This STAR is Special

Acknowledgments

Holsey Memorial CME Family

Pastor Smith

Family and Friends who have traveled to be with us

My wife

Matthew 2:1-2 and 9-11 NKJV

Matthew 2:1–2 ““Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.””

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Matthew 2:9–11 NIV

“When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

This STAR is Special

Heavenly Father, I pray that you decrease me at this moment… And You increase in Your people’s sight…

Hide me behind your empty Cross, so that the hearers of this word do not see me… but only hear from you… May this word fall on tilled soiled and take root in fertile ground…

Heavenly Father, bless this preached Word that it may transform the hearts of the listeners… So that they may go out and transform the lives of those they come in contact with…

Let the words of my mouth… And the meditation of my heart… Be acceptable in your sight… Oh Lord, my Strength, and my Redeemer. Amen

Intro

In Genesis 1:3 the Bible states “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” This statement provides context to allow us to believe before God made this statement the world was dark. In fact, if you read Genesis 1:2 it specifically states that “darkness covered the surface of the watery deep”… In order to fill the void of darkness, God in his Godly way made a 4-word statement, “Let there be light,” and the Bible confirms “There was light.”

The darkness of the world was filled by the Light… The Bible tells us that God saw the Light was good so He separated the light from the darkness and He called the light day… The splendor of the light we get to enjoy each day is named the Sun… The S-U-N to be exact… This sun we learned in school is a star… One of many stars in our galaxy…

To this day, a lot of emphasis is placed on stars… Stars are so highly regarded in our everyday lives that we typically attach some of the greatest accomplishments to them… A Star-Student is one that excels at his or her studies and then identified by the school staff as also having great character…

A Star-Studded Event is one attended by an abundance of highly regarded celebrities, musicians, athletes, and/or actors… These same individuals are often referred to as SuperStars after obtaining a considerable amount of success in their particular fields.

And then there is a popular movie series by the name of Star Wars that has amassed more than $10 Billion dollars in theater sales alone… There is something special about Stars

At this point, you may be wondering: What does this talk of stars have to do with Christmas and the birth of Christ? I’m glad you asked… You see Stars appear in a multitude of locations throughout the Bible - from the creation of Day in Genesis to the explanation of the Seven Stars in Revelation… However, there is one star that cannot be ignored… The appearance of a star in Matthew Chapter 2.

Transition 1

Our first point of the day is to FOLLOW THE STAR

We find here in Matthew Chapter 2 the brief story of the Magi who we also identify them as the Three Wise Men… The Bible states these Three Wise Men were given a sign from a star that the King of the Jews were born… And they have come to worship him… What the Bible does not explicitly state, is these three Magi are also kings of their respective lands. One is the King of Persia. One is the King of Arabia. One of the King of Tharsis.

These Three Magi… These Three Kings… These Three Wise Men are on a quest to locate the King of Kings… This was revealed to these men by the rising of a STAR… This star reigned supreme in the East… There was something special about this star from the East…

As we have learned from OUR history the North Star is the Brightest Star in the Night sky… It is so clearly identifiable that it led many of our ancestors out of the gripe of slavery in the South to the freedom they sought in the North...

This star that has risen in the East sky is special… In my homiletical imagination, I am led to believe that this Star reigned from the East as a sign of a New Beginning… Each day our Sun rises from the east each day… This star is special…

Following the Star may bring you to unfamiliar places…

These Magi as they were following the star… Trying to identify the King of Kings… It led them to the palace of King Herod… King Herod is the King of Judea and by virtue the King of the Jewish People… These Wise Men summoned the people of Jerusalem and asked “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” It’s right there in your Bible if you are still with me… They followed this Star to locate the King of Kings and it led them to the palace of King Herod…

Have you ever felt like you were trying to follow God’s will for your life… But His will didn’t seem to make sense to you? Following the Star may cause you to step out on faith and write the book… Following the Star may cause you to step out on faith and apply to start or finish that degree… Following the Star may cause you to step out on faith and start that new career… Faith is the precurser to a mighty move of God in your life… If you are able to do it on your own, you may mistakenly believe you did not need God to move on your behalf… Following the Star will also give you discernment… Following the star will give you the discernment to do His will for your life...

As these Wise Men continue their journey in verse 9 they follow this star to where the child was born.

Transition #2

And that brings us to our next point of the day… There is a Great Expectancy in the Presence of the Star

Matthew 2:10 NKJV

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.

We must worship the Star… The wise men saw the star and they were overjoyed…

These Wise Men are overjoyed… by the identification of the location… of this star.

They were overjoyed… By simply being in the presence of this star…

Being in the presence of the star will cause your spirit to rejoice with gladness…

A couple of weeks ago… I had the opportunity to go to the city of Dallas for the first time on a work-related trip… I had never been to Dallas so there was a certain level of enthusiams, but also understanding this was not a “fun-trip” but a work trip… However, on our last evening there, we were told we were going to see the Dallas Cowboys headquarters and practice facility… I am not an avid Cowboys fan, but I am a fan of the game of football and knew I would appreciate this exploration… As we rode the bus and got closer to the facility, the iconic symbol of the star on the Cowboys helmet rose in the sky… Something special about Stars… Again, I am not an avid fan of the Cowboys of today, but seeing that symbol then exploring the facility I saw the evidence of the Cowboys of the late 1900s with Deon Sanders, Michael Ervin, Troy Aikman, and Emmitt Smith… And if I am honest, I became overjoyed by virtue of my remembrance of the great times I had cheering for them during that time… I was excited to simply be in the presence of the Stars of the Dallas Cowboys...

