{"id":866,"date":"2018-01-11T10:09:23","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T16:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/?p=866"},"modified":"2018-01-11T12:09:09","modified_gmt":"2018-01-11T18:09:09","slug":"the-fourth-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/the-fourth-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fourth Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Phil Morgan (used by permission)
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

On January 6th we celebrated Epiphany, commemorating the visit of the wise men to check out the newborn baby Jesus.\u00a0 Quick quiz – what gifts did the wise men bring?\u00a0 If you just yelled out “gold, frankincense and myrrh,” you got it!\u00a0 But do you remember the fourth gift the wise guys brought? No? Let’s take a look in the Bible and see if we can find it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him.”<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “in Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet: ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel.'”<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”<\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. – Matthew 2:1-11<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

Did you see it?\u00a0 OK, I admit, that was a bit of a trick question.\u00a0 It wasn’t the fourth gift, but rather the first.\u00a0 Before the gold, frankincense and myrrh, the wise men offered the most precious gift to our Lord, the gift of worship. Let’s see what our wise friends can teach us about this important act.<\/p>\n

1. We worship with humility, respect and reverence.<\/strong>\u00a0 When the magi came before Jesus they bowed in reverence.\u00a0 Literally, they “fell down.”\u00a0 We’ve got to remember, these were important people who were probably used to people bowing to them.\u00a0 They had just been face to face with non other than King Herod himself and there was no mention of them bowing to him.\u00a0 In fact, Herod was the one who requested the meeting!\u00a0 These great men recognized when they were in the presence of true greatness and paid Him the respect He deserves.\u00a0 We owe Jesus nothing less today.<\/p>\n

2. Worship is intentional.<\/strong>\u00a0 The wise men didn’t just hang around and happen to bump into Jesus, they sought Him out.\u00a0 They had studied their holy books about Him, went looking for Him, and even asked others where they could find Him.\u00a0 Worship is not just standing up and singing some songs.\u00a0 We must eagerly seek Jesus with our hearts, souls and minds.\u00a0 Worship doesn’t happen by accident, it is intentional.<\/p>\n

3. Worship is a journey.<\/strong>\u00a0 The wise men didn’t passively wait for Jesus to come to them, they took action and went to Him.\u00a0 While it is true that we can not work our way to God (that is why He so graciously came to us), when we worship we leave our self-focused world and go to Him.\u00a0 Look at all the action in this promise God gave Jeremiah, “Then you will call<\/strong> upon me and come<\/strong> and pray<\/strong> to me, and I will hear you. You will seek<\/strong> me and find<\/strong> me; when you seek<\/strong> me with all your heart,” – Jeremiah 29:12-13.\u00a0 <\/em><\/span>Don’t just sit there, worship!<\/p>\n

4. Worship makes the world uncomfortable.<\/strong>\u00a0 When King Herod heard about Jesus, he and the whole town of Jerusalem weren’t excited, they were “troubled.”\u00a0 Why? Because the world is worldly.\u00a0 God is holy, the exact opposite of worldly.\u00a0 If our worship feels the same as going to a concert or a coffee shop, we may be missing the point.\u00a0 Worship takes us into the very presence of God himself, and that is anything but ordinary.\u00a0 If we let our worldly selves stay too comfortable, we may never experience the awe and majesty that surround the incomparable Creator of the universe.\u00a0 What a tremendous privilege that God would bless us, unworthy as we are, with His very presence.\u00a0 That’s enough to make us sing along with the angels, “Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.” – Revelation 7:12<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This year, let’s bring our best gift to Jesus… true worship.\u00a0 When we do, we’ll discover another truth – we can’t give to God without receiving something in return.\u00a0 Remember our wise buddies?\u00a0 When they saw the star and found Jesus, they “<\/em>rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”\u00a0 <\/em>Not happiness, or even a warm fuzzy, but GREAT JOY!\u00a0 The kind of joy that only comes from basking in the presence of our God, our King, our Messiah, our Savior, our Jesus.<\/p>\n

And all God’s people said…<\/p>\n

Amen!
\nPhil and Pam Morgan<\/p>\n

Click Here to Check our Concert Schedule!<\/a><\/p>\n

Check us out on Facebook! – http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PhilandPamMorgan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Phil Morgan (used by permission) On January 6th we celebrated Epiphany, commemorating the visit of the wise men to check out the newborn baby Jesus.\u00a0 Quick quiz – what gifts did the wise men bring?\u00a0 If you just yelled out “gold, frankincense and myrrh,” you got it!\u00a0 But do you remember the fourth gift the wise guys brought? No? Let’s take a look in the Bible and see if we can find it. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now when Jesus was born […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devotional","ctfw-has-image"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/WiseMen.jpg?fit=500%2C340&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9vaGn-dY","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2158,"url":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/hear-the-hay\/","url_meta":{"origin":866,"position":0},"title":"Hear the Hay","author":"Garry Gardner","date":"December 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hear the Hay by Phil Morgan We are once again at the season of \"Peace on earth and goodwill toward men.\" Each year at this time we are bombarded with words like love, peace and joy. We are told to spread peace to all the nations and show love to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Devotional"","block_context":{"text":"Devotional","link":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/category\/devotional\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/unnamed4.jpg?fit=500%2C340&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2086,"url":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/bothersome-to-beautiful\/","url_meta":{"origin":866,"position":1},"title":"Bothersome to Beautiful","author":"Garry Gardner","date":"June 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Devotional by Phil Morgan I have to admit, Jeremiah 29:11 has always bothered me. It's a comforting verse, \"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'\" Yet, it has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Devotional"","block_context":{"text":"Devotional","link":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/category\/devotional\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/FHBanner.jpg?fit=1200%2C368&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/FHBanner.jpg?fit=1200%2C368&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/FHBanner.jpg?fit=1200%2C368&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/FHBanner.jpg?fit=1200%2C368&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/FHBanner.jpg?fit=1200%2C368&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2041,"url":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/enough\/","url_meta":{"origin":866,"position":2},"title":"Enough","author":"Garry Gardner","date":"March 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Devotional by Phil Morgan In our Bible study this morning, Pam and I found ourselves in the book of Habakkuk. Just to jog your memory (my preferred form of exercise), the book starts with Mr. H and God having a little chat. Habakkuk says, \"The world is going to hell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Devotional"","block_context":{"text":"Devotional","link":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/category\/devotional\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Enough.jpg?fit=500%2C340&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":861,"url":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/2018-world-watch-list\/","url_meta":{"origin":866,"position":3},"title":"2018 World Watch List","author":"Garry Gardner","date":"January 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"January 10, Open Doors released the new 2018 World Watch List, the most comprehensive, authoritative report of the top 50 countries where Christian persecution is most severe. We hope you\u2019ll use the list to support, connect with, and pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ who are living and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Around the World"","block_context":{"text":"Around the World","link":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/category\/around-the-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/WWL2018.jpg?fit=831%2C653&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/WWL2018.jpg?fit=831%2C653&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/WWL2018.jpg?fit=831%2C653&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/WWL2018.jpg?fit=831%2C653&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":871,"href":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866\/revisions\/871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bethelcma.org\/bethel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}