THE LESSONS OF CHRISTMAS

Each year as the Christmas season rolls in,I often wonder how much, if at all any, we grasp the lessons in all that happened around and with the birth of Christ.Beyond the romance of the birth in the manger, the visit of the Magi and their wonderful gifts,the Shepherds in the fields and Angels appearing and singing from the sky;there are some very salient down to earth lessons to be grasped and appreciated .If you have found any of your own,please use our testimony form to share it with us and we will present it on our site, otherwise check with us each day to learn one lesson per day for the gift of Christmas.

LESSON 1- A LESSON IN SUBMISSION

THE ANGEL APPEARS TO MARY- Luke 1:26-38

We know the story of the Angel appearing to Mary and giving her the news that "she" "virgin unmarried Mary" was to become pregnant with the Savior (while still unmarried).What is worthy of note in this episode is the reaction of this Jewish chaste young woman. Note that this event took place in a time where chastity was highly valued. In fact, if a woman showed evidence of having had sexual intercourse with a man before marriage, she was punished by "stoning to death".

Yet, what did young Mary do?

First, she was not concerned about how she would look to the public, or what criticism she would recieve once it became apparent that she was an unwed expectant mother,no! Her first reaction showed her willing to be used, she totally waived all concern for her image; her only concern was how it was going to happen (verse 34).

What bravery, what faith, what committment to the Lord her God!

As we celebrate Christmas this year, how many things has the Lord required of you to do so far? Has your response been one of total willingness and your only question be-"Lord show me the way to do it and I will", or have you been too concerned about how you will look in the eyes of the public and thus not surrendered yourself to God's will?

Let us borrow a leaf in surrendering, from Mary (the sweet mother of Jesus) and see what miracles God can bring not only to your life but to the lives of all those around you and become a candidate for God's Hall of fame. Mary was mentioned in the Bible for the role she played in Jesus's life. The role God is asking you to play, may just make plain unnoticeable you, known for all eternity!

So now you know.

And what will you do? Will you like Mary surrender your will to God's and say "I am the Lord's servant, may it be unto me as you have said", or will you be too concerned with trying to save face before the public, that you give up the very great oppurtunity to become famous for God?

(we would like to hear your testimonies, questions and comments on this, so dont forget to send them in, using our testimony form)

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Pastor Tega Swann

LESSON 2- A LESSON IN PARTNERSHIP

THE BIRTH OF JOHN, THE BAPTIST- LUKE 1:5-23

We serve a God who is big on partnerships. Although the greatest, He is constantly inviting us, lesser mortals to have a share in His great plan. One would say He is a very wise investor. Being true to this trait, He invited and paved the way for one special family to become partners in the birth of His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ- the family of Zechariah and Elizabeth. A couple who were past their prime for bearing children and who had none.

Zechariah (who was a priest at the time) sadly had not grasped God's intent for partnership in God's big scheme of things. Probably because it would have made more worldly sense to choose partners from a royal family perhaps? However, once he saw that God was serious about having his family as partners, he gave his total commitment.

The same is true today, God still needs partners for His big picture and daily He is issuing invitations to people, calling them to partner with Him in one way or the other. The role of John the Baptist, was to prepare the way for Jesus's ministry. With Jesus came the introduction of the Holy Ghost. John made it easy for people (who would hear) that Jesus was going to be a different kind of Prophet.

I do not know in what way God needs you to be a partner. It might be by volunteering in your church, singing in the choir, cleaning the halls, preaching the Gospel or supporting those who preach it, etc. Begin prayerfully to prepare your heart to be used by God from this moment onwards, for the rest of your life. Avoid having God draw your attention by making you "dumb". In whatever way you have been invited to have a part in the kingdom of God, please respond positively, knowing that your role brings all of mankind closer to God's plans for us.

(Questions, comments? Please e-mail us using the testimony form).

May God richly bless you today in Jesus name, amen. Remain in His love.

Pastor Tega Swann

LESSON 3- RECOGNISING AND HONORING PARTNERSHIPS

MARY AND ELIZABETH HONOR ONE ANOTHER - LUKE 1:39-45

After Mary was informed by the Angel Gabriel of the equallly wondrous favor of God upon Elizabeth, Mary chose to identify with and recognise what was going on in Elizabeths's life. She therefore paid her a visit to that effect.

However, upon Elizabeth seeing Mary, the Holy Spirit revealed to Elizabeth the equally wondrous work of God that was to be done through Mary. Elizabeth thus responded by:

(1) Recognising and Honoring Mary by her words "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear"

(2) Humbling herself before Mary thus "But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" When she realized that Mary was to be the mother of the Savior, Elizabeth (who according to the Angel Gabriel, was in her old age) made herself of no consequence before young Mary; because of the role Mary was to play in the scheme of things.

