Gift of Majesty

Background

If we have not had the pleasure of meeting my name is John colunga

I have the pleasure of serving as a Staff Pastor with New Day Church

I have the privilidge of bringing todays message

It is the Fourth message in our Christmas Series called Among Us

We are continuing todays messge from John chapter 1

John is written by the apostle John

Not John the Baptist

John the disciple writes this gospel that is different from the other gospels

John writes his book in a way that seeks to magnify Jesus as the Messiah, Christ, King, Savior

John 20:31 “but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

What I personally love about the gospel of John is that it uses sharp contrasts (Light/darkness - love and hatred - above and below - life and death - truth and false)

THe first week we talked about Jesus and how he is God

He has always existed and was at the beginning of creation

He came to earth willingly fully man and fully God

Jesus was God incarnate

Jesus walked this earth and was tempted as man is

He hungered as man does

But Jesus overcame every tempatation

That is why he is the light for all men

And that while darkness may seem great, big scary, the darkness cannot overcome the light that is Jesus

The second week we talked about Gods glory, grace, and truth

That since Jesus was God incarnate he came with the full glory of God and displayed it through his character and actions

That Jesus himself was the grace of God and God’s greatest gift to us

Jesus also gave this grace to others and teaches us to have grace

And that Jesus is Truth

Because Jesus is truth, his incarnation to dwell among us is the greatest thing to have ever happened on earth

Last week we talked about Jesus being the forgiveness of sins and through him we are adopted into the family of God

The Holy Spirit descended down on Jesus which revealed Jesus to John the Baptist

John the Baptist calls Jesus “The Lamb God”

He is th lamb of God as he is the sacrifice for sinners

He would be the final sacrifice

And for those who believe in Jesus

For those who are called out of darkness and into the light

They will be children of God

They will one day be eternally in the light of Jesus

As we look at todays text we will talk about our response to the gift Christ

John 1:35-42 “The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).”

One of the things I have not brought up or mentioned is that John chapter 1 covers a period of 3 days

Day 1 The Levites and the Priests are questioning John the Baptist about being the Messiah and he has to deny it Vs. 19-28

Day 2 John identifies Jesus as the Messiah because he is revealed by the Spirit Vs. 29-34

Day 3 Followers of John leave to follow Jesus Vs. 35-42

As we look at the 3 days where John the Baptist is concerned, we can see a correlation as to what happens in the state of salvaton

Personally, I am not the messiah and I must recognize my fallen imperfect nature and flaws

But the Messiah reveals himself to me and I am changed to where I walk in the light

And now in my walk I follow Jesus

This is also replicated

I share Jesus with others as the Messiah,

Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah and others come to faith

And then we are to disciple them as followers of Jesus Christ

This pattern always points to Christ

It always exemplifies the glory, majesty and splendor of who Jesus is

A Better Way

And in our text today we find that John the Baptist has two followers that leaves to follow Jesus

They believe that He is the Messiah and they want to learn from him

And I dont have kids yet but I have been around kids long enough to know that when they are interested in a subject, they will ask a million questions

It is question after question and explanation after explanation

maybe at first you are happy to answer some questions but by question 342 you are worn down, impatient, exhausted, referring to google

And this is what is going on in this scene

Rabbi - where are you staying so that we may join you and ask 342 questions?

It was already the tenth hour so I imagine Jesus didnt get much sleep that night but the followers are eager

They were already following John, devoting themselves to his teaching and now they are changing course to follow Jesus

Where Jesus stays they will stay

They will go where He goes

I wonder if I will ever be as eager as they are

I cant possibly tell you how many Bibles I have

I cant possibly tell you how many Bibles I have access too (I have keys to this church so its a lot)

As a matter of fact, I am asking for a specific Bible for Christmas and if my Santa on the front row brings it to me I would love it

No pressure Santa

But I have all of these Bibles and access to God’s revealed word and I have only read through it cover to cover a handful of times

Maybe if you add up the different devotions and teachings/preachings it could be more

Honestly I cant tell you the last time I read Zephaniah

I’m young but I’m not too young, If I am as eager to learn and devote myself as these followers

To know God’s truths and understand his plan, I should be in God’s word constantly, I should pray without ceasing

And I know to be in this posture of reading and prayer 24/7 is not possible

But if I could have just a tenth of the eagerness that these followers for Jesus, how much more time would I carve out in the day to read and pray

How much more eagerness would I have to serve others

What if everyone in this church just had a tenth more of these followers eagerness, what would it cause us to do as a church?

