O Come O Come Emmanuel
Notes
Transcript
O Come O Come Immanuel
O Come O Come Immanuel
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
Hello! Welcome parents!
I am super excited that you came tonight!
If I have not had a chance to meet you yet, my name is Zach Klundt and I am the director of Student Ministries here at Bethel.
At this point in the evening we hear a message, typically from me, but we also have other leaders here who have spoken before.
These messages can range from a study of a book of the Bible- such as Habbakuk, we have tackled topics such as prayer, fasting, worship, and also homosexuality, abortion, and transgenderism.
We want to be relevant with our culture, so we can give your children, our students a fighting chance in this world.
We of course tackle these topics by diving into the scriptures.
So lets begin by praying and then we can dive into the text.
PRAYER
It is Christmas time!
The time of the year many people for the most part are holly and jolly.
Last week we talked about the song O Holy Night.
How this song was written in France as a poem by one handed atheist, which was composed by a Jewish man, and was then was translated into English by a unitarian Tran scen dent alist pastor.
The song was an instant hit and is still being sung today, and the song O Holy Night has some of the richest Gospel center lyrics in all of Christmas ballots we sing.
Tonight we are going to look at a personal favorite of mine.
O come O come Emmanuel.
This song was written for the time of Advent.
Advent is what Pastor Scott is talking about right now on Sunday Morning.
Just a brief definition of what Advent is:
Advent is a season that is observed in many Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Birth of Jesus and the return of Jesus in his Second Coming.
It is about this moment of waiting and expecting.
People were waiting for the one called Immanuel.
THE BIRTH WAS FORETOLD
THE BIRTH WAS FORETOLD
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
The book of Isaiah was written around 740-700 B.C. meaning it was written roughly 740-700 years before the birth of Jesus.
Is
This is the waiting, this is the wanting for the savior to be born.
There was this anticipation and a longing for Immanuel to be with them.
Illustration
Growing up there is always this sense of anticipation on Christmas morning for the presents under the tree.
I could hardly sleep the day before Christmas.
I would toss and turn.
Until I knew that the coast was clear, then would sneak out of my bedroom and go look at all the presents under the tree.
I would find the gifts that said my name on them and I would admire these gifts.
I would shake them a bit, I would see if any corners of the wrapping paper was messed with so I could see what was under the wrapping paper.
I would then go and get my little brother, and we would check out his stash as well, and try to figure out what he got as well.
Then at the sharp hour of 5 AM we would tear into Mom and Dad’s room and yell and scream its CHRISTMAS GET UP GET UP!!!
We could not contain ourselves we were waiting and wanting and longing.
And that was just last year!
But we all eagerly wait for something.
That text from that cute boy or girl you like.
The grade from the test you did not study for
The coach to tell you that you made the team
For your dream job that you crush the interview
For your wedding day
For when your children graduate High school!
Anticipation is built in to us.
But we wait earnestly, longing for gifts.
This was the same longing the Jewish people would have felt, as they were longing for Immanuel to come to them.
They were not waiting for things, but for a person.
They were searching, they were listening to any tip that he had come.
700 years would pass and the hope for Immanuel had to dwindle.
May be they were wondering if it would ever come.
We serve a God who keeps His promises
We can put our trust in the God who made the promise of Immanuel
The Term Immanuel means God With Us.
The people were searching for God, to be with us.
The next point is God with us.
GOD WITH US
GOD WITH US
Last week we talked about what God was doing on the worst day of human history.
Do you know what he was doing?
He was walking, As Adam and Eve hid, God was walking.
He wasn’t in a panic, he wasn’t yelling or screaming, He wasn’t getting ready to destroy the world and start over.
He was walking in their presence— He was walking with these two sinful, and broken people.
He was not fixing them from afar but he was present with them.
But even after he cast Adam and Eve out of the garden, which was for their protection.
Even after that, God did not disappear, but He was consistently with his people.
In Exodus, we see God’s chosen people, be rebellious towards God.
This same God who just spilt the red sea in two and allow them to walk across on dry land.
And how do they respond?
They complain and even say lets go back, Egypt was better than our freedom.
They are mad and angry with God, they even build a idol for themselves.
How does God respond?
And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.
He still wants to be with his people.
His broken and messy people.
He doesn’t want to leave them, but he wants to draw closer to them.
We serve a God who is with us.
