Christmas Sermon Notes (2)

Christmas Series Notes File

Week 3 and 4 - Ruth and Isaiah 61 starter Notes

???OTHER STUFF:

But today I think there are three primary responses

Christmas in the Story of Redemption

Jesus didn’t come just to be an example of good works and to stir up holiday spirit year after year but to bless the nations by bringing them into fellowship with God.

1. Amazement — but no movement

Passage: Luke 2:18

“All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”

Many heard the news and were impressed—but amazement did not necessarily become obedience or

5. Hostility and Fear

Passage: Matthew 2:3

“When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.”

Herod hears “king” and feels threatened. Christmas is dangerous to those who cling to control.

4. Costly Seeking

Passage: Matthew 2:1–2, 10–11 The Magi travel far, give generously, and bow in worship. Those who truly seek Christ are willing to inconvenience themselves.

Isaiah 61

Isaiah 61 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; but you shall be called the priests of the Lord; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.”

WORD Liberty: Also translated release.

“Apfee-ame- “to let go”.

One of the most common words in the NT.

Translate is “you let something go”. You can release them of their transgression.

If someone did something wrong… you ought to possess them. You owe me.

“Recompense”… or you can owpen your hands and say “I release you”.

But words basic meaning means “release”.

Often it’s “release from bondage”.

Word used here.

Something tied up.. you untie it so it can go free.

One of the highest density places of “torah””year of release”./

Is year of “release” or “Year of Jubilee”.

Word release is a synonym.

Thtmesee in the bible often have many words tied back with one word.

The idea, and core idea is the “transfer of ownership” to it’s rightful place.

Say your a slave.

I come and buy, and save you and free you.

But if you want something wher I come to save you… It’s called “Salvation” or “release”.

KEY WORD in all the healing narratives.

(https://blog.truthforlife.org/more-than-a-nativity-scene-christmas-in-gods-story-of-redemption#:~:text=The%20nativity%20scene%20reflects%20for,an%20announcement%20of%20good%20news!)

OTHER STUFF:

One day Jesus was teaching on sabbath. There was a woman of 18 years by a sickness affected.

She was a “hunchover” . She cannot straighten herself up.

“Stooped over” are also images associated with slavery.

“Waliking upright” is typically images for the Jesus life.

Jesus calls her over, and says you are “released” or “free” from your sickness.

It’s owning you… and it’s not your rightful owner.

Death is claiming ownership over you… and that’s not right.

She is owned by “death” the “spirit of death”. She is “captive”.

No methphors here…

Imediately she stood up. and praised God.

Certain religions officials get frustrated.

Wouldn’t you feed your animals and give them nourshipment.

This woman is a daughter of Abraham, and Satan has tied her up for 18 years.

Shouldn’t she be “released” on the Sabbath day!? Of all days… yes!

What was her enemy.

The same one Zechariah promised the new messiah would redeem them.

Seeing their trust.

He says your sins are “released” for you.

Verb isn’t present tense… its your sins “have been” released for you.

The guy wants healing… but its not just physical… its ultimately spiritual!

We are spiritual slaves which affects

Luke 1 “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose…”

A year of jubilee

The 50th Year of Jubilee — Redemption Reset by God

Primary Passage

Leviticus 25:8–17, 23–28, 39–55 (especially vv. 10, 23–25)

“You shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you…” (Lev 25:10)

What the Jubilee Was

The Year of Jubilee occurred every 50th year, following seven cycles of seven years (7×7 = 49). It was not merely economic policy—it was theological.

In Jubilee:

Land returned to its original family owners

Debts were effectively released

Israelite slaves were freed

Families were restored to inheritance

The land rested again

This was God’s way of saying:

Nothing is permanently lost when I am your Redeemer.

The Key Redemption Principle

Leviticus 25:23 (Core Theology)

“The land must not be sold permanently, because the land belongs to me; you are foreigners and temporary residents with me.”

Meaning:

Israel never truly owned the land

God did

Redemption was possible because ownership ultimately rested with God

This frames redemption not as charity, but as restoration of what God always intended.

Jubilee and the Kinsman-Redeemer (Go’el)

Property redemption

Family restoration

Redemption could happen:

Immediately through a redeemer

Eventually through JubileeWEEK 1 — Matthew 1:17 (Part 1)

INTRO

This past week we celebrated Thanksgiving.

Anyone ever stuck your foot in your mouth.

You said something… that didn’t make sense etc..

Imagine for a moment if you and I going through life… said some crazy things...

LIKE…

MAYBE… Your kids ask, “Can we get McDonald’s?” and you sigh deeply, “But at what cost?”

MAYBE… Your spouse says, “Can you take the trash out?” and you hold up your hand and say “So let it be written!”

Or tomorrow moring you roll out of bed… and say “So it has come to this.. huh...