These Magi were excited by arriving at the place of the Star… There’s something special about being in the presence of this star…

In the Gospel of Luke Chapter 1 around verses 35-44… We find that Mary, the mother of Jesus… Pregnant at this time… Visits her much older cousin, Elizabeth… Who is pregnant with her son who is known as John the Baptist… The Bible states that when Mary greeted Elizabeth… The baby on the inside of Elizabeth leaped in her womb simply by being in the presence of this star… And the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth…

Being in the presence of this star will cause you to have a great expectancy of something to come…

The Gospel writer Luke goes on to pen in the 18th chapter in verses 35-43… We witness a blind man sitting on the side of the road begging… Being Told Jesus is passing by… And his response is to shout with a loud voice: “Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me...”

There is a great expectancy in the presence of this star…

In the Gospel of Mark Chapter 1 verses 1-20… We find that even the demons have a great expectancy in the presence of this star… A legion of Demons possessed a man in the hills… And when Jesus simply gets off of the boat… We find in Mark 5:7 these demons cause the man to shout “at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!”

There is a great expectancy in the presence of this star…

These Magi… These Kings… These Wise Men… Simply enter into the presence of this star and are immediately filled with a great expectancy of what is to come…

The Dallas Cowboys headquarters facility was exciting… But that did not wake us up this morning… Food was in the refrigerator when we opened the door, but that did not give us the ability to lift our hands in worship… The lights turned on when we flipped the switch this morning, but that did not clothe us in our right mind…

But when I arrived at this house of worship this morning… Our bodies should have filled with a great expectancy of being in the presence of Jesus… Why…

Because like the songwriter states: when I think of the goodness of Jesus, and what he has done for me, my soul cries out, "Hallelujah!"

There is a Great Expectancy in the Presence of the Star

Transition # 3

Just like the Magi in this pericope… We must Follow the Star… We Must Arrive with a Great Expectancy of the Star… And finally… We must Worship the Star...

The Bible says in Matthew 2:11

Matthew 2:11 (NKJV)

And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

These Wise Men entered the home… Saw the young Child in his mother’s arms… And fell down in worship…

They fell down in worship at the birth of the son… represented by the rising of the sun…

The S-U-N may the the star of the Earth... but the S-O-N is the star of the universe… The S-U-N may provide light to the world… But the S-O-N is the Light of the World… The S-U-N provides heat to a cold world… But the S-O-N provides warmth to a cold heart… The S-U-N provides solar power… But the S-O-N has all power in His hands…

If you have not realized by now… This star we are talking about right now is no ordinary star in the sky… This star is not connected to your zodiac sign… This star is not a part of Orion’s belt… This star is the Son of God - Jesus Christ… Why now see why these Wise Men Followed the Star… Arrived with a Great Expectancy in the Presence of the Star… Now we see why they worshipped the star…

They knew of the words of the Prophet Isaiah… They knew of the words to Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace..”

These wise men followed the star with great expectancy so they could worship the one to be called Wonderful… The one to be called Counselor… The one to be called Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace…

And that’s good news for someone today… You might be experiencing the darkest of days you have ever witnessed… By you can call on the one who is to be called Prince of Peace… The one who spoke a word… and the wind ceist and the storms calmed… can calm the storms in your life…

These Magi worshipped the Jesus and presented him with their best gifts… Gold represented his royaltyc and kingship… Frankincense represented his deity and role as the High Priest… And Myrrh is an embalming oil that foreshadows Jesus’ death which would lead to his Resurrection…

We are to bring our best worship to the Lord… Why? I’m so glad you asked… Psalm 22:3 states “But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.” This signifies the Lord is sitted in our praise… The Lord lives in our praise… The Lord is exalted and lifted up in our praise…

We are to lift high the name of Jesus with our words of praise… We must also worship the Lord with our time, talent, and treasure… Worshipping the Lord in our service to His people… Worshipping the Lord in our presentation of administration and singing and leadership… Worshipping the Lord by bring our tithes and offering to the church so that we collectively do the mission of the Lord in our community… Presenting back to the Lord our best of what he has given to us is our ultimate form of Worship…

Closing

We hear a lot of “putting Christ back into Christmas...” The truth of the matter is Christmas has never not been about Christ… But we as believers MUST remember that Jesus IS the reason for the season… Jesus is the greatest gift given to this world… He was born to set the world free… He was wounded for our transgressions… He was bruised for our iniquities… The chastisement for our peace was upon Him… And by His stripes we are healed…

As we continue into this holiday season and the rest of our lives… We are reminded today that We are to Follow the Star… We are to Arrive with Great Expectancy of the Star… And we must also Worship the Star… Because If it had not been for the Lord on our side… Tell me where would we be…

Prayer

Sinner’s Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name. Amen

Benediction

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

May the Lord lift the light of His countenance upon you and give you His peace.

In your going out and your coming in.

In your labor and in your leisure.

In your joy and in your sorrow.

In your laughter and in your tears.

Until that day, when we meet the Lord face to face and cry HOLY HOLY HOLY to the Lord of Host.

Til that day, go in peace, Go in love, Go in joy.

May the very God of Peace, Love, and Joy go with you now and forevermore.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen!