The Miraculous Birth of Jesus

December Teaching Letter from Rick Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|Dear Friends,

Before I get into my teaching today, I want to thank you for signing up to receive your first teaching letter from me. Welcome! I’m so glad you decided to join our family of deeper readers. I spend hours writing these letters each month, sharing my heart and the insights gleaned from my studies in God’s Word. I pray that this letter, and every letter I write in the future, truly ministers to your heart and strengthens your walk with God.

I am so excited about what I am going to share with you this month about the miraculous birth of Jesus! The Christmas season is such a marvelous time of the year for so many because it’s a miraculous time of the year when we especially celebrate Christ coming to the earth and God’s magnificent plan of redemption. His plan was to manifest “peace on earth, good will toward men” through the promise of His Son (see Luke 2:14). And every person on the planet can be a recipient of God’s favor by embracing Jesus as Savior and Lord. Friend, that is Good News!

But before I get into the teaching, I want to thankfully acknowledge that with all the challenges we have all faced in various parts of our lives this year, Jesus has proven again that He is Lord and is victorious over everything! Praise God that He leads us to victory!

This year, you have been so amazing in your support of our ministry, and we are so thankful for your role in what God has called us to do. It’s not just Denise and me, our family, and our team — you are a major part of this Gospel team that God is using to impact the world. We are so thankful for you!

Often at the end of a calendar year, people wish to give a special gift to organizations they really believe in. This has been an amazing year for RENNER Ministries, as we’ve taken the Gospel further than we ever have before. If you would pray about giving a special gift to our ministry before the year is over, it would help us gain even greater territory for the Kingdom of God. Eternity is before us, and what each of us does makes a difference for the souls we are reaching. I promise you that we will carefully use what you give to maximize its ability to reach people. What a joy that we can do this together!

But right now, I want to talk to you about the miraculous birth of Jesus!

Did you know that the bulk of what we know about Jesus’ birth comes directly from Jesus’ mother? Before Luke wrote about the birth of Jesus, he interviewed Mary, and it was Mary who vividly told Luke about all the miraculous events that he then wrote about in the gospel of Luke. Mary’s memory of these amazing events is referred to in Luke 2:19 where the Bible says, “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”

The word “kept” in the original Greek means to keep within oneself in order to closely guard or accurately and carefully preserve, and the word “ponder” means to lay in order, like a person who carefully and meticulously chronicles a story. Mary was so impacted by this amazing sequence of events in her life and in the life of Jesus that she chronicled all of it in her heart and carefully preserved her memories of it all.

It is amazing to me that if Mary had not kept a record of all these events in her heart and mind, we would not know about them today. But because she so valued what she had seen God do in her life and in the life of Jesus, she was able to tell the gospel writers the entire account in vivid detail. As I think about this, it makes me want to ask — have you preserved your memories of what God has done in your life so vividly that you could share them with someone else? Have you been careful to remember the works of the Lord in your life? Or have you forgotten what God has done, or let those things slip because so much time has passed? If you’ve let those workings of God slip in your life, it’s not too late to pause and take stock of those things again, pondering them deeply and preserving them in your memory like Mary did.

Mary’s remembrance of the miraculous events in her life was so clear that she vividly related all the following occurrences to Luke in perfect order:

• The miraculous happenings that occurred with Zacharias and Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist (see Luke 1:5-25).
• She was a virgin who had never sexually known a man (see Luke 1:27).
• The angel Gabriel appeared to her to make the annunciation (see Luke 1:26-38).
• She was supernaturally impregnated by the Holy Spirit (see Luke 1:34,35).
• Elizabeth’s baby (John the Baptist) leaped in her womb at the sound of Mary’s voice (see Luke 1:41).
• Elizabeth prophetically confirmed what the angel Gabriel had privately told Mary and then prophesied to Mary about Christ in her womb (see Luke 1:42-45).
• Mary supernaturally sang a prophetic song of praise (see Luke 1:46-55).
• When John the Baptist was born, Zechariah’s tongue was supernaturally loosed and he prophesied that John the Baptist would prepare the way of the Lord (see Luke 1:57-79).
• An unexpected worldwide census took place that required Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem so Christ would be born there “on time” as prophesied (see Luke 2:1-6).
• When Jesus was miraculously born, Mary wrapped him in “swaddling clothes” and “laid him in a manger” (see Luke 2:7).
• Shepherds came to see the Baby because a heavenly host of angels announced to them that Jesus had been born (see Luke 2:8-18).
• Simeon and Anna prophetically spoke over Jesus at His dedication in the Temple (see Luke 2:25-38).
• They returned to Nazareth as a family of three: Joseph, Mary, and Jesus (see Luke 2:39).

