KAFWEMBE

We must love others as we love God. It is threfore not fitting to appear to love God by worshipping Him yet we are at loggerheads with our broher. We should first reconcile with the person before proceeding with our worship We should approach the person we have offended and give him our apology. I dont think there is a situation that is not unforgivable. Jesus forgives all our shotcomings and we should also do the same. He said to Peter "Forvive Seventy time Seven times" In other words we should go on forgiving until our hearts are clear that we have forgiven.

Yes there is more preaching from the New rather than the Old Testament. But in our church this is not the case. Usually at least two readings are taken, one from the New and the other from the Old Testament. Legalism in a church arises when you see compromise in the teaching of the word of God, when sermons people want to hear are the ones preached. In my view there should be a way of correcting those who are not in line. I think confusion reigns when standards in the church are not maintained.

Our Christianity must be seen so that people around us can experience the goodness of God. But if we hide our Christianity those around us will not see what God is doing in our lives. Witnessing to others is not just by word of mouth but also through the Fruits of the Spirit in us which manifest through our transformed character as Christians. If this does not happen we will damage the Great Commission that Jesus left us "Go ye therefore and make disciples of men......"

A Christian who has lost his saltiness is one who is not engaged in parayer asking God to intervene in situations. It is by anwsering such prayers that God sustains our world. Also a Christian who does not speak out on the wrongs of society is not salty because only through speaking out can society be brought in line with the will of God. I think often we can sense that salt has dissolved from us because it is possible to see that we have not been consistent in prayer and we are silent on issues where our comments are required. These symptoms can be identified by fellow Christians and this is where encouraging one another is very important. Such encouragement can result in us being re-energized and becoming salty again through the power of the Spirit of God. What the circular people realise about a desaltified Christian is that he will be silent about their activities and will not take steps to speak out against them. He may even join them!

Only Jesus can purify our hearts, so people who are pure are people who have allowed Jesus to work in their hearts. God is Spirit and only those who have His Spirit can see and discern Him. Chronic sin distances us from God's presence. This is called darkness and we cannot see God in darkness. The clean pure heart can only be made so if we allow Jesus to work on our dark hearts. Luck are those who realise the darkness of their hearts and seek the Lord for purification. That is why he came, to rescue us from the darkness back into light where we can see Him

The world has its own standards. To be successful in the world you have to be compromising or bending in your attitude. Success in the world is about money and wealth and this must be achieved at all cost. On the other hand seeking righteousness can be painful because of the need to stick to what is right in the eyes of God without compromise. Seeking justice does not require compromise even though the situation may be hurtful. The righteousness Jesus is talking about is walking with the Lord everyday and taking the footsteps he took. Jesus Himself walked with His Father even in situation that were humanly tough. He never compromised His relationship with His Father. He walked in the will of His Father and He wants us to do the same. Jesus promises that if we seek righteousness we will find it "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled"

In the world setting you want to be assertive, rough and aiming for the highest point in life even at the expense of other people and this is what is seen to be a prerequisite for success. The Christian way is about patience and humility. Jesus humbled himself yet He was in control of His situation. H ehad the power to accomplish anything he wanted yet he was patient and enduring, slow to unlish His arsenal. To be like Him we too need to humble ourselves, being patient in exercising the power, status, privilege that we may have.

Spiritual poverty fires you up and makes want to be filled with the Spirirt of God. Siritual poverty means you are hungry and so need to be fed. If you havent got this poverty you will not feel the need for God. Only those who are thirsty demand water. That mourning that expresses the emptiness of the heart, a mourning that searches for peace of mind and infilling of the heart, a righteousness with Jesus Most Christians mourn for a better life in terms of outward prosperity, money, status, wealth etc

The first part is "Blessed are ....."attitude"" and then followed by the benefit of being that attitude eg Blessed are those who mourn (attitude), for they shall be conforted (reward). Jesus made each Beattitude a paradox to demonstrate that the qualities of the Kingdom of God are quite different to what the world expects. The Fruits of the Spirit are actually attitudes that come as a result of the presence of the Spirit in our lives.

It was appropriate for the Magi to bring the gifts to the Christ-child as a clear sign that this child was special and deserved honour. He was King of Kings. The extravagance of their gifts shows that they believed in their hearts that the Christ-child was the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the World. We must bring gifts that are from the heart, that show love for our Lord.

The readings all show that Jesus came to establish the Church in the whole world. The Gentiles were also in His plans. The Magi were not Jews yet they came to worship and honour Him as their King. They too were in need of this Messsiah the saviour. On our part we should make sure that we spread the word to all corners of the earth.

The Magi convinced themselves that this was the Messiah, the Great King. The star stopped where Jesus was born and so they had no doubt in their mind that the child they were seeing was Jesus the prophecied King. The significance of this was that the child they were worshiping was trully Jesus. There was no doubt, the prophecy had come true. We can emulate this kind of worship by also worshipping with conviction that the child born that time was Jesus the Messial and we too should not have any doubts. We should accord Jesus the same respect knowing he is our God sent to us from His Father. We should praise Him and worship Him as our Lord and saviour.

