What Child is this?

This is our Christmas Eve service...

What Child is this? Part 4

Matthew 1:21, NIV

Monday, December 24^th, 2012-MRWC

 

            One Child, billions of opinions, Jesus, what child is this?

            What exactly is it that separates Jesus from all people, everywhere? What’s so special about Jesus?

To find that answer, I would direct your attention to Matthew chapter 1:18-25:

“This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph.

But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

¹⁹ Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

²⁰ As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.

 “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

²¹ And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

²³ “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”  

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.

²⁵ But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.” (NLT2)

            What is the defining characteristic that separates Jesus from all people everywhere?

His Name!

            The angel spoke to Joseph in a dream and told him to Name the soon-to-be-born-Baby-inside Mary: “…Jesus…” (Mt. 1:21, NIV)

            The Name Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua which means The Lord saves.

            The Child who was growing inside of Mary, who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, would carry the Name Jesus; the One who saves.

            Well, this leads me to ask 2 very important questions, the first of which is: Who did Jesus come to save?

For that answer, we need to go back to our text, specifically Matthew 1:21:

“you (Joseph) are to give him (the Baby inside Mary) the name Jesus, because he will save his people…” (NIV)

            The Bible tells us that Jesus has come to this earth for one purpose: to save people.

            Friend, you are not an accident; nor are you a mistake.

God has a purpose for you, and to find that purpose one must receive Jesus, the One who has come to this earth to find you.

            Jesus tells us in Luke 19:10: “…the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (NIV)

            Jesus has come into this world to save us, because we are lost.

            This brings me to the 2^nd question of the night… “What did Jesus come to save us from?”

To find the answer to this question, we need to look at the remainder of Matthew 1:21: “…you (Joseph) are to give him (the Baby inside Mary) the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (NIV)

Believe it or not, Jesus has come to save us from our sins, because we are sinners.

We--- you and me—have broken every Law that God has set in place and we are completely unable, on our own strength, to deal with our sin issue.

There is no amount of “good deeds” that will ever change the fact that we are sinners.

Every human being on planet earth is a sinner; we’ve all broken God’s law.

That’s the bad news. But the really Good News is that God is aware of our problem, and God did something about our problem.

God knew that we were unable to address our sin problem, so He did the unthinkable and stuffed Himself into a teenaged womb to “…save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21, NIV)

The Bible, referring to Jesus, says in Acts 4:12: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (NIV)

This verse tells me that Jesus is God’s plan A. There is no plan b.

Jesus is the only One who is able to properly address our sin problem, and the Bible tells me that He has been given to us:

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. (Isaiah 9:6, NLT2)

God sent His Son into the world to save us from our sin.

That’s who Jesus is. He has come into this world to save people—you and me—from our sins.

This is why and what we celebrate at Christmas—and every other day of the year.

We celebrate the arrival of our “…Immanuel" --which means, "God with us." (Matthew 1:25b, NIV)

Well, there is one more truth I want to share with you tonight about Jesus; we believe that He is coming again!

Jesus said in Revelation 22: “Behold I am coming soon!” (Rev. 22:12a, NIV)

We who proclaim the first coming of Jesus, also believe that He is coming again.

I need to tell you, however, that His second Coming will be much different than His first coming was.

While His first coming was only seen by a handful of people, His second coming will be seen by everyone:

“For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.” (Matthew 24:27, NLT2)

“So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Matthew 24:44, NIV)

We beleive Jesus is coming again!

Friends, you will respond to this message of Jesus in one of two ways tonight.

You will either respond to the message of Jesus as the innkeeper did in Luke chapter 2, by telling Jesus you have no room for Him in your Inn, or you will respond as Joseph did, and surrender your life plans to the plans that God has for you.

So, what response do you have? Will you surrender your life over to this Soon Coming King, or will you leave Jesus at an arm’s length, because you have no room for Him in your life?

Do you have room for Jesus this Christmas? A better question might be—will you receive Jesus this Christmas? He has been given just for you.

