A Son Is Given
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
Introduce yourself
FTG welcome. Great time to be new as we are starting a new sermon series leading up the Christmas. Text MHCHURCH 41411
This new series we’re kicking off today is called, Rediscovering Christmas. I absolutely love Christmas. I come from a long line of nostalgia junkies...
Keep your techno Christmas music, and let’s get the vinyl Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Karen Carpenter, throw in a MoTown Christmas (circa 1973).
I need egg nog - would I ever drink it in January, not on your life, but Christmas… you better believe it. I need Clark Griswold, and Buddy the Elf, and a even Hallmark movie or two...
And as much as it pains my nostalgic side to say this, the series is intentionally named, Rediscovering Christmas… you might be thinking… Re as in, go back to the beginning and do it all over again?
You guys know this—we live in a culture that LOVES the Christmas holiday. Even if people fight to remove the word Christmas, they still love everything surrounding the holiday: the themes of peace, joy, love, light, we want all of it.
How many of you have ever heard the song, “My Grownup Christmas List?” Yeah, it’s great. It really gets to the heart of Christmas - “No more lives torn apart, that wars would never start, time would heal all hearts, and everyone would have a friend, right would always win, love would never end… this is my grown up Christmas list.” What’s NOT to love about that song?
Yeah, that’s right… left the way the song is written it’s just a Christmas list for grownups, it’s a cute little safe fire on the screen—it’s a fraud—it has no teeth.
(Slide) When disconnected from the reality of Christ, Christmas becomes a holiday that is supposed to make us feel good—but for no real reason.
What I want to do today is zoom in on one of those themes we love so much from a really familiar passage.
The Big Idea is really simple and it’s this: (SLIDE) Peace on earth comes through peace with God
I want to unpack that by showing you three things from this passage in Isaiah:
Christmas reveals that there is a very Real Problem
The Real Jesus came to solve that problem
Because of Jesus, we can have Real Peace
(SLIDE) The Real Problem
(SLIDE) The Real Problem
Let’s open our Bible to Isaiah 9. If you’re not familiar where that’s at in the Bible (shame on you) it’s right between Song of Solomon and Jeremiah (I know you know where that’s at—we’ve got babies everywhere.)
I can’t do justice to the whole book of Isaiah, but the context of Isaiah 9 is that the prophet has just preached a bit in the sermon that’s like the worst news ever. The Big Idea of Isaiah’s sermon is, “Assyria is going to invade you from the North.”
Even if you’re familiar with Israel’s constant cycle of being taken captive, then rescued by the strong arm of the Lord, and then going back into captivity—it’s really simple to miss the actual problem. Why did they keep hitting this cycle?
The answer can really be boiled down to one word: rebellion. The rebellion of the people brought a deterioration in the SHALOM, that is, the PEACE that could be enjoyed between God and His people.
The cycle really was rebellion, captivity, rescue, peace… over and over again.
The prophet Isaiah does not call it rebellion, he calls it darkness. It’s the desire that the Israelite people had to “turn their back” on God and when you basically beg God to allow you to go and worship other gods and become like the rest of society, eventually he with sadness gives you the dignity to go ahead. And that is when the SHALOM the PEACE is shattered. Think about how the Apostle Paul talks about it several hundred years later—is there a resemblance?
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Church this is not JUST Israel’s story, it’s my story… it’s your story… it’s humanity’s story.
Most people are okay talking about the evil ((Out there)) - “oh yeah, racism, war, hatred, abuse, corruption” that’s all ((out there)) BUT rarely are we willing to acknowledge and admit that the biggest enemy to your joy and your peace__>> it’s right here.
The problem is that the SHALOM / the PEACE between God and man is fundamentally broken—not because of God, but because mankind has rebelled against God. We’ve chosen the dark side.
This is the starting place for discovering true peace… it’s not found in having all of your proverbial ducks in a row, it’s actually when we see ourselves for who we really are and have become and the darkness that resides in the little nooks and crannies of our hearts and minds that we are ready for part two—the real Jesus.
(SLIDE) The Real Jesus
(SLIDE) The Real Jesus
God’s solution for making peace between God and man was to send his son.
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.
Good news isn’t really good unless you’ve first heard the bad news. The bad news that the prophet foretold was that God’s people were going to be taken captive. Verse 2, The North most part (Zebulun, Naphtali, Galilee) was the spot that got the first and probably worst that the nations that invaded Judah had to give.
But surprisingly, Isaiah takes a little detour in his sermon and shines a light on some very good news. Even in the midst of your rebellion, God wants you to know, He will not leave you without a rescuer.
The nostalgic version of Jesus, isn’t really much of a warrior. He’s more like a fake fire burning on a screen. He has no bite. There’s no real danger if Jesus is just a baby in a barn. He’s cute and cuddly.
The Real Jesus was meek and lowly as he entered into this world, but he grows up quick and He shows himself to be the greatest gift ever known.
The Real Jesus bears the weight of the entire government on his shoulders:
Interestingly enough this doesn’t look like a navy suit and a red power tie. Jesus took off His coat, got on His knees and washed the feet of His disciples. Jesus carried the cross that represented the sin of the entire world. That’s leadership.
