The LORD God is the Creator of the ends of the earth. He has established laws in nature which govern all the processes of life–planting, growth, cultivation and harvest. These principles give us insight on how to conduct our lives, families, churches, and societies (to continue reading this essay, click on image above).
Where Is the King, Matthew 2.1-12
The Epiphany of the Lord recounts the journey of the magi from the East who, following a star, came to Jerusalem seeking the newborn King of the Jews. Their inquiry troubled King Herod greatly, and he asked the religious leaders to determine where the Messiah would be born. Hearing it would be in Bethlehem, Herod met with the magi secretly, sending them to find the child and report back. Following the star to Bethlehem, they found Jesus, worshipped him, and presented gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. God led these Gentile stargazers to the very place where the Messiah was, and he continues to lead seekers today, Matt. 2.1-12.
Our Focus Today
The elements of a genuine faith encounter with Jesus involves worship, offering of our most precious gifts, and ongoing obedience which reveals changed behaviors and new directions in life, Matt. 2.11-12.
Invocation
Gracious God, who led the magi to the Messiah, and received their worship and treasures to your Son, prepare our hearts for a true encounter with Jesus. Like those ancient travelers who traveled far to see the Savior, enable us to meet him, to bow before him in genuine worship, to offer our best gifts, and to have our lives redirected by his presence and guidance. Amen.
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning,
Is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen, amen.
Chronological Scripture Readings for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the entire Bible in one year in chronological order.
Saturday: Exodus 32-34
Psalms and Proverb for Today
These Scriptures allow us to read through the Psalms and Proverbs each month.
Saturday: Psalm 11, 41, 71, 101, 131 and Proverbs 11
The elements of a genuine faith encounter with Jesus involves worship, offering of our most precious gifts, and ongoing obedience which reveals changed behaviors and new directions in life, Matt. 2.11-12.
Reflection
The worship of the magi demonstrates the response of hearts truly transformed by their journey to and encounter with Christ—they worship, offer him their best gifts, and obey the Spirit’s leading. Their actions model for us the essential elements of genuine faith: they seek the Messiah, they worship and offer him their best gifts. They also obey the divine warning not to return to Herod, showing how their encounter with Christ led to their changed behavior and new directions in life.
Engaging God’s Word Today
How has your journey to Christ and encounter with him changed some aspect of our life, that is, how has knowing him affected your life’s direction? What specific treasures—time, talents, resources—is he calling you to devote to him and his Kingdom work?
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, The Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God,
Begotten of the Father before all ages,
God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God,
Begotten not created, of the same essence as the Father,
through Whom all things were made.
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became human.
Who for us too, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried.
The third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and life-giver,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Who together with the Father and Son is worshiped and glorified.
Who spoke by the prophets.
We believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sin,
and we look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the age to come. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever. Amen.
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Benediction
May the same Savior who received the worship and gifts of the magi inspire us to offer him our own spirit of true adoration and generous offering. May our encounters with the Messiah lead us to lay our treasures at his feet and to follow his guidance to new places, even when it leads us to take a different way than how we came. May we be changed by the presence of Christ, guided by his wisdom, and empowered to share his light with others in our circle. Amen.
Scripture Memory for this season
Colossians 2.6-7 (ESV):
6 “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
Scripture Engagement
As disciples of Jesus, the Churches of Christ the King strongly seek to engage the Scriptures to discover the centrality of Christ and his Kingdom in the prophetic and apostolic writings. You will find a rich treasure of resources on engaging Scripture at the Center for Scripture Engagement of Taylor University.
Book Reading and Reflection
ALL that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe, where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be absolute. A man’s weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own, and not another man’s; they are brought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own, and not another man’s. His suffering and his happiness are evolved from within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains. A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition. It has been usual for men to think and to say, “Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor.”
Now, however, there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say, “One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves.” The truth is that oppressor and slave are co-operators in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality afflicting themselves. A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor; a perfect Love, seeing the suffering, which both states entail, condemns neither; a perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed. He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free. A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his thoughts.
~ Allen, James, As A Man Thinketh. The Original 1902 Edition. Amazon Electronic Edition, 2020, Location 280.
Seedling Focus for the Season: Rooted and Built Up in Christ
Description: Spiritual growth is about upward development and deepening our roots in Christ, Col. 2.6-7.
On Eagles Wings Prayer Focus: A Long Time Comin‘
Watering the Seed: The Word of God, Isa. 55.10-11.
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