(3) Aligning her unborn child with her reactions and thus declaring her whole family's recognition and honoring of Mary and Jesus: "As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy"

(4) Appreciating Mary's partnership in God's plans "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished". This was the first record of any other human being commending Mary for submitting herself to the will of God. How good that must have made Mary feel! If she had before at all felt stupid for believing and yielding her precious reputation and giving up her dreams for a grand wedding ceremony, this encouragement from her cousin Elizabeth would have gone a long way in giving her the courage to continue.

How many times do we even acknowledge that we have partners in the scheme of things for our lives? Let me help you here by saying that "we will never walk alone, God did not make it that way. Everything we are and everything we do involves some level of partnership from others".

Consider that although Jesus was not only the Son of God, but He was also the Savior of the world, God ensured even before Jesus was born that He had a partner for the job which He had to do. There is no one so great, so intellligent, so powereful that does not need a partner(s).

Begin to recognise and respect God's design for mankind by praying to recognise and acknowledge the partners God has given you in this life;

(1) In your homes, spouses recognise, acknowledge and honor one another for the role each plays in your life (if you cannot see it, you need God's help (just like Mary and Elizabeth did), therefore ask God to help you see it) and teach your children to do the same by their words and actions towards each other.

(2)In your work places pray that God opens your eyes to recognise and appreciate the contribution and therefore partnership of everyone with whom you work.

(3) On a general scale pray to see and appreciate the work of man as he directly or indirectly makes it possible for you to do what you need to do. This means appreciating technology, your government (yes!), those involved in bringing you the services that you need and require (even McDonald's! and the rest of them), your street sweepers, road builders, mail man, etc. The list is endless, and you will begin to see, if you are willing to ask.

So this Christmas, make it a different kind of Christmas by making your gift the cultivation of the attitude of recognizing and honoring all the partnerships in your life.

You are blessed. Remain in God's lvoe.

Pastor Tega Swann

LESSON 4 - A LESSON IN LEADERSHIP

THE ANGEL APPEARS TO JOSEPH - Matthew 1:18-24

I would like to paste today's text from the Bible. It is so poignant, that I would not like to take away from it by paraphrasing it.

"This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel- which means "God with us". When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. Bit he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus". NIV

What a story!

Dearly beloved, let us carefully consider this account that we might best benefit from it.

Joseph was not initially privy to Mary's encounter with the angel. Moreover, Luke's account (KJV) tells us that Mary pondered the Angels message and kept it to herself. It is therefore safe to assume that she did not share the encounter with anyone, not even her fiance Joseph. One could also assume that her reason for keeping the news to herself was (1) to wait for the event to come to pass and (2) once it came to pass, it just seemed to far-fetched a story to expect people to believe her explanation for her being pregnant while still unwed! But whatever the reason, all we know is that at the time she was found to be pregnant, her fiance did not as yet, have an acceptable explanation for her condition.

Here comes the wonderful part of this lesson: the Bible says "because Joseph was a righteous man" (this account of Joseph righteousnes implies that he strove to treat people decently) he was not going to humiliate Mary by publicly rejecting her even thogh she deserved it. He was going to look for a way to refuse to marry that would not embarass her! Can you imagine that! At the time he did not even know the details of Mary's pregnancy and justly assumed that she had defiled herself with another man, yet instead of justifiably rejecting her whichever way he felt, he still preferred to treat her with honor and respect! What a man!

God made an excellent choice in Mary, because He knew that she had a good man who would uphold His standards of partnership, no matter the cost or the provocation! What better choice of family for the Son of God?

Lesson Points

1. Joseph strove to honor his future partner even when it semed she had not honored him. Joseph was willing to cover up his fiancee's shame, even when it seemed that she did not deserve it. What kind of leadership in partnership do you practice? Do you treat the partners in your life with decency, even when they have (presumably) done wrong? Let us learn today from this account of the events at Christmas and therefore from now on, choose to treat our partners with decency instead of finding and holding onto presumably justifiable reasons for not doing so. Remember this " Things are not always what they seem".
2. God fulfilled His own part of the partnership by bringing Joseph up to speed on the events, thereby helping Joseph maintain his righteousness. For had he put Mary away,even if privately he would have been punishing Mary unjustly, and God stepped in to prevent him from doing what he would not have done if he had the inside scoop.
3.  If you are a person who is usually committed to doing God's will, God will always step in to prevent you from making an error of judgment. The question that remains is, "will you like Joseph listen and obey, or will you refuse the counsel of the Lord because it is seems to wonderful to be true?"
4. Joseph did not demand his conjugal rights as a husband once he agreed to still marry Mary. This is another wonderful example of how honorable this man was. How understanding are you when for very valid reasons, you temporarily cannot enjoy the priviledges of a partnership with your partners? Do you manipulate or demand your rights? Let us from this day forward borrow a leaf from Joseph's example, remembering this, "there will always be setbacks in any partnership, but they were meant (by God) to be temporary". So put on your 'smiley face ' and show your partner that you are good for the long haul.
5. Joseph worked with Mary to fulfil God's vision through her. Godly leadership because of '3' recognises, acknowledge's and supports its partners calling, even if that partner is lesser than us (e.g. socially, acamedically, financially, you name it)