What about if next friday when Someone suggests going out for dinner… your reply is “In this economy, are you serious?

These are corny…

But it could be this morning that “as the prophets foretold” may be in this category!

In the Old Testament when we read, ‘as the prophets foretold,’ that was ACTUALLY serious business. It wasn’t a game, a funny oops moment. It meant something.

When the prophets foretold something... It signaled that God was speaking, directing, correcting, or promising something that would change the course of history.”

“And this morning, I want to show you how Christmas is the moment where God keeps His greatest promise…”

This Season

Hopefully you enjoyed:

Basic things to be grateful for.

Like we talked about last week - with as difficult as the Pilgrims had it even they stopped to give thanks.

More than the stuff - I hope you paused to thank your father.

We are about to enter: … A Season called “Advent”

Advent = “Adventcus” latin = “Coming

Advent means "coming" and refers to the four-week period of preparation in the Christian church leading up to Christmas. It is a season of hope, joy, peace, and love that involves celebrating Jesus' birth, but also anticipates his eventual Second Coming

Advent reminds us that God always fulfills His promises. We are called to wait quietly, patiently, and expectantly, trusting God's perfect timing. By looking back at God's faithfulness, we can have hope today, knowing that Christ will come again just as He promised. What led up to Jesus Birth

Passage

Matthew 1:17–18 “So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. 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.”

Matthew 1:15–16 “and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”

If your like me you skip over these “generations passages”.

Boring.

Here we see lineage, we see tracability, we see a path, someone biulding a case.

Then we hear about Jesus.

Right after this we see the christmas story. Next week we will continue.

This week:

The Prophets Foretold

Prophecy Meaning

What is a prophecy!?

Funny Prophecies:

“Behold, the light shall remain red for exactly as long as you are running late.”

“In the morning hours, before the sun has risen, there shall be no peace until the sacred bean is brewed.”

How Many Prophecies

Did you know that Scholars range between 300 456, 574 references the coming messiah

But hundreds of prophecies have been talked about for many years..

Do we only include “direct messianic prophecies”

“Repeated prophecies twice”?

“Do we include allusions and indirect references to Jesus ministry”?

The Signs Were Telling!

Right before the messiah came… there was a period of SILENCE.

The 400 years of silence refers to the time between the Old Testament and New Testament, during which, so far as we know, God did not speak—no Scripture was written. The 400 years of silence began with the warning that closed the Old Testament: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse" (Malachi 4:5-6) and ended with the coming of John the Baptist, the Messiah’s forerunner.

What came before Jesus coming as a baby?

At the time of Malachi’s warning, about 430 B.C., the Jews had returned to Israel from the Babylonian captivity and around the time Nehemiah helped finish the walls. The Medo-Persian Empire  did still rule Israel.

Both the Law and the priesthood of Aaron’s line had been restored, and the Jews had given up their worship of idols. Nevertheless, Malachi’s warning was not without cause. however, the Jewish people were mistreating their wives, marrying pagans and not tithing, and the priests were neglecting the temple and not teaching the people the ways of God. In 333 B.C., around 100 years later, Israel fell to the Greeks, and in 323 B.C. it fell to the Egyptians. Soon they adopted the Greek language and many of the Greek customs and manners, and in Egypt the Old Testament was translated into Greek. That translation, the Septuagint, came into widespread use (and is quoted frequently in the New Testament). Jewish law and the priesthood remained more or less intact until Antiochus the Great of Syria captured Israel in 204 B.C. After that there was persecution, fighting, ending with in 47 BC Caesar installed Antipater a descendant of Esau, as procurator of Judea.. and he… appointed his two sons as local governors over Galilee and Judea… Right here in the passage we read…

As the New Testament opens, Antipater’s son, Herod the Great, a descendant of Esau, was king, and the priesthood was politically motivated and not of the line of Aaron.

Politics resulted in the development of two major factions, the Sadducees and the Pharisees.

The Sadducees favored the liberal attitudes and practices of the Greeks. The Pharisees were conservative zealots who, with the help of the scribes, developed religious law to the point where the concerns and care of people were essentially meaningless. Additionally, synagogues, new places of worship and social activity, had sprouted up all over the country Between the time of Malachi and the coming of the Messiah, several prophecies were fulfilled, including the 2,300 days of desecration between 171 and 165 B.C. (Daniel 8:14). However, the people did not put to good use either the fulfilled prophecies nor the 400 years the nation was given to study Scripture, to seek God (Psalm 43-44), and to prepare for the coming Messiah. In fact, those years blinded and deafened the nation to the point where most of the Jews could not even consider the concept of a humble Messiah.

One of the prophecies was:

Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Jesus humbly comes… as king.

NOT WHAT PEOPLE EXPECTED… IF I WERE GOD I WOULD...

