Did You See?
Mark Your Calendar
Anyone who helps (or would like to help) with any of the kids programs at EBC, mark your calendar for a short meeting after the January 14th morning worship service.
Two New Classes Starting Soon
Exciting news! In just a few weeks, we have two new adult classes starting that you won’t want to miss. The first class, led by Pastor Tom and Craig and Karen Moran, is specifically for young adults. In this class, they’ll be diving into a thought-provoking study titled “The Air We Breathe – How We All Came to Believe in Freedom, Kindness, Progress, and Equality”. The second class will focus on a study in Galatians – one that is sure to leave you feeling inspired and uplifted. Whether you’re a seasoned church-goer or new to the faith, we welcome you to join us in these classes and grow in your understanding of God’s word. See you there!
From the Desk of Pastor Tom
December 17 we listened as Isaiah reminded God’s people of the promised Messiah. He assured them of God’s faithfulness and called them to prepare the way for the Lord to come. Then if read the remainder of the Old Testament there was no fulfillment of the messianic promises. There is some 400 years between the end the Malachi’s prophecy and the opening chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. A 400 year gap between OT and NT with no biblical revelation from God. Where is He? Has He forgotten us? One of the hardest periods of life to endure is times of silence. When you long to hear the voice of a loved one, or hear the good news that a promise was kept. Yet for 400 years the people of God waited. God was still there and was still active but we do not find any major prophetic messages from God to Israel until the Gospel of Matthew and the birth of Christ. When God comes to Zechariah at the beginning of the Gospels, Zechariah is in disbelief.
Have you ever been there? You don’t seem to hear or see God. You are waiting and waiting and waiting. Yet for what feels like hundreds of years you feel alone. Or have you experienced the other? When God does speak, you are in shock and disbelief at what God just said. God, are you sure? Things don’t work that way! I’m too old. Don’t you know how the body works? I mean I know that you made us all, but maybe you forgot?
God’s messenger responds to Zechariah, God knows and will give you a son. Then for the next 9 months God declared that Zechariah would remain silent. He was deaf and mute. He could not hear or speak as God performs a minor miracle to verify the coming miracle birth of John the Baptist who would prepare the way for the miracle birth of Jesus Christ our Savior!
Mary the mother of Jesus comes to visit her cousin Elisabeth while pregnant with baby Jesus. When they meet and the expectant mothers compare notes on what God is doing they rejoice together. Then Zechariah sings when he regains his voice at the birth of his son. It echoes the truths we rejoiced in from Isaiah and once again directs our hearts to worship as we consider the saving, restoring, promise keeping God we worship.
Depending on how you count them, there are some 300-500+ prophecies and promises about the Messiah in the Old Testament. Should we only count direct messianic prophecies? What if it indirectly references Christ’s ministry? What if a prophecy is repeated? A safe conservative count put the promises fulfilled by the birth of Christ above 300 distinct promises. So Christmas morning, when you celebrated Christ’s birth, was a cumulative testimony to the unchanging faithfulness of our God.
Eastside Worship Playlists
Watch It Again
Sunday Worship – Pastor Tom
Promise Fulfilled
https://youtube.com/live/qUEwYt_hr7I
Sunday Bible Study – Craig Moran
Why Dispensationalism Matters
The Rapture vs. the Second Coming – Lesson 12 (pt1)
https://youtube.com/live/YjWpto7_4oM
And be sure to subscribe to the Eastside YouTube channel.
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