Advent 2023 Part 5 - Christmas Eve - The Promise of Completion
Notes
Transcript
GREET EVERYONE-
GOOD EVENING LOVED ONES-
If I have not had a chance to meet you; My name is Scott and I am a follower of Jesus and have the privilege of serving Him as the Lead Pastor among the people of Stonewater Fellowship.
PRAY
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Man oh man I hope your Christmas, Your celebration of the Arrival of Jesus is a wonderful and as it has been around our family.
Last weekend we had all of our kids and grand kids down for Christmas and fondue and Family Pictures - The last time we took them was late 2013. So a lot has changed in a decade and our house was filled with laughter and talking and samplings and parent and Great grandparents and food and all kinds of Merriment and Joy as we shared Jesus with each other.
Christmas for us is now down to our youngest kids and us and so tonight and tomorrow are very simple at my house.
ENGAGEMENT -
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.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Let me ask this -
Who still has some presents to wrap?
Yea - I remember back in the day when after the kids went to bed there was work still to be done.
When most of my kids were real little - Oh man the planning!
Ya know this is really a wonderful time.
Even with all the Happy Holidays, Happy Honicca, Happy Crazy that is happening it is still a great time of the year.
Here for a few minutes, kinda placed in between all of the Songs of Christmas that we are all enjoying. I would like to have all of us complete or contemplate a question:
Is there anything in this life or in this season that you feel is incomplete?
Is there anything that still has work to do?
ANYONE?
Now, if your like me, as the Christmas season comes to an end - There are usually to thoughts that go through our mind and they are usually opposing thoughts.
YA know when the family leaves and the tree and the tincel and the things all come down
and the people and the presents and the pastries are all gone.
The Two thoughts may very well be -
ONE is - Made it though another Christmas season! and that is usually accompanied by “Glad that is over and until next year”
and TWO - Man it was a nice season and a great Christmas but something or someone was missing and it just seemed incomplete.
Anyone have those thoughts?
Yea unfortunately I am also asking how the 20 extra are coming off in 2024 ( but that is a different message for a different time.)
Ya know loves ones - it is so easy to get a sense that something is just incomplete.
Like when the 8 year old who rakes the leaves and when ya look there are stripes of cleared grass in between all the leaves. Something has happened but its just incomplete.
And I think that for must of us if not all of us we don’t like that feeling - and what we can so easily do is PLAN to do everything to off set that feeling.
We plan the Dinner we plan the settings - We plan the decorating and the time line and the Agenda - We plan the shopping and the lists and
TENSION-
I think it is very easy for any of us to think to ourselves when we consider the moment we all live in the time when we can so easily get a sense that The Gospel is incomplete.
Here is what I mean!
When this Christmas season is over and we return to what is now a normal life.
When we see the difficulties that this world and this life can so easily bring -
We can clearly think that God just hasn't finished raking the leaves just quite yet.
And for some this is a difficult place to be after so much celebration, after so many gifts, after so much friends and family and so much planning.
There is just this kind of Let down.
This season, of advent on Sunday mornings, we have exposed through the Advent of Jesus, through the Coming of Jesus as the Child in the manger The Arrival of HOPE - The arrival of Peace - The arrival of Love and the Arrival of Joy just this morning.
This evening We want to Celebrate the Arrival of Completion - looking forward to the day when this Child in the manger that came to seek and to save the lost - Will come again and bring to completion all things.
My prayer in this message is that if you are a Jesus follower you will find the purpose meaning and value of this life that maybe you have never known as we not just look forward His coming but we will actually live towards His coming.
And if you are not a Jesus follower you would hear the call of the Saviour and know that all of the Promises of God are yes and amen in the Child in the Manger.
UNPACKING-
Lets look at some texts -
27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Jesus begins this sentence with the words “And then” indicating there are events and circumstances that come before what HE is about to say!