Matthew Henry: Christ came lowly so none could fear coming to Him.

Clarke: Kingship wrapped in humility.

Expositor’s: Matthew intentionally contrasts Herod the tyrant with Jesus the humble King.

In this scene Jesus comes.

He steps down to our world. Into. Taking on… entering.

But before that seaason… there is this LONG PERIOD...

REALLLLYYYYY REALLLYYY LONNNGGGG!

Waiting

You ever waited for something?

The patriarchs - Abraham, Issac, and Jacob - waited

-those in egypt and eventually the wilderness waited

-sul through solomon waited

-while they were in captiivty in babylon they waited.

-Daniel, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, waited for a soon coming king.

But how would we know the king was here?

Check Engine Light:

On my way down to NC I had a check engine light.

I had it for a number of weeks and eventually got in to get it worked on.

Got so bad I had to get down there. I had a bad sensor.

I remember that long drive.

I longed to get there.

Now I’ve all but forgotten. But that was a long stressful trip!

The Longing...

Losing keys, searching for a package, hunting for a child’s toy—everyone knows the feeling of searching.

Spiritually, we do the same thing: searching for meaning, help, hope, purpose, forgiveness.

Today we long…

Talk about many things people long for...

a roof

a home

a toy or new movie release

a “new to us” car or truck.

seeing riend!

Make direct references here to times of old, seeing other loved ones.

(Isaiah 11:1 “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”

The tree was dead… would Israel ever bud again?

They were now subbject to the romans. But God was just about to come on the scene!

2 Samuel 7:12 “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.”

Key Prophecies

Birth and lineage

Birthplace:

-Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2 “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.”

-Mother: Born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

-Lineage: Descendant of David and Judah (Isaiah 11:1 “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” 2 Samuel 7:12 “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.”

-Name: Called "Emmanuel" (God with us) (Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Life and ministry

-Messenger: Preceded by a messenger (Malachi 3:1 ““Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.”

-Entry into Jerusalem: Entered the city on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

-Miracles: Performed miracles (Isaiah 35:5–6 “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;”

-Rejection: Rejected by his own people, with the prophecy of the "rejected cornerstone" (Psalm 118:22 “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

Death and resurrection

-Suffering: Suffered and died for the sins of humanity (Isaiah 53:5-6, Isaiah 53:10 “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.”

-Betrayal: Betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9 “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.”

-Crucifixion: Crucified with his hands pierced (Psalm 22:16 “For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—”

-Burial: Buried with the rich, despite being a pauper (Isaiah 53:9 “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.”

-Price: Sold for 30 pieces of silver, with the money being returned to the temple treasury and used to buy a potter's field (Zechariah 11:12–13 “Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter.”

-Resurrection: Was raised from the dead and would live forever (Psalm 16:10 “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.”

Other prophecies

-Eternal nature: The Messiah is eternal and existed before his birth (Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Micah 5:2 “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.”

-Spirit of God: The Spirit of the Lord would rest on him (Isaiah 11:2 “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”

-A light to the nations: Would be a light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:6 “he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.””

Improbability of Prophecy Fulfillment

Its incredible… but real!

Peter Stoner’s Classic Calculation

A mathematician named Peter Stoner famously calculated the probability of one man fulfilling just 8 of the Messianic prophecies.

His result:

1 chance in 10^17

(That’s 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000)

He illustrated it like this:

Cover the state of Texas in silver dollars, two feet deep. Mark one coin. Mix them. Blindfold a man. Have him pick one coin at random. The chance he picks the marked coin is the same as one man fulfilling just 8 prophecies.

Jesus fulfilled over 300 major and minor prophecies.

Probability for 48 Prophecies

Stoner then expanded to 48 prophecies (still far less than Jesus fulfilled).

1 chance in 10^157

That number is so large it’s virtually impossible to illustrate — it exceeds the total atoms in the observable universe (~10^80).

3. The Reality

Jesus didn’t just fulfill 8… or 48… He fulfilled every single Messianic prophecy — more than 300.

Mathematically:

**Humanly impossible.

Historically undeniable.

Jesus = The Fulfillment!!

What this means?

This morning if your in a period of longing, or waiting… Jesus can use it and is working out his plan

Avent Means…

Advent Means Hope Has Finally Arrived – Jesus is the end of the search.

WRAPUP

Today while Jesus has come we have reflected some on the “In-Between”.

A> if your in the in between… there is a resolution.

ADD STORY HERE ABOUT A RESOLUTION IN MUSIC AND HOLDING OUT NOTES ETC...

The In-Between is what we are all in… until that final day in glory.

B> If we are still searching - we can look to Jesus!

C> Advent Brings Encouragement!

In music, a rest is just as important as a note. If the musician ignores the rest, the whole song falls apart.