Receiving Jesus is as simple as A-B-C.

Admit that you are a sinner;

Believe that He is the Savior, and

Confess your need of Him.

We do this, because Jesus has been given to, and for us!

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21, NIV)

 

what child is this?

This is part 3 in our Christmas Series

What Child is this? Part 3

Obedience and Surrender

Sunday, December 23^rd, 2012- MRWC

 

We are in the third week of our current series called: What Child is this?

In this series, we are taking a closer look at the Child that was born over 2000 years ago and what exactly it is that separates Jesus from all the other children born before- or after His birth.

Two weeks ago, we said that the defining factor that separates Jesus from all people everywhere is His Name.

The Name was told to Joseph, by an angel of the Lord. “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (NIV)

Names play a significant role in the Bible, and the Name Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the LORD saves.

Jesus would be born to set all people, everywhere, free from sin.

Last Sunday, Pastor Mike reminded us that Jesus longs to change us, but most people resist this change for fear that Jesus will ask them to give something up, so instead of giving Jesus the proper place in their lives, they relegate Him to a small corner of their life, which is where He will remain.

This is the first response that people have toward Jesus.

They leave Him at arm’s length, knowing about Him up here (head) but refusing to give Him room down here (heart).

Have you moved from knowing Jesus in your head to giving Him the room He deserves in your heart?

This morning I want to look at another response that people have at the coming of Jesus. It begins by reading the story of His birth.

Matthew 1:18-25 says: “This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph.

But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.

“Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.

25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.” (Matthew 1:18-25, NLT2)

ILLUSTRATION- Imagine for a second or two this morning that you are Joseph.

        You and your girlfriend decide that it’s time to get married, so you go to her parents to discuss and negotiate the wedding, and figure out a price that would be paid to the bride’s father.

When this was agreed upon, the announcement would be made official and both parties would return to their respective homes for up to a year in preparation for the wedding.

This would insure that your bride would be a virgin when you would get married.

Then, you receive a text message that your fiancée is pregnant! You’re a little more than worried, you’re down right concerned!

Questions, no doubt would race through your mind. Questions like: “Who?” “When?” “Why?”

No doubt Joseph pondered these questions, and he had every right to.

Because he was a well-respected member of the community, he devised a plan to end the engagement, something the Law allowed him to do.

Actually, the Law allowed Joseph two options. He could have accused her of immorality, and have her stoned to death, or he could divorce her and send her away…

As Joseph was weighing his options, something interesting happened: “…an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.

“Joseph, son of David…do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:20, NLT2)

Now things have gone from bad to worse!

Not only was Mary pregnant, Joseph now finds out that the Baby inside of her was conceived by the Holy Spirit!

How do you explain that one around the office water cooler?

Joseph was perplexed… what should he do?

On one hand Joseph was allowed to send Mary on her merry way, but on the other hand an angel of the Lord showed up and told him to marry Mary.

Joseph found himself in a difficult situation and he wondered what to do, Just like Noah and Daniel.

God asked Noah to “build a large boat” (Gen. 6:14a, NLT2) because He was going to “…cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes...” (Gen 6:17b, NLT2)

I secretly wonder if, after hearing from God, Noah stepped back, scratched His head and asked: “What’s a boat?” or “What’s a flood?”

If Noah thought this way, we’re not told about it; all we are told is that: “Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.” (Gen. 6:22, NLT2)

Noah obeyed God when it didn’t make sense to obey God, just as Daniel obeyed God when it didn’t make sense.

Daniel, as you may remember, was thrown into the lion’s den because he refused to obey King Darius’ law that stated that all people everywhere were to pray to him, or risk being tossed into the lion’s den.

When Daniel heard this news, he went up to his room, and with his windows open, began praying to God.

When the king’s officials heard Daniel praying, they ran to the king, and reminded him of the law he just made, and with that, Daniel became dinner.

