The Christmas Story, Life-Altering Journeys to Jesus, Part 3 The Shepherds

Scriptures: Luke 2:8-20; Psalm 23; John 10:11-16

Main Points:

1. The God of One Day.

2. The Message of Hope.

3. The God of Tomorrow.

Sermon Notes: One of the most encouraging things about God, is that he only needs one day to change everything. However, this can be deflating when we are waiting for our day! The very first prophecy of the Messiah had come somewhere around 700 years before Jesus was born through the Prophet Isaiah (Is. 53). I don’t know about you, but that’s a long time to wait! God is a good shepherd! He provides for us. He protects us. He strengthens us. He leads us. He anoints us. He blesses us! Jesus is The Good Shepherd! He lays down his life for the sheep and he gathers those who are not yet his. He won’t rest until they are under his care. He is pursuing them with an everlasting love! He died and rose again for people who were not worthy. We were like sheep without a shepherd (Matt. 9:36) and he rescued us. We were wandering around aimlessly, with no one to care for us. Then… ONE DAY… Jesus became our shepherd. He gave us his promise and sealed it with his blood. He gave himself as a sacrifice for our sins. He laid down his life so we don’t have to die for our sins! This is the message of hope! It’s a life-changing, life-giving message! Why aren’t we sharing it?

The Christmas Story, Life-Altering Journeys to Jesus, Part 2 The Kings

Scriptures: Micah 2:12-13; Micah 5:2-5; Philippians 2:6-11; Matthew 2:12-16; Revelation 17:14

Main Points:

1. The Servant King

2. The Fearful King

3. The Insecure Kings

4. The King of Kings

Sermon Notes: Within this story, there are four kings. The first King in the story is the the easiest to discuss. His name is Jesus. We see in scripture that he is heralded as a coming king who will change the world. His coming was foretold for hundreds of years. His journey to Earth is not something that we can so quickly glance over. While the rest of us are on a life-altering journey to Jesus, he was on an unbelievable journey of humiliation and blessing. The other three kings of this story are the Parthian Emperor Phraates IV, the Roman Emperor August Caesar and the King of the Jewish territory, Herod the Great. The book of Revelation describes the ending of everything as we know it. It’s the end of the world. It’s the end of human suffering. It’s the end of sin and evil’s dominion. It’s the time when the King of all Kings defeats every enemy of the world, past, present and future, and established eternal peace for his people. It is a battle won for the Glory of God and only those who are “with” him will be the victors. So, why do we keep fighting against him? Why do we scheme to maintain a façade of control in our lives, thinking that we could never truly surrender to God? The only way we win is if we lose.

The Christmas Story, Life-Altering Journeys to Jesus, Part 1 The Magi

Scriptures: Matthew 2:1-12, John 3:12-15, 1 Corinthians 1:26-28, Matthew 13:44-46,

Main Points:

1. Intellectual Journey

2. Earthly Wisdom vs Heavenly Wisdom

3. Don’t forget where you came from or where you’re trying to go.

4. An intellectual journey to Jesus takes a lot of time and effort.

5. Discover the value of knowing Jesus.

Sermon Notes: The Magi represent those who have a more intellectual approach to seeking Jesus. They want the answers. They want the clues. They want the proof. If they see proof, they will follow up the lead, but they aren’t taking anything on faith. There are several interesting aspects of their discovery which led them to Jesus. We have evidence of this today. Is there an intellectual journey to Jesus that we can take to find him? Yes! However, there are a few guidelines we must carefully consider along the way. The first is evidenced in a conversation that Jesus had with a man named Nicodemus. He was a teacher of the law, a Pharisee. He was well-educated in the scriptures and had spent his entire life pursuing an understanding of the things of God. He was teaching the law and highly regarded. Yet, when Jesus steps on the scene he is confounded by the things Jesus says. Jesus makes one thing very clear to him in his conversation that we can read in John 3. To be clear… both exist. There is wisdom that can be found, interpreted and applied here on earth. The book of Proverbs, the teaching of Solomon and a lot of Jesus’s teaching attest to this truth. There is a pursuit of earthly wisdom and understanding that is important. However, this must be accompanied by a pursuit of Heavenly wisdom. This kind of wisdom is not as easy to ascertain and understand. It’s not as easy to comprehend or teach. It is part of the journey to Jesus.

