Renewed Hope
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Jesus is Born
Jesus is Born
At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire.
(This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.)
All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census.
And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee.
He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.
She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.
Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified,
but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.
The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!
And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.
After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.
All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished,
but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.
The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
The Birth of Jesus is what we celebrate today. We celebrate it because Jesus is God’s answer to sin and death.
When Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve. God promised a saviour, someone who would come and defeat the sin and death. Jesus came to save us, to heal us, to restore us. to break off all the wounds and lies we have incurred due to sin.
Sin has completely broken humanity. Hatred, rage, immorality, broken relationships, evil words, Isolation, hurt, wars, slander, lies, greed, power, sex, drugs alcohol. child abuse, violence, divorce, abortion, Gender confusion. hatred towards God. Injustice, Lack of hope, lack of life. Government confusion. Authority and Identity crisis
We need a saviour!
Jesus is born into this world… The reality of what surrounded Jesus wasn’t lost on Him.
The task at hand was huge.
Jesus comes in the form of a baby lying in a manger. Born to humble parents. A young girl Mary and her new husband Joseph. Alone, isolated. they have Jesus in Bethlehem.
Even though the odds were set against them, God fulfilled His promise to us. He said He would make a way. A way for restoration and life. A way that would defeat every foe that stood against us His treasure. You and Me.
For God so loved us that He made a way through His only Son Jesus to restore us back to Him. That through Him we would have eternal life. Life and Life in abundance. That even though sin and death wreaked havoc, Now Jesus would crush the enemy and His victory and bring freedom to the captives, and healing to us today!
You see Jesus loves us, because God Loves us. God loves us because He choose us. He created us He made us.
Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
God created us, we are the work of His hands. We carry the breath of God in our lungs.
Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.
God Created us He formed us.
We turned away from God. We rejected the Fathers plan for our lives
Today Jesus calls us back to Him.
He wants to wrap His hands around us like clay and mold us into what He designed us to be. It is our choice today to allow it or not.
So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel.
But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.
Then the Lord gave me this message:
“O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.
King David understood this well
O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.
You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!
I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—
but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!
So our make and Model belong to the Lord.
There is no question about the miracle we are, our bodies mind and soul are the most amazing, and beautiful thing in God’s creation. We were Created for His Glory.
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
God’s work is perfect. He doesn’t make mistakes!
Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
The problem isn’t the creator or His creation, It is what His creation allows into their vessels. It is what fill ourselves up with.
These Jars are meant to hold things, they are also meant to dispense, or pour out things.
What are we allowing into our jars? What is overflowing in us?
If someone were to accidently run into you what would come out? what would spill out?
Sin has worked hard to destroy us. But Christ is here to day to restore us. To remake us, renew our hope and life.
We must choose to empty ourselves of all the junk in us that is polluting and contaminating us.
We need to Ask Jesus to come into us and clean us!
He promises He will clean us and make us whole.
And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you.
For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.
All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
What is in us matters. Our work is to make sure we close the doors or the words that we allow into our lives and open our hearts to the truth of God’s word.
Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.
Hold on to the truth! let go of the lie.
Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.
As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth.
It is our choice. You can choose today. Today God is calling you to come to Him. Its time to stop running
But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.
For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
God has designed you for great things. Its time to turn back to Him and walk into the destiny God has for you.
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
You were made to be a vessel of great Honor.
Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
You are a child of God!
Today I invite you to respond to Jesus. You hear Him call your name, come to the altar this morning.
Let us return to Him.
Today is the day all the junk of the past of sin of death gets deleted by the power of the Blood of Jesus
Lets come down and worship God! Lets seek His face ! Let us set ourselves apart!
