DECEMBER 2023

Dear Church,

Let us explore: Backstage at Bethlehem!

​Some things are much simpler than we imagine. At first glance, Bible looks like an intimidating book filled with strange names, places not able to pronounce, books we cannot remember (which follows what), and verses we do not understand. Having said, it is not the complicated book as we think. Have you heard about “The Bible in 50 words”?

God made
Adam bit
Noah arked
Abraham split
Jacob fooled
Joseph ruled
Bush talked
Moses balked

Pharaoh plagued
People walked
Sea divided
Tablets guided
Promise landed
Saul freaked
David peeked
Prophets warned

Jesus born
God walked
Love talked
Anger crucified
Hope died
Love rose
Spirit flamed
Word spread
God remained

People wrestle with the thought of Christmas message; how would it be possible for a virgin to give birth? How would it be possible for a Magi to visit from far land? How would it be possible for shepherds to watch the orchestra of heavenly angelic choir? How would it be possible….. It all comes down to one simple fact: At Bethlehem a baby was born who was God in human flesh. This is the central truth of the Christian faith—that God became a man at Christmastime. Everything else we believe derives from that essential truth.
Three facts in 6 words pronounce the backstage at Bethlehem!

1. Christ Ignored: He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him (John 1:10). Christ was in the world, and it was not a fleeting visit. God walked on this planet for 33 years. He was born like us humans and he went through all the stages of childhood - infancy, toddler, young child, teenager, and young adult. He wasn’t a robot or an angel or some kind of strange alien from a distant galaxy. He was one of us and walked among us.
2. Christ Rejected: He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him (John 1:11). There is a saying, “home is where, when you go there, they have to take you in.” Jesus came “home”, but he was not taken in. He came to his own, but they rejected him. God informed his people again and again about his coming. Strangely, pagan astrologers identified his coming and visited him.
3. Christ Received: Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.. (John 1:12-13). Though some ignored and rejected, yet some welcomed him as their Savior. Charles Spurgeon begins his sermon on John 1:12 with these words: “Everything here is simple; everything is sublime. Here is that simple gospel, by which the most ignorant may be saved.”

 
God Bless, Amutha