As our minds are renewed by Gods word and truth the overflow should spill over into action

To use the gifts that God gives us build his church and glorify him

Our work in this community is not finished

I know many of you are tired

I know many of you are in a different stage of life

I know this church body has been through rough, hurtful, uncertain, times

But I exhort you that the faithfulness of God has led this church to place of hope

Hope where we dont have to worry about the doors closing

And we can have two postures through this

1. Because we know the doors arent closing, we can sit back, relax, and coast

2. We can push down on the gas peddal

We can ask God for an eagerness and zeal to do more, to make more time for God’s word, time for service to God church

This church cannot sit back and rely on New Day Central and rely on Pastor John Colunga,

Rather, as a church body, we should praying and yearning for a hunger and eagerness to do more

Calling Others

Our text tells us that one of the followers was Andrew

Can anyone name me 5 stories where Andrew was explicitly stated to be part of a story?

Like, If I think about the disciples and I had to rank them according to my knowledge of them, Andrew is in the middle of the pack.

But Andrews eagerness compells him to go to his brother Simon Peter and share that they have found the Messiah

And so Andrew brings his brother to Jesus and Jesus acknowledges Peter

And he doesnt just acknowledge him but he prophecies that his name will be called Cephas

and in both Aramaic and Greek, Cephas means “rock”

If I return to my list of disciples, I know more about Peter the rock

Peter was a result of Andrews eagerness

I wonder how many Peters today are being missed because a lack of eagerness

I pray that we are a church that longs for the eagerness of the disciples

Christmas Application

If you are like me, right now you understand everything I have just said but you are asking yourself the question,

“How does this pertain to Christmas”

It’s the Christma season and I want a Christmas feel good application”

I submit to you that the eagerness of Andrew stemmed from the revelation of the Messiah

That the reason why Peter listened to Andrew and went to Jesus is because Jesus was said to be the Messiah

It says in our text that Messiah means Christ

Greek - Christ means annointed one

The chosen one to save

Luke 2:8-20 “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 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.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 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 angels reveal that Christ the Lord is born

And the angels don’t reveal this to Kings or the rich, rather to shepherds

The lowly

And they received the good tidings of great joy and they eagerly went to see the Savior

And after they saw Jesus just as the angels have said and then they eagerly told others!

And they went back to work but they were not the same, they were glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.

While we may not have seen Jesus physically, he has been revealed to us

We are changed, our hearts regenerated and we are not the same as we once was

And so we too should be glorifying and praising God

It’s no coincidence to me that Jesus was revealed to shepherds and that it were fisherman who followed him

Jesus came for all statuses, ethnicities, communities

From the very beginning it is evident that Jesus doesn’t care about your status, he cares about your heart

He came so that your heart can be changed to love God the Father

He came so that your soul would be justified to God the Father

He came so that your actions can be of hope, joy, and an eagerness to please God the Father

Jesus came for the lowly and we are the lowly!

In the Book, Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund, he writes,

The gospel flows from God’s deepest heart for his people, a heart of tender love for the sinful and suffering. His longing heart for sinners comforts and sustains us in the ups and downs of our lives.

At this time of Christmas, there is no better time to reflect on God’s heart of love

That he sends Jesus as a reflection of his heart

And sends him to the lowly as a lowly baby

That causes us to jump for joy and rejoice and give glory to God!

And as we focus on Christ’s birth and reason for coming, our hearts should be full and it should make us eager to share him with others!

Casting Vision

I want to exhort everyone here today to take time to rest and reflect on the birth of Jesus

Spend this time with family and take some time to pray

Join us tonight for Christmas Program and Deacons treats

Join us Christmas Eve at 4pm

Join us Christmas Day for a family Christmas Service at 10:15am

We will rest and have no service on January 1st

But then we will have launch Sunday on January 8th.

My hope and prayer is that on Monday, January 2nd, our reflection and rest in Jesus causes us to be eager to serve and launch this church to this community

A couple of months ago it was said that we need a launch team of 75 people. With circumstances the way that they are, a formal team wasnt put together

I’m telling you today that if you are a member of New Day Pasadena congratulations you are automatically signed up!

We need you, your gifts, the time that you can give

I dont want you to do it for me, I dont want you to do it for yourself

But I pray that as you are in God’s word, as you are reflecting on Jesus this season

that you develop a desire to be eager to continue to learn and to serve others as it glorifies God

There is no room for complacency

This church will pick option #2 and push the gas peddal because we are transformed by the gospel

How humbling is that God will use the lowly to bring the lowly in!

Do you remember the hymn Bring them in, Bring them in, Bring them in from the fields of sin, bring the wondering ones to Jesus

Can this church get eager to bring them in?

Just 10% of the disciples eagerness, what do you think we can do in and for this community?

This starts with me, it includes me, I should not preach and pastor and then do nothing else

I’m preaching to myself this morning, but as it starts with me, it should not end with me

We need greeters, Children’s teachers, Nursery Workers

We need you present On Sundays to meet others

We need you engaged in a ministry

2023 will be a year of spiritual and physical building and it is all hands on deck

We dont want to miss a single person, a single family, a single opportunity to show our love of Jesus

If you are here today and you dont know him.