Full Illustration:

“A music teacher once told her students, ‘The hardest part of the music isn’t the notes — it’s the rests.’

Rests feel like nothing is happening. They’re silent. They feel empty.

But without them, the song loses its shape. The composer put the silence there on purpose.

Advent is like the rest in the music of God’s story.

After 400 years of silence, the Composer wasn’t absent — He was setting the stage for the next movement.

When you feel like God is quiet, remember: The silence is part of the song.”

Christmas - The Final Movement

“No one judges a symphony halfway through. The first movement might be slow, dark, or confusing — but the composer wrote it that way for a reason.

Only when the final movement arrives do you see the beauty of how everything fits together.

Israel was living in the tension of movement three. Christmas is when the final movement began.”

What this means:

Because of this Jesus

Who came, lived, died, and rose from the dead...

This christmas we can have what many pastors talk about at ADVENT.

Hope - As jesus stepped into our world he brought with it. Hope. Of an eternal joy that he was with us and we with him forever!

DL MOODY “Christ is the true light that dispels the world’s darkness. Every step toward Him is a step toward hope.”

The present curse of sin doesn’t have to be the final say. The chains of sin, and addiction aren’t the final curse… Jesus came to break us from what binds, from poor choices, from broken relationships. To offer hope! There is another way. Joy

Jesus offers us joy because - while our circumstances may change. He will never change, and he - the giver of all grace promises to be with us. Advent is God’s message breaking through history: “Good news of great joy.” The KING has come!

CRAIG GROSHEL - “Joy isn’t based on what happens. It’s based on who arrived.” “Happiness is a feeling. Joy is a focus.”

We can have true joy - because the joy giver is now here - God with us.

He can redeem us, we aren’t hopeless, we can be forgiven, our past doesn’t have to become our present, our future can be secured in Him!

Entering into ur world… knowing seeing, redeeming our story one life at a time.

Peace

“Peace is what happens when God’s kingdom breaks in and reorders the world.”

Ever been in a home that wasn’t at peace. You knew it and everyone around you knew it.

While we may search - It’s only until we find the prince of peace will we find everything we’ve ever been longing for.

C.S. Lewis said - “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

LASTING peace in our hearts, homes, and churches! In our communities, and in our workplaces! Jesus has come to offer PEACE!

Love - Jesus is the

Athanasius - a church father - said: “He became what we are, that He might make us what He is.”

What God would come to earth and die… for their creation.

NONE!

But God…

DL MOODY _ “If you want to know how much God loves you, look at the cradle; if you want to know how much He loves you still, look at the cross.”

JOHN WESLEY - “O Love divine, what hast Thou done! The immortal God hath died for me.”

C.S Lewis - “The Incarnation is God’s act of love: the Author wrote Himself into the story.”

Toy Soldiers into God’s - CS L

Lewis’s original idea (exact quote):

“Let’s suppose I were to try to make myself into a horse. One thing I shouldn’t be able to do would be to make all the horse’s nature into mine. I couldn’t put myself — my human nature — into the shape of a horse.” – Mere Christianity (Book 4, Ch. 5)

Then he expands it:

“If I were a toy-maker, and I made little toy soldiers, I could not by simple force of will turn those toys into real people. They are too unlike me. The only way would be to become one of them.” – Paraphrase of Lewis’s illustration in Mere Christianity

Even more vivid:

“A man can no more make himself into God than a toy soldier can make itself into a man.” – Mere Christianity

Use this to set up: If a toy soldier cannot climb up into humanity… then humanity cannot climb up into divinity. So divinity had to come down.

Now…

Pause.

IMAGINE A 3D BEING ENTER A 2D WORLD.

explanations about the Incarnation:

“If you picture a 3-dimensional person entering a 2-dimensional world, what would he look like? First a line, then a blob, then two circles… The people living in Flatland would have no category for a real person.” – Lewis referencing Flatland in lectures and essays

You can paraphrase the concept this way (preachers do):

“To Flatland, a real human would look impossible. To humanity, God in human flesh looked impossible. And yet… He came.”

From Miracles (the “Grand Miracle”):

“The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation… God the Creator, making Himself a creature.” – Miracles, Ch. 14

From Mere Christianity:

“The Eternal Being, who knows everything and created the whole universe, became not only a man but before that a baby, and before that a fetus inside a woman’s body.” – Mere Christianity (Book 4, Ch. 5)

What Christmas is

The Christmas Story is God’s act of love— the Author wrote Himself into His own story to rescue the characters who could never rescue themselves.”

You can’t Rescue you.

I can’t rescue me.

Because of my sin, pride, and selfishness. I’m isolated from God.

I needed rescued.

You need rescued.

This morning there’s hope.

Jesus can re-write your story.