The following morning, King Darius rushed out to the lion’s den, to find Daniel alive and well, proclaiming the greatness of his God.

Now, you might be wondering the connection between Noah, Daniel and Joseph. The connection is that they all did the same thing… they were all obedient.

Noah built the ark, Daniel prayed to God when it wasn’t politically right to do so, and Joseph agreed to continue on with his engagement.

“When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.” (Matthew 1:24, NLT2)  

The Bible reminds us that Joseph did what the angel of the Lord asked him to do: he surrendered his life plans and took Mary as his wife, and named the Christ Child.

Friends, obedience is the second response that people have toward Jesus.

While some people have no room for Jesus, others do. Some people keep Jesus at arm’s length; but other people place their trust in God.

Now friends, most of our decisions will not be overruled by angles, but this is no reason for a lack of confidence that God knows what He is doing.

The Bible says: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Prov. 3:5-6, NIV)

God wants us to place our trust in Him at all times, and in all situations. As we rely on Him, He will direct our path.

Author and Pastor Charles Stanley has put together what he calls his “life principles” which is a list of 30 truths that guide his life and ministry.

One of these principles is: “Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.”

I think you can see this little principle playing out in the life of Joseph. He is struggling with an important decision. Do I? Don’t I?

As he is pondering his next step, an angel of the Lord shows up and tells him to follow through on his promise and because of Joseph’s obedience, he was  present the moment “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14a, NIV)

All that God was looking for from Joseph was obedience.

ILLUSTRATION- Aretta Loving, a Wycliffe (Bible translator) missionary, was washing her dishes when she saw Jimmy, her five-year-old neighbor, headed straight toward the back porch.

She had just finished painting the back-porch handrails, and she was proud of her work.

“Come around to the front door, Jimmy,” she shouted. “There’s wet paint on the porch rails.”

“I’ll be careful,” Jimmy replied, not turning from his path.

“No, Jimmy! Don’t come up the steps,” Aretta shouted, knowing of Jimmy’s tendency to mess things up.

“I’ll be careful,” he said again, by now dangerously close to the steps.

“Jimmy, stop!”…. “I don’t want carefulness. I want obedience!”

As the words burst from her mouth, she suddenly remembered Samuel’s response to King Saul: To obey is better than sacrifice.

How would Jimmy respond to this command, she wondered.

To her relief, he shouted back, “All right, Loving, I’ll go around to the front door.”

…As he turned to go around the house, Aretta thought to herself, “How often am I like Saul or like Jimmy, wanting to go my own way?

I rationalize, ‘I’ll be careful, Lord’ as I proceed with my own plans.” But God doesn’t want carefulness. He wants obedience. (NCBSIQ, pg. 589)

1 Samuel 15:22 asks an important question: “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice?

Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.” (NLT2)

The message of this verse and the message of our Bible lesson today remind us that God wants obedience.

God wants us to obey Him; to listen to His Holy Spirit for our next steps and to trust Him when things don’t make sense.

So, how are you doing at obeying God? Do you trust Him enough to work out the specifics in your life? Or are you relying on your own strength?

The Bible says: “If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God.” (Isaiah 50:10b, NLT2)

When we obey God and surrender our lives over to His Lordship, He will do things in and through us that we never thought possible, but it all comes back to our response, will we leave Jesus at an arm’s length, or will we obey Him?

Have you made room in your heart and life for Jesus, or are you leaving Him at a distance?

One way to prove you have room for Jesus is by opening your heart up to Him and letting Him direct your steps.

We don’t hear very much about Joseph after this time in Matthew’s Gospel. It turns out that he had a small but important part to play in the history of Jesus.

Joseph was able to play the part that he was supposed to play because he was willing to obey an angel of the Lord and do what God wanted him to do.

God has a plan for your life. God’s plan for your life can and will be accomplished if you are willing to Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.

Have you surrendered your life over to Jesus? Will you surrender your life over to Jesus and obey whatever He might ask you to do?  