(Please note that the term partner is being used here in the context of our previous lessons)

As we go through this study of "The Lessons of Christmas" and as we implement what we learn, can't you just feel the love you are spreading? This was God's purpose in sending us His only Son,Jesus Christ. That is what the angels meant when they said "peace on earth, good will to men". This is you being a part of God's vision for mankind. Remain blessed today in Jesus name, Amen!

Pastor Tega Swann

LESSON 5 - A LESSON IN HUMILITY

THE BIRTH OF JESUS, Luke 2:1-7

Aha!

At last today we come to the big story, the story we have been waiting to hear. The story that has been countlessly retold and gloriously celebrated for generations - the story of the actual birth of Christ. I must say that other than the death (the crucifixion) and resurrection of Christ (Easter), this is one of the most celebrated stories. No doubt, the countless merchants who have profited from the sales of their 'nativity set' will be glad that it is so.

But in all actuality, was the event that romantic or does it call for a little more reverential awe? Let us explore.

The coming of Jesus as the Savior or Messiah, was foretold by several Prophets in the Old Testament. His actual crucifixion, death and resurrection, were foretold by the Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 53). The Bible describes Him as the Son of God who came down from Glory to be with and save us. His actual life on earth, showed Him as a man of great unsurpassed power. But how was He born?This Prince of Peace, the Lord of lords, the One at whose name every knee bows, the One that had the power over life and death, the only One who had direct access to God and the only One to have ever seen God face to face, how was He born and what was the significance of the manner of His birth?

Theoretically, Jesus should have been born in a palace (to identify with His universal status) and that was why the wise men from the East sought Him at King Herod's palace. But in keeping with His persona, the Almighty, all powerful and Sovereign God is a very humble God. He hates pride, does not profess it and does not tolerate it. He does not and has never needed titles (He introduced Himself simply as "I AM" to Moses) or pomp to declare or prove who He is. It was therefore in keeping with this that His Son, Jesus Christ, would live His life on earth (from birth to death) in keeping with the Father's way of life.

And so this greatest man to have ever lived, chose to come through simple unassuming, untitled folk and He was by this choosing to live their way of life. Had Joseph and Mary not been simple unassuming, humble folk, they could never have accepted to stay the night in the manger of the inn. Their lack of protest at this only form of accomodation showed that even without Jesus in the picture, they would have still stayed in the manger.

But would we have appreciated their simplicity and humility then? Would we not have just considered them poor folk who could not afford better lodgings? We would have had no reason to romaticize their stay in the manger (I am sure before and since the birth of Christ, many folk have stayed and will continue to stay in desperate lodgings). But by choosing to come through simple folk, Jesus was choosing to identify with the common man. One could say He chose to celebrate the common man (no wonder Mary and Joseph were amazed at the calibre of people who stopped by to visit the new born babe, they were not used to such adulation). Jesus chose to bring His glory into the lives of this simple folk who might never have even shaken the hand of the king once in their lives.

So while celebrating Jesus today, it is important to realise that we are able to do so, because He first celebrated us. He thought us so important that He would rather identify with us who had nothing to give Him (He was wrapped in swaddling clothes - there was no silk recieving blanket for this Prince, no!)

And throughout His life, Jesus continued this pattern (no wonder he says in Matthew 25:45 "Surely I say unto you, whatsoever you did to the least of my brethren, that you did unto me" (Please read entire passge Matthew 25:31-46)). In the Garden of Gethsemane, His assailants could not distinguish Him from His disciples, because He identified with them. Even in His death, He chose to die as the common man, He was crucified with thieves and murderers; criminals who were the scum of the earth. But notice how by this His identification with criminals, He caused one of the thieves to upgrade into glory- Jesus' glory rubbed off on him. And that is the whole purpose of His coming , He has come to call us to to His level and the only way to do that is by Him coming down to our level. So the next time you feel someone is beneath your league, try hanging out with them. That will bring them right into your league and you would have continued in one of Jesus's celebrations of Christmas

Being as one of the poor did not in any way stop Jesus from being who He was. He was still God and still a king and a prince not because of his garments and trimmings, but because of who He was in terms of authority and power. He did not need those to be who He was, He already was who He was, " I AM".

