Imagine you are an art teacher in a middle school in Italy. You have a young, promising student who turns in a painting for his final assignment. Young Leo’s subject is a waist-up portrait of a woman with a wry smile and arms folded. You think the painting has promise … maybe even good enough to be the best in the school and might raise at least $100 at the PTO fundraiser auction at year’s end.
Imagine you are a high school music instructor in New York City. You have the responsibility of casting the lead for the school’s musical. At the tryouts, a young woman named Indi impressed you with her vocal range and stage presence. You decide she is worthy of the lead and maybe the best the school has seen in many years.
Imagine you are tasked with determining which basketball team is the best in the state of Oklahoma. There are some fantastic high school teams, a few very competitive college teams, but you have your eye on that group of pros in OKC … I think they call them the Thunder? Yeah, Thunder. They would probably get your vote as the best in the state!
Now in all three of these hypotheticals, your decisions would prove accurate, but a bit incomplete.
- If Leonardo Da Vinci would have painted the Mona Lisa as a middle school art project, it WOULD HAVE BEEN the best in the school. It also would have fetched a nice price in a school fundraiser. But saying it is best in school and worth at least $100 (though true) would be an understatement of its true value. Many would say Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is the best in the history of the western world, and AI says it is worth $1.4 BILLION today! Best in school, yes … but so much more!
- Indina Menzel WOULD be a great lead in a high school play. She has amazing vocal talent and is a phenomenal stage performer. But saying she would be a good lead in the school play is an understatement of her true ability. Indina Menzel has brought to life both Elphaba (from “Wicked”) on Broadway, and Elsa (from “Frozen”) on film. Great lead in the school play, absolutely … but so much more!
- The OKC Thunder ARE the best basketball team in the state of Oklahoma. No question about it. But saying that they are the best in Oklahoma would be an understatement of their aptitude. The OKC Thunder are the world champions of the NBA and on pace for another historically great season this year as they try for a repeat title. Best in the state, of course … but so much more!
Now why do I run through these obvious examples today? This Sunday at Wildwood Community Church, we are beginning 2026 with a new sermon series titled “Prepare the Way.” This series will walk through Luke 2-4 and explore the first 30 years of Jesus’ earthly life. In the opening chapters of Luke’s Gospel, in what we know as the Christmas story, we have seen Jesus referred to as the Jewish Messiah. Certainly this is true! But limiting Jesus’ impact and significance to one geographic area would be a vast understatement. He is the Jewish Messiah, but He is also so much more … the Savior of the world! These two notions (of Jesus as the Messiah and Savior) are not added back onto Jesus’ life as revisionist history. They are things prophecized over Jesus by two prophets about 40 days after His birth. We will see this in Luke 2:21-38 in part 1 of our series on Sunday. We will be back to our normal schedule with full children, student, and adult programming. Join us in either our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 service … and bring friends. Let’s follow Jesus together and live for His glory in 2026. To say following Jesus in the new year would be a good idea would be accurate, but way understated!