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Long Live the King!
Every year, to wrap up our Advent series and to mark Christmas, we will hold a “Lessons and Carols” session at the Fellowship. This year was no exception. At this session, instead of our usual Bible study format, we read from select texts in the Bible and also sang hymns fit for the season.
Over the past 4 weeks, we’ve studied how Jesus’ genealogy (Matt 1:1-17), birth circumstances (Matt 1:18-2:6), and post-birth socio-political happenings (Matt 2:7-18) tell us something of Christmas’ joy amidst the tragedy of our broken world. This week’s study rounds up the series as we look at the significance of Jesus’ return from Egypt. Our text today is connected to its preceding texts with the word “but”. What changed, and what does it mean for us today? Read on to find out more!
Jesus is a king with authority who makes His claims with legitimacy. He is the fulfilment of long-given promises and this is an important part of His identity because how we think about His rule and authority affects what we think of Him. Until we understand this, God will just be a TV channel that we choose to turn on and off at will. Today’s passage will show us different responses of people when they encountered this King.
If Jesus is king, then we are not, and how can that be a joyful thing for us? Today’s passage tackles this problem head on.
What have you been waiting for? There are many different types of waiting, and different objects of waiting. Here’s why it is important - what you are waiting for will determine how you live, and whether your life is worth living. Read on to find out what God’s people waited for, and are waiting for!
Advent is a time in the Christian calendar when Christians reflect on the first coming and birth of Jesus. At Fellowship, we will spend this Advent on the first two chapters of Matthew, which forms part of the Gospels. Gospel simply means “good news” and these four books are actually talking about one piece of good news – our salvation. These are four accounts of the one man, Jesus of Nazareth. It chronicles His birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection. Each writer has a different emphasis and audience. Mark emphasized the servanthood of Jesus because it was written to a Roman audience used to leadership and leaders who lorded it over them. Matthew was for the Jews, God’s covenant people who have been waiting for a Messiah. Kingdom is therefore one major theme that Matthew writes.
