The Wonder of the Incarnation of Christ
A.W. Tozer said; “What comes to mind when we think of God is the most important thing about us.” Certainly our thoughts of God are our most important thoughts. All other thoughts are mere trivia by comparison. E. Stanley Jones once said, “If God isn’t as good as Christ, then God isn’t as good as He could be” (“Christlikeness” from NavPress). This is not irreverence towards God but a statement of the value of the person of Christ. If you are a Christian, your Christology is the centerpiece of your belief system. Christ is quite literally your life.
As we worship Christ this Christmas season, I offer this poem by H.R. Bramley. It expresses something of the wonder of Christ and the mystery of the incarnation.
A babe on the breast of a maiden He lies,
Yet sits with the Father on High in the skies,
Before Him their faces the seraphim hide,
While Joseph stands, Waiting, un-scared by His ride.
Oh wonder of wonders which none can unfold,
The Ancient of Days is an hour or two old,
The Maker of all things is made of the earth,
Man is worship by angels, And God comes to birth.
The Word in the bliss of the Godhead remains,
Yet in flesh comes to suffer the keenest of pains,
He is that He was, and forever shall be,
But becomes what He was not for you and for me.
Merry Christmas!
Charles Cavanaugh
Christmas: The Majesty Of God
“That which is conceived in her was from the Holy Spirit”
We are often drawn to and awed by the lowly nature of Christ as illustrated in His ignominious birth. It is striking that God the Son arrived in a stable surrounded by the smells and filth of animals and was worshipped by dirty shepherds.
But there is also something of God majesty in Christ’s earthly beginnings. The conception of the Christ child was no ordinary conception. The awesome nature of the person and work of the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, is displayed in the Christmas story.
Joseph was overwhelmed to find that his betrothed wife Mary was with child, since he had acted with moral integrity and not had sexual relations with her. The only thing to do was to divorce her as the Law allowed in cases of betrothal unfaithfulness. His love for her and his godly forbearance moved him to do so in private to spare her shame and the stoning which might come.
But Joseph went from being disturbed by human circumstances to being overwhelmed by the nature of what God is doing; “That which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Conception itself is an amazing thing. Sexual union and procreation are intricately designed for the natural gestation and birth of a child. But think of the majesty of almighty God put on display by the supernatural conception of Christ in the womb of a virgin. This is an “awful” thing in the oldest and best since of the word. It leaves us full of awe. That Mary, a sinful young woman in need of the Savior she carried, should carry and bring to birth the second person of the Godhead is beyond comprehension.
The angel described this in even more majestic terms to Mary some time before the event with Joseph. “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall over shadow you: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God” [Luke 1:35]. The second person of the Godhead, the Creator of all things was conceived in the womb of a Jewish virgin girl.
Here is the Biblical, historical narrative we see the three persons of the Godhead displayed: God the Father sending His Son; God the Spirit conceiving the Son; and God the Son conceived and growing in the womb of Mary to be born the Savior of sinners. This is the beauty of Christmas. This is the wonder of the incarnation. This is the majesty of God.
Charles Cavanaugh
Christmas: The Salvation of God
As I listen to the Christmas carols sung across the system in the store where I work, I am struck by two things:
The first thing that strikes me is the amazing grace of God in salvation. Such phrases as “God and sinner reconciled”, “It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth”, and “Remember Christ our Savior was born on…” remind me of the saving mercies of my God in Christ. The incarnation season is full of joyful reminders that God has blessed me “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3)
The second thing that strikes me is the ignorance of most of those who sing these truths, the significance of what they sing, and the ignorance of most who hear. I am moved to pray that God will open the eyes of many of them to the truth of the Gospel. It is not unusual for people to think of Christ as a savior in some general, benign sense. The moral influence of His life and the Martyrdom of His death are considered noble and significant. But the personal need for a substitute and the remedy for our sin problem are not issues one naturally things of and require the work of the Holy Spirit. That is why we pray that God will not only have mercy on those who listen in blindness and ignorance, but that He will also use those of us who know Him as instruments of grace.
“You shall call His name Jesus.” Jesus comes from the Greek form of the Hebrew Jehoshua and means “deliverer”. Many people are happy to have Jesus “come into their hearts” and be delivered from hell, marriage problems, financial problems, depression or any number of other ills, while holding onto their sins. But deliverance “from” something also means deliverance “to” something. And followers of Christ are not only delivered from hell, they are delivered from their sins and into a new life in Him. In much the same way that Moses delivered the Old Testament people of God from the bondage of Egypt and Joshua delivered them into the land of promise and obedience to God, so the New Testament believer is saved from sin’s power and penalty (and ultimate its presence) until a life abundant in Christ; a life lived to the glory of God (which is the great point of salvation, after all).
This is the burden and glory of Christmas for us: the burden of being surrounded by a humanity in need of a Savior and the glory of a salvation complete in Christ. “Therefore he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25) “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
Because of the Saviour,
Charles Cavanaugh
Christmas: The Presence of God
People are incurable. They will worship something, even if it is themselves. But people will not naturally worship the true God, the God of the Bible. They will instead seek after an entirely different God or form the God of Scripture to their own liking.
