A Short Guide to Reading the Bible Better, Guthrie gives Bible readers a roadmap for reading God’s Word well and pastors a resource for equipping their congregations to read the Bible better next year” - Lifeway

“We know we can always pray more and give more and evangelize more, so we get used to living in a state of mild disappointment with ourselves.” - DeYoung

“What started as a lighthearted recounting of experience may turn into a critical review of someone’s motives and actions…. There can be a fine line between storytelling and gossip.” - TGC

DD didn’t even know which Grand Rapids charity or church it was. He only knew that they brought gifts to his house every Christmas. As his mother invited the strangers delivering the toys into her house, she thanked them with many hugs and tears. Then, while the toy deliverers were present, she placed the gifts under the tree. The volunteers left the house thinking they had fulfilled the hopes and dreams of another needy family at Christmas when their generosity and kindness had actually contributed to a recurring nightmare.

“Many of them are awash in messy lives, as I was, but they illogically and absurdly blame God for the mess, even though it’s traceable directly to decisions they have made.” - Olinger

“Isaiah 49:3 reveals who Yahweh is speaking to: “My Servant, Israel.” Although several biblical excerpts identify God’s servant as the nation Israel … the servant of Yahweh in Isaiah 49 must be an individual” - Word by Word

“The first book was Stephen Wolfe’s The Case for Christian Nationalism. The second was my own, The Religion of American Greatness: What’s Wrong with Christian Nationalism. Our books do not cite each other, yet it is remarkable the degree to which they speak to the same issues from opposite perspectives.” - CToday

“More than half of Americans (55%) believe Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God….reflects an early church heresy, which, appropriately enough for the season, Saint Nicholas confronted.” - Lifeway

Christian living isn’t just having your heart in the right place, but it isn’t less than that. Given that our hearts are “prone to wander,” as the song says, we need multiple ways to conduct “heart checks” on ourselves.

One self-diagnostic is to examine what we’re eager for.

When I was a kid, I looked forward to Christmas every year with great eagerness. It was an accurate reflection of where my heart was!

The word “eager” does not appear in the KJV, but is used in most other English translations. Because the word has several synonyms, the count ranges from 3 (NKJV) to 18 (NIV).

“What follows is an apologia, an explanation and defense of my filing the lawsuit, which I know has brought considerable consternation and perhaps resentment from some” - Nicholas Meriwether

“…at Nanci’s request and on short notice, our daughters and their families gathered to hear her speak final words of overflowing love for us and unswerving trust in her sovereign King.” - Randy Alcorn

“In John 10:22–42, the apostle shows us how Jesus fulfills three key elements of this Jewish feast—the hero, the temple, and the lights.” - TGC

“Our transformation means that the formula is not ‘MY life plus Jesus’ on top, but rather ‘JESUS equals my life’ in all that I do, how I do it, and why.” - Ken Brown

“It is censorship based on political/religious ideology. The erosion of free speech and the willingness of liberal-minded people to celebrate its demise is shocking.” - Kevin Schaal

“Let me explain briefly why language change is actually a good thing for Christians who love God and his word.” - Mark Ward

“The Wessex Area CPS has ‘undertaken a post-case review and acknowledges that the statement was inappropriate,’ Lord Stewart of Dirleton from the Conservative Party, who is the advocate general for Scotland, was quoted as replying.” - CPost

“Schaeffer’s book came out in 1972, 50 years ago. I did not want the year to pass without expressing my gratitude to Francis Schaeffer for this influence on my life.” - Al Mohler

“The book is called Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America, by a British sociologist named Stephen Bullivant. It’s not just an important book, it’s the best-written and most readable work of religious sociology that I’ve read in a very long time.” - David French

“Local leaders weigh in on the Muslim-majority nation’s new penal code and whether governments should legislate morality.” - CToday

Spurgeon delivered this sermon on Lord’s-Day morning, December 20th, 1868 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. (Isaiah 25:6)

Now “all of you who are convinced by Scripture or natural law or common sense that marriage is the union of a man and a woman are no better than a racist who opposes interracial marriage.” - Michael Brown

“…nons? They’re nondenominational Protestants whose local congregations are wholly self-governing and independent of traditional denominations” - GetReligion

Read Part 2.

The Messiah was a descendant of Abraham.

More than that, we considered last time how He was, in fact, promised within the covenant that God made with Abram (Gen. 12:1-3). According to the Apostle Paul in Gal. 3:16 and 19, He is the ultimate recipient of that covenant!

Our Savior Jesus Christ is finally the One through whom “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). Paul also quoted and discussed that portion of the covenant in Gal. 3:8-9.

“Satan knows what it is that can keep you distracted – the worries of life, temptations, and so many other things. We need to be careful not to be conformed in any way to this world” - P&D

“The views Achord and his Twitter cronies expressed were vile; their impotent online posturing unintentionally comedic. And then there was the personal abuse to which Alastair Roberts, the man who exposed the situation, was subjected by professing Christians” - Carl Trueman