Waiting For His Coming

Guess what! I know we’re in the middle of the season but tonight we get to kick off our Christmas series, O Come. Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year! We’ve got a couple weeks of no school, Christmas music, Christmas lights, movies, snow, presents, great food, time with family, and so much more!

Across the globe, Christmas is a time of celebration, joy, and excitement.

But that wasn’t always the case.

Before the first Christmas there was a frustration. the people were waiting and expecting.. for a LONG time.

God promised the people of Israel that they would be His people and He would be their God.

And He promised a savior, the Messiah, the Savior king, who would rescue them from their enemies and bring peace and justice to the world.

So that’s what they expected, but what they were experiencing was WAY different.

They were blessed by God but oppressed by Rome, a people who firmly believed that might makes right. Basically that means the stronger person or people get to make the rules, and that’s how Rome worked.

They were expecting that when Jesus came he would overthrow their Roman government and take charge, but that didn’t happen, the king was still Herod, a wicked false king, and Jesus did not take the throne.

The religious elites were scum, literal human garbage, that forced all these people to live up to standards that they only pretended to live up to. They were corrupt and worked more for the Roman government than they did for God.

So things weren’t exactly going according to what they thought their plan was. I’m sure they were questioning if God really cared.

Slide

1. Things Don’t Always Go According to Plan

Their reality, did not meet their expectations.

Now here’s the thing, their expectations weren’t outlandish or naive, they weren’t personal hopes or wishful thinking, their expectations were based on scripture and things God said would happen!

I mean think about Mary and Joseph! They were pregnant with the Son of God, they both knew this because angels literally came out of heaven to tell them what was going on. It was the first Christmas night, Mary was 9 months pregnant with Jesus, they just traveled for weeks, and now they’re trying to find a place to stay. But the inn is full, after all that travel they didn’t even have a place to stay, but then someone offered a solution! It was a barn, with animals, and it wasn’t like a farmhouse aesthetic or a barndominium like you see on pinterest. They had unmet expectation. and they were literally expecting.

I want you to think about this question and we’ll talk about it more in small groups.

So what about you?

I think a lot of us can agree that even today frustration can be a constant companion. Where does it come from? What do we do?

Slide

Frustration is the result of reality not meeting our expectations

Becoming salaried expectations not met

So here’s the truth, ready?

2. When Jesus Shows Up, Everything Changes

Let’s talk about the Jewish people for a minute.

They were not in a great position when Jesus came, they probably felt unloved, unnoticed, and undervalued.

Why would God allow all of this to happen?

At their lowest moment though, that’s when God steps in. The God of the universe, the God of 400 billion billion suns, stepped out of heaven, put on skin and bones, and He broke into His own creation.

Our God left footprints on Earth.

How did He do this? By becoming a Human, just like you and me. He was literally born in a barn, in the shadows of a corrupt, rich, and powerful king.

Earlier we talked about Mary and Joseph a little so let’s go back to that.

So when Joseph first found out his to-be wife was pregnant he though she cheated on him, so he was gonna break up with her. He knew that baby wasn’t his because he didn’t exactly fulfill the requirements to have a baby with her.

You all would probably think the same thing was true,

But then,

An angel appeared and explained everything to Joseph, and the angel surprised him!

Let’s look at Matthew 1:20-23

Matthew 1:20–23 ESV

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Joseph had unmet expectations but in a good way. His fiance was telling the truth! Joseph got the privilege of raising God’s son because he listened to the angel and stayed.

Write this down because it’ll make some stuff make sense later, it’s on your outline.

The incarnation is the belief that God became a human being in the person of Jesus.

In Luke 2 we actually read about a second messenger bringing the good news.

Luke 2:9–12 ESV

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

This is how Jesus decided to enter the world, in the most unexpected way possible. As a baby, born in a barn, wrapped in snuggly clothes, and sleeping in a manger, the food bowl for the animals.

Jesus was NOT JUST a moral reformer, a Jewish Bible teacher (or Rabbi as they would’ve called it) or an idealistic revolutionary.