Well Here is what is happening before - Jesus is talking about Events that will ultimately bring to an end all things -
Here is what Jesus said would happen -
The Sun and the Moon and The stars are gonna look different - H says “they will all have signs”
I don't want to take too much time to unpack all the signs - Let me recap them by saying it aint gonna be what we are used to - not to be too scary on Christmas Eve but what the Bible says is there will be movement with the Sun and the Moon and the Stars like not seen before -
Jesus then goes on to say “AND on earth there will be distress of nations in perplexity because the oceans and the seas will react to these heavenly changes and its gonna be weird.
People are gonna be fainting with fear and foreboding - I had to look that one up and it means “expecting something to happen”
So people are going to Faint in fear of what they expect to happen to the world - why? Jesus says “becasue the powers of heaven will be shaken”
So this is where Jesus, the Child in the Manger, picks up and says “and then” at the beginning of verse 27
Here is the AND THEN”
And then They HE is talking about a group of people who are filled with fear and foreboding. He is talking about People who are not His followers -
Here is what they will see - They will see Jesus coming back - That is what the Son of Man reference is. The Son of Man reference is Jesus referring to Himself as the Subject of and Old Testament Prophecy.
So here is what these people who are faint with fear and foreboding will see - They will see Jesus coming in a cloud with great power and with Glory.
You see if you were a Jewish person back then you would have recognized the reference that Jesus had Just made
You don't have to turn there - Here is the Text -
13 “I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.
You see Jesus will come to reign and rule i His kingdom and it will have now end -
Jesus then turns to His disciples, The ones who are following Him becasue he has the very words of Life -And He says - This is how you are to react to these things that are happening in the world that everyone else is filled with fear about -
STRAIGHTEN UP - LIFE YOUR HEADS
Man oh man do these two terms have such an interesting meaning in the original language of the New Testament -
“Straighten up” means to literally - Step back and straighten up from a bending over position. Like from a position of labor or working -
You know inn one of the Parables Jesus equated following Him to working a plow -
When you are working you are focused on what you are doing - on what is in front of you.
Jesus then Says - “Lift you heads” which means “look up” some of the translations will us that exact term.
Here is what Jesus is saying - When all of those things are happening - Your labor, your work will be finished - So don't faint like the rest of them who are not following me - Look UP, and from he rest of the counsel of Scripture we would understand the term “your redemption is near” means
you are about to be with me forever and receive the promise of Eternal life.
Let look at another one -
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
Here is what the Apostle Peter talks about through the power of the Holy Spirit of God -
God spoke and peter wrote.
VS8
Peter begins with “Do not over look the fact that in God’ perception a day is like a 1000 years and a 1000 years is like a day - Here is what He just said - Time is not important to God - Time has no meaning to God - Time has no boundaries on God -
VS9
Because time does not boundary God - He is not SLOW to fulfill his promise -
This begs the question “what is his promise”
His Promise is to come back, call the elect, gather the church, raign and rule with Him forever in the Promise of the Son of Man returning.
God is not slow - What? He is is Patient -
The reason he is Patient is that He does not wish that ANY would perish but that All would come to repentance - All people would turn to HIm and surrender heir life to him and be regenerated by the very power of the Holy spirit and be saved.
VS 10
But he is coming and no one know when - and some really interesting thing will happen when He does come -
VS11&12
Peter then asked the question that you and I should ask ourselves - Since all this is temporary and is gonna go away “what kind of lives should we live?”
What sort of People should we be in lives of Holiness and godliness,
Peter then adds two very interesting words -
one is passive and one is active -
Waiting - is the Passive word and I looked that one up and it means waiting -
and the other word is an active word -
Hasten - Here is what it means - It means to make something happen sooner than later - It means to cause something to hurry up -
The rest of the Passage says that this is all temporary and Gods promise is a new heaven and an new earth where Jesus, in righteousness reigns and rules for every.
This then begs TWO questions:
1 - Does the Scripture detail for us any intentional action that we can take or are there any parameters that God has given us - And when I mean us I mean the Church - are there any activities that God has told us would quicken or bring about his return.
2 - Do we want our king back to fulfill His promise - to being all things to completion - To establish the new heaven and new earth and for us to be with Him and worship him and to reign and rule with Him ans Heirs and Co-heirs of the Kingdom of God?
