Incarnation

Intro:

Incarnation def:

a person who embodies in the flesh a deity, spirit, or abstract quality.

-Incarnation -Embodiment, personification, epitome.

Jesus embodies redemption, kingship, and salvation.

Luke 2:6–14 NASB95

While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

O Holy Night!

-Incarnation= Embodiment, personification, epitome.

Incarnate Redeemer

1 O holy night! the stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.

The world changed when Jesus was born, not just at his death

So much so that the Angels couldn’t hold their tongue

Waking up to the smell of bacon, or muffins

when the heat/ac kicks on

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB95

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Pining to go at a race, dog/horse (engines reving)

Colossians 1:13–14 NASB95

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A reminder that your soul has a price

1 Corinthians 7:23 NASB95

You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.

A thrill of hope- the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Thrill of hope when all seems lost (sports breakout)

Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!

Remember the parable of the sower

roadside- evil ones come and snatches it up

rocky places- no depth, cannot stand trials

Thorns- choked by wealth, and worry of the world

good soil- hears the word

-We must deliberately tune our hearts to hear the good news, and do so in humility.

O night divine, O night when Christ was born! O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Ephesians 1:7 NASB95

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

-To redeem something is to restore value to that which has lost it’s worth

Incarnate King

2 Led by the light of faith serenely beaming, With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

The shepherds come and worship the baby Jesus.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming, Here came the Wise Men from Orient land.

Rich rulers come to recognize this unique event

Shepherds abandoned their flocks to worship this king

The wise men traveled months or years to worship this king

yet we find excuses to not go to church

We find excuses to deny his presence in our lives

Most people eagerly show up to the movie theatre early to get good seats, get their popcorn, and not disturb people after the movie starts.

Most people show up to work early enough so that you can clock in right when your shift starts

We don’t come to church to be entertained or to work, even though it can be work and entertaining at times

however we do come to church to worship God, to grow closer to Him, to learn how to serve Him better, to spend time with other believers.

Yet many of us don’t make it a priority to be here early.

Think of church starting at 10 am if you can’t get here before the first song starts.

The wise men brought gifts of great value: Gold, Frankincense, and myrrh

Yet we rob God by withholding our tithe

Malachi 3:8–10 NASB95

“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.

We have the audacity to blame God when things go wrong, and yet we can’t be bothered to give God what is already his.

That is not your money. All of it belongs to God.

When we claim Christ as our savior, and we surrender our lives to him, we make ourselves slaves to a master.

A slaves owner, owns everything the slave has

when slaves work a garden, it is the master who claims the profit.

Thankfully, we have a good Master, a good Lord.

Who adopts us into his family.

We owe him everything, yet we withhold our obedience.

Tithing isn’t about amount, it’s about obedience.

God is asking you to trust Him with your livelihood.

Here’s the thing,

-We are incapable of out-giving the Lord of all creation.

The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,

John 18:36–37 NASB95

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

The king is coming (trick to clean the house with my sisters)

If you were to meet the king of England, you would be as reverent and noble as you can be.

you wouldn’t fart in front of the King, you would escuse yourself and go to another room

You wouldn’t pick your nose in front of the King, you would politely blow your nose, possibly going to another room to do so

You would pick your wedgie in front of the king.

Yet everyday we stand in the presence of royalty.

One who has even more authority than God

And we continue with our sinning, our selfish pursuits

which is more offensive to God, than a fart would be to the King of England.

In all our trials born to be our Friend. He knows our need— to our weakness is no stranger.

Behold your King, before Him lowly bend! Behold your King, before Him lowly bend!

Ephesians 1:18–23 NASB95

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

-Jesus deserves our all because he gave his all.

I can only imagine

I can only imagine What it will be like When I walk by Your side I can only imagine What my eyes would see When Your face is before me I can only imagine

I can only imagine When that day comes And I find myself Standing in the Son I can only imagine When all I will do Is forever, forever worship You I can only imagine, yeah I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory What will my heart feel? Will I dance for You Jesus Or in awe of You be still? Will I stand in Your presence Or to my knees, will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine I can only imagine

Incarnate Savior

3 Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His gospel is peace.

-A law is not optional. Breaking the law risks judgement .

Jesus tells us to Love others, to forgive them.

Yet we hold bitterness towards others

we forget that God won’t forgive us if we don’t forgive them.

In doing so, we are living in sin

we become a foul stench before the King

Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother, And in His name all oppression shall cease.

No one is better than another. God saved everyone in all of creation.

Doesn’t matter if they are a

drug addict,

homeless,

scammer,

murderer,

adulterer,

rapist,

of another race or religion,

of another political party,

from another country

GOD LOVES THEM

THEY ARE YOUR NEIGHBOR

YOU ARE TO LOVE THEM TOO

Our chains are gone, all of the chains that bind us

all of the chains that bind others

Remember, you have to admit that you need saving before you can be saved.

we can’t become content sitting in the mud.

cleaning off mud is always unpleasant.

slime in hair

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we;

Remember the parable of the debtor

He was forgiven a great debt that he had no hope of paying off

Imagine you had a loan that someone paid off for you

You would feel indebted to that person

suddenly their opinion would be of great value

if they bought you a tie, you would probably go out of your way to wear it in front of them

Yet we often behave like the guy in the parable

We immediately go out and act entitled

-The cure for entitlement is gratitude.

It’s not humility, we can be humbled and get bitter because of our entitlement.

It’s not love, because we begin to treat relationships like a bank and start keeping ledgers of what is owed to us

only a spirit of gratitude cures our entitlement

Let all within us praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!

All and forever are absolutes

All that is within us means we aren’t holding anything back

Forever means from now until eternity

there is no in between

there is no now and then

no half n half faith will do

His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim! His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

A reminder that your soul has a price

1 Corinthians 7:23 NASB95

You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.

Acts 4:10–12 NASB95

let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

How many can raise your hand and say there is something in your life that you need saved from

how many here can raise your hand and say that there is something in your life that needs redeemed

something that used to have value, but you need God to apply new meaning

Maybe you are sitting in that pew or watching online and you realize that you aren’t the person you used to be, or the person you should be

It could be depression

one of the signs of depression is the things that you used to enjoy no longer hold your interest

other signs include

a persistent sadness

trouble sleeping

lack of energy

trouble concentrating

trouble regulating your appetite, eating too much or too little

If you raised your hand for one of those, I would love to have the opportunity to pray with you this morning.

When God fills you with his Holy Spirit, there is new purpose

there is joy that overcomes the sadness

there is peace that stills the troubled mind

there is rest

The Holy Spirit grants you self control when you feel out of control

He fills you with love instead of hate and indifference

He fills you with patience instead of that sense of unease

He grants you the capacity to be kind when all you feel is irritable at everyone and everything

He grants you the capacity to be gentle when the rage inside of you feels like it is about to burst

He grants you faithfulness when you have trouble keeping up with all of you commitments

He gives you the ability to be good, and to feel like a good person, when the dialogue inside your mind tells you are not enough, or evil.

If that is you, will you come forward and allow us to pray with you here this morning.