Emmanuel, God with us!
Christmas is Coming • Sermon • Submitted
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· 52 viewsGod often has a bigger focus than we do
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Merry Christmas,
Christmas is only 2 weeks away
Remember as a child. Waiting for Christmas?
Anticipation grows
excitement builds
You dream about what might be under the tree for you.
In our house we never waited until Christmas morning to open our gifts
We never waited until Christmas morning to open our gifts
That’s why Santa clause never made sense to me
I got my gifts on Christmas Eve, our stockings got left till Christmas morning
But before we opened our gifts 1 thing had to happen
We had to wait until the Yard light turned on.
You see our yard light had a sensor that would turn the lights on when the Sun went down
Luckily we lived in an area that usually happens around 4:00 pm
I can remember waiting.
Staring at the yard light, just waiting and waiting until it turned on and we could open presence
I love the excitement of kids at Christmas
One thing I’ve noticed is that excitement builds
when they’re really young, most of the time the box is more interesting that what’s inside
they are not quite sure what’s happening, so the anticipation might not be there
The wrapping paper can hold their attention for what seems like hours
But as they get older, and gain a better understanding of what’s inside
and that its for them!
That’s when excitement builds.
Video of kids at Christmas Ash Cass & TJ
I believe God want’s us to get excited for what He has in store for us!
both as a church and in our individual lives.
The time of being somber thinking everyone against should not be part of our thought process
He wants to do amazing things in and through us.
God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
but sometime we feel like waiting can dull the excitement
we can loose interest if we are not careful
Its like when teenagers open gifts now. That anticipation is gone!
describe...
Video The Marshmallow Test (3:27) youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX_oy9614HQ
youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX_oy9614HQ
Waiting, something that requires patience,
but today I want to give you a different perspective on waiting
A few months back I made a statement
I said We are not waiting for God, He is waiting for us
I still believe it, and Today I want to expand on it
A little boy was standing at the end of an escalator. The sales lady asked, “Son are you lost?”
“No ma’am, I’m waiting for my chewing gum to come back.”
Sometimes we think that perseverance is the key
We hear stories like this
Michael Jordan is probably the best player the NBA has ever seen. He gave this insightful look into the incredible success that he enjoyed:
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”—Michael Jordan
Just got to keep pushing through, then it will happen
Perseverance is the Key!
No not really, let be honest hear
There are alot of people who have perseverance, but only 1 Michael Jordan
It would be nice to believe, that!
That if we just persevere, good things will happen.
Let me suggest an alternative.
yes perseverance is important, but ever more important is preparedness
Michael Jordon stuck it out, but not by watching TV or surfing the web
but by preparing himself constantly for the task set before him.
The Key is to “Prepare”.
Waiting is not about passing time
Waiting is about getting prepared
Look at it this way
A bad soldier waits for war; a good soldier prepares for it!
Yes people we are in a war
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
more on that at a later date
Today I want to take a look at 5 ways to prepare for God’s promises
Lets turn to the Christmas story
But not the usual story, I’ll leave that for the other pastors
I want us to turn to
Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”
Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
“He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.
“For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.
Yes this is a reference to Jesus the Messiah, given by the prophet Isaiah
Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it.
When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans have camped in Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.
Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field,
and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.
‘Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying,
“Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”
thus says the Lord God: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.
“For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people),
and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.” ’ ”
Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”
Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
“He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good.
“For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.
“The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria.”
In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
They will all come and settle on the steep ravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes and on all the watering places.
In that day the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from regions beyond the Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.
Now in that day a man may keep alive a heifer and a pair of sheep;
and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat curds and honey.
And it will come about in that day, that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become briars and thorns.
People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns.
As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.
one of many actually
There are a few things we need to consider here
#1 timing
The Book of Isaiah was written between 701 and 681 B.C..
Jesus was born over 600 years later
They had to wait for over 600 years to prepare for His coming
They still weren’t ready
But let’s not be to quick to judge
The Church has had over 2000 years to prepare for His return and the Church is nowhere near ready!
Now lets consider the context
Davids Kingdom has been divided, Its now Judah and Israel
Map https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Kingdoms_of_Israel_and_Judah_map_830.svg/1200px-Kingdoms_of_Israel_and_Judah_map_830.svg.png
King Ahaz is ruling over Judah
The King of Aram and the King of Israel decide to have a little fun and attack Jerusalem and tear down its walls
They Attacked Jerusalem but failed to conquer it so they took their armies to Ephraim, southern part of Israel
Fear gripped the people and God sent Isaiah to Ahaz with a message
Isaiah told Ahaz, Don’t fear, their plot to attack you will fail
In fact in a few years they won’t even exist anymore
To prove these words are true ask God for a sign. Anything you want, and God will do it!
That’s where we pick up our text
Ahaz seems to do the just thing and not want a sign, but then he get’ s reprimanded for not asking God for a sign.
But God is going to give Him one anyway!
This is where the story gets interesting.
Ahaz has an enemy on his borders
who are bent on His destruction
Ahaz is worried about being delivered from His enemies right now in this moment
The sign God gives him will not take take place for another 6 centuries after Ahaz is dead!
What’s up with that?
I mean what the purpose of the sign if He never sees it?
There’s a lesson here!
An important Key to include in the waiting process
God often has a very different focus than we do when we are waiting.