The Christmas Story, Life-Altering Journeys to Jesus, Part 4- The Parents

Scriptures: Matthew 1:18-21,2:11; Luke 1:26-38,2:16-18,25-28

Main Points:

1. The Challenge of Faith

2. The Response of Faith

3. The Fruit of Faith

Sermon Notes: There are times when following God is not going to be easy. When I stop to think about the things that Mary and Joseph endured, it feels like it’s too much. Imagine being a 12-year-old girl and trying to explain to your parents and your fiancé that your pregnancy is God’s doing and that you are not a fornicator. How well do you think that argument went? On a side note... I wonder how many times that excuse has been tried since then? Then, imagine you are Joseph. I don’t want us to lose sight of how marriage worked in this her but. Mary and Joseph were not marrying for love. They were marrying because Mary needed a husband and Joseph needed a wife. He was entering into a contract to care for Mary. Imagine his reaction when he finds out that this young woman has been unfaithful to him? That may not sound like a huge deal in our time, but it would have been appalling to them. Even for us, this is a stretch. A 12/13-year-old girl is pregnant? Where were her parents? How did this happen? As if all this isn’t bad enough, God sends an angel to Joseph to tell him that he should not divorce pregnant, should still take her as his wife. God has brought disgrace to Mary by impregnating her out of wedlock. Now, he is bringing disgrace to Joseph by asking him to care for a wife who is pregnant, and everyone will know it is not his child. There is shame and disgrace surrounding everything. Yet, this is the way that God chose to bring about the birth of Jesus. Here’s the “Challenge of Faith.” God just might birth something in you that doesn’t make sense to anyone else, or even worse, could harm your reputation and bring shame to you! God wouldn’t do that! He did. He does. He is less concerned with our earthly reputations than we are. That means we have to be open to what God is doing, even when we don’t fully understand it. We may have had an idea in our head about how something was going to go. That may not be God’s plan. He may do something that alarms us or confuses us. We have to see the response that these parents had and be open to God. “I am the LORD’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” There are few things in the world that can bring such awe and trepidation as to say to the creator of the universe… “Have your way with me. Do what you think is best. Do what is best for your Kingdom. Do what will accomplish your will. Not my will, but your will be done.” These are faith-filled responses. Writing a blank check with your life and handing it to God is terrifying, but it’s also satisfying. Mary and Joseph both had a decision to make. They could have said, “No.” They could have refused God’s plan. He likely would have used someone else, but they would have been removed from the story. We read in the birth narratives that “Mary treasured these things in her heart.” What did she treasure? Was she merely treasuring the moment? Or, was she treasuring her decision to say yes so that she could be there? It’s hard to say, but important to consider. There will be times in your life when you realize, ”I’m here and part of this because I said yes.” There may also be times in our lives when we stop to consider, “I wonder what would have happened if I had said yes?” Let’s not forget that along the way there may be a few times when you think, “Why oh why did I say yes?” They are all part of the process of trusting God and following his lead for your life. If you stop to consider some of the greatest events in scripture, most of them came after someone said yes to something really difficult.

Sermon Title: Grateful Over Hateful

Scriptures: Philippians 4:2-9, Matthew 5:9, 23-24, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, Ephesians 4:30-32.

MAIN POINTS:

1. If you have a disagreement with someone... Fix it

2. If you see a disagreement between Believers... Fix it

3. Prayer is a defense that protects you from offense

4. Fix your thoughts before you fix someone else's

5. In choosing between being right and showing love… love like Jesus

Sermon Title: Jonah, pt 3- Does God give second chances?

Scriptures: Jonah 3:1-5,4:1-3,5-9,10-11, Genesis 39:2-4,21-23,41:38-40

Main Points:

1. Who gets the blessing? The inclination to return to God and obey him is much greater when we think that it will result in a blessing for us. We desire the restoration of our path and God’s plan. We want the blessing that will come from reconciliation. How will we respond if we find out that the blessing goes to someone else for our obedience?

2. Look for the Lesson. While the storm certainly teaches us about obedience, this is not the only lesson. On the other side we find that God is not simply teaching us about obedience, but he is giving us an opportunity to gain perspective.

