God’s greatest gift to the world is His Word. The LORD created all things in heaven and earth with the breath of his mouth (Psalm 33:6, Hebrews 11:3). He has given us words to communicate feeling and experience, build knowledge and society, and above all express love.
Sin and evil have corrupted this precious gift. “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so” (James 3:10). Our present-day concerns about accurate reporting and unbiased communication are nothing new. One ancient believer lamented, “I said in my alarm, “All mankind are liars”” (Psalm 116:11). The result is public mistrust, spiritual disorder, and moral rubble.
God refuses to leave us alone in this mess. To each generation he has sent prophets and preachers to identify destructive untruths and open ears to the faithful voice of the Lord. This advent, we will be mulling on one such man from the eighth century B.C., the prophet Micah. He expressed great distress over humanity’s preference for untruth. “If a man should go about and utter wind and lies, saying, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be the preacher for this people!” (Micah 2:11)
The name Micah means, who is like the LORD? The answer comes in the form of a confession at the end of his book: “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love” (Micah 7:18). In other words, there is no God like our LORD! Our God chose to enter our world through conception, fetal development, labor, and birth in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). God’s pure Word was found lying in a manger. We have a Lord who came to live as we do: to endure lies, untruth, betrayal, threats, and spiritual disorder. God’s true Word was lifted up on the cross. Because God the Father is true, he raised his Son from the dead. In Him, we have security and peace (Micah 5:4-5).
This Advent we will journey toward Christmas hearing God’s Word in Micah. The goal? That we—just like the prophet—will marvel at God’s uniqueness and extravagant gift in the Word of Jesus. We eagerly anticipate sharing that gift with one another on Christmas morning.
Advent Peace!
P.S. ~Our midweek services will be offered at 11 am and 7 pm. For those who are unable to attend due to coronavirus concerns, the 11 am services will be broadcast in town on 87.9 FM. Our 7 pm services will be livestreamed on our YouTube channel.
Advent Midweek 1 (Dec 2): The Advent of Our God (Micah 1:1–5)
Advent Midweek 2 (Dec 9): Forever! (Micah 4:1–5)
Advent Midweek 3 (Dec 16): Glory to God in the Lowest (Micah 6:1–8)
Christmas Eve (Dec 24, Services @ 4 & 7 PM): O Little Town of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2–4)
Christmas Day (Dec 25, Service @ 9 AM): Hope (Micah 7:18–20)