You see, Ahaz’s focus was on the need of deliverance from His enemy on the border
But God’s focus was much bigger.
His sign pointed to the deliverance of all people everywhere.
Not just the people of Judah at one period in time
Look at it this way
God already protected Judah from the attack
The enemy had lost.
The People of Judah just didn’t realize it
The enemy was consolidating an army after they were already defeated
Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it.
While Ahaz was focusing on what He saw as the present need, that was already met, God was focused on a much greater issue.
the sin of all mankind
I think this translates into our lives today
We can become fearful over things God has already provided for
We spend time praying for things God already promised he would do.
And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
God has promised to take care of our needs
God has promised to take care of our needs
eg? Ethereum $200 into over $8000
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matt 6:33
Our focus should not be on our own needs
But rather on the task that God has assigned us.
If we focus on the task the needs will be met!
more on that later
Well let’s get into it!
Most people don’t like to wait. We often get frustrated waiting on fast food or waiting behind the slow car in the fast lane. We are always in a rush to get to the next place or the next thing.
This mindset often carries over into our spiritual lives with us rushing to the next big thing.
But while most of us are in a hurry, it seems God is usually not in a hurry.
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
It seems He always has a plan and a purpose for everything.
The problem with waiting is not having all the details.
From our perspective, we have everything figured out and we want God to move within our time frame.
But God rarely does things according to our time frame, and because of this we can easily get discouraged.
If we aren’t careful, we’ll think He’s uncaring or mad at us.
In the Gospels we see this happening to Mary and Martha while they are waiting on Jesus to come and heal their brother, Lazarus.
When Jesus finally shows up, He is accused of taking too long.
God always has good reasons for making us wait.
Waiting is a part of life and one of God’s tools for developing people.
The Bible is full of stories of people having to wait on God, such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Daniel, Jesus, Paul and countless others.
In studying the lives of these great people,
I’ve discovered 5 Benefits of waiting on God:
1. WAITING REVEALS OUR TRUE MOTIVES
1. WAITING REVEALS OUR TRUE MOTIVES
Waiting has a way of bringing out the best and worst in people.
People who don’t have good motives won’t wait long because they’re not interested in the commitment it takes to see something through.
They’re too interested in short-term gains or success.
Most of us have good intentions, but a lot of what we want to accomplish is an attempt to make a name for ourselves or for our own egos. It hurts to say this, but it’s often true.
The right thing with the wrong motivation is sin
2. WAITING BUILDS PATIENCE IN OUR LIVES
2. WAITING BUILDS PATIENCE IN OUR LIVES
Patience in waiting for small things leads to having patience in the bigger things.
If we can’t wait for God to do a small thing, we certainly can’t wait for something bigger.
Our problem is our perspective is usually wrong.
We tend to think the bigger things in life are finances and possessions, while God thinks influencing and changing people is more important.
3. WAITING BUILDS ANTICIPATION
3. WAITING BUILDS ANTICIPATION
Why do children get so excited around Christmas?
Because the wait has produced anticipation.
We tend to appreciate things the longer we have to wait for them.
Because of having to wait so long, we tend to cherish and take care of it more than others might.
People tend to treasure the things they have to wait for.
Because of having to wait so long, we tend to cherish and take care of it more than others might. People tend to treasure the things they have to wait for.
4. WAITING TRANSFORMS OUR CHARACTER
4. WAITING TRANSFORMS OUR CHARACTER
Waiting has a way of rubbing off the rough edges of our lives.
Most of us know the story of Moses delivering the Israelites from the Egyptians. It’s a grand story of God doing great miracles.
But few sermons talk about Moses having to wait in the desert 40 years before God came to him.
God used this time of waiting to transform his character.
We know this because when he was a young man he was brash and impatient.
In his impetuousness he killed a man and hid the body.
When his sin was made public, he ran for his life and was exiled to the desert.
When he was given a second chance he opted to do it God’s way and in God’s time.
In the end, the Israelites were delivered from slavery and Moses became a great leader.
Waiting transformed the life of Moses and it does the same for you and I.
5. WAITING BUILDS INTIMACY AND DEPENDENCY UPON GOD
5. WAITING BUILDS INTIMACY AND DEPENDENCY UPON GOD
The reason we are able to read about the great men and women of the Bible is because they all had one thing in common.
They were all people who learned their success in life was directly proportionate to their intimacy and dependency upon God.
For them, a relationship with God wasn’t a get rich quick scheme.
For many of them it was a matter of life and death.
Waiting during the difficult times developed their relationship with God.
The reason we get to read the stories of these great men and women is because they went through the difficulties of life with God.
The reason we get to read the stories of these great men and women is because they went through the difficulties of life with God. In the end, they enjoyed the process with God and the promise of God.
In the end, they enjoyed the process with God and the promise of God.
I’ve always believed God is just as interested in the journey as he is the destination.
If not, all the biblical accounts would only include the feel good parts and not the good, the bad and the ugly of the times of waiting.
We may not always understand why we have to wait, but the good news is that God never asks us to wait without Him.
So How are you preparing?
Don’t just wait, get ready
Make sure your motivation is right!
Develop greater patience
allow yourself to get excited, He won’t let you down!
allow Holy Spirit to mold your character, change your stickin thinkin
Spend time building intimacy and dependence with God, its all about relationship and not religion
Let’s pray!