3. Is God’s plan worth it? At the beginning of the message, I gave you a list of individuals to whom God gave second chances. The interesting thing about nearly all of them is that by the end of their lives, they are praising God for all that he has done. They’ve gone through the process of storms. They’ve received the gift of 2nd chances and the lessons that are imparted during that process. They get to the end of their lives with a profound love for God and a perspective of his goodness. I see this as a “Perspective of Praise.” Jonah, however, did not.

NOTES: There is no conclusion to Jonah’s story outside of his anger with God’s plan of mercy for the Ninevites. The book ends with a question from God that Jonah never answers. I think that God did it this way on purpose. He’s good at stuff like that! I think the answer to the question wasn’t for Jonah. I think it was for us. Jonah got a unique perspective of God’s process and at the end was faced with the totality of God’s plan. It was for the salvation of 120,000 people that God cares about. The numbers, people and places aren’t the real question. God’s question that echoes down to us is simply this, “Is my plan worth it?” That is a question that we each must answer, often without knowing the totality of the impact. What do you say to your storm, your struggles, your lessons and God’s plan? Is it worth it? Is he worth it? Can you trust him? The answer is up to you…

Sermon Title: Jonah, pt 2–When is a storm more than a storm?

Scripture: Jon. 1:4-12, Luke 15:20-21, John 9:2-3, Ps. 116:1-4 & 17-18, Dan. 4:34-37, Rom. 5:3-5

Main Points:

1. Confession & Repentance: When we know that the storm is our fault, we must confess our sin to God and repent (turn away from our sin). This is for our benefit!

2. The Glory of God: Regardless of the cause, God is able to get glory in any storm. Our repentance gives him glory. Our righteous response to suffering gives him glory.

3. Praise in the Storm: Even in our pain, God is still worthy of our praise. That is not a feeling. It’s a fact. When we choose to ignore the feeling and face the fact, we honor God.

4. Return to God: After our time of testing we are met with a decision. We can either draw closer to God or turn away from him. The decision affects our future with God.

Prayer: Suffering is difficult for us to comprehend. We do not like it. We don’t like punishment. We don’t like to be collateral damage for someone else’s sin. We don’t like natural outcomes. We want to see God blessing us in all things. Pray for those in your group who are suffering. Pray that God would open their eyes to see that whether He is the cause or not, there is a righteous way for us to respond to suffering that is worship.

Notes: Jonah knew that the storm was his fault. We often wrestle with this question in our own lives. It can drive us to see where blame belongs. Seeking to find appropriate blame distracts us from what is most important in our suffering. The cause is not as significant as our response. How we respond speaks to the depth of our faith in God and our love for Him. Our anger in suffering does nothing to produce peace. It is the decision we make to confess our sins, repent and draw close to God that makes us stronger in the storms of our lives. Our “tested” faith produces endurance (Rom. 5:3-5) so that we can endure to the end in relationship with God.

Sermon Title: Jonah, pt 1–Why would someone run from God?

Scripture: Jon. 1:1-3, Matt. 5:43-48 & 6:14-15, 2 Cor. 11:23-27, Lu 14:26-30, 2 Ki. 14:23-25, Am. 6:14

Main Points:

1. Forgiveness is Hard: Jonah despised the idea that God wanted to show mercy to Israel’s enemies. An attitude of unforgiveness drives us from God. We run from mercy.

2. The Process is Hard: Jonah would have to travel 500 mi to preach to Nineveh. Sometimes we think the things God is asking are too much. So, we back away from His plans.

3. God Doesn’t Make Sense: God tells Jonah to witness to the enemy that Amos says is going to destroy Israel! When God’s plan doesn’t make sense, we run. Logic and faith are not equals.

Notes: Jonah was alive in the 700’s B.C. He lived and prophesied at the same time as Amos, during the reign of King Jeroboam II. There is wickedness in the Kingdom of Israel. Jonah prophesied that God would still bless Israel, while Amos prophesied punishment. Jonah is speaking of victory over Assyria while Amos is predicting punishment from God at the hand of Assyria. They seem to be contrasting and wrong. Jonah is speaking of God’s blessing through obedience, which Jeroboam II and Israel did not choose, and Amos is giving God’s warning of punishment if Israel does not turn from wickedness. When Israel does not turn, it is Amos’ prophecy that comes true and that directly overturns the prophecy given by Jonah. At the same time, Jonah is being asked to go and witness to this enemy so they can repent. It’s a wild series of events that must be understood in context for Jonah’s response to make more sense.