For the start of Artist News Day Winter Jam 2023 is right around the corner! This year’s lineup features artists We The Kingdom, Jeremy Camp, Austin French, and more! Winter Jam comes to Columbus on January 28th at the Schottenstein Center. Tickets are $15 and you can get them at the door!
Then, continuing the Holiday Artist News with For King & Country will be on this year’s CMT Crossroads holiday episode! It will also feature artists BRELAND, Natalie Grant, and more! This one-hour special airs this Saturday, Dec. 24th at 7am.
Congrats to Lyle from Howard and Kim from Mount Vernon, they were our winners for our Christmas Gift Exchange! Tune in tomorrow for your chance to win!
Jonathon shared his Monday Motivation from “Our Daily Bread” shared about how when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple tow elderly believers took center stage, Simeon and Anna who worshiped God even in their elderly age. The Bible inspires our age to motivate our hope in God.
I shared from “Remembering Christmas” sharing that during this time we do think about all the shopping we need to do and where we can find the perfect gift. “But what if our hearts could shift from what we are buying to what we are doing?” That we can balance gift giving and focus on being present with our Savior and our love ones. That when the wise men came to see Jesus they spent time in His presence first then gave gifts.
Congrats to Jean and Jane from Mount Vernon for being being the 9th caller for the Christmas Gift Exchange! They are now entered into a drawing for one of our Three Grand Prizes that will be announce on Friday, December 23rd at 7:30am during the Moring Thing!
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!
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!
Congratulations to Tracy from Bellville and Jessica from Mount Vernon, winners today in the WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange!
We held another special Christmas addition of Praise Thursday!
Jonathon shared a devotional from Our Daily Bread called “Christmas Light”. By Lisa M. Samra, she connects European tradition with one of the most popular stories in the Old Testament!
Joe also shared a portion of the book “Hidden Christmas” by Tim Keller! The devotional entitled “What About Joseph?” talks about Joseph’s obedience even in such a confusing situation.
Congratulations to today’s winners for the WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange!
Vicky of Mount Vernon claimed a Zach Williams Deluxe CD…
…and Tracy Mickley earned a $20 Gift Card to North Main Cafe!
Make sure to stay tuned for more opportunities to win all the way up to next Friday!
One day, David Crowder got a random knock on his door. The knock came from Marvel Studios producers asking to use his house as a setting for the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas special! For more information on this story, click HERE!
We also shared some stories behind new Christmas music to the Holly Jolly 25. You can take a look at all things new music on our website HERE
Congratulations to our Christmas Gift Exchange winners for today!
Ericka of Fredericktown, who selected an Action Bible
…and Jeff of Mount Vernon who won a John 3:16 Glass Ornament!
Make sure to tune in tomorrow for another chance to win with us on the Afternoon Drive.
For Artist Newsday, we finally have closure on what for KING & COUNTRY have been up to the last few months, and it’s HUGE! Joel and Luke Smallbone took to social media to announce a full-feature film is in production inspired by their song “Unsung Hero”. For more information, you can visit the film’s new website HERE.
CAIN is going on their very first feature tour this spring, and it’s got a special twist along with it! “Live and In Color” will encourage fans to where specific colors in the crowd at each show! To see where you can catch CAIN and what color you are tasked to wear, click HERE!
The blind will see, the deaf will hear, The dead will live again, The lame will leap, the dumb will speak The praises of the Lamb!
Congratulations to Sarah from Mount Vernon for correctly guessing that these lyrics are from the classic “Mary, Did You Know?” She wins a special CD from Dove Awards Artist of the Year CeCe Winans!
Today Joe shared a classic 1914 Christmas story in a devotional from James Banks called, “When Peace Breaks Out.” Read this inspiring story from Our Daily Bread by clicking here.
Name an item you’d need to dress up as Santa Claus! 1- Santa Hat (40 votes) 2- Beard (24) 3- Big Belly (9) 4- Red Pants/Belt (5) 5- Suspenders/Black Boots (2)
Congratulations to Rebecca from Butler, who guessed correctly and wins the Veggie Tales DVD, “The Star of Christmas.”
Today is the first day of Holly Jolly 25! 25 straight days of your favorite Christmas songs till Christmas Day! WNZR would also like to thank these businesses for supporting our Holly Jolly 25; A+ Auto Brokers, GR Smith Hardware, Knox Community Hospital, Knox Starting Point, Lewis Clark Insurance Agency, and Mid-Ohio Powersports. WNZR’s Holly Jolly 25- our Christmas gift to you!
For Praise Thursday Jonathon shared a devotional from Our Daily Bread called “Mutual Encouragement”. Xochitl Dixon shares from Hebrews 3 in the first devotional in the Holiday Edition for Our Daily Bread! You can find a copy with us at WNZR whenever we go “On the Road with Big Blue”.
I later shared a devotional called Remembering Christmas. I shared that the Christmas season can feel crowded and sometimes overwhelming, but the day of Jesus’ birth the innkeepers had no room and Mary gave birth in a stable and laid him in a manger. That before the hustle and bustle of the season, before we forget, lets remember to make room for the true meaning of Christmas.
We are on the road with Big Blue this Saturday, December 3rd from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Fredericktown Christmas Walk Charity Auction. It will be a Country Christmas this year to celebrate the 22nd Annual Christmas Walk and Charity Auction with a partnership with Food For the Hungry of Knox County to help raise funds to support Fredericktown Interchurch, the Fredericktown Salvation Army, and the Fredericktown Community Relief Fund. To register for the annual 5K fun run or walk at the link found on the Fredericktown Christmas Walk Facebook page.
Congrats to Henry from Howard for guessing the correct answer of Bing Crosby, “Do you Hear what I Hear.” He wins an Anne Wilson, My Jesus cd!
Today for Artist Newsday, Jonathon shared some special Christmas concerts coming to the area! You can find shows from Riley Clemmons, Sidewalk Prophets and more on our website WNZR.fm!
Emma shared about For King and Country and how they will be special guests on the holiday episode of “CMT Crossroads”! They will join Natalie Grant and Rebecca St. James on the show airing exclusively on CMT. Check out the full story HERE.
Your past is dead and gone Your healing has begun I’m making all things new, oh
This week was a stumper, so make sure to tune in next week for another chance to win with the Afternoon Drive!
Driving Notes 