Into: Love, Joy, Peace, — Giving you . HOPE.

Wrap up - Hope is “Jesus”

“This Christmas, everyone is searching. The question is: Have you found what you’re really looking for? Hope has a name—Jesus.”

Close in Prayer

How would you enter?

A king should arrive with armies, trumpets, banners—

But Jesus comes as a baby in poverty.

LUKES POINT: Jesus came in humility

In Philippians 2:8 - It says he humbled himself and became man.

Why did jesus come this way?

It was intended to show forth how we come to God.

Unless we come as children we cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Humility, Simplicity, and Helplessness of a Child helps us picture how we come to God.

Story

A research was done to see how kids view Christmas

only 1% said they only enjoyed it a little. 99% said they really really enjoyed it.

It was surpirising what they found out.

#1 - wasn’t presents, it was they liked not having to go to school

#2 presents

#3 spending time with family

#4 candy...e tc.

Christmas is in many ways a childs holiday.

Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

If you were God...

Would you have come down to man like this?

If I would’ve done it I would’ve come as a full man and

Key Commentary Themes

Matthew Henry: Christ came lowly so none could fear coming to Him.

Clarke: Kingship wrapped in humility.

Expositor’s: Matthew intentionally contrasts Herod the tyrant with Jesus the humble King.

A look at the Manger

This morning I want to look at a manger and what it can teach us about Christmas, and Jesus.

1. The manger was dirty.

Yes, we may be sure that Joseph and Mary cleaned it up as best they could. They, no doubt, padded it in some way to make a comfy little bed. But there is no way to romanticize this bed into anything other than a feeding trough for slobbering animals. The first bed for the Son of God was not a royal cradle. It was a common corn crib. It’s meant to hold scraps to be eaten.

2. The manger was planned.

At first, you might think it was a fluke of fate — a random misfortune. Because Luke says Mary “laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). But the way Luke tells the story, that won’t work.

“The first bed for the Son of God was not a royal cradle. It was a common corn crib.”

God had centuries to get ready for this birth. The prophet Micah lived seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus and prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

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. (Micah 5:2)

So, God had a good seven centuries (and more!) to plan the details of the incarnation and arrange the arrival of his Son in the right place, at the right time, and in the right way. For example, he could have easily arranged that a faithful virgin and a just man, in the lineage of David, be found in Bethlehem in accord with the prophecy. But instead, he chooses Mary and Joseph, who lived in Nazareth, not Bethlehem. And he plans for Mary to get pregnant far from the prophesied town.

To solve that problem — which God himself had created — God could have arranged to get Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem by some personal means, say a relative who needed them urgently or a dream or some private legal or business matter. But he didn’t do it that way.

Instead, God moved Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem by means of an empire-wide census. In other words, God arranged that the most powerful leader in the world would order everyone in the empire to go to the town of their origin to register. You might call this providential overkill. He’s making a point: “You think you know what I am doing globally? You have no idea. I’m putting things in place exactly as I please. Including the birth of my Son.”

In view of that, it becomes ludicrous to think that a God who wields an empire to move one woman from Nazareth to Bethlehem can’t arrange for there to be an available guest room. Planning a bed for his Son was easier than planning a global census. Jesus was lying in exactly the place God planned: a feeding trough.

3. The manger was a sign.

The angel of the Lord said something to the shepherds that was almost too good to be true.

Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)

To believe this and bear witness, they would need a sign. The angel gave it:

And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:12)

Swaddling cloths? Every baby in Bethlehem was wearing swaddling cloths. That is not the sign. The sign is the manger. In fact, this must have sounded so wildly scandalous, the shepherds probably did not think they heard the angel correctly.

“No other king anywhere in the world was lying in a feeding trough. Find him, and you find the King of kings.”

Savior. Christ. Lord. That’s who the angel said had been born. Savior: deliverer from all our enemies — maybe more! Christ: the Messiah, the fulfiller of all the promises of God. Lord: as in “an angel of the Lord appeared to them,” and “the glory of the Lord shone around them” (Luke 2:9). This Savior, Christ, and Lord is lying in a what?

This is the sign. No other king anywhere in the world was lying in a feeding trough. Find him, and you find the King of kings. And you will know something. Something utterly crucial about his kingship.

4. The manger was glorious.

No sooner were the words out of the angel’s mouth — “you will find a baby . . . lying in a manger” — than the heavens exploded with praise:

Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest!” (Luke 2:13–14)

Glory to God! The Savior is in a feeding trough! Glory to God! The Messiah is in a feeding trough! Glory to God! The Lord is in a feeding trough! “Glory to God in the highest!” From the highest to the lowest! What a God! What a Savior!

