After the joyous celebration fades, we return to a harsh reality: the enemy is not going down without a fight. Returning to his ancient strategy, Satan tries to kill the infant Messiah, while Joseph quickly reacts to protect his family.
Pastor Tim LeCroy explains the meaning of the story of the slaughter of the innocents from Matthew 2:13-18.
Links:
Story about Clarksville, TN tornado miracle: https://www.actionnews5.com/2023/12/14/miracle-clarksville-school-play-rescheduling-likely-saved-hundreds-lives-tornado/
Katherine Burnham and the tragic loss of her son in the same tornado: https://weather.com/news/weather/news/2023-12-26-tennessee-tornadoes-clarksville-victims-arlan-coty
Scripture text: Matthew 2:13-18
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
“Christmas Is War” a sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Timothy R. LeCroy on Sunday, December 31, 2023 at New Life Presbyterian Church, 950 Danby Rd., Ithaca, NY. Join us for worship every Sunday at 10:00AM. Visit us at our website at www.newlifeithaca.org.
The intro and outro music is from “We Will Feast in the House of Zion” provided by Sandra McCracken and with her permission. Please visit her website at www.sandramccracken.com.
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