Yesterday we saw how King Herod was clinging to power using violence and fear to rule.  Such times were described in book of Isaiah, prophetically, as a time of great darkness.

But contrast him to Jesus.  Jesus also claims to be King of the Jews.  But for him, that is a position he has not taken by force or manipulation, but by right.  It is a position he hangs on to not by violence and fear, but by peace and love.

This is why he’s described by the Prophet Isaiah, 500 years before Jesus, as the light rising in the darkness.

What a contrast!

Herod has gone down in history, Christian and otherwise, as a brutal tyrant, a false king who never belonged in power.

And by contrast, Jesus is still known as a king.  The sign above his cross – king of the Jews.  Sing this Christmas: glory to the newborn king.

Then he got in the way of a different kind of power – the religious power of the scribes and Pharisees, and eventually Rome, who had him executed.  And yet, Jesus is still known today as alive and active in people’s lives.

Jesus scares the powerful, because he is truly power.  He is the source of all power and authority in the world.  All power is given by God.  All the ways people exert power rely on God having created and sustained world in the first place.  When people who are abusing those means encounter true power, they are afraid.  Like an employee who has been claiming to speak for the boss will suddenly shrink when the boss actually enters the room.

Jesus had that kind of true power, he scared those with false power.

The question is how will we respond to Jesus?  Will we cling to power like Herod, or do everything we can to find and worship him, like the Magi?

Question:  What do you think true power and authority looks like?  How would you recognize it?

Reminder: We have a great Christmas event coming December 14th, 2013: The Original Christmas Party.  Hope you’re coming!

Read the Bible in Sync Today

Ryan Sim - January 27, 2014

Monday - A New Idea - Reset Time

Reset

We’re recently started a new series called “reset”. In the first week, we talked about how Jesus makes it possible to reset all of life, giving us a fresh start in life that impacts every key area. We’re going to look at many of these in depth, and this week we see how Jesus resets our use of time. There was a time in my life when I prided myself on never needing a day planner. I remembered everything I signed up for, and never double booked. That was high school. Ever since, I’ve found my time needed to be managed. Through university, I started to rely on a day planner, an old fashioned spiral bound book. I got progressively busier, but could still say yes to pretty much anything I wanted. I would stay up all night getting things done if I needed to. I was young. By the time I started working, I had to start making choices. I can only be in one meeting, one event, or one place at a time. When I first pastored a church, I was still working as a paramedic on the side, until I finally realized I simply didn’t have the time to do both things well. And still today, I find myself constantly choosing between demands on my time. It’s only escalated since having children. I can go on. You probably can, too. Bottom line, unless we’re still kids, time is all about choices. It’s a limited resource – we can’t create it, we can only choose how to use it. The Future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. ~C.S. Lewis But what if you could reset your clock? That used to be easy – whenever I’ve started a new job, I feel like it’s a chance to structure my time differently, within the constraints of set tasks, family and personal responsibilities. But even then, it’s never clear what’s best. Read one thing that says “say yes to every invitation, you never know who you’ll meet” but then I’ll read something else that says I should learn to say “no” to more invitations to protect my sanity and family. Which is it? With an extra hour, I don’t know whether I should work more, play with my kids, read the Bible, exercise, fix things around the house, or what. Someone will advocate that each one is most important. Time marches on. Closely connected with goals, last week’s topic. Question: What would you do with an extra hour in the day? Why? What would be your goal?

From Series: "Reset"

When our computers get bogged down and unmanageable, we know to hit a reset button to simply start over. Wouldn't a reset button be great in life? We know it would be complicated, with all our responsibilities and routines to consider, but imagine the freedom and refreshment of a new start in life! What would you do differently? What would you pay more attention to, and what would you ignore? How would you avoid getting bogged down and broken again? The great news is, in coming to earth as Jesus Christ, God has begun to "reset" our universe, our world, and even us. We're invited to start over with him, in what he calls his kingdom. We're invited to start a new life with a clean slate. What gets wiped clean, and lived differently, when God resets our lives? We'll explore how God resets these key areas of our lives: Reset: Goals Reset: Time Reset: Money Reset: Work Reset: Body & Food Reset: Sex & Marriage Reset: Family Reset: Compassion Reset: Nature Reset: Society Reset: Death Join us for the next several weeks, and invite God to reset your life.

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