Beyond the Weekend

December 20 | The Gospels

December 20, 2021

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17

Read: John 3:16-21
Listen: 
John 3

TODAY’S MESSAGE

Christmas is just five sleeps away. Lights are up. School is on break. We encounter green and red wherever we go. Even the most Scroogelike among us are starting to feel some Christmas cheer. While not everyone who celebrates Christmas is a Jesus-follower, Christmas is about Jesus. It’s a celebration of God coming to earth as a man. God’s presence as one of us.

In the Bible, there are four accounts of Jesus’s life. These are biographies based on first-hand testimony. We know them as gospels. Gospel is a Greek word meaning “good news.” The early church labeled these four books gospels because they recounted the good news of Jesus. The good news of the life of the long-awaited Messiah who would come to rescue his people.

This week, the week leading up to Christmas, we’ll look at some of the key themes from each gospel account. The authors tell the story of Jesus’s life in their own way. These four different perspectives help us have a more robust view of why we should celebrate the arrival of Jesus on earth. It truly is good news.

IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY

Open your journal and write the following prayer in your own words. “God, thank you for Christmas. Thank you for the opportunity to celebrate your arrival on earth—as one of us. Thank you for the Bible where I can read about who Jesus is and what he came to earth to do. Help me to gain a greater appreciation for Jesus this week.”


NEW TESTAMENT READING PLAN

Join us this year as we read through the New Testament.

Today’s reading is Revelation 13.


Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.

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