LESSON POINTS

1. Do we often need physical, social, financial/economic evidence of our worth? If so, let us turn a new leaf today. Ask the Lord to give you a knowledge of who you are and ask His help to remember who you are, no matter the situation you find yourself in. Ever heard the phrase, "clothes do not make the man"? Well, it is true, for it were not, then a lot of corrupt and deadly people who don on their fine clothes would be considered the salt of the earth.
2. Be like Jesus and confer and share whatever glory and honor you have, with those beneath in you in that realm, remembering that "by celebrating them you will end up being celebrated"
3. Carry on the tradition of Christ as you celebrate Christmas by sharing it with the less fortunate. There are countless way to do this, here are some suggestions: -

invite the poor and less fortunate to your Christmas dinner

prepare and take your scrumptious dinner to a local shelter or Salvation Army,

spend that money for the piece of jewelry from 'Jared' on toys for homeless kids or kids in group homes, orphanages etc. ;

find a local charity to identify with and support not only this season but for always.

AND REMEMBER, God hates pride. He brings down the proud and elevates the humble. Bring the humility into your Christmas this year.

May your Christmas be humble and blessed in Jesus name. Amen.

(The Lessons of Christmas will continue on Monday, December 18th, 2006.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND)

PASTOR TEGA SWANN

LESSON SIX - A LESSON IN RESPONSE

ANGELS APPEAR TO THE SHEPHERDS, LUKE 2:8-20

"Shepherds in the field abiding, watching o'er their flock by night...". These beginning words to the beloved christmas carol that tells the story of Luke 2:8-20, draw our attention to the fact that the Shepherds were busy with their responsibilities of watching over their flock when the Angels visited them with the news of Jesus' birth.

The Angel of the Lord met these Shepherds at work and gave them this good news: ""Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger". Lk.2:10-12 NIV.

And after this, the Bible says in verse 13 that, "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,"Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests".NIV

This was all the conversation that was recorded to have transpired between the angels and the shepherds, nothing more. Yet after this occurence we are told that: "When the Angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them"vs15-18. NIV. What a response!

LESSON POINTS

It is very impressive to note how these busy people left their life's work and worth (by leaving their sheep unattended) and made the decision to follow up on a message from God. Who would have thought that people doing a job as theirs would be able to display such a prompt response to God? I mean, they did not concern themselves with "who will take care of the sheep while we are gone?", they did not opt to leave one shepherd behind while the rest of them went to see the Savior, no. Their response was "let us": implying all of them with one accord, thought it was important to check out this message from God.

How often can we say that the Lord has sent us a message through an invitation or announcement about His presence or where He wants us to be or about our lives? How often can we say that like the Shepherds, our response has been to drop everything and respond to the Lord? In the day and age that we live in, the more accurate response would be to wait until we are less busy or our schedules lighten, or the circumstances in our lives change before we can answer to that call.

Maybe, we might be encouraged to know that that which keeps us busy today, is not different from that which the shepherds were engaged in when they got the message - the pursuit of a livelihood. Yet no where, was it recorded that they suffered damage to their livelihood by taking the time out to respond to the Lord's notice. NO! In fact, they did not even stop at responding, they went further to spread the news of what they had been told them. By this they modelled what Jesus taught that our response should always be to God: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well".Matthew 6:33.

I would like to call these shepherds, the very first in exemplary response to the Gospel:

1. the message of the Gospel is important enough that it should stop us in the tracks of whatever we are doing.
2. the content of its message is rich enough that we should attempt to experience it for ourselves and
3. once having experienced it and found it to be what we were told, we should share the good news immediately and indiscriminately with all who are around us; you do not have to be a pastor or an envagelist in order to share the message of the Gospel with others. Do as the shepherds did: share your personal experience - that which you have heard and that which you have experienced

Blessed indeed are those shepherds for modelling for us, what true and unfeigned response to the Gospel of Christ is.

What is your response to the message of Christ today?

