​“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…” (Mark 1:1) As 21st Century Gentiles, it's difficult for us to grasp just how dangerous, subversive & controversial it would be to write these important words. But when you consider the backstory of the man God used to write them, you can see why he had the courage, the passion & the urgency to publish something so revolutionary. Watch our study of Mark 1:1 as we considered the opportunities for evangelism all around us during Christmas.

​The birth story of Jesus in the Gospel of John isn’t easy to find. There’s no list of names like in Matthew. There’s no heavenly host addressing shepherds as in Luke. But it’s still there! Because John highlighted how Jesus is God, we need to rethink what a birth story for God would look like.

Watch our study of John 1 and marvel at the wonder of the Infinite becoming infant, the Maker becoming man—Immanuel, God with us!

Join us on Christmas Eve at Refuge as we celebrate our Savior’s birth! We’ll have two opportunities to worship—our regular Sunday service time at 10am and an additional candlelight service at 4pm. Both services will be family worship services (no Kid’s Ministry offered)—we look forward to celebrating with everyone!

Read Ahead! We will be starting our study of the Gospel of Matthew on Christmas Eve. At our 10am service, we will be studying the first half of Matthew 1 and our our 4pm service, we will be looking at the 2nd half of Matthew 1. Read ahead & come ready to hear what the Lord has to say through His word!

​Jesus is everything that God wanted to say to the world He loves. Jesus is The Word. He is The Message.

To those who receive this message, God gives them the right to become His children—His totally new creation.

Only Jesus could make this possible. Only Jesus could bridge the gap between a Holy God and sinful man. Only Jesus could pay a debt that He did not owe because we owed a debt we could never pay.

But in order to do this, He must become one of us in every way. In order to bridge the gap between a Holy God and sinful man, Jesus needed to be both the Son of God and the Son of man. God needed to be born as a man. God needed a birth story—the birth story we find in John 1:14:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

The birth story of Jesus in the Gospel of John isn’t easy to find. Unlike Matthew, there’s no list of names. Unlike Luke, there’s no heavenly host addressing shepherds. That’s because John highlighted the deity of Jesus—how Jesus is God.

So we need to rethink what a birth story would look like for God. Where did God come from? What is God’s history? What is God’s heritage? 

On Christmas Eve, we considered these questions as we looked at the first chapter of the Gospel of John—where we find the birth story of Jesus, who is God. Watch and marvel at the wonder of the Infinite becoming infant, the Maker becoming man—Immanuel, God with us!

​“And it came to pass in those days…” (Luke 2:1)

The first verse of Luke 2 give us a mile marker in history to understand the time in which Jesus was born. It was during the reign of Caesar Augustus, a remarkable man who many saw as the “savior” they had been waiting for. But just consider the contrast between the man-made messiah Caesar Augustus and The Messiah who is God-made-man:

Caesar Augustus, the man-made messiah, climbed the ladder of power through brutality and force, finally exalting himself as the “sacred one.” Jesus, The Messiah God-made-man, left His throne, gave up His power, and descended to be born a helpless baby in the most humble of circumstances.

Caesar Augustus was the adopted son and heir of Julius Caesar. Jesus was born to a poor peasant woman, whose pregnancy was surrounded by controversy.

Caesar Augustus would have great pomp and circumstance when he entered a room. Jesus was born in a stable, laid in a feeding trough, and wrapped with ripped pieces of cloth.

Caesar Augustus tried to be a civil savior—providing outward peace through military might—but ultimately his empire crumbled. Jesus was, is, and forever will be the sinner’s Savior, who’s kingdom will have no end. He needed to be made perfect through suffering (see Hebrews 2:10) so that we would be able to say, “Jesus, You know what I am going through. You know what it’s like to be born into poverty and problems, to be an outcast, to be betrayed, to be alone.” He came to purchase and provide what we needed most—inward peace with God.