12-22-13 Sermon - A Tree of Hope

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A TREE OF HOPE  12-22-13 Sermon         MATTHEW 1:1-17

The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:  ² Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, ³ Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram, ⁴ Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,

⁵ Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, ⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, ⁸ Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

⁹ Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, ¹⁰ Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, ¹¹ and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. ¹² After the exile to Babylon:  Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, ¹³ Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, ¹⁴ Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, ¹⁵ Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan,Matthan the father of Jacob, ¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

¹⁷ Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.  Mt 1: 1-17

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Mt 4:4

¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,  2 Tim 3:16

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM JESUS’ FAMILY TREE?

Jesus was a R_______________ P____________________

Jesus’ birth fulfilled P___________________________

Jesus’ bloodline was not P____________________

In spite of S_______ God can accomplish his P_______________

OTHER PROBLEMS…

They were in the wrong P___________________

The wrong P___________________ P________________ was in power

It was taking T___________L____________________________

It was an I_________________________________ birth

^4-7 But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance. Galatians 4: 4-7 [The Message]

If GOD COULD ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL IN SPITE OF ALL THAT, WHAT CAN HE DO IN YOUR LIFE AND IN THE LIFE OF OUR CHURCH?
A TREE OF HOPE  12-22-13 Sermon                  MATTHEW 1:1-17

I assume that you have gotten your Christmas tree by now.  Artificial tree sales now exceed real tree sales, mostly because of the mess of a real one dropping needles.  There are places where you can buy a real tree that is flocked—it is sprayed with a mixture of glue and wood pulp and that completely seals the tree so it no longer needs to be watered and it won’t drop any needles because they are all glued on.  Furthermore the flocking comes in different colors, white, pink, purple and other colors.  Why someone would want a pink or purple Christmas tree is a mystery to me!

When he was young my grandson, Forrest, thought that the angel at the top of their real tree looked really neat.  He decided that he wanted a closer look at it.  And he had previously established a reputation for being a climber.  He had already scaled the kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator, a simple tree should be no problem!  Did you know that cut live trees in stands were not made for climbing?  There was a crash and Forrest was found somewhere under the tree and all the decorations and lights.  But he did get a better look at that angel.  It came right down to see him.

I want to talk to you today about a real tree.  A tree of hope.  It is the family tree of Jesus.

The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah

1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:  ² Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, ³ Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram, ⁴ Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon,

⁵ Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, ⁷ Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, ⁸ Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

⁹ Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz,

Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, ¹⁰ Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah,

¹¹ and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon. ¹² After the exile to Babylon:  Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, ¹³ Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, ¹⁴ Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud,

¹⁵ Elihud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan,

Matthan the father of Jacob, ¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

¹⁷ Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.  Mt 1: 1-17

Now wasn't that an exciting scripture passage? How many of you are glad that I didn’t ask you to read that scripture for the congregation today?  Don't you think that will make an exciting, inspiring advent sermon? Well, I sure hope so!  Can you see how that passage will help us prepare for Christmas?  I hope that by the end of the sermon you will.

Perhaps you can remember, as I do, times as a child in Sunday school when you were given an oral reading assignment from the Bible.  It was your job to read the bible verse in front of the class.  When you finally found the proper place in the bible, you looked at the verses and your worst fears were realized!  Yes, there were a whole bunch of Old Testament names and places, and , to make matters worse, the version you were using was the King James Version, so there were also a bunch of English words that you could neither recognize nor pronounce.  How would you ever make it through without the rest of the class breaking up with laughter at your stumbling and sputtering efforts to get through the passage?

Or, perhaps in a bible study or in your person al devotions you came across a genealogy, someone’s family tree, and you quickly turned the age to a more “weighty” passage.  The only thing more boring could be to read through the Book of Leviticus while you were dead tired!  That would work better than  a bottle of sleeping pills!

Have you realized that there are dull and boring parts of Scripture?  Genealogies and lists of begats in the KJV certainly would qualify among the boring hall of fame.  Reading about the lives of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Esau, David, Elijah and Elisha, and John the Baptist, Jesus and Paul is a lot more exciting than reading about who their parents and grandparents and great grandparents were.  So why did God put them there? 

Why in the world would the Bible writers have to be so detailed in their writing?  They could have made things much easier on generations of their readers if they just cut out all the names and places and got on with more interesting material.  And Matthew especially, why would he START his gospel with a family tree?  What could be more boring?  Anyone knows that a story should start with something catchy to grab the attention of the reader.

I must confess that there have been many times when I have just skipped over the family trees to get to more interesting material.  In fact, I often wondered if any of the great preachers of history actually used one of these genealogies as a preaching text.  There certainly would seem to be a real lack of preaching material here. 

A number of our hymns and worship songs are based on scripture passages.  In our hymnal you can see some of these at the bottom of the page after the note:  Words.  But I can’t think of one hymn or praise song that is based on a genealogy from the Bible.  There is an index in the back of the hymnal that you can use to look up scriptures connected to hymns and  sure enough, you don’t find any genealogy scriptures attached to hymns.  Just what would you get out of singing through a list of names? 

There is a scripture verse that can help us to appreciate the boring parts of God's Word, including the genealogies--One that Jesus quoted in Matthew 4:4--Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  And 2 Timothy says all scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.  If we as Christians take that statement at face value, we would not despise or ignore a single inspired word of God.  Much less would we ignore whole chapters and books of the Bible.  Rather we would honor and respect the entire word of God, just like our Lord did. 

But, you say, Matthew 4:4 only obligates me to READ the boring parts, not to delight in them.  I can read them out of obedience to God but I won't like it.  That brings us to an important point.  God has said that we are to LIVE by every word of God hasn't he?  So, what is God's idea of life?  Is it dry, boring, empty, drudgery?

No he said that he came to bring us abundant, triumphant, eternal life.  We are to share the life of God and live forever with him.  And we are to live by EVERY word of God, including the boring parts of the Bible. 

The infamous begats, the genealogies of the Bible, are the first boring parts of the New Testament and they are the only boring parts quoted extensively in the New Testament.  Perhaps that doesn't impress you.  When you read your favorite magazine, you don't rejoice over the masthead. You don't need to know the name of the subscription manager or the assistant editor, and in the genealogies you don't care who was the son of Zerubbabel.  But what does God think?  What if he thinks the genealogical records are important?  Would that impress you?