But God is not interested in the so-called well-meaning efforts of people seeking to worship something. He calls people to worship Him as He has ordained and fear Him only. So Christmas is much more than a celebration of human ideas loosely attached to some historical event that happened about 2000 years ago. Christmas is the celebration of the incarnation of the one and only transcendent God in the person of His Son the second person of the Godhead. Christmas is “God with us.” A young Jewish virgin labored and gave birth to God the Son. God came to birth.
“God, who at different times and in various manners has spoken in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us in His Son; whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom He made the world; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the exact representation of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sin, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:1-3)
This is why Christmas is special. This is why we say “Merry Christmas!” We give gifts because He has given so much to us. And we give not because any of us is deserving, but because we know the God of grace who has revealed Himself to us in His Son Christ Jesus.
The joy of Christmas is the joy of knowing the one true and living God who reveals Himself in the person of His Son.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.
This is Christmas; the presence of God in the person of Christ. Know it. Sing it. Celebrate it. Live it. “God with us.”
Charles Cavanaugh
What Are They Saying?
P4C12 Testimonials
You don’t have to take our word for it. See and hear what others are saying about P4C. You should come or invite someone to come in 2013!
Daniel
Special thanks to our video producer Zach Scheller.
Giving Thanks Always
What do you do on Thanksgiving? Do you watch parades, watch football, eat at least one huge meal with lots of snacks between means? And there may be some measure of visiting with friends and family. These are all good things that we have come to associate with the holiday we call Thanksgiving. There is also a rich heritage that goes with our national holiday but which is very often forgotten and even pushed out by the contrivances of the modern celebration. Our pilgrim forefathers had journeyed into the unknown in search of the freedom to worship and serve the God of Scripture without encumbrance of government intervention. But the journey, and the new life it brought, challenged them to trust the grace and providence of God as they never hand, and that “first” Thanksgiving was the expression of their genuine thanks for His merciful goodness towards them. Far from the relative safety of the Old World, and surrounded by the dangers of a raw and unknown land, they nevertheless had a very strong sense of God’s provision and His grace in their lives.
Paul’s words to the Ephesians were appropriate when he wrote them, they were so to our Pilgrim Fathers, and we should heed them now: “…giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20)
There are certain seasons which remind us of God’s grace and generosity and should remind us to give thanks: Christmas is a celebration of Christ’s incarnation and Easter of His passion and redemption. Even secular holidays remind us of God’s goodness. But, in the end, those earthly seasons are reminders that we re to give thanks always.
Life also brings various situations that are opportunities for giving thanks, and those situations are not always what we would choose. Ironically, Thanksgiving morning brought me two situations that were not of my choosing: a car window stuck in the down position and a clogged kitchen drain. Addressing those issues was not how I wanted to spend the morning of my holiday. And giving thanks was not my first response. But these relatively minor problems were ordained by my Heavenly Father, and are to “give thanks always for all things.” The Lord may be pleased to bring much more significant trials to us. Part of trusting and glorifying Him is learning to “give thanks always for all things.” He means them for our good and His glory. In fact, He is working to see that these ends are accomplished. (Romans 8:28 & 29)
We hear a lot about being thankful during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, but we hear very little about to whom we should give thanks. The very idea of gratefulness presupposes we are the beneficiaries and another is the benefactor. Those of us who know Christ and enjoy his salvation know who is the giver of every blessing and gift. “Every good and perfect gift is from above…The Father of lights.” (James 1:17) Gratefulness is not just a good feeling about the stuff we have and the supposed safety and security we enjoy. True gratefulness is recognition of and a submission to the loving sovereignty of our great God who does all things well. The true child of God recognizes that, even if we never ate another bite of pumpkin pie or watched another football game, we are the recipients of untold mercies in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanksgiving Day is therefore a reminder that, as unworthy as we are, we are called to live life to the glory of Christ until He returns.
Charles Cavanaugh
The Recap: Passion4Christ2012
The end of October brings falling leaves, chilly temps, thoughts of Christmas, and the Passion4Christ Summit – an event where Christian singles gather for fun, fellowship and the challenging proclamation of God’s Word. It was a blessing to welcome a record number of 96 registrants along with 22 staff to one of the best weeks one could have.
We thank the Lord for a volunteer staff who serves with Vision4Living to make it a blessed week for everyone. Wonderful meals, housing, and a general atmosphere of joy are the result of God’s grace ministered to and through these dear friends in Christ. That joy carried over to our two theme dinners: one, a Mexican Hacienda; the other an Oscar Gala from the past and a red carpet event; the first casual, the second formal, both a ton of fun.
Each day provided an abundance of opportunities for physical refreshment and exhaustion: hiking, zip line, volleyball, late night talking and playing cards, and plenty of good food. The fellowship in Christ was encouraging, uplifting, and nourishing.
The week’s extracurricular activities culminated with Saturday evening and the annual campfire stories and volleyball tournament championship. After laughing ourselves silly at the campfire, we headed to “the barn” for intensity of emotion and sound (how does 90 decibels sound to you?). Cheerleaders lead the yells (I had to hold my ears) and the wave, linemen watched the ball, judges watched the net, and the match went down to the wire. Green beat Blue 3 to 2.
