Advent 2024 - Part 4 - The Arrival of The Savior - The Arrival of Love
Advent 2024 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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GREET EVERYONE-
Good Morning 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.
INVITATIONS
1 - Christmas Eve Candle light
2- Bible Reading Plan
3- Deep Dive
LETS GRAB OUR BIBLES IF YOU HAVE ONE AND
Open it to Matthew Chapter 1 today as we continue walking together through the season of Advent, a season to prepare together our hearts and minds - getting them ready to celebrate ONE of the two most important events in all of Human history -
The Birth of Jesus Christ -
The arrival of GOD in the flesh -
God - Who dwelt among us … Emanuel
NOW If you don’t have a bible or simply would like a new one!……..
PRAYER OVER SERIES
Is and will be that as we walk through the Scriptures and messages of Advent that one of two things would happen to us.
ONE - if we are a Jesus follower -
That the Gospel would be renewed in our hearts and minds -
That the need, the severity, the eternity issues of the gospel -
The calling of God, the importance and significance of the Gospel would be renewed in our hearts, minds and in our life and as a result..
we would more and more live for Him.
TWO - if you are here or watching on live stream and you would not necessarily consider yourself a follower of Jesus.
My prayer for you this season is that your heart and mind will hear from the scripture narrative that God loves you and the
Gods love would compel you,
Gods love would persuade you to turn your life over to His Son Jesus, Surrender to Jesus, receive Him as Lord, with all your sins forgiven, Filled with his love and forgiveness - Becoming His Child by the adoption of His Spirit, saved from His wrath, .
PRAYER OVER MESSAGE
My prayer over this mornings message is that as we hear of the Birth of Jesus, The Arrival of God’s immense and unending love for us.
A phenomenal event that we will be celebrating with family and friends here in just a few more days.
My prayer is that this week, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that we would experience the reality of God’s love through the child in the Manger.
and our response would be to love Him more and more -
That through this historical narrative this morning we would all see what happens when we love God in return. What our love for God can do and change in our lives when we love Him becasue He first loved us.
ENGAGEMENT –
Love -
What an interesting word in our life, in our culture and certainly in our experience.
It is interesting becasue Love has some interesting dynamics to it.
Both for those who love and for those who are loved.
There are very different kinds of Love.
There is the Love that Family shares -
Family like A mother and her children - A father and His children And that is a type of love.
In the Parent child relationship of love from Parent to child that love usually has some pretty distinct characteristic.
Here is what is interesting to think about - Love is not the same the other way around.
The love that a child has for His father is different that the father has for the Child -
The Love that a child has for their mom is different that the love what the mom has for the child.
What is interesting is that these love relationships are the first relationships that we encounter and the first love relationships that we experience.
And the characteristics of those relationships are not flowing the same in both directions.
When we get old enough, we begin to subconsciously realize this and we then set out to find relationships, all kinds of relationships that the characteristics of love flows in both directions.
WE develop a love language - We begin to seek out relationship that speak our language.
When that happens - Love becomes at some level conditional.
And this happens very early in life. usually on the playground.
the old we get the more equality we look for in love the more transactional love becomes -
and Love then begins to have boundaries - Love me this a way and I will love you in return - Because it becomes easy to love you and so I will.
And it makes us feel GOOD, Accepted, affirmed in who we are and love just for who we are.
And those that don't we don't have much of a relationship with.
and those that do we do.
TENSION
And there are two relationships that are in our lives that push against this in really big ways.
And when we take this framework of Love that it is Give and Take - Transactional - Love me the way I want to be loved and I will love you for it.
When we take this into our a marriage relationship.
We are in trouble - The relationship that we have with our spouse is totally and completely different that the relationship that we have with any other human being.
This is why the bible calls Marriage Holy - becasue Marriage is separate.
Here is the interesting thing - The Love we have in marriage is as closest to the kind of love that God has for us that we can possibly experience from another human.
The Other problem that we can so easily have, when we take the transactional kind of Love - This love me the way I want to be loved and I will love you back kinds of love into our relationship with God.
WE will miss understand and miss define the love of God and it will cause us to really have a hard time accepting the love that God has for us - ans as a consequence loving God becasue He first loved us.
The real love of God that He has for us.
And when we do that - IT can bring into our life difficulty trusting in the goodness and love of God that he has not only for us but for the whole world.
and in our relationship with God we put self in the middle instead of HIm who loves us and gave his life for us.
There is not a better narrative in all of Scripture that places this difficulty clearly on display than the Culmination narrative of this love God has for us made manifest in the Birth narrative of Jesus.