It’s as easy—and as difficult—as praying: “Lord Jesus, I don’t know what this all means yet, but I stand and give you my life; I want to obey you.”

If this describes you, if this is what you want, then as the band comes back to lead us in our closing song, I invite you to stand and proclaim that you will surrender your life to Jesus, and you will be obedient and do what He might ask you to do.

 

 

What Child is this?

on Sunday, we began a new Series called "What Child is this?" this is the first message. Enjoy!

 

 

            Well, I am super excited to begin a brand new series today. For the next few weeks and concluding on Christmas Eve, we are going to be looking at: One Child. Billions of opinions. Jesus. What Child is this? (Display background)

            This is an interesting question, isn’t it? What child is this?

            Many people all around the world have a different opinion as to who Jesus is. I’m sure if I took a few minutes to ask you your opinion of Jesus, you might tell me that He’s:

·      God;

·      Savior;

·      Lord;

·      Redeemer;

·      A Constant Companion;

·      The Lover of your Soul;

            But if we were to move out from these four walls and ask the same question, chances are pretty good that we would get a response similar to this:

PLAY WHO WAS JESUS VIDEO

The contrasting opinions about who Jesus was/is are nothing new. The question about who He was has been asked for thousands of years.

            Apparently this question even surfaced as Jesus was walking on earth.

Shortly after the feeding of the 5,000 with only 5 loaves and 2 small fish, Jesus withdrew to a quiet place to pray, and separated from the crowds asked His disciples this question:

            “Who do people say I am?” (Luke 9:18b, NLT2)

            Jesus knew people were talking about Him, so He conducted a quick poll and asked what the popular consensus was as to His person.

            The reply put Jesus in very special company: “…some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.” (Luke 9:19, NLT2)

            It’s interesting to note that the response the disciples gave Jesus was almost verbatim the response Herod Antipas, the Ruler of Galilee, received when he questioned who Jesus was. (Luke 9:7-9)

            Word was getting out about Jesus—people were talking about Him: who He was and what He was doing, and you can tell from the response the disciples gave that the opinions people had about Jesus varied.

            Some people thought Jesus was Elijah, the great Old Testament Prophet who wiped out the prophets of Baal with a fire-show from heaven; still other people said that Jesus was John the Baptist, who was a forerunner to Jesus’ ministry.

            Another group of people thought Jesus was another great Old Testament prophet who had come back from the dead…

            Please don’t miss the importance of this responseà people thought Jesus was a good Man; some even thought He was a great Man, but no one declared who He really was.

            So Jesus pushes a little deeper. He asked His disciples who they said He was.

Peter, the spokesman for the disciples, said: “You are the Messiah sent from God!” (Luke 9:20b, NLT2)

            The New International version records Peter’s answer this way: “The Christ of God.” (Luke 9:20b, NIV)

            The word “Messiah” is a Hebrew term, and the word “Christ” is a Greek term, both meaning: “The Anointed One.”

            Peter, on behalf of the disciples, was admitting that Jesus, the Man who sat before them, was in fact, the Christ, the Chosen One, the Son of the God most High.

            After this confession, Jesus warned His disciples not to tell anyone this news, partly because the disciples still needed to work through this news on their own, and then Jesus proceeded to tell them about His impending sacrifice for the world.

            But it’s not His sacrifice that we want to look at this morning, because that’s Easter and this is Christmas, and what we celebrate at Christmas is the birth of Jesus.

            So, let’s go back to the beginning, all the way back to the passage Jennifer and Trevor read for us a few minutes ago. I hope it’s still fresh in your mind… it’s the story of how Jesus was born.

            As we’re told Matthew 1:18-25, and angel appeared in a dream to Joseph that he was to continue on with his engagement to the already pregnant Mary, because the Child inside of her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

            Then the angel gave Joseph specific instructions of what he was to do after the Baby was born.