As much fun as all of these things were, nothing could match the worship of God and the Word of God. Our hearts were led to worship as we sang songs and hymns old and new with Biblical truth and powerful heart-felt expression. The small ensemble of instruments blended with eth voices of God’s people, ascended to the throne, and enriched our souls with thoughts of worship that followed us home. It was simple incredible.
We were all challenged to ask and answer the question of what it means to obey Christ’s command to go and make disciples. The preaching of God’s Word was the central part of our week, while the community groups gave each one the opportunity to personally interact with what was heart. Two breakout sessions (one for men and one for women) rounded out the hours of encouragement for our walk with Christ. Such a time of encounter with God is not possible without the blessing of God and the ministry of His Holy Spirit, for which we give Him glory.
It is hard to believe it’s over.
The Lord willing, it will not be long before we go there for P4C13. We hope to see you there.
In Christ,
Charles Cavanaugh
To see more photos, click here to view the full Passion4Christ2012 Slide show put together by our friends, Britton and Erica Felber of Photography by Britton, who graciously agreed to photograph the Summit.
You can also download full audio recordings of all of the sessions here.
P4C12 Audio Downloads!
“The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it [Prov.10:22]” The Lord truly did bless P4C12 and God’s Word and fellowship with His people was deeply rich. There is much reason for rejoicing in God’s goodness. The next generation was thoroughly equipped in the word of God with the concept of what it means to ‘GO’ and make disciples. Each and every attendee was excited to return to their communities, churches, and families to – by God’s grace – engage with the gospel on all fronts [read ‘The Recap: Passion4Christ 2012]. You too can reap from the abundance of God’s Word which was faithfully preached at P4C12. All of the sessions are available below for free download [just click on the links and follow from there]. Enjoy and may your love for the gospel grow and your desire to ‘GO’ and proclaim be ever resolved.
Serving with you,
Daniel Cavanaugh
What Does GO Look Like for You? – Charles Cavanaugh
The Joy of Nations – Dave Teruel
Dirty Screens & Mission Prep – Pam Cavanaugh
Who is My Neighbor? – Dewey Novotny
Making Disciples – Daniel Cavanaugh
Launching the Gospel from the Church – Dave Teruel
Preaching The Gospel – Charles Cavanaugh
Giving to The Gospel – Dewey Novotny
Bumpy Roads and Beautiful Places
I say “Good Morning” in English to our bus driver, Edgar, and his wife, Rose. As I board the bus that we will be using for the rest of the mission trip, I smile because they speak no English and I speak no Spanish, but we still communicate with love and smiles to each other.
There are so many different sites to see as I travel down the roads of Ecuador and watch out my window. I see places where people are living that I would think were abandoned and no one could possible live there. I look closer and people are living there. We go through towns and the roads are bumpy, dirty, and very primitive and people are working in the marketplace selling and buying. It is different than my own culture.
We start down this very, very bumpy road – I am not entirely sure it is a road! We climb a steep hill and I look around and I can’t imagine where we are going.
This can’t be the way to where we are going to spend the night!
Yes, we are stopping. At the top of the hill among all this poverty and very small dwellings is a hotel. It is a beautiful place.
The owners are Christians and they house missionaries when they come through. This hotel is like a villa, so peaceful, beautiful, and very Spanish looking. The flowers in the courtyard are amazing. In the doorway is the lady who runs and owns the hotel. She speaks no English, but smiles and we try to communicate. She is a very precious lady.
My room is on the third level. I step out on the balcony that opens up out from my room.
I can see almost the whole city. In front of me is beauty – the mountains. Below me are dwellings that are very poor. Some dwellings that have never been completed!
Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for we are all one in Christ Jesus.”
My heart is blessed, because I realize as I run my eyes over the diverse landscape and people – that all of us who know Christ will spend eternity together with Him. Christ never looks at the outward, but looks at our hearts. I love this thought that He loves us and He loves these people.
My prayer is that this week our team would share the love of Christ and that those who don’t know Him will see Him.
Day is drawing to a close and the night is setting in. I return to my room and prepare to go to sleep. It is a cool breezy evening, so I open the windows. I hear firecrackers going off ever few minutes late into the night. What are they celebrating?
The next day, I am informed that they shoot firecrackers to ward off the evil spirits!
They have much to overcome here – superstitions and lack of knowledge of a complete and powerful God. I am so grateful I have a Savior who his able to help me and protect me. My heart is overwhelmed that the Lord has brought me to this place.
Bumpy roads lead to beautiful places that teach us so much about who God is.
“Grace be to you, and pace, from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of God and our Father.” Galatians 1:4
I am excited about the next destination, so look forward to what the Lord wants to teach me, and praying that He will use me for His glory.
Pam Cavanaugh
What GO Looks Like for Amy
Check out what “Go” looks like for Amy of Loving the Lord Ministries!
Now that you know what Go looks like for Amy, What Will Go Look Like for You?
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Passion4Christ 2012 | October 24-28 | Perrysville, Ohio
Registration is open now – don’t miss out!