He is not far away looking at the world saying ah its fine, I don’t need to be involved.
He wants to, he has a reputation of wanting to be near broken and messy people.
Then God takes it a step further.
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. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
Matthew 1:18-
This promise stated in Isaiah would be fulfilled.
Yet God has always been with his people.
Going back to the Garden of Eden—through Exodus— the Judges— the Kings— the prophets— to a night in Bethlehem when God would dwell with his people in flesh and blood.
Jesus was born.
And when Jesus grew up, he did not go and spend all of this time with the righteous leaders of the day.
He went and spent time with who?
broken, messy, sinners— that is who Jesus was with.
Guess what the people who were the least of these; they like Jesus— heck they loved Jesus, and Jesus liked them too.
They didn’t want Jesus to be put on the cross.
But that was the mission, Jesus had to die to cover the sins of the world.
yours and mine
Yet the grave could not hold him as he would raise again
To one day come again.
And when Christ left this year for the last time to return again, he gave us one final parting gift.
The Holy Spirit.
The God who walked with Adam and Eve after they sinned in the garden is the same God who dwelled among the rebellious Israelites in the desert.
He’s the same God who put on flesh and blood and entered a broken and sinful world in the person of Jesus.
And now God is saying he doesn’t want to dwell among them, but he wants to dwell in them.
This is the coming of the Holy Spirit!
If you have been saved by Christ, then you have the Holy Spirit inside of you.
This does not make a righteous— it shows our desperate need for Christ every single day.
We are broken, messy, sinful, and thoughts of not good enough come through our mind, yet God says I will make you clean.
The song O Come O Come Emmanuel is sung during Christmas time yet this song is also the anthem as we wait for the return of Christ.
CHRIST WILL RETURN
CHRIST WILL RETURN
It may not be today or tomorrow but one Christ will return to this earth and he will call those of believe in him home and dwell with Him forever and ever.
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
In it says to behold— Immanuel is coming.
And it is only fitting that Matthew would close his gospel by writing in : behold I am with you always to the end of the age.
We want his is return, with longing and anticipation.
This holiday season rest in the truth that Christ has come and he has dwelt among us and he paid a price that we could never pay back, and has given us a gift that cost us nothing, but cost Him everything.
That gift is life, new life, no matter the past, if we follow after the Lord then we are new creations.
New creations that have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of them.
And we eagerly wait for the return of Christ.
Let’s Pray
15 MIN
So here is what we are going to do now.
Parents we are going to have you go and meet your child’s breakout leaders.
Students just hang tight in here.
We will dismiss you by having the grade of your child’s breakout leaders stand up and you can exist with them.
If you have more than one child, which is actually common here.
Go with whatever child is your favorite.
If you have three, then don’t go to your least favorite’s group.
Kidding: I would maybe say- go to the groups that you may not know the leader the best.
This will give you a chance to introduce yourself and make a connection.
The leaders will dismiss you and have you return here at 7:40
Then the students will leave us and Pastor Scott would like to say a few words to the parents and then we will wrap up.
So Freshmen Guys:
Kevin Fogerty
Freshmen Girls:
Lara and Kaylynn
Sophomore Guys:
Kaylynn
Phil and Donnivan
Sophomore Girls:
Stephanie and Ellaiana
Junior Guys:
Jeremiah
Junior Girls
Brittni and Lauren
Senior Guys
Zaac and Kyle
Senior Girls:
Sherri and Morgen
We will see you back at 7:40
STUDENTS
STUDENTS
Hey guys:
I hope this has been fun for you and not terribly awkward.
I know that some of us may not have the best relationship with our parents.
And some of us may have great relationships.
I want you to know why we are doing this, because this is not going to go away.
We believe that partnering with parents is a must.
We are not doing this to keep secrets from you or even to keep secrets from them, but we are doing this because your family is a huge part of your life.
We believe in influence.
Each one here can be influenced.
Now what you allow to influence you and who you allow to influence you is a topic for another day.
But let’s say for funzies that we will say your two greatest influences are the church and your family.
So here is the first image i want to show you.
In a year period the average church only has 40 hours a year to influence a student.
Now we can look at that and say well we do youth group every Sunday for two hours.
I go to church ever Sunday and Sunday School.
I also serve on Wednesday nights as well for our junior high ministry.