You know, if you were to write a book, wouldn't you start with something catchy, something to catch the reader's interest so they would continue reading?  Why would God then begin with a genealogy?  It certainly doesn't seem catchy.  But maybe God is trying to tell you something through this.  Maybe God is saying I'm going to tell you a story that is fantastic and may even seem unbelievable, but I am not beginning the story by saying "Once upon a time..." lest you think this is just some parable or fable.  What I am about to tell you is not a myth or a fairy tale.  I am going to tell you about a real person, a person born in a real place in a real period of history.  So in preparing to tell us the Christmas story, God starts with a genealogy.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM JESUS’ FAMILY TREE?

The first thing that Jesus’ family tree assures us is that Jesus was a real person who walked this earth some 2000 years ago.  Look at the historical significance of these records.  I know that some of you have probably traced your family tree back some distance.  We have found that my wife, Peg, is a distant cousin of Andrew Jackson.  The Daughters of the American Revolution must be able to trace their ancestry through more than two centuries.  The Daughters of the Barons of Runnymede must be able to follow theirs for nearly 800 years.  But in the New Testament Matthew shows the lineage of Christ through 20 centuries, and Luke carries it back to the beginning of the world!  This poor carpenter from a conquered nation could trace his descent back many times farther than anyone alive today.

Luke, the historian, opens the chapter which begins his genealogy--Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zachariah in the wilderness.

It would be strange indeed to begin with such a detailed historical account and end with a legendary genealogy.  It would make as much sense as listing Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill among the presidents of the United States.  Luke mentions names of persons that are grounded in secular history.  They belong to a definite time period in a definite geographical area.  People who were alive at the time could say whether what the gospel writers said happened really happened or not.

This is far more than you can say about many of the other world religions and the cults.  No other faith is as grounded in real history as Christianity and Judaism.  Not Buddhism.  Not Hinduism.  Not even Islam.   Joseph Smith of the Mormons claims to have been visited by the angel Moroni and given golden plates with the Book of Mormon on them, which he buried somewhere in New York state.  That was his claim.  But no one else witnessed this meeting.  No one else ever saw the plates.  And no one was ever shown where the plates were buried. 

The events of the Bible are connected to real world events that we know about in secular history more than any other religion's holy book.  Archaeology has, over and over again, confirmed the accuracy of the Bible. Numerous archaeological discoveries, particularly those made in the last 30 years, have provided objective evidence that the narratives found in the Old Testament are reliable accounts of what happened.   In fact archaeology has only confirmed and never contradicted the Bible.

All throughout the Bible names of real people and real places and real times are given.  In a number of places the Bible dares its contemporary readers to go look for themselves, go talk to the people themselves.    For instance in 1 Corinthians 15:6 Paul is telling about the various people that Jesus appeared to after the resurrection and he mentions that at one time Jesus appeared to over 500 people at once and he says that most of those people were still alive at the time of  his writing--the implication being, if you don’t believe me you can go and ask the other witnesses.

The Bible writers had nothing to hide because they knew they were dealing with real historical events.  These things really happened.  It is simply not true what some people say, that you have to accept all this Christianity stuff just on faith.  That may be true of other religions but not Christianity!  Christianity says these things really happened.  This Jesus, born in Bethlehem in the days of Caesar Augustus, made these claims and did these things to prove that he was who he said he was.  He even made claims on your life.  Then you are stuck with the question of what are you going to do about that. 

Thus God in preparing for Christmas started with a genealogy to say this Christmas birth that I am telling you about really happened.  This is who this person was.  And these are the things that he went on to say and do. 

So when Jesus died on the cross and rose again, before he ascended into heaven he said that he would be with you always, even unto the end of the age.  You can believe that!  You can count on that! Because this was a real risen savior saying that.  The easiest way of disproving the resurrection would be to produce the dead body of Jesus--end of Christianity.  But instead the risen savior was seen by many people over 40 days time.  He was touched.  He ate with people.  He talked to people. 

So when Jesus says, I am the light of the world and you find yourself in darkness you can turn to him because he is real.  And when he says I am the good shepherd and you need guidance in your life, you can trust him to lead you to good pastures and still clear waters because he is real.  And when he says I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me shall never die, and you face death yourself or the death of a loved one, you can know that death is not the end because Jesus is real.  Since all that the gospels tell us happened really did happen, we can have hope in the midst of hopeless situations.

Jesus’ bloodline also tells us something about prophecy.  Jesus birth fulfilled prophecies, over 300 of them!  In Genesis 3:15, immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, we read the first promise of a messiah who was to come.  Some 4000 years ago, God made a promise, what Genesis 17:7 calls an everlasting covenant, to Abraham.  God promised that the relationship between himself and his people would be restored; and the walls of separation would be pulled down. 

As more and more information about the messiah that would mend the separation between God and his people was revealed to the prophets we learn that the messiah was to be a descendent of Jesse and David, and that he would be born in Bethlehem, the hometown of Joseph .  Jesus’ family tree shows us that he did have the right lineage to be the messiah.  It is possible to try to make a prophecy come true about you but how many of you know that it is real tough to do that about your birth!

The ancient world had many different devices for determining the future, known as divination, and they even use the terms prophet and prophecy. But not in the entire gamut of Greek and Roman literature can you find a specific prophecy of a great historic event to come in the distant future.  Nor can you find any prophecy about a savior to come in the human race.  Islam cannot point to any prophecies of the coming of Mohammed uttered hundreds of years before his birth.  Neither can the founders of any cult point to any ancient text foretelling their appearance.  It is Jesus and the Hebrew/Christian faith that deals with real prophecies because this is a faith that is tied to real history.  In the case of Jesus, he fulfilled over 300 prophecies, spoken by different voices over 500 years, including 29 major prophecies fulfilled in the day he died.  

But there is something else you need to note about this genealogy.  If you read it slowly instead of quickly, and if you look up in a Bible dictionary the names of the people mentioned in Jesus’ family tree you find something very interesting.  Jesus’ bloodline was not pure. 