Regardless of the expectations people had, Jesus WAS the Messiah. The Savior King that was promised by God, and He came in human form.

So why do we celebrate Christmas? Because Jesus showed us that God didn’t forget His promise, and it shows us that God had NO INTEREST in meeting people’s expectation. He sent Jesus at just the right time, to rescue them, not just from Rome and Herod, but from sin and death.

So what is frustration?

Frustration is the result of reality not meeting our expectations

But

Celebration is the result of reality exceeding our expectations.

When Jesus shows up, everything changes, what Jesus did for the world, He did for you. This is why we celebrate Christmas! Because it signifies the moment God became one of us so we could become one with Him.

God became one of us so we could become one with Him.

So how can we respond?

1. Celebrate the Good News

When heaven throws a party we should too! When Jesus was born, heaven threw a party, that I can guarantee. That’s why we’re having a church Christmas party and a Happy Birthday Jesus party on the 18th. It’s why we have services on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. These are opportunities for us to celebrate with Heaven the goodness of God and what He has done, and will do for us.

When things are awesome we get to celebrate them, and God cares about those things, I’m sure you have some good things going on in your life right now! But what about when it feels like there’s nothing worth celebrating.

Take a few minutes at the end of each day and try to focus on at least one good thing that you can thank God for, I usually aim for at least 3, but just one is a great place to start.

For me, some of the things that I tend to end up at when things aren’t going well, especially in the winter, is that my car heats up quickly, that I made it places safely, and that we have hot water in the house.

Maybe some things you can celebrate are that you passed a test, for some of you it’s college application season and you might have just found out you got into one of your top choice schools, a good cup of coffee, maybe you need to make that dutch bro’s stop just to be thankful for something and that’s okay. Or maybe you’ve been praying for someone and they finally are giving God a chance.

Doing this will help you move out of frustration and towards celebration, but it will also train you to see God moving in your life, both in big ways and small ways!

and 2.

2. Share the Good News

It’s great to show up to a party, but if you don’t party while you’re there what’s the point?

Now I am an introvert, and I really don’t like parties unless my close friends are there, so what’s better than showing up to a party? Inviting people to join you! So once you’ve celebrated the good news, it’s time to share it with others.

Let’s jump a little further ahead in Luke

2:15-20

Luke 2:15–20 ESV

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

The shepherds saw, celebrated His birth, and then shared the story with others. Some of you, that’s going to be your focus as you prepare for Christmas, sharing the good news with others. I want to share a really easy way for you guys to do this.

If you want to share the Gospel well, all you have to do is show and tell.

Tell people what God has done by sharing the story of Jesus, and

show people how God has changed our lives by doing good for others.

It’s the showing that Jesus was getting at in Matthew 5 when he said.

Matthew 5:14–16 ESV

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

There are a LOT of lights as decorations this season, but this season don’t let those lights be the brightest thing in the room, or out of it for that matter. Let the brightest like be the way that YOU love others and YOU do good for others.

Go out of your way to find people who are in need and do what you can to meet that need! Choose to love unconditionally and give sacrificially. When you do, people will see the light of God’s love shining through you, and according to Jesus, that will bring people to praise God.

So why do we celebrate Christmas?

Because when Jesus shows up, everything changes

God’s timing is very rarely our timing, and His plan is rarely our plan. We want things when we want them, but God brings them when we NEED them.

In the Lord of the Rings, the main character, Frodo, tells Gandalf, the wise old wizard, “You’re late” Gandalf, replies with “A wizard is never late. He arrives precisely when he means to.”

God hasn’t forgotten you. He’s not late. He’s just waiting for the right time. A time that will bring the most good for the most people out of your situation. That’s what he did with Jesus.

Can I have the band come back up?

I want to leave you guys with this

Galatians 4:4–7 ESV

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

If God always met our expectations, He would never be able to exceed them.

Let God exceed your expectations, and together, let’s celebrate the Incarnation, the moment when God became one of us so we could become one with Him.