Whidbey Presbyterian Church

Christmas Season Wrap-up

We made it to Ephiphany!  See, wasn't it more fun to celebrate Christmas for twelve days, instead of one? 

So, how does that song go again?  (remember the tune?)

There were :12 points of the Apostles Creed, 11 Faithful Disciples, 10 Commandments, 9 Fruits of the Spirit, 8 Beattitudes, 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit, 6 Days of Creation, 5 Books of the Bible (Pentateuch).........4 Gospels, 3 Essential Qualities (Faith, Hope, and Love), 2 Testaments, and Jesus who loves and protects us!

Hopefully, I wasn't the only one singing along there.  Isn't this a great way to understand our faith?  Some church historians have suggested that this song was used for Christian instruction back in the 16th century to the religious wars of England.  But is this really true?

Not likely.  You can read more about that here.  But even if this song has secular origins, we can use it today to celebrate Christmas and what it means to us.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...

my true love gave to me, twelve drummers drumming. 

The twelve drummers drumming represented the twelve parts of the Apostle's Creed.

1.I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
    the Maker of heaven and earth,

2.and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

3.Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
    born of the virgin Mary,

4. suffered under Pontius Pilate,
    was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell.

5.The third day He arose again from the dead; decended into heaven,
    and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

6.from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

7.I believe in the Holy Ghost;

8.the holy catholic church;

9.the communion of saints;

10.the forgiveness of sins;

11. the resurrection of the body;

12.and the life everlasting.

Amen.

In the Middle Ages, it was to have thought that this was written by Apostles under inspiration under the Holy Spirit meaning each of the Apostles wrote on of the articles.  However, this is highly unlikely.  The earliest they can date this back is to the 5th century. Scholars to have thought that influenced about the Nicene Creed.  Either way this is a beautiful statement of faith.

Nicole

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas....

my true love gave to me, eleven pipers piping.

The eleven pipers piping refer to the eleven faithful disciples.  There were Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.

Notice who is missing?  Yup, Judas Iscariot.  Judas isn't on this list because he sold out Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.  He handed him over to the enemy.  He sealed Jesus' fate to die.  And yet Jesus knew all of this.  He wasn't surprised when Judas did this.  In fact, at the Last Supper he told Judas, "What you are going to do, do quickly."  John 13:27 (ESV)

But let's think of it this way, what if Judas WAS faithful?  He didn't have to sell out Jesus, but he did.  He didn't have to betray him, but he did.  The cross would have never happened.  Jesus wouldn't have been able to die for our sins.  Where would we be?

Judas gets a bad rap, but really, his betrayl of Jesus gave us something.  It gave us forgiveness from God. 

Do you think Judas repented?  It says in Matthew 27:3-5 that Judas went back to the Chief Priest and gave back the money.  Do you think God forgave him?  Would you be surprised to see Judas in Heaven? 

Nicole

On the Tenth Day of Christmas...

my true love gave to me, ten lords a leaping.

What do you think of when you hear the word ten?  Come on...you can guess it!  You're right!  The Ten Commandments!

Let's run through them:

1 Then God gave the people all these instructions:

 2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.
 3 “You must not have any other god but me.
 4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. 6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.
 7 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.
 8 “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
 12 “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
 13 “You must not murder.
 14 “You must not commit adultery.
 15 “You must not steal.
 16 “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.
 17 “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”'

Exodus 20:1-17 (NLT)

Remember what Jesus said was the most important commandment?  In Mark 12:30-31, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no commandment greater than these."

And of course this important to do around Christmas.  This year the food baskets and Angel Tree were a huge sucess.  However, lets not just do this at Christmas, but all year long.

Nicole

On the Ninth Day of Christmas...

my true love gave to me, nine ladies dancing!

These nine ladies dancing represent the Fruits of the Spirit.  Let's take a look at Galatians 5:22, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."  (NIV)

Love:  This is listed first because this is the greatest quality.  (1 Corinthians 13:1)

Joy:  This is second because for when we rejoice in our God's salvation our affections are rightly placed in God's will and purpose.

Peace:  God reconciled sinners to himself, freeing us to approach God. (Romans 5:1-2)

Patience:  We follow God's timetable, not our own.

Kindness:  Showing generosity and sympathy toward others, which is an attribute of God.

Goodness:  Working for the benefit of other, not oneself.

Faithfulness:  Consistently doing what one says he will do.