In the 3rd verse of Matthew we find the name of Tamar.  Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute in order to become pregnant by Judah, her father-in-law.  Verse 5 mentions two Gentile women, Rahab, the prostitute, and Ruth.  Verse 6 alludes to Bathsheba as "of Uriah" as if to emphasize her and David's adultery.  Verse 8 mentions Joram king of Judah, who, once he became king, killed all his brothers so they would not threaten his throne.  Verse 9 mentions king Ahaz who made and worshiped idols and sacrificed his own sons as burnt offerings to idols.  In verse 10 he mentions king Manasseh who built altars to idols right in God's holy temple.  He sacrificed his own sons as burnt offerings to idols.  He practiced sorcery, witchcraft, divination and consulted mediums and spiritists.  His Son king Amon followed in his father's footsteps and worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the idols that Manasseh did.

Now remember this is Jesus' lineage we are talking about!  What kind of genealogy is this for a messiah?  It tells us that our messiah has Gentiles, a prostitute, an adulteress, idolaters, persons involved in the occult, murderers and even people who burned their children as offerings to idols for ancestors.  And you thought some people in your family are messed up! 

This genealogy never mentions Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, or any of the godly Jewish women from whom Christ descended.  It's as if the Daughters of the American Revolution were to publish a genealogy of George Washington, recording every Gypsy and horse thief in his family tree while omitting every Englishman and scholar.

What can we learn from this?  In spite of sin, God can accomplish his purposes!  God's ways are not our ways, and we learn to be grateful for that.  God specializes in bringing good out of evil.  He brought the messiah to us out of a sinful family (though not from sinful seed), and so he can bring the salvation of Christ to others through the likes of you and me.  Whatever is irregular, preposterous, or even wicked in our lives, God can turn to Good.  Those who feel hopeless or inadequate ought to derive great encouragement from the genealogy of Christ. 

The mention of Rahab as the mother of Boaz in Matthew 1:5 is quite significant.  Only here to we learn that Rahab married a prince of the tribe of Judah and that they had a son named Boaz. Yes, it was Rahab's son who was willing to marry the poor and pious daughter of Moab when his Hebrew kinsman would not.  What a testimony to the love of his parents we find in the life of Boaz!  With this knowledge we are prepared for Rahab's admission to the New Testament Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11:31.  On the other hand, if we didn't know the mother of Boaz, would we really understand the story of Ruth?  Do you see how skipping the boring parts causes us to miss things in the parts we know and love?

There are other interesting details in this genealogy, but they pale beside the main point.  God started the New Testament with a genealogy because the ancestry of Jesus is a unique and essential element of his glory. 

How shall believers know the Messiah from imposters?  In the days of Nehemiah we read that some men could not identify their father's house nor their lineage, whether they were of Israel.  These sought their listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but their family tree was not found, therefore they were excluded from the priesthood.

If lack of a proper genealogy excluded a man from the priesthood of Levi, how much more shall it exclude a man from being High priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek as the writer of Hebrews says?  If the priests who offered the blood of animals must be able to prove their descent from Aaron to be qualified for the job, how much more must he who put away sin by the sacrifice of himself as the lamb of God, how much more must he be able to prove that he came from the loins of Abraham and David?

The Scriptures make it clear that the coming Prince must be descended from David.  Thus over time, the son of David became a common Jewish title for the messiah.  The Lord decided to put his son's impeccable credentials right up front.  Those credentials were important to the ancient Jews, and they still are important today.  Why else would the first sentence of the New Testament read--the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the Son of Abraham?

Yes, Jesus, Son of David, Son of Abraham and, as Luke points out, Son of God in spite of a family tree with good fruit but also much bad fruit.  Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  Yes, God could bring a messiah, our savior, from a background of wicked people.  The God who created the universe from nothing, brought our savior from a bunch of nothings. 

There were other problems:  They were in the wrong place.  The promised land that God gave to his people had been conquered by the Assyrians, then the Babylonians, then the Persians, then the Greeks and finally the Romans by the time that Jesus showed up on the scene.  The Israelites had been scattered all over the place.  They were separated from their land, their homes and many thought they had also been separated from their God.  There had not been a prophet in Israel to speak words from God to them for 400 years. 

The wrong political party was in power.    There wasn’t a president, there was an emperor.  There were no elections.  The people were under a Roman dictatorship.  There was little regard for human life.  Slavery was accepted.  Women were second class citizens.  All kinds of sexual immorality was accepted.  It was not a good time to be in Israel.

Another problem, it was going to take too long.  From Abraham to Jesus there were 42 generations—14 to David, 14 to the exile, and 14 to Jesus.  Suppose you were given a promise and then you were told that it would be yours in just 42 generations!  How would you do with that?

And then there was an impossible birth.  Verse 16 tells us that Jesus was born in a special way, without a biological father.  As if all these other obstacles didn’t render God’s plan impossible, now there’s this birth by an impossible process.  It’s not written up in the medical journals.  It is just not natural. 

Of course, we live on this side of the life of Jesus—his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension.  And we know that what seemed impossible, God has done.  We know that in Jesus Christ God did what he said he would do in spite of the wrong people, in the wrong place, and the wrong times. 

Paul tells us in Galatians 4:  But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage.

If God could do that, what do you think he can do in your life?  You see, it doesn't matter who your parents were, or what your parents did or did not do, God can still do miraculous things in your life.  Your heritage is his Christmas gift to you, for he will use it for your good if you love him and want his purposes to be fulfilled in your life. 

The genealogy of Jesus is an anchor grounding the whole story of the gospel in history, in reality; and it is a promise of hope--that no matter what, God can bring good and even great things out of even wicked circumstances. That boring family tree of Jesus should give us hope and faith.  As you prepare for Christmas know that you have a real living and risen savior who will never leave you or forsake you; a savior who is able to bring good out of every circumstance, every life situation, no matter how wicked--simply yield yourself to him and allow him to mold you into the person he has destined you to become.