Ya know I find it very very interesting that there are many who claim Christ that look at the times and say Here he comes he is coming soon - All the while they ignore the very thing that will hasten his return.
YA know I’m not sure the Disciples all got it either -
In acts Chapter one after Jesus was crucified, Raised form the dead - Appears to his disciples - The ladies that were all with them - and some 500 other people over a period of 40 days or so - He went to Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father like He said he would.
And Here is what Jesus said to the disciples as he was walking along with them after he was raised from the dead -
The disciples just didn't get it yet and they were asking when The National entity of Israel will be restored - They were still thinking Jesus was going to be this national savior - Here is what the Apostles were asking - When are you coming to make things right in our world?
Jesus said - (and I'm paraphrasing here) you don't need to worry about hat becasue the work I have for you is to be my witnesses in several areas of influence.
Here is what happened - Right after Jesus says “this is the work I have for you to do” He was taken up
He was taken out of their sight - The Text says
9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
and Here is what happened next -
All of His disciples were looking up - They were like this.
And these two angels came - dressed all in white - Messengers from God - From the very throne room of heaven -
These angels said to His disciples -
Men of Galilee - Why do you stand looking into heaven?
I love the way the Old King James puts it
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
You see they were gazing-
They were waiting for Jesus to come back -
The implication of what these angels in white were saying is “why you looking up - Look down - put your hand to the plow - Put all your effort into the work becasue This Jesus that has assented has given you instructions - Get to work - he will be back - And when He comes back you can you can step back form the plow and straighten up and look back to the sky because he will come back the same way he went and when that day comes your work will be done -
You see church - We have work to do - What is that work? - Well Jesus told us what that work is, how we can hasten his coming as we wait, and he told us under what condition all that would happen -
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
LIGHTING OF THE CANDLES-
Church we have work to do!
DO we want Him back?
This night - and tomorrow are Holy nights - They are separate and to be set apart as we celebrate the advent, the arrival, the birth of Jesus the arrival of God with us.
In Jesus, In the Child in the Manger is Hope, Peace, Love and Joy - I
n the Child in the Manger, is a savior.
in The Child of the Manger, In Jesus all of the promises of God find their Yes and Amen.
This Child that was born King - He is the embodiment o and personification of Hope, and Peace and Love and Joy.
On the fifth celebration of the advent candles we light the last one in the center - It is the White candle -
It is the Jesus candle - It is traditionally lit on Christmas Eve to remind us if the arrival of our sinless perfect savior -
John Gospel tells us that In Jesus was light and that Light was the light of Men -
So we take Light from the Christ candle in the middle of the others and we light all of our candles with that one light of Jesus - and what we will see here in a minute is that the Light will multiply.
We take this light and we share it with one another to say two very important things -
The First message of shearing the light of Jesus is to the church - Those who follow Jesus - To those who have been saved by grace through faith - Regenerated to knew life by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Be the Church - Take Jesus into this world and proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom as a testimony to all nations - be the witnesses of Jesus and the fisher of men as he told us we would be - we have work to do as His instruments and ambassadors of Reconciliation.
Church let not just LOOK to His coming - Lets live FOR His coming
TWO - To you who are hear tonight or watching over live stream who might not be sure of all this Jesus stuff - You like Happy holidays and your really not sure how to navigate all this - Turning life over to Jesus seems strange and a savior born might seem more folk that fact.
This light we share with you this night to say - Jesus is for you friend - Jesus is a savior sent to you and sent for you. Sent to make you new - TO adopt you and make you a child of God that would would know God and when all the stuff hits the fan you wont have a question as to why you ill know why and you will look forward to the day your will be with Him.
Jesus is light and in Him is the light of Men - To you the spirit of God says “Come to Him - His arms are open wide - Turn your life over and receive all the promises of Christmas that Jesus brings into the world as the Baby in the manger who was sent to seek you and save you.
Lets stand and sing
PRAYER TEAM!