            These instructions are found in verse 21 of Matthew 1: “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (NIV)

            While Mary was told the Name of the Baby growing inside of her in Luke chapter 1, Joseph is given the name of the Child and the reason why He was to be given this name.

            Did you pick it out?

            Look at it again. The Angel told Joseph: “…you are to give him the name Jesus…” (Matthew 1:21b, NIV)          

The Name Jesus is the Greek from of Joshua which means either “the Lord is salvation” or “The Lord saves.”

            The Child was to be given this name, because “…he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21b, NLT2)

            The Child growing inside of Mary would be the One who, as His very name suggests, would save people from their sins.

At first, this salvation was for the Jews, but later on, we learn that Gentiles would also be included in Jesus’ plan to save the world.

            Jesus’ sole purpose in coming to planet earth was to save people from sin.

Write it down Church; tattoo it on your arm church, Jesus’ sole purpose in coming to planet earth was to save people from sin.

            That sounds great, but often times, it’s not what we want to hear.  We don’t like to be reminded that we are sinners, after all, we’re human beings, and we’ve invented some really cool things:

·      The Light bulb

·      The telephone

·      The iPad,

·      And my personal favorite: BACON!

            For as far as we have come in society, there is still one issue that we have yet to solve on our own. The issue of sin.

            You see, since that fateful day in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command and ate from the tree God told them not to eat from, we have been plagued with sin.

            Paul tells us in Romans 5, that: “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.” (Romans 5:12, NLT2)

            Every person on planet earth has been, and will continue to be, plagued by sin.

            This is why Jesus was born! (WOOOOO!!!)

He was born into our world to save us from sin! Think about it:

ILLUSTRATION- If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator;

            If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist;

            If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist;

            If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.

            But our greatest need wasn’t information, technology, money, or pleasure. Our greatest need is forgiveness, and God sent us a Savior. (From my files)

            Our greatest need is not another Wal-Mart; our greatest need is Someone who can heal our heart!

            Someone who will take away the anger, the bitterness, the impurity, the sexual sin, the hurt from failure, the selfishness, the pain….

            We don’t need a self-help seminar, we need a Savior, and a Savior is exactly what was promised to Joseph and Mary that night over 2000 years ago.

            Jesus was given to save people—you and me—from sin.

Over and again, the Bible speaks of how we, because of our sin, are separated from God, but it also demonstrates just how far God is willing to go to redeem sinful man.

Author and Pastor John Ortberg reminds us that: “The story of the Bible isn’t primarily about the desire of people to be with God, it’s about the desire of God to be with people” (Ortberg)

God sent Jesus to save us from our sins.

“The verb ‘save’ can refer to deliverance from physical danger (8:25), disease (9:21-22) or even death (24:22) but it focuses (in this verse) on what is central, namely, salvation from sins” (Zon. Com for NT)

With this verse, Jesus’ purpose and mission begins—He was born to save people from their sins, He went to the cross to save people from their sins, He rose again to prove to people that He has the power to save us from our sin.

The Bible says: “God made him who had no sin to be a sin offering for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21, NIV)

This is what the Bible has to say about this Man named Jesus.

The question I’d like for you to consider today is the same question Jesus asked His disciples: “…What about you…Who do you say I am?" (Luke 9:20a, NIV)

Who do you say Jesus is? Is he a good man… is he a great Man…. or is He Lord?

One of the great writers of the past was a man by the name C.S. Lewis.  In his book Mere Christianity, Lewis addresses this very issue. He writes:

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.

You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher.

He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” (http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/801500-mere-christianity)

Who is Jesus in your life? Who is this Man who has influenced every square inch of our society—from the creation of hospitals, from education, from the abolition of the slave-trade, to the belief that all persons are created equal--who is Jesus in your life?

Jesus is much more than a good moral teacher. He’s much more than just a brilliant thinker. He is the Savior of the world.

   “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, --which means the LORD saves-- because he will save his people from their sins.”(Matthew 1:21, NIV)

One Child. Billions of opinions. Jesus. What Child is this?