12-15-13 Sermon

Last week's sermon did not record, so here's a transcript of the message:

12-15-13 Sermon

THE DRAWING POWER OF GOD         Matthew 2:1-2, 9-12

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Judaism was to be a missionary religion but as it evolved it became a ___________________

Genesis 12:3 And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

The Messiah would not just be for Jews but for _______________________

 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. Isaiah 11:10

¹⁸ “And I, because of what they have planned and done, am about to come and gather the people of all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.²³ …, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord. Isaiah 66:18, 23

The true light that gives light to EVERY man was coming into the world.  John 1:9 

If I be lifted up, I will draw ALL men unto me. John 12:34

People who truly seek God, ________________________________

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.  Proverbs 8:17

My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Proverbs 2:1-5

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

12-15-13 Sermon

THE DRAWING POWER OF GOD         Matthew 2:1-2, 9-12

The coming of the wise men to see the Christ child is a significant event for all of us.  It was not merely one of the extraordinary events of our Lord's infant life.  It affirms one of the most fundamental and vital features of Christianity; one of the great distinctions, in fact, between Christianity and Judaism.  The Jewish religion was a religion of a race.  If a man was born of the seed of Abraham and was circumcised on the eighth day, he was in covenant with God.  If the blood that flowed in his veins was Greek or Roman or anything other than Jewish, he was a stranger to the covenant of promise.  He could at best convert to Judaism and then be regarded as a second class Jew. 

But that is not the way it started out.  That is not the way God intended Judaism to be.  Originally, Judaism was to be a missionary religion but as it evolved it became a religion of race.  Originally Abraham was told that he was being blessed to be a blessing to others.  In Genesis 12:3 he is told And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. 

It was this question of missionary religion versus racial religion that Paul had to struggle with.  Was God the God of the Jews only or was he the God of the Gentiles also?  Was a merely national religion like this a full unveiling of the Mind of the common Father of the human family?  Was God's eye ever to rest in love and favor only on the hills and valleys of Israel?  Was there to be no place in His heart for those races who lay east and west and north and south of the favored region? 

The Jewish religion contained within itself the secret and reason for its vanishing away.  The blood of bulls and goats could never finally atone for human sin.  The sacrifices foreshadowed the coming of one who would be the perfect sacrifice.  But that messiah would not just be a messiah for the Jews, he would be a messiah for all people.  Of the messiah:  Isaiah 11:10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

The Jewish prophets looked forward to the time when all people would come to God.  Isaiah wrote--¹⁸ “And I, because of what they have planned and done, am about to come and gather the people of all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.²³ …, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord.

The prophet Joel saw a future time when God’s spirit would be poured out on all people.  And on the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out  and people from many nations were present and filled with the Spirit.  Peter stood up and said that what happened that day was a fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy.

The first step in the fulfillment of these predictions took place when the wise men crossed the desert on their visit to the Christ child at Bethlehem.  That visit opens a new era in the religious history of the world.  We Gentiles of today, who have gathered here to worship our Divine Redeemer, owe everything to that grace which led those Gentiles of old to come to Christ's light.  It fulfills what John the gospel writer wrote in John 1:9  The true light that gives light to EVERY man was coming into the world.  It was a fulfillment of what Jesus said in John 12:34--If I be lifted up, I will draw ALL men unto me.  Let us then, look at what this remarkable event has to teach us.

This visit of the Wise Men shows us, first of all, how differently God speaks to us; how many are the voices whereby he calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light, if we are willing.  He uses a language for each person, which each person can understand. 

The home of the Wise men was probably in Persia, modern day Iran.  They belonged to the Order or caste of Magi, who for many centuries represented the current wisdom of the East.  They were looking for some deliverer from evils of which they felt the influence without being able to define and describe them.  Paul said that the Jewish law, like a slave assigned to lead his master's sons to school, led Jewish people to Jesus Christ; so the natural law, written on the hearts of Gentiles, did a similar work.  It made the Gentiles conscious of that moral evil from which they could not free themselves; it made them long for deliverance.  It was the drawing power of God.

Can you imagine how hard it was for the wise men to make that trip?  It must have been very much like Abraham's leaving Ur of the Chaldeans to go to a land that God would show him.  The wise men were leaving their land to follow a star to find a king.  They didn't know where they were going.  They didn't know how long they would be gone.  They didn't know for sure if they would ever be able to find this king.  They traveled hundreds of miles.  But, in faith they left their land and followed a star. It was the drawing power of God.

They were drawn to Jerusalem in Judea.  And there they needed to receive more light to complete their trip.  They needed to know exactly where the messiah, the king of the Jews, would be born.  And the answer to that question was found not in the stars, not in some warm religious feeling, but in the scriptures.  They needed the light of the scriptures to add to the light that they had already received and responded to.  But because they responded positively to the light they had received, they received more light.  They arrived at their goal and they not only paid homage to a king and presented him with gifts, they worshiped him.

Worship was an action to be given to God, not a mere king.  Yet somehow these wise men were not only on a physical pilgrimage to present gifts to a king, they were also on a spiritual pilgrimage.  At the end of their spiritual pilgrimage they presented their gifts and they worshiped.  Who knows what new spiritual insights they took back with them to Persia?  Who knows how many people they talked to during the hundreds of miles of travel on their way back to Persia?

The drawing power of God has been demonstrated for centuries.  Anthropologists are finding that as you press the religious beliefs of ancient civilizations back toward their beginnings you find that most believed not in many gods, but in one God who was the creator and ruler of the world.  The idea of many gods arose later. And missionaries have been astounded as they have gone into many parts of the world that the people that they have come to reach already have a rudimentary knowledge of the true God.  Paul tells us in Acts 14 God has not left himself without a witness.  And God builds on that witness that people have within them to lead them to greater knowledge if they are open to that. In many cases the people that the missionaries meet tell of an elder in the past who prayed to this creator God and the creator God spoke to the elder through a dream or a vision and provided a correction for their spiritual pilgrimage and a promise of more light to come.

Even today, the drawing power of God can be seen in our world.  The Middle East is still much on our hearts and minds.  Out of the trauma of war and dislocation have come unprecedented opportunities to display the power of God in the heart of the Islamic world.

Perhaps the most under reported story of the Holy Spirit's activity in the Mideast can be found in Kurdistan, a rugged territory that stretches from eastern Turkey across northern Iraq and into northwestern Iran.  Until recently, the Kurds have remained isolated from the gospel behind thick political and cultural barriers.  The Kurds ancestors were the Medes and it is highly likely that the wise men from the east who came to worship the baby Jesus were Medes.  Medes were mentioned among those who were among the 3,000 converted on the Day of Pentecost.  They were the first gentiles to recognize and worship the messiah. 

