From the Manger to the Cross

Isaiah 9:6

Introduction

Turn in your bibles to Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6.

As you all turn there i want you all to think with me. How badly do we need hope? We look all around us, on the media, in the world, and their is brokenness all around us. We have wars, a government in shambles, sickness, death, and the list goes on. How do we find hope? Well i am a big marvel cinematic universe nerd, and there is one scene in one movie that i think explains where we are.

Dr. Strange in infinity war. Ironman, spider man, Star Lord, Drax and Mantis are trying to scheme a plan to defeat Thanos. As they are doing this they look over at Strange and there 14,000,605 outcomes to beat Thanos. Only one scenario is how they “win”

Well how does that relate to us? In our day to day we try to have so many things that we want to satisfy. For the children, it might be a video game, Fortnite, an action figure, a barbie, so on. For students it might be your social media status, your popularity in school, how much people like you, a test grade. For the adults in the room, it might be the amount of money you make, the type of job you have, the type of promotion you think you deserve. For the senior adults, it might be the legacy you leave behind, or find you hope in the family you have raised. But as we can see none of those things will last forever, and they can not sustain us. But the Bible points one source that will save us, and God shows us the one chance we have for hope right after Adam and Eve sinned in the garden.

Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””

Adam and Eve have just sinned, and the

Which ultimately leads us to where we will be tonight in Isaiah chapter 9.

Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Pray

When we look and think of Jesus, especially coming into the world as a baby, we must look and see his humble birth. And what that means. It means our first point.

Jesus’ birth brought Hope to all of us.

Big difference between hope. Hope in the way it should be defined is it not only desires something good for the future- it expects it to happen. The way we use hope is a wishful thinking.

Such as two fan bases in sports, I wish the Dallas Cowboys will win the Super Bowl. Every Cowboy fan since before i was born… Or Kentucky fans, its our year, we are winning the natty. Once they lose two or 3 games, the coach Callipari is the worst, why would we give him a life time contract?

In no shape form or fashion would we have ever thought that the savior of the universe would come to us the way Jesus did. First he was born of the virgin Mary. But we had hope.

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

The odds of this really is if i were to go down to the state of Texas fill the whole state 2 ft deep of quarters, have one of them painted red. Me closing my eyes and blindfolded, and going and getting that quarter on my first try. We see those types of odds happening time and time again. The amount of quarters it would take would be 100,000,000,000,000,000. Over trillion, it is 100 quintillion coins. And i have to pick up the one marked one. That is crazy.

Also the hope we see in Isaiah 9.

The government shall be upon his shoulders

Jesus receives the ultimate authority. He is Lord of all. No matter how chaotic our nation, or world government will be. We have hope that Jesus eternal government will surpass all of the earthly government now. And his word is held in higher regard and trust than any other government system.

Wonderful counselor

We can run to him and receive wisdom, make plans, he counsels us. His Word is the way to do that, tied in with prayer.

Mighty God

Jesus is God, he is strong, we look to him and see him as our rock. Our foundation, he can take the pressure.

Everlasting Father

The father that is better than any other earthly father. The Father that will not leave us, not hurt us, not look down us. And he will be with us for eternity.

Prince of Peace.

The prince that takes all of the chaos in the world and brings quietness. Calmness,

How did he follow through with all of those? Leads us to the last point.

Jesus offers himself as the hope we do not deserve.

If Jesus were to have just been born of the virgin Mary, and performed all of the miracles that he did like walking on water, healing the blind, feeding the thousands, teaching lessons. All of those are cool and all, but none of those by themself cause any eternal life change. Jesus had to do something more, that had never been done before.

We see Jesus having this full effect on him in the garden of Gethsemane.

Matthew 26:39 “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.””

We see Jesus’ anguish in Luke 22:44 “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

Jesus knew the only way for the world to be save was through a perfect sacrifice.

Spoiler alert, it has been out 4 and a half years, sorry if you have not watched it. Tie back in the infinity war movie. And End game. We see that one chance for the Avengers, is Iron man, and him sacrificing himself to save the universe and defeat Thanos.

I am not saying Ironman is on the same level of Jesus at all. But shows the sacrifice Jesus had to make. The only hope God has given us was Jesus. That is what lead him to the Cross. NEEDS AIDEN AND MOLLY TO COME UP.

We see the birth of Jesus ultimately leading him to the Cross. The cross we symbolize as hope. We wear it on Jewelry, put it on bumper stickers, make social media post about it.

What hope does the Cross give us?

We see the brokenness in the world around us today. We all have sinned, missed the mark of perfection from a Holy God. Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

What do we deserve, eternal separation from God. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death,

But what has God done about what we deserve, he offers us Jesus. The tail end 6:23 but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 10:9 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:13 “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

The cross gives us hope in eternal/everlasting life. Jesus death on the cross, his burial and resurrection gives us hope. How do we receive that hope? Romans 10:9 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

For the unbeliever in the room, this hope is offered to you. You receive this hope through believing in Jesus, and giving all we have to him for him to be Lord of our life. It is not a prayer, or any sort of work that saves you, it all through Jesus.

For the believer in the room. Do not forget the point of Christmas. It is not about the presents, it is not about the events, it is not about attending every little thing everyone does. It is to remind us of the unprecedented birth of our Lord Jesus. And how ultimately his birth in a manger, leads us to the cross.

As we transition into this time of response Myself, Pastor John, and Mrs. Lindsay will all be available to talk if you need. Do not rush this moment. And as we have this time of response. Turn you eyes, heart and focus to Jesus. And praise him for the work he has done for us. And the hope we have in him.

Let’s Pray

After response, roll into giveaways

Adults- John

Students- Lindsay

Kids- Jackson

Switch- Bubba.