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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Finishing strong and beginning well

By Waylon Bailey I have been blessed to study and preach from the Birth Narrative of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew’s Gospel gives the events of the birth of Jesus from the point of view of Joseph while Luke gives us the point of view of Mary. What we see in Matthew’s Gospel is an emphasis on divine providence and human faithfulness. Matthew shows that Joseph was a man of character who could be counted on in the worst of times. When God called Joseph he called him to stand up to one of the cruelest tyrants in the history of the world. Joseph was found faithful as he listened to God and cared for “the child and his mother” (Matthew 2:19-23). Joseph gives us a great example of both finishing strong and beginning well. Matthew 2:19-23 gives us the end of the birth narrative and the beginning of training “up a child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6). These verses point to an ending and a beginning. We all have the responsibility to finish strong and begin well. Life is filled with endings and beginnings. Today is one of those times. Even if we didn’t finish this year strong, we can certainly begin well. Sometimes we think of giving the next year to God of giving Him the rest of our lives. While we all … [Read more...]

A New Year’s Resolution – family first

By James Dobson Successful family life is difficult to achieve. It is never perfect and is often problematic. You have your own set of challenges as you seek to meet the needs of your children. You may be a single parent with very limited financial resources. Perhaps you suffer from illness, disability, or addiction. Or maybe you have strong-willed kids who are tough to handle. The last thing I want to do is add to your pressures or sense of frustration. Nevertheless, if there is any way you can give priority to your children amid those limitations, even if it requires serious sacrifice, you will not regret giving it to them. This might mean staying married when your impulse is to divorce. It could cause you to make choices that will handicap you professionally. It might mean financial hardship for the family because Mom is staying at home with her children. It might mean giving up your four-hour golf outing every Saturday. What I am saying is that from where I sit today, children are worth everything they cost us. It was this perspective that led me to walk away from my position as a professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. My responsibility in this rewarding position required … [Read more...]

The real meaning of Christmas

By Billy Graham There are three symbols which mean Christmas — the real meaning of Christmas. An illustration of a cradle The first is a cradle. There, in Bethlehem, were cradled the hopes and dreams of a dying world. Those chubby little hands that clasped the straw in His manger crib were soon to open blind eyes, unstop deaf ears and still the troubled seas. That cooing voice was soon to teach men of the Way and to raise the dead. Those tiny feet were to take Him to the sick and needy and were to be pierced on Calvary’s cross. That manger crib in remote Bethlehem became the link that bound a lost world to a loving God. An illustration of a cross The cross. There were both light and shadow on that first Christmas. There was joy with overtones of sadness, for Jesus was born to die. Jesus, approaching the cross, said, To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world To Christians the joy of Christmas is not limited to His birth It was His death and resurrection that gave meaning to His birth. It is in the cross that the world can find a solution to its pressing problems. An illustration of a crown The crown. Jesus was crowned with a crown of thorns and enthroned on a cruel cross, yet His … [Read more...]

Christmas brings a great hope for all

By Eddie Wren For four hundred years there was silence. Darkness, if you will. There was no communication from Heaven as the prophets had no word from God. That sounds very strange to those of us who have a copy, or multiple copies, of God’s Word at our disposal. Even so, that was the situation for the world before the first Christmas. Can you imagine the desperation the world found itself in? Perhaps you can. Maybe you are in such a desperate situation yourself at the present. If so, maybe reflection on the Christmas story will help. The world was in darkness and I am not sure anyone noticed. But then all at once there was light. It began with a visit from an angel to a priest named Zechariah. Luke 1:8ff tells us Zechariah was performing his priestly service to the Lord when the angel of the Lord suddenly appeared. As you can imagine, Zechariah was terrified. But the angel brought news of joy and gladness and informed Zechariah that he and Elizabeth would have a son who would be the forerunner of the Messiah. Then in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Gabriel appeared again, but this time to a relative of Elizabeth named Mary and then to Mary’s husband to be, Joseph. The angel informed Mary and Joseph … [Read more...]

Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

By Gevan Spinney This past January I found myself in the little town of Bethlehem. As I looked over the fields that lay just outside that city my mind began to wonder a bit as I sang to myself those familiar words, "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie." This very spot has found it’s way onto several pages of our bible. It was in this spot that Ruth gleaned in Boaz' field. It was in this spot that David tended his sheep. It was in this same spot the angels announced to the shepherds the "good news of great joy which will be to all people." In each of those instances God used unlikely people to bring Him glory. Ruth was a Gentile girl from Moab, yet God had a plan to weave her unlikely life into His story of redemption. She would become the great-grandmother of King David and Matthew would later include her in his genealogy of the Lord Jesus. David was the unlikeliest of Jesse’s boys to be anointed king. He wasn’t even invited into the house when the prophet Samuel came. It wasn’t until all of his seven older brothers were paraded by the prophet, that they sent for David in that Bethlehem field. The one anointed that day was the ruddy, bright-eyed, song-writing shepherd; with the heart … [Read more...]

The trouble with “Joy to the World”

By John J. Frady Some of our most beloved Christmas songs, when you stop to consider the lyrics, are not really about Christmas. Jingle Bells, Sleigh Ride, and Winter Wonderland are more about the winter season than they are about Christmas. My Favorite Things is from the musical The Sound of Music and takes place when children are frightened by a storm. Finally, Let It Snow and Baby It’s Cold Outside are about…well…not Christmas, that’s for sure. And then, there’s the beloved Christmas carol Joy To The World, which as it turns out, is not really about Christmas at all. Joy To The World, sung mostly at Christmastime, has more to do with the second coming of Jesus than the first. Isaac Watts, the English poet and originator of the lyrics, draws the song’s initial inspiration, not from the birth of Jesus narrative in Luke 2, but from Psalm 98. He paraphrased Psalm 98 in his collection titled The Psalms of David, Imitated in the Language of the New Testament. Joy to the World was taken from his portion titled The Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom based on the following from the King James Version: Make a joy noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the … [Read more...]