Behold The SAVIOR

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SERIES DESCRIPTION: In this series called Behold, Pastor Shawn and Krista highlight the importance of keeping our focus during the holiday season. This week P. Shawn explores Luke 2:1-20 as scripture reminds us to behold the Savior.

Altar Instructions: Please come up when when I begin the 3rd point. and Play when you get up there.

Series | Behold

Pre-Message Welcome

Grace Place family! It’s awesome to have you here with us today, whether in person or online.

I’m Shawn, and along with my wife, we serve as the Co-Pastors of this incredible church.

At The Grace Place, our mission is clear: we are Caring People, Caring for People.

We pray that you experience God’s care in our time together and in your life.

Spanish Welcome - 2nd Service ONLY!

A nuestra familia de habla hispana .... Bienvenidos… es-pera-mos que usted… y su familia.. se-sien-tan bien a-tend-idos también.

To our Spanish speaking family... welcome, we hope you and your family feels cared for as well.

Before we get into the message today….

Download Sermon Notes in CC app

Transition: This week we are starting a brand new series called…

Series | Behold

Before I get into the message…. this is a great season to invite our family and friends.

Share the Christmas Event in the Church Center app with family and friends

I Love this word…

BEHOLD

When I think of this word in a spiritual sense and break it a part - it breaks down into two words.

The word…

Be

and the word…

Hold

***CLAY KEEP ALL THEE OF THESE ON THE SCREEN TOGETHER AS I TALK BOUT THIS WORD(S)

To BE

Speaks of your undistracted presence.

To HOLD

Speaks of your ability to take in…. to grasp…. and I want to add this… with ALL your senses.

We are losing the art of seeing with all our senses… with the distraction of phones and the addiction to multitasking many have lost the ability to give themselves to another.

And before we go any further, let me tell you why this matters for you — because if you can learn to truly BEHOLD, you’ll actually experience Him in a way that can transform your life.

You won’t just blindly, be around friends and fmaily this holiday season, you will experiance them… all of who they are.

Now.. if we’re being real… thats not to say there aren’t some family members you might want to check out on :)

1st STORY:

Just the other night Krista and I we’re watching a show and I was on my phone while the show was playing… and she said did you SEE THAT? I instinctively said YES becuase I was hearing what was going on..

The question is…. did I BEHOLD with all my senses? I have to say… NO I WAS NOT :)

I was just listening… so whatever I was suppose to capture with my eyes I missed.

I wonder how often we miss the life God is inviting us to experiance… all becuase we are NOT FULLY Present with all 5 of our senses?

In Lk 2 … God invites us to BE - HOLD as we arrive at the birth story of Jesus. This story is found in

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

Here Jesus is Born… his mom wraps him up and puts Him in a manger

Picking up the story in v.8 it says…

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for BEHOLD, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a SAVIOR, who is Christ the Lord.

12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Hello! Could you imagine that… ! 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “LET US GO OVER TO BETHLEHEM AND SEE this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, GLORIFYING AND PRAISING GOD for all they had HEARD and SEEN, as it had been told them.

***Feel free to encourage people to listen to the Holy Spirit speak to them personally as the message is preached

LETS PRAY

YOU CAN WALK OFF THE STAGE WHEN YOU SAY AMEN

Transition: the title of our message today is...

Sermon Title | Behold the SAVIOR

Introduction

We see in our text that…

These Shepherds we’re captivated… by Angelic beings… that said… COME BEHOLD a SAVIOR

Friends.. BEHOLDING the SAVIOR will something for us…. If your taking notes the 1st thing IN YOUR NOTES…. is this

The Savior will CAPTIVATE you v.10-11

Yea… in the middle of their every day life… the shepherds are just working doing their thing… here comes an ANNOUNCEMENT that will eventually be echoed throughout all time.

COME BEHOLD a SAVIOR

How many of you think this CAPTURED their attention?

We have an entire season that much of the world celebrates… and with as many distractions as there are during this time of the year… The SAVIOR is STILL CAPTIVATING HEARTS…

The angels are still crying… COME…. BEHOLD A SAVIOR!

Don’t forget to Behold the beauty of CHRIST with all of our sense this Holiday Season… through all the gifts he has given us…

Behold the lights, the touch and laughter of framily, AND the aroma food, can I get a big AMEN

Its all been given to us… to ENJOY.

IN YOUR NOTES…

Christmas is an invitation to SEE. v. 25

Many will not take Jesus up on this invitation…

Many things will try and distract you from this GREAT invitation to BEHOLD… with all of you.

Here is the question I believe scripture is inviting us to ask ourselves today…

Question: What can you do to lessen the distractions in this season?

What have you allowed to trap attention, that is causing you to miss out on SEEING all the SAVIOR has for you in this season…

The title of our message is…

Sermon Title | Behold the SAVIOR

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BEHOLDING the SAVIOR does something to us. If your taking notes the 2nd thing IN YOUR NOTES…. is this

The Savior will CONVINCE you v. 15

He does all he can to CONVINCE you to come take a look… he puts the ball in your court

We see this in v. 15 of our text as it tells us…

When the Shepherds got the news… they we’re CONVINCED and said… Lets GO SEE for ourselves.

We see the Shepherds accepted the INVITATION… to BEHOLD the SAVIOR

Imagine what it was like to BE Fully present…. no distractions

As the entered the Stable in the presence of Jesus.