The star had been prophecied to be an indication of the birth of the Messiah. This was a very important event. The Magi were astrologers and so when they saw the star they had no doubt that the time they had been waiting for had arrived. The child prophecied was to be born. The Mgi travelled to where Jesus was born to give Him Honour because He was the Messiah who was going to save His people. He was an important King who deserved honour. The prophecy was linked to David and therefore all Jews expected it.

I have all of them but I think that Great Joy as described in the passage is something I have not reached. I'm surrounded by a lot of poverty and suffering by the ordinary person, I'm surrounded by disease and deprivation and perhaps these things hinder me from seeing the real joy in the coming of the saviour. All I have is hope! But the reality seems far away.

The three names given to Jesus are: 1) SAVIOUR: The deliverer of His people from their sins. Other terms used are "Messiah, preserver, rescuer, or Restorer" 2) CHRIST THE LORD: The Anointed one who is owner, lord and master-held in very high standing. 3) SON OF DAVID: meaning that Jesus was going to be born in the linage of Joseph's ancestor, DAVID

God is showing us how he emptied himself for our sake (Phillipians 2:7). Even though he was King, Jesus emptied himself of all previleges as KING in order to show us the extent of his Love for us. The fact that he was born among the sherpherds shows us that he came for people even as lowly as the sherpherds. If he had been born among the rich Jesus would have been understood as the a KING of the rich in society. But Jesus came for the oppressed, neglected and poorest of the poor in society to give them hope, and he demonstrated this by experiencing a birth such people would normally experience.

Luke names the rulers in LK 2:1-2 to show us the period when these events took place. He is trying to show us that Jesus is very much a person who existed in history. He is a historical figure like the mentioned Kings. His existence is real and not a myth nor a legend.

In accepting to marry Mary Joseph shows us his 'OBEDIENCE' to God. Before the Angel appeared to him he was thinking of quietely but honourably leaving Mary. But all that changed after the message from God through the Angel instructing Joseph not to be afraid and leave Mary, but that he should marry her, and Joseph obediently accepted. When he woke up he took Mary to be his wife The prophetic fullfilment is that Jesus was borne as God among His people to be with them and deliver them from their enemy, Satan. This is a shadowing prophesy that was a repeat of God coming to be with His people in the Kingdom of Judah when they were threatened by the Asyrians. At that time Isaiah prophesied that a child, Immanuel' would be born among the people of Judah and by the time he was a young boy Judah's enemies would be defeated. Similarly Jesus was born as a human child yet he was also God as a symbol of God being among His people and delivering them from the bondage of sin.

It comes from the shadowing prophesy by Isaiah in Chapter 7:14 where Isaiah exhorts King Ahaz of Judah who was facing a siege by the armies of Israel and its allies. Isaiah in the passage urges Ahaz to stand firm and trust God. Isaiah told Ahaz that a virgin would concieve and bear a child to be called Immanuel as a reminder that God is with his people in times of trouble. In the time this baby would grow to be just a young child Judah's enemies would be destroyed. The virgin birth from Marym in the new Testament is presented as a fulfillment of the above prophesy in the time of King Judal because again a child Jesus must be born and his name must be Immanuel indicating that God would be among his people again and liberate them from the enemy, this time the enemy being Satan.

The name means that He was coming to save the Human race from sins. It means saviour. The Angel gave the name to both Mary and Joseph separatly to stress the importance of giving the name. No other name was going to be acceptable except that given by the Angel.

The options were very limited since the family set up was very tight. She was going to be an outcast in society either ending up as a maid servant or a prostitute, both of whom were the lowest positions in society. Joseph exhibited maturity in his actions. He did not panick but looked at Mary as a fellow human being who needed to be treated as such despite her short comings. He weighed the situation he found himsef in so that he could end up doing the right thing that did not put Mary at risk.

Jesus would have learned about His Father's trade, how to make furniture. But he would also see His Father interact with a lot of people, some poor others rich and He sure learnt how His Father was handling these categories of people as he dealt with them. As a carpenter Joseph would have been very well organised, hard working and enduring. He would also have been a perfectionist in what he did and fair in dealing with people. Jesus must have been observing and learning all these things.

Essentially Mary believed that nothing is impossible with God and trusted that what the Angel prohpesied was going to come true with God's power. We too must learn from Mary. When we are faced with impossible situations in our daily lives we must trust that there is a God to whom there is nothing impossible. Mary was given a situation that seemingly looked impossible. It was her option to believe or not. She could have used human standards to see the impossibility of the situation or realise the great power of God to go beyond the impossible situation. The choice was hers. It is her faith that made her choose correctly. When we consent we are consenting to the power of God before whom there is nothing impossible. We are consenting to his awesome power (Mathhew 19:26)

That Our Lord Jesus Christ is God because he was conceived by God Himself. That He is Holy because His Father is Holy. Since the Holy Spirit that conceived Him was from the Father there is a very close relationship with God and Jesus, hence befitting the name "Son of God." The Christian message is that God came to His people through the Holy Spirit but was born as a man in order to relate to us in the human form and show us how to live a Holy life in the flesh. This could only be if the concemption was by the Holy Spirit Himself otherwise if He was born by the seed of man then he would not have been Holy because he would have been contaminated by sin, since man is utterly sinful without exception. I think this is a fundamnetal principle for our Christian faith!