The Kurds are the 4th largest people group of the middle east.  With a population of some 25 million, they represent one of the world's largest unreached people groups.  But this is beginning to change, probably due to a growing disillusionment with the failed systems of Marxism and Islam.  Apparently, Kurds are rejecting Islam because they don't want a religion capable of producing a Sadaam Hussein.  Hussein instructed his armies to go into Kurdistan and to leave neither man nor beast alive but his plans were thwarted when he lost the war in Kuwait.  The ancestors of the Kurds were forcibly converted to Islam in 900 AD.  They have been persecuted by Muslims ever since.  Today a majority of Kurds under age 40 are negative toward Islam and actively seeking a new religion. 

The U.S. military began a great relief effort among the Kurds.  This cleared the way for concerned Christians to build more than 4000 houses for Kurdish war victims in 1992 alone.  More than 90% of relief efforts in Iraqi Kurdistan were sponsored by Christian organizations.  How are these Christians being received?  They have been invited to share their faith everywhere and Christian literature is in great demand.  One Arabic-speaking evangelist said he distributed 172 gospel portions on a street corner in less than 40 minutes and that border agents have been asking for their own copies.  Some Kurds have come to Christ as a result of intercessory prayer and supernatural dreams and visions. 

In fact, across the middle east, even in countries like Saudi Arabia that allow no bibles and no churches, God has reached out to Muslims in supernatural dreams and visions and thousands have been coming to the Lord. 

In formerly segregated South Africa the Alpha bible study program that we had used here at Forest Grove has been used in Anglican and Methodist churches to break down former racial barriers and draw people to Christ from all races.  Thousands have come to Christ.  It has impacted prisons and homeless shelters.    Gang leaders and murderers are coming to Christ there through the Alpha program.  Since 1976, Alpha has spread across the world through churches of many kinds, of differing faith approaches, of varying theological stances.  In ten years it grew from 5 courses for 4,800 people to 16,000 courses for 1.5 million people.  It is the drawing power of God

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago--a group of more than 13,000 islands stretching almost as wide as the continental US.  Despite the growing threat of Islam and violence thousands have come to Christ and many miracles have been documented as members from the various congregations have reached out to nonbelievers around them.  Churches are being burned by Islamic fundamentalists.  Several were bombed one Christmas Eve,  but thousands continue to come to Christ.  It is the drawing power of God.

In the Methodist Church of Cuba congregations are filled with cheerful, enthusiastic young people.  They don’t just sing about God they sing TO him with an intimate intensity.  It takes at least 9 months of training and teaching to become a member of the Methodist Church of Cuba.  Members learn to count the costs--and this includes their responsibilities regarding sharing their faith and tithing.  Since 1992, Communist party members have been permitted to attend churches. In some situations, members have turned in their communist membership cards because they are simply too busy with church activities to be active communists.  It is the drawing power of God. 

What is happening around the world is due to the drawing power of God.  People are earnestly responding to that drawing power and God is sending more light where people desire it.  People who truly seek God, find God.  Proverbs 8:17 says  I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

Proverbs 2 tells us

2 My son, if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.

People all over the world are finding that this scripture is true!  It echoes what Jesus said in Mt 7: 7-8 ⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Pray that God will continue to draw people all over the world to Jesus Christ.  One of the things that I did when I came to be your pastor about 9 years ago, something that I have done in each of the churches that I have served, is start a missions program in the church.  Churches need to reach out beyond themselves, beyond their own needs, to their communities, to their country, and to the rest of the world.  So, as part of the missions program at Forest Grove we support the Joelton Hope Center, locally, and Aldersgate Renewal Ministries, nationally, and  Shores of Grace in Brazil, and Joy in the Harvest in Tanzania, and Oasis in a middle eastern country.  And  some of you have supported Peg and I as we have gone on international mission trips around the world. Pray for our missionaries, pastors and others who serve God by preaching the gospel and planting churches and making disciples that they would teach the scriptures clearly, providing the light that those in darkness need.

Pray especially for those you know who need to be drawn to Christ.  If God can draw three men to make a trip of hundreds of miles to an unknown land to kneel before a baby in a manger, he can draw those you are concerned about too! There is one in my family who I am praying that God would draw to himself.  Pray that they will respond in a positive way to the light they already have.

Lost people matter to God. I believe he wants his lost people found.  And there are plenty of lost people right here in our neighborhoods that he wants found.  How many of those do you think God wants to be a part of this church?

Let’s depend on prayer and the drawing power of God.  I wonder how many of you will covenant with me to pray regularly for God to draw more people into this church who will not just visit but stay and be a part of our congregation.  I have been told by several of our members that God told them to come to this church.  That they drove by our church a number of times and finally God told them that this is where they were to come.  One had been given a picture of our church in a dream and when she saw our church, she knew that was the one for her.  That is the drawing power of God.  I wonder how many other people are driving by our church every day to and from work, who God wants to draw into our church. 

I wonder how many of you will pray that our people, including yourself, will be made willing to change whatever is needed to invite and retain new people.  I wonder how many of you will pray that God will give you an opportunity, even this week,  to speak about him to a person not attending any church.  I invite you to begin praying for “unchurched Harry and Sally” we will call them, who God wants to draw to himself through this church. 

Our Administrative Council met on Tuesday night to look over some statistical studies about the people who live in an 8 mile radius of our church.  One of the interesting things we learned is that over 47% of the people in an 8 mile radius of our church consider themselves to be a spiritual person.  They may not go to church right now, but they consider themselves to be a spiritual person. 

In other studies researchers have found that Christmas Eve is one of the top times of the year that people who are not currently attending a church are most open to accepting an invitation to come to a church service with you. 

And we all know family, friends and even church members who knew God at one point, but who have wandered away from God and his church family.  They like the lost son in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, have gone off, away from closeness with the Father.  I believe we need to pray for the drawing power of God to draw them back into fellowship with the Father and his other children. 

If you would like to pray about God drawing more people into this church, and God drawing people back who have wandered away this morning, you are welcome to come forward and join me in prayer during the singing of our closing hymn.

12-8-13 Sermon

To listen to today's sermon, click here.

More than Power

12-08-13 Sermon

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We’re in part two of a short two part series I’m calling “Christmas Behind the Scenes.”  Last week we talked about “More than Pageantry.”  Today I want to talk about “More than Power.” 

