Coming to the Still Waters

https://pixexid.com/profile/cjxrsxsl7000008s6h21jecoe What a fantastic picture by this artist!  It is one of my favorite things to do at Christmas time is to sing the carols.  So...I added a whole sermon of carols this year to show the difference between the " red " songs, the " relax " songs, and the " religious " songs of Christmas.  I titled the sermon, " There's A Song In The Air! " We didn't touch the " red " songs about the plump man in a red suit.  I figured he has plenty of air time.  It is quite a shock to move from " I'm dreaming of a white Christmas... " to " O holy night, the stars are brightly shining ..."  You switch from songs that focus on you to carols that point you to the Kings of kings and the Lord of lords.  You move from a perfect setting of snow and everyone happy to being told of a world in sin and error pining and Satan's power which influences our going astray.  The " re

  Another great photo from Wikipedia to help make a point.  When we think of fast, we think of the cheetah and sometimes we describe how they run is " as the wind. " It is an illustration of using one thing, the wind, to describe the other, how the cheetah runs.  We have that same principle in the Scripture passage today.  Paul uses one thing, a historical event found in the book of Genesis, to describe the difference between those who are still slaves to the law and those freed by the promise. Paul has now used 6 arguments to make his point that salvation in is Christ alone. The personal - "Did you receive the Spirit by...." The Scriptural - 6 Old Testament quotations - "The just shall live by faith..." The logical - " If you belong to Christ, then you are..." The historical - "The heir...until the time set by his father..." The sentimental - "I plead with you, brothers,...My dear children,..." The final illustration - &quo