BTLN UPDATE

Congrats to Noah! Noah now has three Helmets and the lead in the race for Winston! Jakob was there at the end with Noah, pushing hard for his second Helmet of the season, but came up a little short this week.

This week we played Gym Football! Gym Football is a Btln classic that we haven't played for years!  With the limited space in the gym there are always plenty of turnovers. Nearly every possession ended with an interception or a touchdown. Tyson scored first for my team, giving us the early 7-0 lead. Jakob scored for Dan's team tying up the game at 7-7! Noah took over the game at the end scoring twice for my team to give us the 21-7 win!
After Gym Football we played one round of Fire, Fever, Flood. Tyson was our winner! It is always fun to watch the guys hustle when we play Fire, Fever, Flood.

In Bible study we looked at how the shepherds, Magi and the people of Jerusalem responded to Jesus' birth.

Luke 2:15-18   When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.


The shepherds response is what you would expect from people that had been waiting for the Messiah for two thousand years! The shepherds hurried to meet the Messiah, and then spread the good news that the Messiah had arrived! The last thing that we read about the shepherds is that they are praising God! Where is the mad rush of people to meet the Messiah after hearing the shepherds testimony?


Matthew 2:1-11   After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The Magi traveled great distances to see the long awaited Messiah. The people of Jerusalem that were living only five miles away and must have heard the shepherds report are disturbed when the Magi come asking about the Messiah. You would think that there would be a huge crowd of people going along with the Magi to see the Messiah, but they go to Bethlehem alone. The question is, how will we respond to the Messiah? Will we ignore Jesus like the people of Jerusalem? Or will we praise and worship Jesus like the shepherds and Magi?


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