December 2015 - The Road to Cedarville

(Warning: if you have not read the previous posts about "The Road to Cedarville," you may become dizzyingly and chronologically lost.)

December began with a whirlwind of the usual activity!  Thanksgiving had come and gone, and Christmas music and decorations flowed from one hall to the next.  The children were overwhelmingly excited.  Amidst all of the holiday commotion, Jeff had scheduled an interview with Cedarville University.

Liking research and knowledge about our possibilities, Jeff and I decided to visit a couple of churches while we were in the Ohio area.  Essentially, we attended the first service of one church and the second service of another.  At the first church, the pastor preached about Joseph and the birth announcement of Jesus.

Contextually understanding the story of Joseph and Jesus helps.  Mary, a virgin was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  This child was (and is) the Savior of the world!  She was engaged to Joseph, and in that culture, they needed a divorce to break the engagement.  Well, pregnant Mary had to face Joseph, and Joseph knew that the child wasn't his, so he decided to divorce her quietly to save her from shame and disgrace.  God sent an angel to Joseph to explain parts of His greater plan, telling Joseph to get married anyway and care for this supernatural Savior child.  The pastor observed that Joseph's humanness could not understand God's plan.  Joseph was not expecting his wife to be pregnant, let alone that this pregnancy would be supernatural.  God revealed His plan to Joseph, and Joseph in turn had to respond by changing his plans and expectations.

Application: We thought that our Michigan home would be our retirement home.  Jeff would retire from his current employer, and life would always be cozy, comfortable, and predictable.  We had to change our expectations as our plans turned up-side-down!

At the second church, we heard about "finding joy when others miss it."  Preaching about the Magi who visited Jesus after his birth, the pastor pointed out the fact that the Magi searched (and even researched) the time and location of Jesus' birth.  He further related the fact that King Herod wanted to kill Jesus and even asked his local administration about the prophecies in Scripture--when and where Jesus would be born.  Then, Herod tried to trick the Magi into revealing where Jesus was.  At the end of the sermon, the pastor laid out a challenge: how will you respond?

Essentially, the  Magi responded with joy and obedience.  Herod was spiteful and hateful as he tried to kill Jesus, while his administrators were simply ambivalent and did nothing.  Once again, the application was apparent: receive God's will with joy and obedience!