First Baptist Church in Fernwood, NY » Christmas

Born To Die verses 3 & 4

Pastor Scott Griese — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 01:33:06 +0000

Born to Die by Ron Hamilton

Verses three and four

From His throne Jesus came,

Laid aside Heaven’s fame

In exchange for the cross of Calv’ry;

For my gain suffered loss,

For my sin He bore the cross –

He was wounded and I was set free.

(chorus) Born to die upon Calvary,

Jesus suffered my sin to forgive;

Born to die upon Calvary,

He was wounded that I might live.

Dearest Lord, evermore

May Thy cross I adore

As I follow the path to Calv’ry;

Of Thy death I partake,

My ambition I forsake –

All my will I surrender to Thee.

Born to die upon Calvary,

Jesus suffered my sin to forgive;

Born to die upon Calvary,

He was wounded that I might live.

Born To Die

Pastor Scott Griese — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 01:24:36 +0000

Born To Die by Ron Hamilton

On the night Christ was born

Just before break of morn,

As the stars in the sky were fading,

O’er the place he lay,

Fell a shadow cold and gray

Of a cross that would humble a King.

(chorus) Born to die upon Calvary,

Jesus suffered my sin to forgive;

Born to die upon Calvary,

He was wounded that I might live.

Jesus knew when He came

He would suffer in shame;

He could feel ev’ry pain and sorrow.

But He left Paradise.

With His blood He paid the price –

My redemption to Jesus I owe.

(chorus) Born to die upon Calvary

Jesus suffered my sin to forgive;

Born to die upon Calvary,

He was wounded that I might live.

It Knew Him Not part 1

Pastor Scott Griese — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:38:46 +0000

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

With the day after Thanksgiving past us, we are fully into the Christmas season. Although many places would much rather call it the holiday season. Many towns would rather remove traditional nativity scenes rather than risk offending someone. Many schools will no longer sing traditional Christmas songs that mention the name of Jesus Christ because they are afraid of offending someone. Listen to this news report from November 30, 2009:

The 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia has upheld a school district’s ban on Christmas carols such as “Silent Night,” “Joy to the World,” “Oh, Come All Ye Faithful” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” – and approved “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman.” In the Nov. 24 ruling the Third Circuit approved the school policy banning all religious Christmas music, including instrumentals, which had been part of the South Orange–Maplewood School District’s Christmas program for years – until one parent complained. Attorneys with the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich., argued to reverse a lower-court ruling affirming the policy. The firm argued the district’s ban on religious music conveys a government-sponsored message of disapproval and hostility toward religion in violation of the Establishment Clause. “Christmas is a national holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, not the birth of Frosty the Snowman or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center. “This ruling is another example of how the courts have tyrannically twisted the Establishment Clause as a weapon against Christians in the War on Christmas.” The law firm says the school’s ban was specifically aimed at preventing Christmas music, including simple instrumentals without words, during holiday concerts. The district had allowed the performance of traditional Christmas music for more than 60 years but in 2004 suddenly banned it. The district’s decree ordered that only selections such as “Winter Wonderland” and “Frosty the Snowman” would be allowed, with a complete ban on tunes about Jesus and even Santa Claus. The high school’s brass ensemble had to rebuild its repertoire, the Martin Luther King Gospel Choir was ordered not to perform and printed programs were edited to remove any “graphics which refer to the holidays, such as Christmas trees.”

A Story

Pastor Scott Griese — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:29:19 +0000

If the following story were not true, it would surely be unbelievable. It is true, however, as you yourself will agree when you have read it. There was once a great king. His love for his people knew no limits. Although the kingdom was very large, the king knew every person by name. Everything the people of the kingdom had was a gift freely given by the loving king.

So, to show their love and appreciation to the king for all he had done for them, the people decided to have a great celebration to honor his birthday. Everyone agreed it was a marvelous idea. Preparations for the celebration were very elaborate. No expense was spared by the people. They adorned their homes with lights, decorations, and expensive ornaments. There were parties, dinners, and celebrations throughout the kingdom.

All the people brought gifts for their friends and family. Many of the gifts which the people gave each other were quite expensive, involving considerable indebtedness. In fact, the people spent more on the birthday celebration than they spent at any other time of the year.

