Today on the show we shared some devotionals from Our Daily Bread. We also had our weekly Bible trivia that gives one lucky person a chance to win a 2021 Voice of The Cougars Drawstring Backpack.
Here are the devotionals that we have chosen:
Jonathon’s devotional from Our Daily Bread is titled, “True Happiness”. You can find the link here.
Dylan’s devotional from Our Daily Bread is titled, “Escape Or Peace?”. You can find the link here.
Question: What does Jesus say is the first and greatest commandment? Answer: Love God with all your heart, minds, soul, and strength
Congratulations to Sam of Alexandria for guessing the correct answer! He wins a 2021 Voice of the Cougars Drawstring Backpack!
Today on the show we read some devotionals from Our Daily Bread. We also mentioned how today is National Disc Jockey Day. Shoutout to our Office Manager Catherine Haws for getting the DJ’s donuts from Everlasting Cup!
Here are today’s devotionals from Our Daily Bread:
Jonathon’s is titled, “God Hears Everything”. You can find the link here.
Dylan’s devotional is titled, “Washed”. You can find the link here.
Question: Which New Testament book has Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount? Answer: Matthew
Congratulations to Paul of Mount Vernon for guessing the correct answer! He wins a 2021 Voice of the Cougars drawstring backpack!
Today on the show we read some devotionals from Our Daily Bread. We also had our weekly Bible trivia where one lucky person has a chance to win a $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup.
Jonathon’s devotional from Our Daily Bread is titled, “The Kingdom Of God”. You can find the link here.
Dylan’s devotional from Our Daily Bread is titled, “Beautifully Broken”. You can find the link here.
Question: What prophet came to rebuke David? Answer: Nathan
Congratulations to Nathan of Mount Vernon for guessing the correct answer! He wins a $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup!
Today on the show we read some devotionals from Our Daily Bread. We also got an update from WNZR’s Joe Rinehart on how he and Marcy are feeling health wise.
Here are the devotionals that I chose from Our Daily Bread:
“Caring For Those In Need” by Julie Schwab. You can find the link here.
“A Worthwhile Wait” by Leslie Koh. You can find the link here.
Today on the show we shared some Christmas devotionals.
Here are the Christmas devotionals that we chose:
MATTHEW 1 – THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS
#1
The New Testament begins in Matthew 1 with what’s called “the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah.” Have you ever wondered why?
Matthew’s Gospel doesn’t begin with the nativity itself…the star, the shepherds and the manger. Instead, it begins with a long list of ancestry. And let’s be honest- how many times have we skipped through this?
In his book, Hidden Christmas, Pastor Timothy Keller gives us perspective on why Matthew started the story of Jesus this way. He reminds us that Christmas is not just about a birth, it is about a coming.
The birth of the Son of God into the world is a gospel, a good news, an announcement that says, you don’t save yourself – God has come to save you. Of course, Christmas is just the beginning of the story of how God came to save us. Jesus will have to go to the cross. But you begin with Christ by believing this report about what has happened in history. Matthew tells us here that this story is no fairy tale – Jesus is real!
Matthew doesn’t start his book with “Once Upon a Time.” That is the way fairy tales or legendary fantasy stories begin. Matthew is grounding who Jesus Christ is and what he does in history with the genealogy. Keller reminds us that in Matthew 1, we learn that Jesus is not a metaphor – he is real. This all happened!
#2
In this genealogy at the beginning of the New Testament, what else is Matthew saying? Pastor Keller writes that the list of Jesus’ genealogy is also a type of resume. In those times, your family, pedigree and clan made up your resume. Therefore, this list is really saying, “this is who Jesus is.”
Matthew’s genealogy is shockingly different from the other ones of his time. First, there are five women in the list. Three of them, Tamar, Rahab and Ruth, are Gentiles. The Jews would have considered them unclean. In fact, Tamar was a prostitute. He also refers to “Uriah’s wife,” who you may know is Bathsheba. These names recall some of the most difficult stories in the Old Testament. Yet, they are in Jesus’ genealogy. Why?
But wait, in verse 6 we have the name King David. We might think, “now there is somebody we want in our genealogy!” David, after all, was the boy who killed Goliath, favored by Saul, anointed as King, and the man who conquers Jerusalem. But David also was a flawed man, who arranged the killing of his friend Uriah and whose son Solomon was the result of his affair with Bathsheba. Yet out of that deeply flawed man, the Messiah came. These people are all acknowledged in Matthew 1 as the ancestors of Jesus.
So what does that mean? Tim Keller asks us to think about it this way:
It means that people who are excluded by culture, society and even by the law of God can be brought into Jesus’ family. If you repent and believe in Him, the grace of Jesus covers your sin and unites you with Him.
Moreover, with King David, it means even the powerful and great are still in need of the grace of Christ. It is not what you have done; it is what Christ has done for you!
God is not ashamed of us. We are all in His family!
Q:Only two Gospels include any details about the birth of Jesus. Which of them starts with a genealogy to establish that Jesus is the Messiah to whom Old Testament prophecies referred?
A:Matthew
Congratulations to Janice of Mount Vernon for guessing the correct answer! She wins a $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup!
Today on the show we read the last two Christmas Devotionals from Our Daily Bread. We also had our weekly Bible trivia where one lucky person has a chance to win a $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup.
Here are the two Christmas Devotionals from Our Daily Bread:
Through The Tears
I dreaded facing another Christmas hundreds of miles away from family. Loneliness and disappointment stirred into discontent, spewing out of my mouth as complaints when my husband suggested we unpack the holiday decorations. How could I be joyful when my heart ached?