This historical narrative is captured for us by the Holy Spirit through the minds and pen of the tax collector Matthew and the Good Doctor Luke.
Who wrote for us the Gospels that bear their names.
UNPACKING
Lets begin to UN pack this -
As we do this I want us to read the collected narrative combined together as what it is ONE story. And than take a look at what is happening in this very real part of History.
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Luke 1:46–56 (ESV)
46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Here is what is interesting about these passages of Text -
There are three main characters introduced in this narrative -
Joseph, Jesus earthy dad. Not his Father, Rather what we would say - Not His Bio father but the Man who would carry the cultural and moral responsibility of being the Provider and protector of Jesus as a child as well as the man responsible of raising Jesus into adulthood.
Mary - The Virgin, young woman who is in a relationship with Joseph and clearly has a relationship with God.
An Angel or Angels - Named Gabriel in one part of the Story.
Then there are a couple of characters in the background of this narrative - God the Holy Spirit, God the Son, Jesus who is on His way into the world. And God the Father who is orchestrating all of this.
The Story begins with God and the events of this began all the way back in the Garden of Eden at the beginning of all things - A savior was needed and a savior was promised.
700 Years before it come to fruition it was prophesied by the Prophet Isaiah -
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.
and about 500 years before this God spoke though the Prophet Micah and said:
Micah 5:2–5 (ESV)
2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. 5 And he shall be their peace.
The Story had already begin long before these events - and to bring this needed and promised savior into the world God chooses a young girl, a virgin named Mary.
He sens the Angle Gabriel to announce to this young Girl that God is going to use her life for His purposes and His glory.
There are some very important things that happen in this conversation.
Gabriel shows up and and greets Mary Luke 1:28
28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
And on the surface one might think that if an Angel came to someone and said “Greeting o Favored one the Lord is with you” in our culture one might say - Why Yes The Lord is With me and I am Highly Favored!”
But what is interesting is that is not Marys response.
Mary is Afraid - Greatly Troubled the text says: and Why she is troubled is probably becasue She has not every seen an angle or heard an angel.
AN What she is trying to do is figure out what is happening here.
What is happening is God is calling Mary into service.
And that is what happens in the rest of this part of the story.
The Angel tells her exactly what is going to happen to her.
Watch what the Angel Says.
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Don’t be afraid.
You have found favor with GOD.
SO interesting that God is going to use this powerless, young, innocent Girl to change the world for His glory.
What is clearly implied here is that when God wants to use you - that is the favor of God.
Then Angel then says How God is going to Use her.
Your going to have a baby -
You will name him Jesus. You Baby will be great -
He will be called the Son of the Most High -
He will have a the throne of His great Great Great 14x great grandfather and he will have it forever.
Here is what is interesting - And it shoes that Mary is Just like us.
Mary doesn't look at all that the Angel has Just said about what will happen to her baby - What Mary does is Mary looks at her own life and the circumstances of her life and she questions - She doubts how God will do this.
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
The Angel explains not only HOW God will do this but that God has already done something miraculous in her cousins life.
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Nothing is Impossible for God.
God can -
God Will -
He is able -
He is powerful
He is Sovereign.
He has a plan for her and He has a plan for each one of us.
Mary is now left with a question in her own life, which many of us are faced with today.
That question is: Will we submit to the Sovereign authority, will and plan of God over your life?
Watch what Mary Says:
38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
I am a servant.
This is the word that Mary said in the Language of the New Testament - I am a slave of the master - Let it be to me, what was said.
She Submitted fully to the will and sovereign power, the sovereign will and sovereign plan of God.
Right here- as the power of God was on display and the direction of Her life would be permanently changed. She said “I am a servant of God”
Here is what is interesting - What was she serving God to do?
This was not a random - Serve God -
This was specific this was certain - this was life altering - this was transforming.
She was serving God to bring the savior to the World - This Good news that God so loves the world that He Gave his son.
She was serving God to bring Jesus to a lost and dying world.
and she said “Yes Lord”
It is so interesting that God brought salvation to the world - God brought the Gospel to us through an unplanned pregnancy!
Ya know - When God calls God never leaves things half done -
In the culture that Mary was living in, an unplanned pregnancy was not a thing that was OK.
And unplanned pregnancy was a crime - IT was a situation that in this culture required Death- Death by Stoning.
But ya know - God knew this - You see there was another that God would call - Another that God would use to bring glory to Himself - Another that God would call to serve Him and his purposes.
The man that Mary was committed to - The Man that was supposed to be her Husband.