5. The manger is the way of discipleship. huh????

The angel of the Lord came to shepherds, not Pharisees.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! (Luke 2:14)

With whom is the Lord pleased? That word “pleased” (Greek eudokia) occurs one other place in Luke:

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your good pleasure (eudokia).” (Luke 10:21)

Not the wise. Not the understanding. But the children. The ones who would take no offense at a baby in a feeding trough. The ones that would expect no better bed than their Savior:

As they were going along the road, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Luke 9:57–58)

Except for a manger. Follow me.

6. The manger was step one on the Calvary road.

The Calvary road is downhill. Not because it gets easier, but because it gets lower. The Savior’s life starts low and ends lower. This is the point of Philippians 2:6–8:

Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant [starting his life lower than servants — in a feeding trough] . . . he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

This is how the Savior saves. This is how the Messiah fulfills all the promises. This is how the Lord reigns: from infinite deity, to feeding trough, to final torments on the cross.

“This is how the Lord reigns: from infinite deity, to feeding trough, to final torment on the cross.”

For those who have eyes to see, the message of the angels makes sense. Yes, we must follow him! “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). It is a lowly road. A hard road. But there is no greater joy than to be on this road with this Savior.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). This is no moderate joy. This is Great Joy. “Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:10–14). Great joy to us. Great glory to God.

Invitation

“Are you willing to bow before the humble King?”

RESOURCES:

https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-meaning-of-the-manger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnFU-cKpg7g

WEEK 3 — Luke 2

Jesus: The Reighing King Big Idea: Jesus didn’t just step into Bethlehem—He stepped into the story as a reigning King.

The Magi Search

Part of the Christmas story is the visit of the magi. Some time after Jesus was born, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem asking, “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” (Matthew 2:2, NKJV). In order to understand the significance of that event, one has to go back in time more than a thousand years prior to the birth of Jesus. During the time of exodus, there was a ruler of Moab named Balak (Numbers 22:4). He saw how the Israelites had defeated the Amorites, and he was afraid. Balak and the Moabites began to feel the threat of the people of Israel moving closer. Balak sent word to a prophet named Balaam and asked him to curse the people of Israel on Moab’s behalf (Numbers 22:6). God instructed Balaam to refuse the invitation (Numbers 22:12). But, after several exchanges between Balak’s messengers and Balaam, Balaam finally went to meet with Balak (Numbers 22:21). Despite God’s displeasure with Balaam and after God’s miraculous deliverance of Balaam’s life by the voice of his donkey (Numbers 22:22–35), God allowed Balaam to present a message to Balak. God’s message to Balak was not what the king wanted. There was no curse of Israel, only blessing. Included in the oracle was a prediction that a star shall come forth from Jacob and a scepter would rise from Israel (Numbers 24:17). While the message spoke in part of the coming judgment on Moab, it also reminded the world that there would one day be a King in Israel who would lead the people to victory and judgment on Israel’s enemies. Sometime after Jesus was born (Matthew 2:1a), magi (Gr. magos) from the east came to Jerusalem to find that King (Matthew 2:2a). Tradition tells us that the wise men may have been three in number, that they were from three different nations, and other interesting embellishments, but the biblical text simply records that these wise men were from the east (Matthew 2:1), and they all seemingly came from one country (Matthew 2:12). The magi journeyed west to find the prophesied King because they saw His star in the east (Matthew 2:2). The magi recognized that the star they saw signified that the King of prophecy had arrived. They followed the star to Bethlehem until it was directly overhead the Christ Child’s location (Matthew 2:9). They “rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” when they saw the star above (Matthew 2:10, ESV), and they came to the house where Mary and Jesus were. Upon entering the house the star had led them to, the magi presented their gifts to Jesus and began to worship Him. They had met the One they recognized as the King of the Jews and the fulfillment of prophecy (Matthew 2:2, 11). In contrast to the magi’s reaction to the birth of Christ is that of King Herod (the Roman-appointed ruler in Jerusalem). Herod heard that the magi had come to Jerusalem looking for the King of the Jews. He reached out to them secretly to inquire when they had first seen the star in the east (Matthew 2:7). He then tried to deceive them into thinking that he also wanted to worship this newborn King, but God warned the magi of Herod’s deception. Rather than report Jesus’ location back to Herod, the magi went home another route (Matthew 2:12). Matthew does not make it clear whether the star the magi saw in the east is the same star predicted through Balaam, but there was a star predicted to rise in Israel, and that star would be associated with the King (Numbers 24:17). The magi rightly calculated that the particular star they saw from the east would lead them to the King of the Jews. Perhaps God communicated something directly to them (as He did in Matthew 2:12). Perhaps they also knew of Daniel’s prophecy concerning the timing of the King’s birth (Daniel 9:25). Perhaps they just recognized a connection to Balaam’s prophecy. In any case, the magi got it right: they were guided by “His star in the east,” and they arrived at the exact place where the newborn King of the Jews was staying.

