This is the #2 most popular Christmas video posted on Follower of Jesus this season:
In review of some of the topics covered leading up to Christmas, here are the four most popular articles posted to Follower of Jesus:
The #3 most popular Christmas video on Follower of Jesus this Christmas season is ‘If Mary and Joseph Used Facebook’
Christmas is a time of reflection, celebration, worship and giving to others. It’s also a time 
for family gatherings, food and receiving. The focus of Jesus’ birth is often overshadowed by the later category (especially when Santa is involved). Here are a few ideas for to keep the meaning of the day front and center:
This two minute video will help prepare you for the birth of the Savior as you meditate on the names of Jesus:
Find more great Christian posts at the James’ Mirror Christian discipleship blog
In the book Gospel & Kingdom by Graeme Goldsworthy, Goldsworthy provides a great two minute overview of Old Testament history that’s worth committing to memory to frame out the ‘story line’. As we approach Christmas, think through this redemptive history that leads to the birth of Jesus.
The history begins with the creation of the universe, the world and man. It then focuses on man (Adam) and on his relationship with God. After being ejected from paradise in Eden because of his rebellion against the Creator, man’s history is one of increasing and widespread sinfulness. This leads to instruction through the flood and to the preservation of one family. From this family of Noah the lineage of man is shown to divide among the nations of the world although the focus is on the line of Shem leading to Abraham.
Abraham was called by God to leave Mesopotamia and to go to Canaan where he received certain promises concerning his descendants (of which there were none as yet). This promise was later passed on to his son Isaac and to Isaac’s son, Jacob. Eventually the descendants of Jacob migrated to Egypt and in time became a large nation. When this people was subjected to a cruel slavery by the Egyptians, God sent Moses to lead them into the land of Canaan which he had promised to give to Abraham’s descendants. This process was long and involved and included the making of a covenant at Mount Sinai in which this nation of Israel was bound to God as his people with all that that implied.
The dispossession of the inhabitants of Canaan, and the settlement in the land, led to the development of the need for some form of government or administration of the covenant. After a false start under King Saul, Israel received a great leader in the person of David. He united the tribes and established a capital city, secured the borders and set up a proper administration. Unfortunately David’s successor, Solomon, became too ambitious and unwise policies led to eventual dissatisfaction. When his son came to the throne, there was a rebellion and the ten tribes of the north seceded to become the kingdom of Israel while the dynasty of David continued to rule over the southern kingdom of Judah.
The secession led to a general decline in both north and south, although the prophets continued to call the people back to faithfulness to the covenant God. The north finally suffered defeat at the hands of the Assyrians (722 B.B.C.) and ceased to be an independent state. More than a century later the might of Babylon was aimed at the south and, with the destruction of Jerusalem (586 B.C.) and the deportation of most of the people, Judah as a political entity ceased to be.
The exile in Babylon came to an end for the Jews when Cyrus the Persian overcame the power of Babylon and allowed captive peoples to return home (538 B.C.). Many of the Jews chose to remain in Babylon, for life had been quite kind to them. But those who returned had a real struggle to reconstruct the state of Judah. Eventually, with Persian co-operation, some stability was reached and Jerusalem and the Temple were reconstructed. But the glory of the golden age of David and Solomon never returned and the Old Testament period comes to an end with a whimper rather than a bang!
Some three-and-a-half centuries intervened between the two Testaments. During this time the most complex political developments occurred in the Jewish state. The Persian Empire crumbled when Alexander the Great pushed into Asia Minor and advanced to Egypt and beyond Babylon to the borders of India. Hellenistic culture was imposed upon Alexander’s empire by his successors and the Jews did not escape the fearful results of the conflict between the pagan Greek philosophies and way of life, and the Hebrew devotion to the Law and religion of the one True God. In the middle of the first century B.C., the Romans entered the Middle East region and the Jews found themselves a province of the great Roman Empire.
Follow this up by watching an Old Testament Overview video
This week Tim Challies wrote two articles (one and two) that answer the four most common questions about Biblical giving. Given that the articles are short, there is not enough space to be comprehesive and cover every nuance of the questions, but they serve as a good starting point to frame your thinking about the Biblical answers.
If you’d like to study this topic in more detail, consider reading Randy Alcorn’s Money, Possessions and Eternity. For more information on the topic of tithing see Is Tithing Biblical?
Scripture verses that summarize the Gospel are sprinkled throughout the Bible. Here are some cited by JI Packer in the book, Grounded in the Gospel:
Follow these links to learn more about the Gospel, answer the question “Am I a good person” and see a contrast between the true and false Gospel
Bible Verses about Obedience will help you understand why we must follow God’s will
The lyrics from the song He Is by Aaron Jeoffrey provide a great fly over of the Bible. You can find the video at the bottom of this page.