Matthew records for us His part of how God unwrapped and unleashed His sovereign will and plan over Joseph Life.
Mary and Joseph are committed to each other to become Husband and wife. But they are not married yet and so in that culture - they are not supposed to “come together” and they had not -
But Marry was pregnant -
Now Try to explain that one!
In a culture where sexual behavior outside of marriage was a crime - a crime that was evidenced by an unplanned pregnancy -it was a capitol offence - that would bring shame down on her and her family and on Joseph on his family and would cause her and the person she had relationship with to both be stoned to death.
The Text says that Joseph was a just man and did not want to “put her to shame”
Here is what Joseph decided to do in the midst of his heartbreak and doubt and uncertainty.
He decides to call it all off and reject any relationship with her.
And really - That is probably what any one of us would do.
That is what it meant to divorce her quietly.
But God had a plan - God is sovereign - God had a calling for Joseph - God’s will and sovereign plan over Joseph’s life was to use Joseph for His glory and advance that plan that was launched thousands of years before in the Garden. God was going to bring glory to himself, advance that gospel and called Joseph into something so outside of His comfort zone to do it.
God had to say “DO not be afraid”
The same thing He had to say to Mary - “DO not be afraid”
And while Joseph was asleep God sent the Angel to speak to Joseph in the night.
Unfolding the plan -
Telling him that the Child was going to Save people from their sins - Telling him the good news that is embodied in this child that he would be responsible to bring into adulthood.
That his Child was foretold from of old and he will be God in the flesh - Emanuel - God with us.
Watch what Joseph does -
Joseph wakes up and the text says “He did as the angel commanded” He married Mary and when Jesus was born He called Him Jesus.
Here is what is interesting inside this narrative that I'm not sure many of us think about in this season -
Mary and Joseph both started out being called by God to advance the Gospel by being the instrument God used to begin Jesus to this lost and dying world. They were Both afraid - Unsure of what was happening and why.
But when they submitted it all changed - all the fear was Gone and they were transformed -
Watch what Mary says after she willingly submitted to the Soverign will and plan of God to use her life to advance the Gospel and bring salvation to the world -.
Luke 1:46–55 (ESV)
46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
You see Not only did they experience the Love of God in way they never did before - They began to love God becasue He first loved them
THE GOSPEL CONNECTION
Loved ones - Christmas is so much more that remembering a Baby in a manger - It is so much more than God bringing His only begotten Son into this world through the a young virgin and a fearful and uncertain Husband.
What we celebrate this and every Christmas season is the Arrival of Love.
Not only the love of God to us but the transforming power of the love of calling
A calling that opens us all up to the majesty of God and transforms us into His serving people - where we begin to Love him in the way he deserves and desires to be love - Worshiped with our soul, as he desires and deserves to be worshiped.
Transformed by Christmas - Changed by the history of the arrival of Jesus - Transformed by the Gospel - Transformed by the Child in the Manger - Transformed by Love.
This morning as we hear from the very heart of God.
God calling us to Surrender to His will and His plan for us.
Some of us this morning have heard over and over how the Child in the manger came into the world, dies for our sins and rose from the dead.
And in that we agree with those facts, but fear keeps us from total surrender - Fear keeps us from saying yes lord. Fear keep put us in one small gap away from fully experiencing the Love of God and love for God.
For you although you agree with the facts of History - You agree with the facts of Christmas - You have never surrendered you life to the Child in the manger - You have not surrendered to Him being in charge of your life - as Lord and master
and although you can proclaim the love of God you might be hard pressed to proclaim the love for God that your are missing in your life.
Hear the calling of God this morning - Fear not - For this Child has come to save you and God’s people from their Sins -
Surrender to the full plan of God- An act the Bible calls Repentance - Turn to this Child in the Manger - God receive This Child in the manger as Lord and see God close the gap in you experiencing God and your love for Him becasue He first loved you.
Some of us have submitted to the sovereign call and will of God - but there is uncertainty in how that will all work out.
Some of us Doubt that it is possible becasue of the circumstances we can see.
Hear the call of Christmas this season loved one -
“All things are possible with God”
Hear the Transforming call to advance the Gospel - As Mary and Joseph were called to bring Jesus into this world - You and I are called by God to bring Jesus to this world - For this is why the Child in the Manger was born - This is why the Child in the manger was sent - This is why Christmas is to be celebrated -
The Child in the manger came To change the world
He came to change you and me
He came to change all of us.
and He came all for the Glory and majesty of God who sits on His throne in Heaven - Sovereign ruling over all.
PRAYER TEAM
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