A children's movie about King David? It's a musical for some reason. It's made by Angel Studios. The entire concept created a lot of skepticism. Will it be terrible? Will it be wildly theologically conservative? Will it just be a nonstop preach-fest? It's none of those things. Instead, they made a weirdly decent children's movie that grasps a decent junk of what the Bible wants you to know about Biblical kings. We are as shocked as anyone.

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The story of the Magi's arrival is as much about who isn't there as who is. Three gentile astronomer priest journey from afar, show up, get filled with joy, worship the infant Lord, and work to protect. Missing are the priest, scribes, and King Herod. They all know better than the Magi what's happening, but none of them show up to pay homage. Instead, Herod hatches a plot to kill Jesus. The contrasts are stark and remind us that Christ troubles the powerful but welcomes the previously excluded.

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Christmas represents the tension between the vastness of God's grandeur and the lowliness of the Christ's birth. Jesus was born to a working family, in a shed, surrounded by farm workers. He's also the Lord of all creation, the divine word, who built the underlining foundation of all things. We welcome an infant born to a brave, faithful, and average young woman. This baby is God among us. This tension means to invite. You should see yourself in Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds and see that you belong in God's family.

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The New Testament works at a way different scale than the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, we work at the scale of nations, kings, prophets, princesses, emperors, and generals. We mostly remember the high and mighty. The New Testament is largely about teen moms, fishermen, lepers, tent makers, a few rich homeowners, and a bunch of shop keepers. The story of Christ's birth focuses on a godly, brave, and loving carpenter who turns out to be the perfect earthly father for Jesus. Joseph's might doesn't come from his position or social standing. Instead, we remember him purely because of how faithful he turns out to be.

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Mary is extremely brave. She risks at lot and at an young age, yet she greets all of this with joy. The Magnificat, Mary's beautiful song at the beginning of Luke, boldly declares exactly what her soon to be born child means and excitement and amazement at the whole thing. Mary gets it far earlier than anyone else in the New Testament, more so than the Disciples, or anyone else who met Jesus in his earthly life. May we all gain Mary's clarity and joy at the birth of a savior.

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From the Root of Jesse's tree (AKA the House of David) will come one who makes all things well. When Isaiah spoke these words, the king who arrived made things better, but they didn't stay better for long. Destruction and exile eventually came. These words of the prophet point to what a messiah, a savior is and does. They come from the House of David, and they set things right. Some Old Testament kings did that in limited ways and for a while. Christ does it for everyone and for always.

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Jesus is actually quite clear about trying to predict the end times. He essentially says, "Don't bother. Even I don't know." Instead, we should focus on being spiritually ready, living our lives with hope, and trust that at some unknown point, God will make all things well. That there is an end point is meant to motivate discipleship - not rampant speculation. We begin each Christian year with an image of the end to remind us of what God has done, is doing, and will do.

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Imagine yourself at your worst moment. Picture in your mind's eye being pushed, painfully, to the brink of death. How would you react to the people responsible for putting you in that situation? How would you treat those around you? This is the context of Jesus offering forgiveness to persecutors and to the penitent thief as he hangs on a cross. Jesus is actively and painfully dying and spends his remaining breath offering forgiveness to the guilty. This is the brutal hope of God's grace. It's forgiveness that can contain the breadth of human brokenness.

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The ending of Isaiah projects a beautiful image of the world made right. Jerusalem restored. People live to an advanced aged. The lion eats straw. The serpent is not longer a problem. For a people deeply traumatized from the experience of exile and now returned home, there are probably images that felt both comforting and true. There world, once rocked and destroyed, had massively improved. However, it was not yet the perfection described in Isaiah's vision. Indeed, that level of perfection still eludes us. So, we find trust in the promises already kept to find hope in the promises still out there to be fulfilled.

