Hello OCBC family,
​
Let me share a passage with you. “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.  And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Isaiah 60:1-3 – KJV).

The Light of this world came to this earth over 2,000 years ago, with the purpose to shine everywhere.  He was born in a little town called Bethlehem, a non-famous Jewish town at the moment of His birth.  This Light’s birth was very humble; He was not laid down on a comfy bed, but in a manger.  No servants to take care of Him, but just His mother, His adoptive father, and poor shepherds, even though this Light was the King of the Universe.  Well, you know this story very well; you heard it from your parents, and probably you shared it with your kids, and this old story is still a new one.  The old hymn “I Love to Tell the Story” said, “I love to tell the story; ’tis pleasant to repeat what seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet.”

This is the time of the year that we must share about this Light, thus more Gentiles will come to Him, and then one day we will see this picture, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9-10 – ESV).

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.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
    there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
    to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Isaiah 9:6-7

Merry Christmas!

In His service,

Israel

Hello OCBC family,
 Today I want to share with you my excitement about the Christmas worship service on this coming Sunday evening.  The program is called “A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols” and it is very different than a musical or cantata, a tradition for many churches during this time of the year.

Christmas musicals are good because they have a Christmas message with the choir sharing it, but the problem with many Christmas cantatas is that the congregation, the worshipers, became more like spectators of a show.  Therefore, after praying and meditating about this, with the advice of the elders, we will have a different format of program; it will be more like a regular service, where the word of God will be read, where the congregation will sing and learn from the scriptures, where the choir will sing some specials but with the purpose of sharing a message and giving glory to God, the same God who came to the manger over 2,000 years ago.

This is an invitation for you and your family and friends.  Do you like to sing Christmas carols?  This is the night for you.  Do you want to hear the story of redemption and the mystery of the eternal God becoming flesh? This is the night.

Let me share the lyrics of the hymn that will open the service that night.  It is an old hymn that sadly is no longer in many hymnals and probably many Christians do not know it, but it is a wonderful hymn that explains the two natures of Jesus: fully God and fully man.  This hymn is called “Once in Royal David’s City.”

Once in royal David’s city
stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby
in a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ, her little child.

He came down to earth from heaven
who is God and Lord of all;
and his shelter was a stable,
and his cradle was a stall:
with the poor, and meek, and lowly
lived on earth our Savior holy.

Jesus is our childhood’s pattern,
day by day like us he grew;
he was little, weak, and helpless,
tears and smiles like us he knew:
and he feels for all our sadness,
and he shares in all our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see him,
through his own redeeming love,
for that child, so dear and gentle,
is our Lord in heaven above:
and he leads his children on
to the place where he has gone.

Not in that poor lowly stable
with the oxen standing by
we shall see him, but in heaven,
set at God’s right hand on high;
there his children gather round,
bright like stars, with glory crowned.

​In His service,
Israel

Hello OCBC family!
Here we are, Christmas season is here and the world around us is preaching a different message than the one we should share: God Himself came to this earth in flesh to save people from their sins.  Let me share a passage that I love to read during this time.  “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1 – ESV).

This passage was the inspiration to an anonymous German writer from 15th century.  He wrote “Es ist ein Ros ensprungen.”  It was Theodore Baker who made the English version of this ancient advent hymn.  The hymn explains the prophecy from Isaiah that a new “rose” will come.  In the past, some people interpreted this part as a reference to Mary as the “rose” from Jesse, but in 1609, Michael Praetorius changed the interpretation to point to Christ, thus fitting with the actual Biblical imagery.

The lyrics can be used as a hymn to be sung during Advent season or Christmas season, but also they can be used as a prayer for a devotional time.  This hymn is so rich in doctrine, because it tells us about the sacrifice of this rose, who came to bring life to us.

Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse's lineage coming
As men of old have sung.
It came, a flower bright,
Amid the cold of winter
When half-gone was the night.

Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind:
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show God's love aright
She bore to men a Savior
When half-gone was the night.

This Flower, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere.
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us
And lightens every load

In His service,
Israel