Maybe you have responded, but only partially. Maybe you have done'1', but not '2' and '3'. Or maybe '1' and '2' , but not '3'. Or maybe you have not done any of these at all. Well as the shepherds have been used by God to model for us, the acceptable response to the Gospel of Christ, is a three-fold response. So as we celebrate Christmas this year, let us borrow a leaf from the Shepherds and respond totally to the message of Christ that is shared with us in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

May the Lord grant us the grace to give a total response from now on in Jesus name, amen.

Suggested further reading, Matthew 6:19-35

LESSON SEVEN - A LESSON IN WISDOM

THE WISE MEN SEEK JESUS - MATTHEW 2:1-10

Today we come to the visit of the Magi (Wise Men).

As we examine this story we see that these three 'Wise Men', were neither of Jesus's country, heritage or culture. They were people that the Jews would have otherwise considered strangers, "gentiles", if you will. However, Eastern fables associated wisdom with widely knowledgeable people. So that we may safely assume that these Wise Men, were people who made it their business to study and acquire knowledge regardless of its source and origin and in that process came upon the prophecies regarding the birth of Jesus. It is also safe to assume that as stories of the East go, they also dabbled in astrology, hence they were able to identify the fulfilment of these prophecies.

These Wise Men were neither Jews nor had a relationship with the God which the Jews worshipped, yet because of their keeping up with knowledge they became aware of the existence of this God and who His representative was to be (Jesus).

What is worthy of note, is their response to their discovery. Being neither of that origin nor culture, they were certainly not obligated to submit to the heirachy of another nation. However, we are told that once made aware of the birth of Jesus Christ by virtue of His star, they proceeded to seek Him to pay homage to Him.

Their studies told them who He was and they displayed their wisdom (application of knowledge) in seeking and paying homage to Him.

What does knowledge make us do today? Does it make us rationalize the role of God in our lives and create a way of escape from recognizing and giving God His rightful role in our lives? Or does it make believers and faithful followers of God out of us?

What have you done with the knowledge of Christ in your life?

If the Christ has been revealed to us as the Savior, the Son of God and brought closer to us than He was to the Magi, we should waste no time in seeking to align ourselves with Him. It is time to borrow a leaf from the 'Three Wise Men' and seek to meet and worship Him.

The Apostle Paul modelled this pattern when he said "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection". Do not leave out of Christmas this Christmas, your personal experience of meeting and worshipping the Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. Christmas would not be complete without it.

Remain blessed.

LESSON EIGHT - A LESSON IN WORSHIP AND GIVING

THE MAGI GIVE JESUS GIFTS Matthew 2:11-12

This is our final lesson on "The Lessons of Christmas". We look forward to hearing more from you on lessons you have discovered in Christmas and we can share them next year with our readers.

After the Magi found Jesus, they bowed down and worshipped Him (which was their original purpose in seeking Him). However, they went a bit further by giving Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The wise men worshipped Jesus because they had information that He was God in the flesh, but why did they give Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh? These are pretty unusual gifts to give to anyone, much less a baby. So why did they give these gifts to the Baby Jesus? Being very wise men, they gave Jesus gifts that symbolised His life: the gift of gold was a symbol of His sovereignty (Isaiah 9:6-7); the gift of frankincense (incense) was a symbol of His pleasant sacrifice to God (Mark 1:9-10) and the gift of myrrh ( a bitter herb) was a symbol of the cup of sorrow that He was to bear on our behalf (Isaiah 53).

LESSON POINTS

There is no act of worship that does not give something to the one who is being worshipped. Think about it, when you lift your voice or get on your knees in worship to the Lord, your heart is in a state of surrender and in that moment, people usually surrender or promise some aspect of themselves or their lives to God.

The point to ponder is whether the gift we give in worship to God bear witness of who He is to us or what He is in our lives? We should be releasing gifts (whatever they may be;note that of all the three gifts that the wise men gave, only the gift of gold was extremely expensive) to God that identify with the role He plays in our lives.

Gifts that say "you are my God", "you are my Helper", "you are my Deliverer", "You are my Provider", "You are my Healer", etc.

We could also learn how to give gifts to our fellow men this way and whilst there is nothing wrong with giving expensive gifts (of course, there are times that "you have got to say it with diamonds"). However, giving a gift(s) that symbolises some aspect of the person's life will truly be more treasured than anything else.

So as we shop to give this season, both to God and to man, be sure to keep this fact in mind and you will be surprised how well your gifts are recieved; a sure and pleasing fragrance to both God and man.

May you truly be blessed in all that we have learned about "The Lessons of Christmas". And please note that these are lessons that carry on into every day of our lives, for that is primarily what Jesus came to do - teach us how to live, from His birth to His death, to His resurrection.

Have a wonderful and memorable Christmas in Jesus name. Amen!

Pastor Tega Swann