Christmas is a powerful holiday.  President’s Day you don’t have carolers coming up to your house knocking on your door singing, “It’s a grand old flag!  It’s a high flying flag ….”   It just doesn’t happen.  On Labor Day you don’t see a bunch of inflatable plumbers on front lawns.  You just don’t see that.  Christmas is big!

Last week we said let’s go behind the scenes of the pageantry.  For two thousand years the birth of Jesus has been acted out on stage.  We put it to music and to dance and all these things and always it’s done in such a tidy and neat and sanitized and safe way.  My idea was let’s go behind the scenes.  Let’s see what it was really like.  Let’s see and try to imagine what Joseph was really feeling, what for Mary was really going on in her mind, and those types of things. 

For those of you who weren’t here last week, we’ll do a quick.  We started with Joseph.  We said when we go behind the scenes with Joseph what do we find?  What was he feeling?  He was afraid.  He was totally afraid.  His world was turned upside down.  One minute he’s engaged, got dreams of the future.  The next minute he’s being told by his virgin fiancée that she’s pregnant.  Hello!  That entrée wasn’t on the menu.  That’ll bring a little fear into your life. 

We said Mary was feeling uncomfortable.  Socially uncomfortable as all the accusing eyes were aimed at her unmarried belly.  Physically uncomfortable as she traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem, seventy miles by some form of animal when she was obviously pregnant.  Giving birth in a barn.  Uncomfortable might be an understatement. 

Then we went behind the scenes to the Innkeeper.  The innkeeper was occupied.  He wasn’t evil he was just occupied – busy, full, no room, lights off. 

Then we talked about the First Visitors.  The first visitors in the book of Matthew were the wise men.  In the book of Luke – the only two places for the Christmas story – they were the shepherds.  We said they were feeling awestruck.  That when God in flesh, the person of Jesus was there and they were in His midst they were blown away.  They were awestruck.  They were amazed.  As a matter of fact the shepherds took their amazement out to the streets, told the story of being with Jesus and other people were amazed. 

But what about you?  Do you remember what you felt when you went behind the scenes in your own life?  Your own soul? 

When it comes to Jesus, you don’t want to live in fear.  You don’t want to be afraid.  You don’t want to be afraid of aligning your life with God’s way.  When it comes to Jesus, you don’t want to be occupied.  You don’t want to be too filled and too busy to miss out on the teachings and being a Christ follower.  When it comes to Jesus you don’t want to be uncomfortable.  You don’t want to live with guilt and shame and remorse. 

What I know to be true about you is that if we were to go out and have a conversation today you’d probably say – the majority, not everybody, but the majority would probably say “I want a life where Jesus Christ is the center of my life.  Where the presence of God invades my life and directs me.  That I want to have a personal and genuine and authentic relationship with God and I want that to typify my life.  That’s probably what you would say. 

If that’s true how come most of us don’t live that way?  How come most of us when it comes to Jesus we’re afraid to follow Him, He makes us uncomfortable.  We’ve got guilt and shame in our life.  Or we’re just so busy with other things. 

Why is it that the dream that we would have for our life we don’t realize that?

I believe that one of the reasons we don’t live the Christ following lives that we want to live is because we rely on our own power for living rather than relying on God’s power for living.  I’m convinced that’s it.  So many of us settle to do life on our own power that we don’t trust God’s power.  We miss out on living with God’s power.

Today I want to start out talking about Herod.  Do you know why you don’t see Herod on the stages of the re-enactment of the birth of Christ?  Because Herod is not a warm and fuzzy character.  Some called him Herod the Great but he could have been called Herod the psycho.  There’s something about Herod that I want you to see.  Last week when we talked about being afraid and being uncomfortable and being occupied all three of those are personified in Herod.  I want you to see not only that but I want you to see how Herod then relies on his own power. 

In Matthew 2:1 it says this “Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the reign of King Herod.”   We don’t have time for a full-blown history lesson but what you just need to know is Herod did a couple of great things.  But he was ruthless, he was evil, his history is filled with lies and murder and adultery and treachery.  And those were just with the people that he loved.  The guy had some real issues. 

“About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem asking, ‘Where is the newborn king of the Jews?  We have seen his star as it arose and we have come to worship him.’  Herod was deeply disturbed by their question.”  

Let me pause right here and tell you why he was deeply disturbed.  He was deeply disturbed because he was deeply afraid.  He was afraid because Herod was the king of the Jews.  He was afraid that Jesus was going to come and steal his throne and his crown.  I don’t have a lot of kingly experience.  My kingly experience is reserved for my time at the home of the Whopper looking for a burger or at Mattress King looking for a new mattress.  But I’ve got to believe that if you’re a king and another king is born in your own backyard and you’re an insecure dude that is going to bring some serious fear into your life.  And that’s what Herod had. 

Verse 4 “He called a meeting of the leading priests and the teachers of the religious law and he asks them this question, ‘Where did the prophets say that the Messiah would be born?’”

Herod was not a God fearing person.  He was not a godly man whatsoever.  But he calls these scholars together because he was smart enough to know that for many years a Messiah was prophesied.  People thought that the Messiah that was going to come was not going to be like Jesus but he was going to come as a political ruler and he was going to take his throne.  So Herod is feeling the heat.  To say that he’s uncomfortable would be an understatement.

Verse 7 “Then Herod sent a private message to the wise men asking them to come and see him.  At this meeting he learned the exact time when they first saw the star.  Then he told them, ‘Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child.  When you find Him come back and tell me so I can go and worship him Too.’” 

When you go behind the scenes with Herod you see that Herod was so occupied with getting rid of Jesus that he as obsessed by it.  That’s all he was thinking about – how do I get rid of this Messiah so he doesn’t steal my throne or my crown.  He manipulated everybody.  Here he’s trying to turn the wise men into double agents. 

Herod was so obsessed, so occupied, that he does really the unthinkable. 

Skip ahead to verse 16.  You know what happened.  The wise men did not go back to Herod.  They realized what he was up to through a message from God and they escaped.

Verse 16 “Herod was furious when he learned that the wise men had outwitted him.  He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under because the wise men had told him that the star first appeared to them about two years earlier.”   If he wipes out everybody under two years he’s going to wipe out this potential king. 

