Sermon: Christmas Day (OT)
25 December AD 2013
The Nativity of Our Lord
Title: Beautiful Feet (MP3 Audio)
Summary: Christians sometimes confuse whose feet are beautiful. Many are the devotions and Bible studies that point to the feet of individual believers who carry the words of God with them. Pastors are tempted to think of their own pedal extremities as beautiful since they bring the Good News to Christ’s people.
However, closer examination shows us that these are the feet of the Son of God. These feet, once swaddled with the rest of His body by His virgin mother, grew to carry the message of salvation throughout Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. Dried, dirty, and dusty — likely as cracked and rough as the deserts through which they strolled — these feet belonged to God’s great Messenger Jesus Christ.
These feet received the nails and bear the scars from Golgotha — something for which the prophet prepares us in subsequent verses. With their owner, they would be “high and lifted up. (52:13)” They would be “pierced for our transgressions (53:5)” and entombed “with the wicked and with a rich man. (53:9)”
These feet also stood before Mary Magdalene in the garden and the disciples in the upper room. To their wounds the Savior directed doubting Thomas as testimony that He who was dead was risen.
Christ now uses the feet of His Church to carry His message of salvation. He declares beautiful the feet of faithful pastors, God-fearing parents, and believers everywhere who live their lives and speak His truth in their vocations. As we walk with Him, He walks in and with us, leading us on the paths of righteousness and moving us into positions were we may confess His name.
Text: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
The voice of your watchmen — they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion.
Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Isaiah 52:7-10
Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of Beautiful Feet.
NB: For some reason, a few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio if Windows Media is their default MP3 player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.
Other Readings: Psalm 2; Hebrews 1:1-6 (7-12); John 1:1-14 (15-18)
Tags: Christmas Day | Christmas | The Nativity of Our Lord | Three Year Lectionary | 3 Year Lectionary | theology | Jesus | Jesus Christ | Christ | Gospel | Law and Gospel | Law | God | feet | beautiful | message | 25 December 2013 | December 25, 2013 | Lutheranism | Lutheran | Church | Christian | Christianity | Christian Church | Isaiah 52 | sermon | preaching | homily | text | theme | topic | Beautiful Feet | audio | mp3 | Pastor Snyder | Pastor Walter Snyder | Walter Snyder | Ask the Pastor | Happenings
The Nativity of Our Lord
Title: Beautiful Feet (MP3 Audio)
Summary: Christians sometimes confuse whose feet are beautiful. Many are the devotions and Bible studies that point to the feet of individual believers who carry the words of God with them. Pastors are tempted to think of their own pedal extremities as beautiful since they bring the Good News to Christ’s people.However, closer examination shows us that these are the feet of the Son of God. These feet, once swaddled with the rest of His body by His virgin mother, grew to carry the message of salvation throughout Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. Dried, dirty, and dusty — likely as cracked and rough as the deserts through which they strolled — these feet belonged to God’s great Messenger Jesus Christ.
These feet received the nails and bear the scars from Golgotha — something for which the prophet prepares us in subsequent verses. With their owner, they would be “high and lifted up. (52:13)” They would be “pierced for our transgressions (53:5)” and entombed “with the wicked and with a rich man. (53:9)”
These feet also stood before Mary Magdalene in the garden and the disciples in the upper room. To their wounds the Savior directed doubting Thomas as testimony that He who was dead was risen.
Christ now uses the feet of His Church to carry His message of salvation. He declares beautiful the feet of faithful pastors, God-fearing parents, and believers everywhere who live their lives and speak His truth in their vocations. As we walk with Him, He walks in and with us, leading us on the paths of righteousness and moving us into positions were we may confess His name.
Text: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”The voice of your watchmen — they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion.
Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Isaiah 52:7-10
Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of Beautiful Feet.
NB: For some reason, a few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio if Windows Media is their default MP3 player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.
Other Readings: Psalm 2; Hebrews 1:1-6 (7-12); John 1:1-14 (15-18)
Tags: Christmas Day | Christmas | The Nativity of Our Lord | Three Year Lectionary | 3 Year Lectionary | theology | Jesus | Jesus Christ | Christ | Gospel | Law and Gospel | Law | God | feet | beautiful | message | 25 December 2013 | December 25, 2013 | Lutheranism | Lutheran | Church | Christian | Christianity | Christian Church | Isaiah 52 | sermon | preaching | homily | text | theme | topic | Beautiful Feet | audio | mp3 | Pastor Snyder | Pastor Walter Snyder | Walter Snyder | Ask the Pastor | Happenings
posted by Xrysostom | 11:00
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