Who Were the Magi?

A Global Moment in a Local Stable

Good News for All People

Has Jesus Interrupted Your Story? — He interrupted Rome. — He interrupted shepherds. — He interrupts us today.

...

KIngs bow Before the King

Think of it! These kings, these important people… soon would bow before the KING of KINGS!

Last week we were reminded he came humbly.

But he came as a king.

Its interesting what each gospel focuses on:

Did you know manger is only mentioned in LUKE.

What’s the focus in Matthew?

Opening Hook: Pull Back the Camera

Begin with a view of heaven—God’s throne, angels, glory.

Then zoom down: dusty roads, census lines, shepherds in the fields.

Text Emphasis from Commentaries

Luke Henry: Jesus comes in the days of Caesar—showing His kingship reaches beyond Israel.

Expositor’s: The census roots Jesus' birth in global history.

Clarke: Shepherds = the common world; angels = the spiritual world; Caesar = the political world. Jesus enters all of it.

Sermon Movement

Heaven Opens → Earth Receives a King

A Global Moment in a Local Stable

Good News for All People

Has Jesus Interrupted Your Story? — He interrupted Rome. — He interrupted shepherds. — He interrupts us today.

Closing Challenge

“Christmas is global—but it must become personal.”

RESOURCES:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjrbF0kPk30

WEEK 4 — John 1:6–14

Jesus: The Eternal Creator Big Idea: The eternal God took up residence among us so He could take up residence within us.

Opening Hook

Why did John skip the manger? Because he takes us further back—to eternity.

Commentary Highlights

John Henry: The Word is God expressing Himself.

Expositor’s: “Made flesh” = the miracle of miracles.

Clarke: Christ tabernacled—pitched His tent—among humanity.

Beacon: Incarnation is the ultimate revelation of God’s glory.

Sermon Movement

The Word Eternal (vv. 1–5)

The Word Revealed (vv. 6–9)

The Word Rejected (v. 10–11)

The Word Received (v. 12)

The Word Made Flesh (v. 14) — “He took up residence among us.” — “When we receive Him, He takes up residence in us.”

Christmas Gift Moment

“The best gift this Christmas isn’t under a tree—it's Christ taking residence in your heart.”

Suggested Song

“My Gift Is Me” — fits perfectly.

If we look at the Israelits in Egypt. Their anchestors oppressed the egyptian slave. They sent them off to die in the wilderness.

Then you Israelites - sold a guy to Egypt (Joseph). And eventually Israel would end up in Egypt.

Eventually Egypt would take over the Israelits.

Soon God wanted to free the Israelites! So he sent Plagues and a Moses to get his attention!

He wouldn’t listen… and in the final ACT - the plague God did something severe.

I’m going to symbolically reclaim the first born. The life.

Unless you reclaim and return I will step in. Why? Because I am God.

It’s time to let my people GO!

And in a sense through the lamb to the israelites… he allowed them a way to “take back” the life of their firstborn!…

And the lives of their families…

By offering the blood washed on the doorposts of a lamb… to cover over the life in the home to “cover them!”

The Egyptians did not respect life and they did not offer an acceptable offering, and all their firstborn’s died.

What we see here is “LIFE IS IN THE BLOOD”.

AND LIFE FOR LIFE. Sin requires a sacrifice… and when a sacrifice is made… we can then “possess” our life.

REFERENCES:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mv4Hc4rsVI

Jesus: The Humble Messiah in a Manger Start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnFU-cKpg7g

Redemption

We know God created life.

We know sin affected it.

If we look at the Israelits in Egypt. Their anchestors oppressed the egyptian slave. They sent them off to die in the wilderness.

Then you Israelites - sold a guy to Egypt (Joseph). And eventually Israel would end up in Egypt.

Eventually Egypt would take over the Israelits.

Soon God wanted to free the Israelites! So he sent Plagues and a Moses to get his attention!

He wouldn’t listen… and in the final ACT - the plague God did something severe.

I’m going to symbolically reclaim the first born. The life.

Unless you reclaim and return I will step in. Why? Because I am God.

It’s time to let my people GO!

And in a sense through the lamb to the israelites… he allowed them a way to “take back” the life of their firstborn!…

And the lives of their families…

By offering the blood washed on the doorposts of a lamb… to cover over the life in the home to “cover them!”

The Egyptians did not respect life and they did not offer an acceptable offering, and all their firstborn’s died.

What we see here is “LIFE IS IN THE BLOOD”.

AND LIFE FOR LIFE. Sin requires a sacrifice… and when a sacrifice is made… we can then “possess” our life.

In Scripture we see a word:

CALLED: “Ga-all” Hebrew word. Used in a phrase “to Redeem”.