He Is
In Genesis, He’s the breath of life
In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb
In Leviticus, He’s our high priest
In Numbers, the fire by night
Deuteronomy, He’s Israel’s Guide
Joshua, He’s salvation’s choice
Judges, He’s Israel’s Guard
In Ruth, the kinsmen’s redeemer
1st and 2nd Samuel, our trusted prophet
In Kings and Chronicles He is Sovereign
In Ezra, He’s the true and faithful scribe
In Nehemiah, the re-builder of broken walls and lives
In Esther, He’s Mordecai’s courage
In Job, the timeless redeemer
In Psalms He is our morning song
In Proverbs, He is our wisdom
Ecclesiastes, He’s the time and season
In Song of Solomon, He is the lover’s dream
In Isaiah He is Prince of Peace
In Jeremiah, the weeping prophet
Lamentations, the cry for Israel
Ezekiel, the call from sin
Daniel, the stranger in the fire
Hosea, the forever faithful
Joel, the spirit’s power
Amos, the strong-arms that carry
Obadiah, the Lord our Savior
Jonah, the great missionary
Micah, the promise of peace
Nahum, our strength and shield
In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He’s brings revival
In Haggai He restores that which was lost
In Zachariah, He’s our fountain
And in Malachi, He’s the son of righteousness rising with healing in His wings
And that’s just the Old Testament
In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, He is God and Messiah
In the spirit filled book of Acts, He is the reigning fire from Heaven
In Romans, He is the grace of God
Corinthians, the power of love
Galatians, freedom from the curse of sin
Ephesians, our glorious treasure
Philippians, the servant’s heart
Colossians, He’s God and the trinity
Thessalonians, our calling King
In Timothy, Titus and Philemon, He’s our mediator and our faithful pastor
In Hebrews, the everlasting courage
In James, the one who heals the sick
In 1st and 2nd Peter, our faithful shepherd
In John and Jude, He’s the lover coming for His bride
And in the Revelation, in the very end, when it’s all over, said and done, when time is no more. He is and will always be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, son of Man, Lamb of God, The Great I am, Alpha and Omega, God and Savior He is Jesus Christ the Lord he is everything that you need.
The passage below is from JC Ryle’s book Holiness which you can 
download as a pdf free (Part 1 and Part 2) from the Chapel Library. A longer version of the passage can be found from Chapel’s Free Grace Broadcaster magazine on Self-denial. The magazine has short articles from Charles Spurgeon, George Whitfield and John Calvin as well, so it’s worth your time.
It costs something to be a real Christian, according to the standard of the Bible. There are enemies to be overcome, battles to be fought, sacrifices to be made, an Egypt to be forsaken, a wilderness to be passed through, a cross to be carried, a race to be run. Conversion is not putting a man in an armchair and taking him easily to heaven. It is the beginning of a mighty conflict in which it costs much to win the victory. Hence arises the unspeakable importance of “counting the cost”.
For one thing, it will cost him his self-righteousness. He must cast away all pride and high thoughts and conceit of his own goodness. He must be content to go to heaven as a poor sinner saved only by grace and owing all to the merit and righteousness of another. He must really feel as well as say the Prayer-book words—that he has erred and gone astray like a lost sheep,” that he has “left undone the things he ought to have done, and done the things he ought not to have done, and that there is no health in him.” He must be willing to live up all trust in his own morality, respectability, praying, Bible-reading, church going, and sacrament receiving, and to trust in nothing but Jesus Christ.
For another thing, it will cost a man his sins. He must be willing to give up every habit and practice that is wrong in God’s sight. He must set his face against it, quarrel with it, break off from it, fight with it, crucify it, and labor to keep it under, whatever the world around him may say or think. He must do this honestly and fairly. Here must be no separate truce with any special sin that he loves. He must count all sins as his deadly enemies and hate every false way. Whether little or great, whether open or secret, all his sins must be thoroughly renounced. They may struggle hard with him every day and sometimes almost get the mastery over him. But he must never written, “Cast away from you all your transgressions” (Ezekiel 18:31); Break off your sins…and your iniquities” (Daniel 4:27); “Cease to do evil” (Isaiah 1:16). This also sounds hard. I do not wonder. Our sins are often as dear us as our children are—we love them, hug them, cleave to them, and delight in them.
For another thing, it will cost a man his love of ease. He must take pains and trouble if he means to run a successful race towards heaven. He must daily watch and stand on his guard like a soldier on enemy, in every company, and in every place-in public as well as in private, among strangers as well as at home. He must be careful over his time, his tongue, his temper, his thoughts, his imagination, his motives, his conduct in every relation of life. He must be diligent about his prayers, his Bible-reading, and his use of Sundays with all their means of grace. In attending to these things, he may come farshort of perfection; but there is none of them that he can safely neglect. “The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat” (Proverbs13:4).
In the last place, it will cost a man the favor of the world. He must be content to be thought ill of by man if he pleases God. He must count it no strange thing to be mocked, ridiculed, slandered, persecuted, and even hated. He must not be surprised to find his opinions and practices in religion despised and held up to scorn. He must submit to be thought by many a fool, an enthusiast, and a fanatic—to have his words perverted and his actions misrepresented. In fact, he must not marvel if some call him mad. The Master says, “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute u; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also” (John 15:20).
Such is the account of what it costs to be a true Christian. I grant the list is a heavy one. But where is the item that could be removed? I grant it costs much to be a true Christian. A religion that costs nothing is worth nothing! A cheap Christianity without a cross will prove in the end a useless Christianity without a crown.
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