Sipping a cup of hot chocolate, I glanced at the glass-front cabinet in our dining room. An overhead light shone on the nativity set I display year-round. A figurine of porcelain with Isaiah 9:6 carved on the front sits next to a wooden shepherd. “Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace.” As I whispered each name, I grew more and more confident that my tear-filled season could never smother the joy of knowing my Savior.
The prophet Isaiah announced the coming of the Messiah more than seven hundred years before Christ’s birth in Bethlehem (Isaiah 9:6). Jesus is Wonderful Counselor—trustworthy and able to guide us. He is Mighty God, who always was and always will be the one true God with limitless power. He is Everlasting Father, the eternal Maker of time. He is Prince of Peace, the one who restored man’s relationship with the Father.
Though believers in Jesus can’t avoid the darkness of this world, we can fix our eyes on Him—the greatest light of the world. We can rejoice in knowing Christ even through the tears.
By: Xochitl E. Dixon
O Come Emmanuel
It seems we seldom go beyond the first or second verses of our beloved Christmas carols. But, buried deep in the lyrics of one Christmas hymn—in verse seven!—are words that seem uniquely in tune with our times. “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” written in the twelfth century, pleads:
O Come, O King of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
And be yourself our King of Peace.
I can’t imagine a more appropriate prayer for our fractious, splintered generation. With the tone of public debate and private disagreement at what seems to be an all-time high for anger and aggression, how desperately we need the King of Peace to come to our help. The “sad divisions” we exhibit in our communities, churches, workplaces, relationships, and families can only be overcome with the help of the One who came to forgive, heal, and restore. No wonder Isaiah anticipated the coming Jesus by calling Him “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
The apostle Paul urged us to put this into practice. “Let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts; he wrote. “For as members of one body you are called to live in peace” (Colossians 3:15). As we allow this peaceful Prince to restore our relationships, we ourselves become agents of His peace.
By: Bill Crowder
Question: Before Jesus started preaching, what was his job? Answer: Carpenter
Congratulations to Rachel of Gambier for guessing the correct answer! She wins a $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup!
Today on the show we read some Christmas devotionals from Our Daily Bread. We also had our weekly Bible trivia where one lucky person has a chance to win a $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup.
Here are the two Christmas devotionals that we read today.
THE TRUE GIFT OF CHRISTMAS
“Sometimes I feel lonely, and it makes me wonder how lonely they must get out here.”
That was spoken by Asteria, director of a faith-based community group who brought Christmas to El Campamento, a makeshift tent city where many drug-addicted people live. She noted how the holidays can be difficult for those on the street. So she decided to embody Christ’s love by setting up a Christmas tree among the discarded needles; by bringing them gifts, warm drinks, and food; and by leading the singing of Christmas carols. The response was heartening, she said, with many of the homeless voicing their desire to be forgiven by their family and asking for prayer.
In serving the people of El Campamento, Asteria and her team illustrate the true message of Christmas-the gift of God coming to meet us through His Son Jesus. As Paul wrote to the Galatians, “God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law” (GALATIANS 4:4-5). Even though we all do wrong, God invites us to become His heirs and children (v.7). He calls those who live on the streets and those who live in mansions to accept His gift of saving grace.
Through Jesus, God gives us the true gift of Christmas right where we are. May we receive and share this gift of love.
By AMY BOUCHER PYE
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
It was just a few days before Christmas and my wife, Cari, was standing in the checkout line at the market. The young mother in front of her was carefully assessing the contents of her cart and slowly setting aside items one by one. Cari’s initial impatience turned to compassion as she surveyed the growing pile of items that had been removed and realized the woman didn’t have enough money to purchase them.
“I’d like to pay for those,” she told the checker. The young mother turned with a surprised look on her face: “That’s too much!” she said. Cari, prompted by God’s love and remembering how a stranger, miles away, had bought our own daughter’s groceries in a difficult time, smiled and responded, “Merry Christmas.” They both left the store with tears in their eyes.
Christmas came early to our home with a fresh awareness of God’s kindness and generosity to us through His Son. Solomon wrote in Proverbs of those who are generous: “Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed” (11:25). In the following days we were refreshed by a renewed understanding of how God had met our greatest need of all-our need for a Savior-and how His love can unexpectedly overflow from our hearts to others in need.
Kindness is contagious! Because of what Jesus has done for us, may God give us grace to make a generous, practical difference in others’ lives.
By JAMES BANKS
Question: In Genesis, what catastrophe did Joseph predict by interpreting the Pharaoh’s dream?
Answer: A seven-year famine.
Congratulations to Karen of Mount Vernon for guessing the correct answer! She wins a $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup!
Today on the show we talked about how it is the last day to get registered to win a turkey from Smith Hisler Meats. We also read devotionals from Our Daily Bread. We had our weekly Bible trivia where one lucky person has a chance to win a $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup. We talked about some details related to Food For The Hungry.
Dylan’s devotional from Our Daily Bread is titled “Laundry Day”. You can find the link here.
Jonathon’s devotional from Our Daily Bread is titled “Serving The Least”. You can find the link here.
Question: How many books have the name John in them? Answer: Four
Congratulations to Dawn of Mount Vernon for guessing the correct answer! She wins a $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup!
Congratulations to Elizabeth and Justin of Mount Vernon for being registered to win a turkey from Smith Hisler Meats!
Driving Notes 