When we come to Matthew’s earlier account of these miraculous events, we find that he included additional information that Luke did not write about in his gospel. Just as Mary shared details of her life with Luke, she told Matthew about many events that she preserved in her heart and mind so vividly — adding significant events that occurred after the holy family returned to Nazareth.

For example, Matthew learned from Mary that:

• Mary was found with child during her espousal period with Joseph (see Matthew 1:18).
• The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream to tell him to take Mary to be his wife even though she was pregnant (see Matthew 1:19,20).
• The angel of the Lord gave Joseph the name “Jesus” for the child (see Matthew 1:21).
• The angel confirmed to Joseph that Mary was indeed a virgin impregnated by the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 1:22,23).
• The Magi came to Jerusalem to search for Christ (see Matthew 2:1).
• The Magi announced a star in the East had supernaturally declared the birth of Christ (see Matthew 2:2).
• The city of Jerusalem was very upset about the arrival of the Magi (see Matthew 2:3).
• Herod had interrogated the Scribes in Jerusalem and demanded they identify the exact location where the Messiah would be born (see Matthew 2:4-6).
• Herod had diabolical plans to murder the Christ-Child (see Matthew 2:7,8).
• The Magi were supernaturally redirected by the Star to Nazareth (see Matthew 1:9,10).
• The Magi entered the house where the holy family lived and fell on their knees and faces to worship Jesus (see Matthew 2:11).
• The Magi gave a grand presentation of treasures and gifts that they had brought to Jesus (see Matthew 2:11).
• The Magi were supernaturally warned by God in a dream to return home a different way (see Matthew 2:12).
• The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to immediately flee with Mary and Jesus into Egypt (see Matthew 2:13).
• Herod slaughtered babies in Bethlehem (see Matthew 2:16-18).
• Herod died a tragic death (see Matthew 2:19).
• After Herod’s death, God instructed Joseph in a dream to take Mary and Jesus and return from Egypt to Galilee (see Matthew 2:19,20).
• The holy family returned and lived in Nazareth (see Matthew 2:22,23).

All of this makes me want to ask you:
If such a long list of miraculous events happened to you or your family, don’t you think that you would never forget them? Luke 2:19 says, “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”As we have already seen, the original words in Luke 2:19 mean that Mary intentionally kept a precise and correct record of it all in her heart. And because she did, she was able to communicate every piece of the story with Matthew and Luke so they could write it all down and eventually recount it to others — including you and me! What if Mary had let it all slip over time and forgot about it? We know all the details of this miraculous story because Mary never forgot.
Likewise, you should never forget all the marvelous things you have witnessed God do in your own life. Do you keep a clear memory of all the miraculous things God has done for you so you can share them with your family and friends? Why not take some time to carefully recall those blessings so you can hold them in your memory and communicate them to others who really need to hear them.As we are coming to the close of 2022, it would be good for you to reflect on all God has done in your life over the past 12 months. Then, as Mary did, you need to share with others the wonderful things He has done. Let’s all follow the tradition of Mary and share with those around us what Jesus has done for us this year!I’ve written about all this and so much more in my new book Christmas — The Rest of the Story. Please pray with me that this book will take readers on a vivid journey through the many facets of the miraculous events surrounding Christ’s birth. I want readers to say “WOW!” as they read this new, fully illustrated book! By the way, if you haven’t ordered your copy yet, you can order it by calling our office or by going online to renner.org.

As I close my letter today, I want to wish you a wonderful Christmas season and encourage you to take time to reach out to someone who is in need or who is feeling lonely. There is always someone who needs the love of God — and you could be that someone to reach out to that person during this season! And never forget that we are here for you, and you can reach out to us any time you need prayer. Praying for you is a top priority in our ministry. If you’ll simply call us or send us an email or letter, the moment you let us know how we can pray for you, we’ll begin to pray in Jesus’ name!

Denise and I and our team wish you a Merry Christmas and a very blessed new year!

And please…pray for us as we press forward to do what God has called our ministry to do.

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
Along with Paul, Philip, and Joel Renner and our ministry team

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