If anybody had power, if anybody knew power, it was Herod.  He had it.  He had incredible power.  He leveraged his power.  He talked about his power over power lunches.  This guy was into power. 

But here’s the key that I want you to get.  It was just human power.  Massive power, enough human power to kill hundreds of innocent babies but it was just human power.  I want you to understand that human power always runs out.  Human power is limited and it will always run out. 

I want you to notice something that happened to Herod.  It’s not in your notes.  It’s in verse 19 – two simple words.  “Herod died.”   Died!  Dead!  Done!  Kaput.  Pushing up daisies.  Taking a dirt nap.  Worm bait.  Whatever you want to say but his reign came to an end.  There was nothing more of him.  His human power was met by the ultimate power of reality.  And that is death.

Herod lived with all of these negative feelings.  He was afraid, he was uncomfortable, he was occupied.  But he relied on his own power when it came to Jesus. 

When you go behind the scenes to Herod he missed it.  He missed it!  You might write that in next to his name on your outline.  When Jesus came he thought Jesus came to threaten him.  Jesus really came to save him.  Herod thought that Jesus came to make his life uncomfortable.  Jesus really came to bring comfort.  Herod thought that Jesus was going to steal his power.  But Jesus came to give him real power. 

Christmas is all about power.  That’s what Christmas is.  When we celebrate it this week, when we celebrate it this month, it’s all about God’s power in action. 

 “Christmas is God’s power in action.”   

It was God’s power that invaded humanity with divinity.  That’s the birth of Jesus.  The divine become human. 

It was God’s power that changed the natural laws.  A virgin birth. 

         It was God’s power that foiled the plans of a powerful ruler named Herod. 

It was God’s power that orchestrated all of prophecy to fulfill God’s promises of a Messiah.

It was God’s power who personally communicated to His people and guided the wise men to Jesus and then Joseph and his family to safety. 

Christmas is all about God’s power.  God’s presence – the God-man, Jesus – allows us to have power so that we can live with peace in our life.  That’s kind of the summary statement of all of Christmas.  The presence of God reveals the power of God and brings the peace of God to your life. 

What I want to do is kind of switch a little bit and say what would this power in your life look like?  I don’t want to spend the whole time just talking about God’s power.  We do that a lot.  We talk about how loving He is and forgiving He is and all-powerful He is.  How do we live with that power?

1 Corinthians 4 “For the kingdom of God is not just fancy talk.  It is living by God’s power.”   How do we do that? 

I’m guessing that most of you in here would not question whether God is powerful.  You can just look around and see the display of God’s power.  But probably many of us would say, “God is powerful but is that power accessible for my life?  That power that we read about – God invading history and humanity and showing up in other people’s life – is it accessible to me today in the twenty-first century in the life that I live in the marketplace? 

The Bible says in Psalm 68 “God gives power and strength to His people.”   If that’s true then when can I count on God’s power? 

I can count on God’s power when I’m afraid.  I can count on God’s power when I’m uncomfortable.  I can count on God’s power when I’m occupied.  I can count on God’s when I ­­__________ .   You can put anything you want in that blank.  I can count on God’s power when I’m lonely, when I’m wounded, when I’m afraid, when I’m fearful, when I’m questioning, when I’m betrayed, when I’m frustrated, when I’m anxious, when I’m depressed, when I’m sick… All of the above always, no matter what you’re feeling you can count on God’s power. 

How do we know that?  Isaiah 40 “God never grows faint or weary.  He gives power to those who are tired and worn out.  He offers strength to the weak.”   I love that.  I love this idea that God never loses His power.  He never gets tired or occupied.  He never gets weary.  He never goes to bed.  He never loses energy.  God created Red Bull.  God created the universe and then said “What’s next?”  I can barely create a sandwich without wanting to take a nap.  But God never naps! 

Here’s the good news.  God’s power is available when we need it the most.  When we are weak. 

The apostle Paul discovered this in 2 Corinthians 12.  God said to him, “My power works best in your weakness.”   Then I love what Paul says “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may work through me.”   God’s power shows up in your weakness. 

I know what some of you are thinking, “Frank, I’m kind of a regular Christian.  I love God and everything but I’m occupied all the time.  I’m fearful.  I’m stressed out.  My relationships are in trouble.  I’m heartbroken.  My prayers aren’t answered.  I don’t feel and I don’t see God’s power in me.”  

If you’re feeling that or you’re thinking that, let me tell you something really important.  God’s power is not automatic.  God doesn’t force His power on us.  There’s this little gift called Free Will.  When we live our life with this gift of Free Will that means we have the freedom to be idiots.  To do bad things.  To make dumb decisions.  It’s this Free Will that causes many of us in here to live life without God’s power. 

So when can I get God’s power?  All the time.  It’s totally available.  God never gets tired.  But the question is, How?  How might I access God’s power?  How do I access God’s power today?

First, I must admit my need.  To access God’s power I encourage you to admit your need.  It’s as simple as saying “God I don’t feel like I can do it on my own power.  I need Your power.”

Let’s be honest.  This is not difficult when you’re in pain.  This is pretty easy when you’re struggling or wounded or lonely or hurting.  It’s pretty easy to say, God I need Your power to get through this.  This is very difficult to do when you’re kind of living life on Easy Street.  When things are going well.  When you’re kind of on cruise mode and going, “Why do I need God’s power?  I’ve got this thing handled!” 

When you live self-sufficient you short circuit God’s power.  You want God’s power in your life?  Then you drop the pride.  You admit it.  You admit that you need His power.  1 Peter 5:6 says “So humble yourself [What does that mean?  Drop your pride.] under the mighty power of God and in His good time He will honor you.  He will lift you up.  He will empower you.”  Here’s a good slogan for you  “I can’t, God can, so I’ll let Him.”   

Do you want God’s power?  First admit your need. 

Second, I must plug into God.  You plug into God’s power source.  Let me give you a very important spiritual truth.  It may seem simple at first but if you think on this one for a while you will see how profound it is.  Here’s what I want you to get.  Things work best when they’re plugged in.  It’s deep.  But it’s a lot deeper than you think it is. 

