December 27, 2015

Trey McClain   -  

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:13-16
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15When 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.”
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
 
Questions for Reflection: 
After the angel finishes telling the shepherds about the baby born in Bethlehem, a worship concert breaks out. What do the angels say? How do the shepherds respond to this message and act of worship? What do they find when the investigate the message for themselves?
There is a misconception that faith has to be blind faith. We have this vision that we are suppose to step out in faith, without seeing, like we are Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. However, much of the claims of the Bible and the Christian faith can be tested and examined. At One Life, we believe in intellectual integrity. We want you to bring your brain to church.
The journey of the shepherds should be our journey. We all should seek to explore the truth of who Jesus is. If what is claimed of Him is true (and obviously at One Life we believe that it is), He changed everything. A great place to start your exploration is the gospel accounts of Jesus life. If you haven’t read the gospels before, take time this coming week to read one of the accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). What do you learn about Jesus from their account? 
Holly Ordway was an atheist with a PhD in English when she started exploring faith. Soon she found herself reading the gospels. She writes in her book, Not God’s Type:

Either the Gospels were sophisticated works of fiction in the modern realistic style, approximately seventeen hundred years ahead of the development of the genre–which as a literary scholar I knew was ludicrous–or the Gospel writers were describing what the man named Jesus of Nazareth had really said about himself.

Her examination led her to belief. If you are unsure what you believe about Jesus, begin your journey of exploration today.