So that breaks down to roughly 350 hours, because lets be real, you are going to miss some days, skip church, you are sick and that also includes camps and retreats.
That is in one year if you were highly involved.
Of course the time that the church does have, as little as it is, is pretty personal and intentional time
Now lets look at your parents
3000 hours of possible influence in a year.
Now durning this times you have to factor in dinner, homework, road trips, and lots of other things, because that 3000 hours does not all include just personal one on one time, like that at church.
I still believe that the personal one on one time in the family is more than the church hands down.
This is why we are including parents in your faith journey.
One because they most likely already but if they are not we want them to be.
Because the more positive influences you can have in your life the better chance you have at making your faith your own, and keeping with your faith when you enter into college.
Regardless of your parents issues, baggage, and brokenness, every parent wants to be a better parent.
I believe this because I have yet to meet a parent who walks out of hospital carrying their baby saying, I CAN’T WAIT TO RUIN THIS KIDS LIFE.
If I can be real with your for a couple of minutes.
Parenting is really hard, it is the hardest thing I have ever done and I only have a 6 and a 4 year old.
There are days when my sweet angels will do something and I will look at Brittni and say “what the heck do we do with that?!”
Sometimes you need to cut them some slack.
Sometimes a random hug, or even just a simple thanks goes a long way.
And of course do not ask for anything durning those moment.
Here is the honest truth
At best, your breakout leaders and myself will have temporary influence.
By default, a parent had lifelong influence.
We would be crazy to not parter with your parents.
If we are not on the parents side—then we really are not on your side.
I believe that parents want to help and sometimes they are not going to understand you, or get you.
There is some of you that they will never get!
But be flexible, be loving, be caring, because they are trying, and trying is better than nothing.
Your leaders are here for you, and I am here for you as well.
But know that so is your parents.
Even if I am a temporary influence to you, I am going to be the best temporary influence you will ever have and I know your leaders will be too.
Do you guys have any questions?
Let’s Pray
SNOWBLAST:
If you are going, I need to know if you plan on Skiing/Snowboarding or going to the mall on our off-site day.
You guys are going to head up to your breakout groups.
Once your parents come down here, then you will switch them and head up to your breakout room.
Come back next week as we do our Christmas Party!
Bring a white Elephant Gift! It is going to be amazing!
And Wear an ugly Christmas Sweater.
7 Minutes
PARENTS
PARENTS
Welcome back! I hope that you all had a fun time with your child’s breakout leaders!
I will say a few things in a moment, but I am going to welcome Pastor Scott who has a message for you.
SCOTT
Our vision here at Bethel Student Ministries is to partner with you.
You give us an amazing opportunity to influence your child.
Our goal is to point our students, your children to Jesus.
That is our number one goal.
We want them to grow in their faith, so they can help others grow in their faith.
We want to help you win as parents.
Why may be coming to the party a little late, as you have already done such a great job with your kids for the first 12 to 18 years of their life, who am I or even their leaders to mess up what you have created.
You are right.
But know that we not hear to step on toes.
We are not here to tell your children to run away from you, or to not listen to you, or to disrespect you.
On the contrary- we tell them to run towards you in hard times, to listen all the more clearly when you are expressing frustration, and to honor and respect you.
We just want to help.
Lastly we are planning to show up in your child’s lives. It will be predictably and also randomly.
We want to be a good and helpful influence in your child’s life.
In the book lead small by Reggie Joiner he states:
One is the average hours the church
At best, the breakout leaders and even myself will have temporary influence.
By default, a parent had lifelong influence.
We may be temporary but we will be the best temporary influence you will ever have.
One final word if I may:
There will be days yours kids come home and tell you some crazy stories that happen here.
But before you take to social media to put us on blast, will you consider possibility that you may not have heard the whole story.
And I’ll tell you what, I’ll do the same when I hear stories from home.
We love your children, you have some real gems.
We are here for you, your child’s breakout leaders, and myself.
Feel free to call me, text me, FB message me, email me, DM me. whatever form a communication you use, feel free to get a hold of me and I would be glad to answer any question you may have.
We have a couple of minutes. Does anyone have any questions at all?
All back in the Youth Room
Thank you all so much for coming here! It has been a wonderful night, take care and we will see you all soon.
As you go, know that you are loved.
If you are going, I need to know if you plan on Skiing/Snowboarding or going to the mall on our off-site day.