Imagine what it was like to HOLD

To take in with all their senses

To SEE with their EYES

Hear with their EARS

The LIVING word of God moan and cry out for the very first time… into the world…

To FEEL with their SOUL

The very physcal presence of God

The heart beating in their chest…

as they God in the flesh…

Everything… EXACLY as the ANGELS DESCRIBED.

Absolutely CAPTIVATED as they BEHELD the SAVIOR

Church…

Everyone one of us is invited to take the SHEPHERDS JOURNEY to be CAPTIVATED and SEE for ourselves.

No one can make this decision for you.

This VERY MOMENT… we can BE HOLD the SAVIOR with all we are

He will CONVINCE us

Of our sin…WAKE US UP from our blindness

REVEAL our need of a savior

IN YOUR NOTES…

Christmas is an invitation to HEAR. v. 25

Not just to SEE the savior but HEAR what tHe’s saying

He is hear to CONVINCE your heart… that…

He IS REAL

He SAVES

He delivers…

He heals

I don’t know what you need convincing of today… but the SAVIOR is here for you today

The angels are crying out to you BEHOLD the SAVIOR

Here is the question I believe scripture is inviting us to ask ourselves today…

Question: What would it look like for you to listen with all senses?

What could be different in your life as you cut out distractions… to BEHOLD … the SAVIOR

The title of our message is…

Sermon Title | Behold the SAVIOR

Church Everything the angel had told them was true.

But what would they do with this incredible moment as God moved on their HEART to CONVINCE them…

Well… we see a small clue in v 20… it tells us

v. 20 The Shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen

It wasn’t enough to TRUST what the ANGLES said… JESUS wanted them to ENCOUNTER his PRESENCE… PERSONALLY… he knew that ENCOUNTER WOULD DO SOMETHING TO THEM… and it did as they went home PRAISING GOD!

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BEHOLDING the SAVIOR will do will do something to you… If your taking notes today… the LAST thing is this…

The Savior will CHANGE you. v.20, Prov. 21:5

The SAME way he CHANGED the Shepherds…

BEHOLDING the SAVIOR will CHANGE YOU.

When you ENCOUNTER the savior… things will be different.

Oh Yes… you will have to repent - admit your sin… but you will start yours days off with JOY rather than SHAME.

Your dark days will turn bright

IN YOUR NOTES…

Christmas is an invitation to CHANGE . v. 25

There is no doubt Beholding the savior will CHANGE you.

The Angel Cry’s out NOT to the Sheperd today… but to you… and they say…

BE-HOLD the Savior…

It’s Gods invitation for you to… experiencing the PRESENCE of the Savior at every level of your senses…

Here is the question I believe scripture is inviting us to ask ourselves today…

Question: Who will benefit most when your changed?

Yea… When Christ transforms you from living a distracted life… to a person who learns to BE HOLD… who will it benefit…?

Some of you might say ME…. if JESUS COULD SAVE ME I WOULD benifit GREATLY

For others.. you might say…

Your marriage, family, career, finances, or whatever your pain point is

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So today… if you do NOT know Jesus as your Lord and Savior today is your day…

Salvation Altar Call

I believe Jesus is here today, and He wants to save you.

Salvation is about believing

Believing in Jesus means trusting what He say’s—about sin, and eternal punishment, thats the bad news.

It’s also believing

The good news is this… that His death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins, making us right with God.

Ephesians 2:8 reminds us: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Salvation requires two things:

1. God’s Grace—His undeserved gift of forgiveness and life because of His love for you.

2. Faith—placing your trust in Him for salvation.

If you’ve never asked Jesus to save you, today is your day. If you’d like ask him… , raise your hand.

I want to invite you to Repeat a prayer after me

· There is nothing magical in this prayer.. it simply is a way of declaring to Jesus what has taken place in your heart.

Here is how I would like to end the service for everyone else….

Call to Action Altar Call

We’re going to end the service with A question as we do nearly every week.

ALL ACROSS THE ROOM – HAS THE HOLY SPIRIT spoken to you in anyway today?

LETS PRACTICE TODAY… to BE HOLD

Isn’t it wild how so many of us long for the holidays, time with family… yet we allow technology to rob us of our ability to

BE- and bring our undistracted presence

Hold-to capture and in with all our sense

SONG

Going Deeper

What stuck out to you the in this passage? v. 1-20

What can you do to lessen the distractions in this season?

What would it look like for you to listen with all senses?

Who will benefit most when your changed?

What might the Holy Spirit be saying to you in light of this teaching?

How might the Holy Spirit want to transform you in light of this teaching?

What actions might the Holy Spirit want to take in light of this teaching?

Tongues & Interpretation

1. To STRENGTHEN the Church (1 Cor14:5)

For prophecy is greater than SPEAKING in TONGUES, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be STRENGTHENED.

Believers, God has operated through this gift today to strengthen you today. Let your faith be strengthened and know that God is in control and using supernatural measures to speak to us.

2. Is a SIGN for unbelievers. (1Cor. 14: 21a, 22)

1 Corinthians 14:21–22 (ESV)

In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.

22 -  So you see that speaking in tongues is a SIGN, not for believers, but for UNBELIEVERS.

The Bible explains to us God has chosen to use this gift to be a sign for you. A sign for what? It is a sign of his realness for those of you who have been doubting or questioning the existence of God. He wants you to know he is REAL and he wants to bring you spiritual life and health. If you're in here today and you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior... he wants you to know he has gone to great lengths to show you his love today. (Great opportunity for a salvation altar call if it fits).