Our Response to Christmas- Awe, Affection, and Allegiance

Christmas – Week 4 Awe, Affection, Allegiance Awe -The Magnificat – Luke 1:46-55 • Awe of His pursuit of us. a. Pursuit might appear to be common, until you consider who is pursuing who. b. His pursuit of us shows us how he values us. c. SLIDE: “What defines us as Christians is not most profoundly that we have come to know him but that he took note of us and made us his own.”  JP • Awe of His response to sin. a. The Bible is the story of our holy God in pursuit of sinful men and women. b. How many times is sin mentioned in the Bible? Hundreds and hundreds c. Matthew 1:21 – he will save his people from his sins. d. He came to seek and save the lost Luke 19:10 • Awe of His sovereignty. a. Subject to none, influenced by none, absolutely independent; God does as He pleases, only as He pleases always as He pleases. None can thwart Him, none can hinder Him. AW Pink b. His control over the hearts of men. The census and Zechariah. c. His absolute control over me. i. Can pull the plug whenever he wants. ii. Put things in my life before I was born. d. His control over the work of the evil one i. The devil is mentioned over 200 times in the Bible. ii. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the Devil” (1 John 3:8b)? iii. He did this as a baby e. How does this apply to me? SLIDE: If there is something you are waiting on an answer for from God, his silence is never because he can’t or because he doesn’t care. • Let his pursuit of you keep awe in your heart. a. Don’t be too casual or cavalier. b. The vast difference between the God of heaven and us doesn’t diminish our value it vastly increases his worth. SLIDE: Christian humility doesn’t devalue us, it magnifies and exalts God. SLIDE: Awe, Affection, Allegiance Affection – driven by awe • So you see, our love for him comes as a result of his loving us first. I John 4:19 TLB • “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. Matthew 22:37-38 • I think this is one of the great missing pieces in the life of Christians. a. Mentioned 34 times in Jesus last evening with the disciples. b. Jesus chased them down at the end to make them breakfast and to check in on love. i. He knew that if they didn’t love him, they wouldn’t serve him. • This is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and the people loved the darkness rather than the light… John 3:19 Allegiance – driven by affection • “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15 • A person who obeys God is because we love him. • The word Lord is mentioned over 20 times in Luke 1-2 • Because I love Him: a. I will seek Him first in my life b. I will seek his will, not mine. c. I will love my neighbor. i. I will love my family like they deserve and need ii. I will love my church family iii. I will love my city 1. Reach the unreached 2. Love the unprotected 3. Serve the underprivileged. Conclusion: • Awe drives affection (we love him because he first loved us) and affection drives allegiance (if we love him, we will obey him) • These are the three foundational pieces of Christianity and they are also certainly the three missing pieces in the lives of many Christians.