For To Us A Child Is Born
Good morning, Immanuel. Jesus is unfathomably good!
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
The four-fold description of Jesus brings home just how unfathomably good he is. Wonderful counselor. When we hear the word counselor, we tend to think of a comfortable couch and a listening ear. But this verse is literally talking about Jesus’ counsel—his direction, commands, and instructions for us. And the counsel of this man will properly be called wonderful. His wisdom and teaching will be breathtaking. We see this in the gospel accounts, and people consistently stand amazed at the teaching of Jesus. No one else has ever spoken like him. His words come with other-worldly authority. He so obviously knows what he’s talking about. As we read his words, we sense they are more deeply reading us.
And the more we follow him, the more we realize how good his direction is for us. In Psalm 19:8, we’re told, “the commands of the Lord are radiant.” We wouldn’t say that of anyone else. When our boss dumps a ton of work on our desks, we don’t marvel at its wonderfulness. But we do with Jesus. The commands of the Lord are radiant because the Lord himself is radiant. We see more and more of that the longer we walk in his ways. So we mustn’t think of some particularly confounding command of Jesus, “I won’t obey that because I don’t like it.” We should think, “I must obey that so that I’ll like it.” He is our wonderful counselor. Let’s be sure to hang on to his words today.
THIS FRIDAY!
Carolfest is just a few days away. Join us on Friday, December 8th for fun, fellowship, and singing! Doors open at 5:30 pm with hot cocoa, hot cider, and hot dogs in the courtyard. We’ll also have a bounce house/obstacle course. We will also be hosting our 2nd Annual Kids Carolfest Cookie Contest! Any child or student may enter the contest. Register here! Be sure to bring at least 18 cookies and drop them off at the cafe between 5:30 and 5:45 pm to be eligible for a contest prize!
If you would like a way to get involved with helping at Carolfest, we would love to hear from you. Email serveteam@immanuelnashville.com
MIDWEEK UPDATES
Wed. Nights…
TONIGHT - Join us tonight at 6:30 pm as we continue our series, #Trending Questions! Pastor Sam Allberry will address the question, “How Can God Allow Suffering?” With such a relevant question, this Wednesday night would be a great opportunity to invite your friends.
If you missed last week’s excellent talk from Dr. John Dickson, you can find it here.
Celebration…
Sunday - Catch the Sunday service and sermon from Pastor Barnabas Piper here on our YouTube channel!
Engage…
STORIES - The Lord as at work among us! We are inviting everyone to share stories of how you have seen God’s grace, experienced Jesus’ welcome, or grown spiritually at Immanuel. Record a video of your story and send it to media@immanuelnashville.com. Your stories will encourage others and show the impact Jesus is making among us.
On the horizon…
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS CHRISTMAS PARTY - Our next Young Professionals gathering will be on Thursday, December 14th, at Larry and Sydney Catlett’s home. RSVP is coming soon!
Amen, thank you Pastor Sam 🙏🏼