Like a toaster.  It doesn’t work if it’s not plugged in.  It’s got to have a power source.  I don’t care how pretty your toaster is.  I don’t care how much your toaster cost.  I don’t even care if your toaster grew up in the church kitchen its whole life.  It doesn’t matter if it’s not plugged into a power source you’re not getting toast.  You’ve got bread!

There are people who had some kind of spiritual experience and they joined a church.   They then unplugged and plugged in to their own agenda.  They plugged into their own way, their own dream, their own goals.  Then what they do is they have the audacity to blame God for their life.  They unplugged from God and plugged into their own way and now they’re blaming God.

When you do this, you shouldn’t have the arrogant expectation that God will bless you with His power.  Think about it?  Why would He?  It wouldn’t make sense for God to give you power to do something that is outside of His design and will for your life.  If you want God’s power you plug in.

You might be sitting here going, “Hey Frank!  I am plugged in.  I’ve been plugged in for a long time.”   Great!  You can cross that out then and you just write down, “Stay connected.”   What you need to do is stay connected.  If you want God’s power you stay connected. 

Jesus spelled out this whole connection theory in John 15.  He says this, “Yes, I am the vine and you are the branches.  Those who remain in Me [circle “remain in Me” because that’s connected] and I in them will produce much fruit.  For apart from Me you can do nothing.”   Apart from Me you live on your own power.  Apart from Me you plug in to your own direction. 

If you’re here and you’ve never plugged in to a relationship with God, a personal genuine relationship with God – I’m not talking about studying religion.  I’m talking about a relationship with God – it’s a lot easier than you think.  People mystify this relationship with God and think you’ve got to attend these classes and read this and do that and jump through all these hoops.  It’s a lot easier than you might think. 

Did you know that it’s easier for you to have a relationship with the God of the universe than it is to get the cable guy to show up at your house.   You know what I’m talking about with that one don’t you?  Call the cable company and they can’t even pinpoint a year that they might come out to your house.  Then you wait for several days when they say they’re going to be there.  You’re finally so famished you leave to get some food, then they jump out from behind the bushes where they’ve been hiding, pin a note on your door, “Sorry we missed you.”   

But God isn’t like that.  God is waiting at the door of your heart, knocking at the door of your heart, waiting for you to let Him in.  He wants to make a connection.  I admit my need.  I plug in to God, or I stay connected with Him.  Then here’s the biggie,

Three, I must step out in faith.  God’s power works in connection with our faith.  Stepping out in faith means this, that I’m going to choose God’s way before the power shows up.  Key word – before.  I step out in faith before God’s power shows up.  That’s what faith is.  I’m trusting that God will meet me there.  I’m trusting that God will act.  I’m trusting that God will be there. 

If you’ve been a follower of Christ for a while and you have not memorized Hebrews 11:1.  I encourage you to memorize that.  “What is faith?  It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.”   What we hope for is going to happen.

So you might be thinking, “You mean I have to take action and act as if I have the power even though I don’t have the power in order to get the power.”   Yeah.  That’s what faith is.  You act as if the power will be there.  That God sees your faith and He turns on the power. 

Let’s go back to the Christmas story.  Let’s go back to Herod.  You’ve got Herod, very powerful man by human standards, a powerful human man.  Juxtaposed you’ve got Joseph.  By the eyes of the world not a very powerful person at all.  An ordinary dude.  But what’s the difference?

The difference is Herod relied all on his own power where Joseph relied on the power of God.  He stepped out in faith.  Matthew 2, read this on your own.  Three times God asked Joseph to do something and even though he’s scared he does it anyway. 

One, I want you to marry your fiancée, the pregnant virgin.  I want you to marry her.  Ok, Two, I want you to leave Bethlehem because Herod’s trying to kill Jesus.  He leaves.

Three, after Herod dies, he’s told to go back to Israel.  Ok, he goes back.  Even though he’s scared.  Because Herod the Great is gone but now his son, Herod, the not-so-great, is the ruler.  It says he’s afraid of that.  But even though he’s afraid, even though he doesn’t know how God’s going to show up, he keeps stepping out in faith.  God’s power meets him.  That’s the difference between Joseph and Herod. 

If you’re anything like me, you would prefer God’s power to show up before you have to step out in faith.  Wouldn’t you?  Think about that.  I want God’s power to show up before I do the right thing.  I’ll do the right thing, but, God, give me Your power first.  I want God’s power to show up in my life before I go reconcile that relationship.  I want it before I take on that risky project.  But the Bible clearly reveals that’s not how God works.  All throughout the Bible, all throughout history when God intervenes in a person’s life it is when they have stepped out in faith and God meets them there and infuses them with His power. 

You want God’s power in your life?  It is totally available.  It’s met when you and I step out in faith.  We admit we need it and we plug into God and we step out in faith.

Don’t trust in human wisdom.  Trust in the power of God.  That’s what it says in 1 Corinthians 2.  Paul says, “I did this so you might trust in the power of God rather than on human wisdom.”  I’ll take the power of God over human wisdom any day. 

Is this a difficult thing?  Are these three action steps I gave you difficult?  Absolutely!  Are they essential to have the power of God?  Yes. 

Christmas is a celebration of God’s power.  God’s presence came.  He gives us His power so we can have peace. 

I want to take all the Christmas characters and let me move them to the side and make the central character, Jesus.  Jesus is the central character if the Christmas story.  If you want the power of God, you need to have the person of Jesus Christ in your life.  The power doesn’t come without the person.  The power of God is wrapped up in a person and that’s Jesus.  When you have that relationship with God through Jesus, you are His child.  A lot of people think they’re a child of God when they’re not.  Everybody is a creation of God– six billion people are a creation of God.  The Bible teaches when you have a relationship with God then you become His child.  Don’t you think that God the Father wants to give His children the very best?  Don’t you think that God the Father wants to give His children power? 

Prayer:  pray in your own heart--

      God, thank You that we don’t have to keep You at a distance.  Thank You that we can have a personal and genuine, authentic relationship with You.  That You love us enough to give us Your power, that You want the very best for Your children.  As we all leave here today and we go our separate ways we don’t want to rely on our own power.  We trust in Your power.  We’re thankful for that.  That we can go into the marketplace or into our homes or into our relationships with the confidence that we are children of God who have access to God’s power.  And for that truth we are thankful.  We pray in the name of Jesus.  Amen.