This word is also used Numbers 35, and Deuteronomy 21 ““If in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess someone is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him, then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure the distance to the surrounding cities. And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer that has never been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke. And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the Lord, and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled. And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they shall testify, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. Accept atonement, O Lord, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.’ So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.

Also…

Why? Noti

Deuteronomy 28:1–6 ““And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.”

Right after Blessings come when we obey...

When we live in life…

We are talking about the cities of refuge and the “blood avenger” or “blood redeemer”.

Deuteronomy 19:1–13 ““When the Lord your God cuts off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. You shall measure the distances and divide into three parts the area of the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them. “This is the provision for the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways—then you shall add three other cities to these three, lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you. “But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may be well with you.”

Tell a man to give as an inherritance to the Levites towns with fields around them.

Give them cities to exist. THere are 48 cities total. 6 of the cities are cities of refuge.

Cities for anyone who has killed another person can flee there.

If you kill - you flee… you can run.

You have to flee because “life for life”. You can flee for safety to one of these 6 levite towns. Consequence in scripture and logic is “life for life.

What is life?

When someone dies we aren’t killing a person, we are literally killing a representative of God. and because life doesn’t “belong” to humans, they have stolen life from God.

Life = comes from God, We his “image bearers!”

Why flee? Why not stay in your city? Numbers 35:10 ““Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,” Numbers 35:11 “then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there.”

“Unententionally” even must flee.

Notice now… our word.

Numbers 35:12 “The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.”

“Avenger” here is REPO MAN… or “REDEEMER!

So you run away from “GOEL” because I’ve taken the life of another human.

Later we see in v16 if it was intentional, there is LIFE for LIFE.

Numbers 35:16 ““But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.”

Here “the repossesor of the blood”

Will die.

in Hebrew thought Blood = “Life”

The blood is life… and life is literally and symbolically in the blood!

This is the proper way of thinking of murder.… “to take a life”. Is literally to take or steal a life.

Now the avenger of blood can come and say you owe. Pay up!

And so the Avenger can come and say “you pay up” Give me your life!

Serious business!

“No man can by any means redeem his brother… for the redemption of their soul is costly.” — Psalm 49:7–8

We are spiritually bankrupt. We owe everything and possess nothing.

We needed Someone who owed nothing.

So what if it was an accident!?

Where can I go? Cities of refuge. Then there is a trial, then there will be justice.

Trying to prevent any more life shed.

Lastly why: is all this to happen?

Numbers 35:25–34 “And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.””

Notice how then at the end “God says” “Don’t defile or pollute the land”.

Why? Because I dwell in the midst of the people.

When a human returns a life to the ground when it’s not meant to be, we literally “pollute” the ground with “defiled”.

Purity is associated with life, impurity is associated with death.

Now we’ve sowed death. In many ways

What is the soil from which life sprout, is the ground. They way to honor the ground, is to honor the human life that God made us from “the dust”.

To honor God, is to honor life, and the ground.

I do not exist if the land doesn’t produce, the land is sacred, humans are sacred… when blood spills it pollutes all.

Its a huge object lesson.

The land belongs tome, all you all belong to me.

I God won’t tolerate it. Avoid it.

Here’s the system.

What soon would happen is Israelites soon would not listen.

Soon it results in famines, locust plagues, curses, and literall destruction.

Leviticus 18:28 “lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.”

Leviticus 20:22 ““You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.”

2 Chronicles 7:19–20 ““But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you, and this house that I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.”

Why a child?

Matthew 1:18 “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.”

Matthew 2:9 “After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.”

Matthew 2:11–14 “And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt”

Matthew 2:19–21 “But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.”

Why Jesus came? To offer Hope.

Story of shepherds and wisemen and King Herod.

Three stories of response, one Savior!

Application: How we respond to the savior will be our saving!

Herod and Religious, Shepherds, Wisemen

Ever had a response to something that was positive/neggative?

Recently as I was reading I noticed something I’ve never seen before.

Leaders “Sought to do Harm!”

2. Wisemen “Searched for a Long Time”

3. Shepherds “Came With Haste”

What is your response.

Who were the shepherds, wisemen, herod… what did they each bring.

Who are you today what do you bring?

They came and worshipped.

Herod wanted to worship, to do harm.

End with focus on Shepherds and wisemen.… storys from Lucado?

Shepherds left their sheep - they were willing to lose it all.

Wisemen gave up their money - they knew no price was too high!

Jesus is still worth it.

I want the attitude of the shepherds and wisemen.

A human response

No price too high

Is he worth it?

Not sure on Week 3.

Hope Through Redemption - Part 2

All people belong to God, and need re-possessed through Redemption.

The beauty of redemption

Boaz “re-posessing” Ruth was a picture of Jesus coming to buy us back!

for us.

in a manger.