Many who were not citizens of the kingdom, and who did not even know the king, joined in the celebration. Their celebration of the king’s birth was marked by excessive drinking. Since they did not know the king, they invented a good-natured, fat fellow in a red suit. He laughed a lot, but never said anything. But that didn’t matter because they were too busy celebrating to listen anyhow.

The great day of celebrating his birth finally arrived, and some of his people did come bringing gifts and thanking him for his goodness to them. But to his dismay, most of the citizens never came to his house at all on the day of celebration. And the gifts brought to the king by those few who came were very meager when compared with the gifts they had given themselves.

For the most part the people said they had been so busy with all the celebrations and personal plans that they had forgotten about the king. Several said they had thought of him, but really could not work it into their schedules or budgets to come see him or bring a gift. A few were known to be quite put out when it was suggested that going to the king’s house or remembering him with a gift was important.

Those people who did come to his house and who brought their loving gifts were welcomed and blessed by the king. But when they had gone and he was alone again, the king fell to thinking of the vast numbers of his people who had forgotten and forsaken him. How could they have forgotten? Had he not loved them all? How could so many of his beloved people who had found the time and money for shopping and feasting and partying and decorating and all sorts of celebrations-how could they possibly be so thoughtless, so ungrateful or selfish? Did they not know that he, too, had feelings? Was not the purpose of the birthday celebration originally planned to honor him?

When the king was alone, pondering these questions, he felt the tears well up in his eyes. And in his loneliness, he wept. One thought brought some hope and consolation. Even though they had forgotten him, he had not forgotten them. (anonymous)

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

When Will This Happen?

Pastor Scott Griese — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:15:25 +0000

Isaiah 9:6, 7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (7) Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

When will this prophecy happen? OR did it already happen? This is a popular verse at Christmas time. It is often seen on Christmas cards. But is it a prophecy about His first advent or His second. When you continue the context of the first five verses in Isaiah 9, this passage would point toward Jesus Christ’s second coming. What often throws people off is the phrase, “For unto us a child is born.” J. Vernon McGee wrote: First of all, let me clearly state that He was not born “unto us”, the nation of Israel, at His first coming. They didn’t receive Him. John 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. Although He was born at Bethlehem the first time, He was not received by the nation – only a few shepherds welcomed Him. The wise men who came to worship Him were gentiles from a foreign land. If you read verse 6 carefully, you will see that it was not fulfilled at His first coming, neither verses 3, 5, and 7.

What we will see is that Israel will be “born at once” as a nation. Turn to Isaiah 66

Isa 66:7-8 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. (8) Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

Let us break this down further: Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Israel travailed during the Roman occupation and Jesus Christ came forth as the Saviour. He was born to be the Messiah of the Israelites but they rejected Him. This links to “For unto us a child is born” From Isaiah 9:6, “a son is given” refers to His Second coming. The nation of Israel will be re-born with the second coming of Jesus Christ. for as soon as Zion travailed refers to the Great Tribulation and after that, Jesus Christ will come.

Isaiah 9:6, 7 is a prophecy about the second coming of Jesus Christ. “The government will be on His shoulder” points toward the strength of Jesus Christ, but He is not governing right now. Jesus Christ will rule after the Tribulation. Both the Old and New Testaments are filled with promises of the second coming of Christ. Someone has reported that there are 1,845 references in the Old Testament alone and a total of 17 books that give it prominence. Of the 260 chapters in the entire New Testament, there are 318 references to Christ’s second coming. That averages one out of every 30 verses. Furthermore, 23 of the 27 New Testament books refer to this great event. That leaves only four books that do not refer directly to the Second Coming. Interestingly, three of these four books are single-chapter letters which were written to specific persons on a particular subject.

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

There will be no peace on this earth until Jesus Christ sets His feet on the earth again. When that happens there will be peace and justice. His government will increase – there will be no deficit spending and there will be no taxes. There will be no war and every knee will bow before Him. Every day will be new. Jesus Christ will literally sit upon the throne and will rule over all. God’s zeal will bring all of this to pass. Man cannot hasten the day of Jesus Christ’s arrival and that is how it should be. What a day that we have to look forward to!

Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, said, “To me the second coming is the perpetual light on the path which makes the present bearable. I never lay my head on my pillow without thinking that maybe before morning breaks, the final morning may have dawned! I never begin my work without thinking that perhaps He may interrupt my work and begin His own. This is now His word to all believing souls, till He comes.”