For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9:6-7

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -
and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
Isaiah 11:1-6

One of the key songs in the Biblical portion of the Tree is the song made popular by Faith Hill last year, A Baby Changes Everything. The song has a well-crafted and clever (in the most positive sense) lyric, as it expresses the Mary & Joseph story at the beginning and sounds as if the song could be about anyone, but then moves to "shepherds all gather round," and we know where we are and who we are singing about.

We all know that it is true - a baby does change everything in life - just ask any parent! But the meaning of the song we are singing goes much deeper. The birth of Jesus Christ changed literally EVERYTHING for EVERYONE. At the exact point in time that God ordained, Jesus came into a sinful and fallen world to be Savior, Redeemer, and Lord. His birth was the fulfillment of the prophecies spoken above in Isaiah. Jesus came to become the perfect sacrifice for sin, meaning that the High Priest would no longer have to offer animal sacrifices yearly on behalf of the Jewish nation. Jesus came to conquer death and the grave, so that when we lose beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have done this week, we have the assurance and confidence that they are alive in Christ, with Him. Yes - this baby changes everything!

And, of course, Christ not only changes everything in eternity, but moment by moment here in this life, He has the power to transform and change everything. How many broken lives and broken homes have been restored by the presence of Christ as people learn to trust Him and give Him their lives? Consider for a moment how desperate and lost you would be without the ability to call on the name of Jesus in prayer and in worship. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives to guide, comfort, convict, and encourage is only there because Christ came to us in Bethlehem. He became God with us in the flesh, Emmanuel . . . and He remains God with us through His indwelling Spirit. We are not alone - He changes everything! This is the Christ we present this weekend and the message we want to share - that Jesus Christ can change your life and your eternity. Pray that people will hear, understand, and respond.

The last line of the verses above says, "and a little child will lead them." Leslie Keithly, alto in the choir, was talking with me a couple of weeks ago about how she appreciated having the drama on the rehearsal CD. She pointed something out to me that I had missed, or didn't ever really think about. In our story, each one of the adults who come to Christ at the manger, are led to that moment from the beginning by a child. Scripture says that we must have "the faith of a child" to enter the Kingdom. I am really enjoying the contribution the children are making to our presentation. Such talent! And - in keeping with Leslie's observation - their innocence and simple faith are important reminders in the story of how we come to Christ - in humble, simple faith . . . believing!

I am looking forward to the last rehearsal and the weekend!