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Purity Culture is a thing - quite a thing. It was all the rage in youth groups across the nation and fed in part by Joshua Harris's I Kissed Dating Goodbye. It put an extreme focus on saying literally everything until marriage and turned pre-martial sex (particularly for young women) into a kind of uber sin, a sin that there's no coming back from. Good news! None of that's in the Bible, and Joshua Harris has disavowed his own book that he wrote at the age of 21 (the age where everyone always has it all figured out).

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Contemplating the meaning of life is one of humanity's eternal challenges. We want there to be meaning - to have our existence be more than simply a set of memories that evaporate with us. Our relationship with God hold the answers to these questions and fears. While our earthly life does end, God does not, and when we invest our lives into our relationship with God and with others, our existence and relationships go on forever. It's not just that our work and efforts out live us. It's that cease being a part of what God is doing - eternally.

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Two men pray, but the one that doesn't match the traditional social script is the one that walks away justified. Part of God's deep beauty is the way that God, unlike the bulk of humanity, looks purely at a person's heart. It's not about being from a righteousness focused group or being the wrong kind of person. God sees through all of that into a person's reality and deeper motivation. So, as we approach God, we should do so with our genuine selves because we can't hide anything from God.

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Talking about prayer can stray to some difficult directions extremely quickly. When we have story about being persistent in prayer and about God's goodness, we need to balance all of that being truth with the fact that plenty of people end up feeling like they're prayer didn't get answered. That persistence isn't simply about banging down God's door. It's about staying in our relationship with God even when the answer that we get doesn't align with our desires.

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Jesus concludes a conversation with a particularly thankful leper that his "faith had made him well." Ten lepers all received physical healing just because they asked. This one who turns around and actually thanks Jesus gets something additional. It all points to a kind of wellness or wholeness that stretches far beyond the physical. Thankfulness and a deeper connection with God are all part of a much deeper and holistic version of being well.

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2 Timothy positions Paul at the end of his life - reflecting on what it meant and trying to pass something onto the next generation. Timothy represents that next generation. He grew up in the church and marks a major shift in church leadership to second generation Christians. He's the first youth group kid that made good. We see an early iteration of what has become the eternal work of the church - to prepare and inspire the next generation to continue the great relay race of faith.

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Shiny Happy People Season 2: A Teenaged Holy War is A LOT if you crew up in the Christian Rock/Evangelical/Contemporary Christian Music scene in the 1990s and early 2000s. Both Pastor Trey and Pastor Emily very much did. Journey with them as they explain their near misses and the ways that they might still be fighting a holy war.

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Jeremiah is a sad prophet. He has a lot to be sad about. By serving as prophet in the direct run up to the Exile, he was never going to have a lot of good news to report. The people are crying out for relief, but a long history of their own failings landed them in this position in the first place. When we find our selves wondering where God is in the midst of a world looking on the brink of collapse, we might call to mind the normal way that God moves in the world - through people heeding God's call.

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Every tell all documentary about a new religious movement takes a turn at some point. They all start out with a merry band of weirdos and misfits - folks who never feel like they belong anywhere else but finally find belonging. It's great. Eventually, it all turns dark when someone declares themselves perfect and a living god to be followed and served unquestioningly. Paul never does that step. He stay humble and even in his farewell address to his second in command, Timothy, call himself the foremost among sinners. That's part of why we can revere Paul because Paul doesn't revere Paul.

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Sometimes, Jesus goes for shock value. You have to be willing to hate all your loved ones, get rid of all your property, and take up your cross. It's a lot. It's probably, partly, hyperbole, but still, it's a blunt statement on the nature of discipleship. God comes first. We live our lives with God as one priority among many - job, family, the grind daily life, our finances. That's not how Jesus lived, and this scripture about the cost of discipleship challenges us to live differently as well.

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This scripture looks like social advice. Don't jump to the seat on honor until it's offered to you. Sure. However, there's more to it than that. It's not just about where you try to sit and, instead, is more about how important you think that you are. Don't think so highly of yourself that you automatically assume that honors should be coming your way, and don't see yourself as above others that you don't leave room for those that often get left behind.

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