Gentleness:  A quality Jesus had (Matthew 11:29) where we can find rest in him and we can encourage strengthen others.

Self-Control:  Discipline given by the Holy Spirit to not be tempted by the flesh.  (Galatians 5:17)

Which of these qualities do you see yourself in?  Which ones do you need to work on?

Nicole

On the Eighth Day of Christmas...

my true love gave to me, eight maids a-milking.

The eight maids represent the 8 Beatitudes on the Sermon on the Mount.

1.  Blessed are the poor in spirit
2.  Those who mourn
3.  the meek
4.  those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
5.  the merciful
6.  the pure in heart
7.  the peacemakers
8.  those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake  (Matthew 5:3-10)

If you notice, each of these Beatitudes start with the word, blessed.  This word is more than a temporary or circumstantial feeling of happiness, this is a state of well-being in relationship to God that belongs to those who respond to Jesus' ministry.

Nicole

On the Seventh Day of Christmas,

my true love gave to me, seven swans a-swimming.

These represent the seven gifts of the Holy Spirt.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.  Romans 12:6-8 (NIV)

There is a variety in the body of the church because of the various gifts God has given us.  We should concentrate and give our energies to the gifts God and has given us.

To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11  (NIV)

All of these gifts are given to us by the Holy Spirit.  Just as Jesus said in John 14:26, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."  (ESV)

Thank you Jesus for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Nicole

On the Sixth Day of Christmas...

my true love gave to me, six geese a-laying!

After the five golden rings, all of these pretty much run together.  I can't remember how many pipers are actually piping and maid are milking.  With that being said, let's move on!

The six geese a-laying stands for six days of Creation.  God worked for six days and then rested on the seventh. 

Can you name what God did these six days?

1.  Heavens and the Earth.

2.  Sea and Sky

3.  Fertile Earth (vegetation)

4.  Lights of day and night

5.  Fish and birds

6.  Land animals (and us!)

So wait....on day three he created the plants, but waited until day four to create the sun?  Doesn't this seem out of place? Don't the plants need the sun?  But I guess nothing is out of place to God, He knows what he is doing!

Looking at Genesis 1, you can see God's authority over all the Earth.  All he had to do is speak it into existance. Amazing.

Nicole

On the Fifth Day of Christmas

my true love gave to me, five golden rings!

So what could five golden rings stand for?  Well, it stands for the Pentateuch!  (First five books of the Bible.  Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.)

Pentateuch is a Greek term meaning, "five-volume."  The Hebrew term for these books is the Torah, meaning "law" or "instructions."

The theme of these five books is simple:  it introduces key promises that show God's purpose in history and lays the groundwork for the coming Christ. 

1.  It shows that there is only one God in a world full of polytheism.  (This applies to back then and now.  Cars, money, etc. are sometimes worship as gods by people.)

2.  Shows God's intentions with the creation of world.  Of course, sin enters in and Eden is no more, but this does not defeat God's intentions.  (Abraham received a blessing that he would be the father of many nations.  Down the line, Jesus comes!)

3.  These books gives us knowledge about God's character, his righteousness.  He loves us, however he expects us to be moral by not stealing, committing adultry, and instructs us to worship him.  (Have you read Leviticus and Deuteronomy?  Full of laws!)

And who can forget Charlton Heston, receiving the 10 Commandemnts on Mt. Sinai?  I remember watching that movie in awe.  And I believe that is one of the main events in the Pentateuch.

But John 1:14 says it all.  "the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory."  (ESV)

Jesus came.  Yes, we needed to be introduced to God.  And we needed to have laws as a standard of living.  But in the end, we were no match for these laws.  We could never fulfill them.  Thankfully, Jesus took care of that for us.

Nicole

On the Fourth Day of Christmas...

my true love gave to me, four calling birds.

All the presents are gone from under our tree.  They were unwrapped on the first day of Christmas, and like many kids, our son has played with all his new toys.  He bounces from one toy to the next..almost as if he feels he doesn't have enough time to play with them all!

And I hope you all are enjoying your gifts that were given to you this Christmas season.  Including the gift of Jesus.

You see, the four calling birds represent the four gospels:  Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  And in these gospels share the story of Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection.  The perfect gift from God.  As it states in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  (NKJV)

So as we slowly put our gifts away, let us not forgot the best gift we could ever receive, Jesus!

Nicole