The Real Jesus is a Wonderful Counselor - in other words, He takes on the role of the wise sage and comes up with the best strategies, He always knows what to say, like:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
The Real Jesus is the Mighty God - The Real Jesus is not safe. He is good, but He is not safe. The Mighty God suggests that He is a warrior. He pursues justice, He fights for the oppressed and downtrodden… When the Jewish pilgrims came into Jerusalem during the passover and their sacrifices were turned away because they weren’t good enough, Jesus picked up the whip and started upturning tables.
The Real Jesus is the Everlasting Father - that is, Jesus is the Father of Life, Paul explains this in
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Lastly, the Real Jesus is the Prince of Peace. There is a definite progression to this theme. You cannot have Real Peace without the Real Jesus. Everyone knows there is a problem in the world, so we are hoping Christmas can be a type of medicine or drug that will give us the feeling of peace, but we never truly experience peace.
Because Jesus is the Prince of
(SLIDE) The Real Peace
(SLIDE) The Real Peace
Jesus and Peace are inseparable, because as Paul puts it in Ephesians 2 - “He himself is our peace.”
Look at what Isaiah says, I think it’s fascinating:
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Did you see it?
I think one of the reasons that politics is polarizing is because at the heart of the political debate is the reality that we are not in control. So if I cannot be ruling the way things go, I at least want the person who thinks most like me to be in charge.
I also think that the reason we want Jesus to stay (like Stanley Hudson expressed) “plain, baby Jesus lyin in a manger” is because Jesus is not just another leader, He’s not just another king, He is the King that brings about an entirely new Kingdom.
Simply put, the Bible is really not all about getting people to ask Jesus in their heart, it’s all about people recognizing that we had better place ourselves under the authority of the right King!
And that is threatening to our worldview… unless the Kingdom of God that Jesus brings is exactly what we know is best.
Imagine a new world leader taking everything over --- how does that go? There isn’t a scenario where anarchy doesn’t ensue. Except one. See Jesus planted a seed of His Kingdom of which we are a part of, and it is expanding and growing, and it will never end, but instead of chaos—there is peace. Not just the absence of war, it is the presence of SHALOM with God.
You know what that looks like? “No more lives torn apart, wars that would never start. Healing, wholeness, flourishing, goodness, love for all people…”
(SLIDE) Receive the Peace that is Given by the Son
(SLIDE) Receive the Peace that is Given by the Son
What does that look like to receive peace from God?
To borrow the words from the popular cultural commentator, “You gotta serve somebody.”
You remember what Bob Dylan says? “It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” And I think he’s hit the nail on the head. It really doesn’t matter which way you lean politically, what your occupation is, your enneagram number, none of that removes the necessity that you must decide “who you will serve.”
So if you don’t consider yourself a Christian:
Don’t settle for the fake Christmas - don’t settle for the LCD fire
Jesus came for you, in fact He said it this way:
I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
Come to the front and talk with one of our prayer team members.
The feeling of true peace can only come from having peace with God.
If you are a Christian
You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
How many of you are familiar with what happened on the day of Midian? It’s a reference to the story that we find in Judges 6-7 when God vanquished the Midianite army by whittling down an army of 32,000 soldiers to 300 and defeating the Midianites with clay pots, trumpets, and torches.
The point of Isaiah bringing this up here is that God was going to do the supernatural in Israel again, and the point for us to remember that God has done the supernatural when he saved us.
See, the very fact that you can say, I am a follower of Jesus has nothing to do with your lineage, your morality, or your wealth. Your rescue has everything to do with God’s glory.
He saw the fate of human kind and stepped in to the story to take on the full weight of our sin and in exchange gave us the full weight of His grace.
Basically, and I know this is a stretch and impossible to imagine, but the Carolina Panthers are on the last play of the Super Bowl, they’re winning by a landslide and they decide to call a time out, sign you on the team. Coach says, go in for the last play. You line up, the whistle is blown and time is up. You contributed nothing to the play, the game, or the season, and yet you get to go into the locker room and celebrate all of the triumph the rest of the team celebrates. Can you even fathom this? Of course not! That’s what you’ve been invited into.
You have contributed nothing to your rescue and yet, he invites us to the celebration. What do you think your response to this should be?
Where’s the champagne? Where’s the goggles? Oh I get a ring? This is crazy! Yes! It is crazy.
But that’s not all, he also wants to invite you to invite others to the celebration
that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
When the gospel came to you, it was on its way to someone else. Let’s be a conduit of grace.
Pray
OFFERING SCRIPT:
(comes right after prayer at the end of the sermon)
NMS Lane Highlight:
-Hey we are going to transition into a time of giving right now. Pastor Andrew mentioned this last weekend. We spent weeks looking back at God's faithfulness this year from through last years multiply offering. As we move closer to this year's Multiply Offering, we want to tell you about the exciting things we have planned for 2021.
-If you’re newer to Mercy Hill or visiting us for the first time, the Multiply Offering is our way each year to truly focus on our belief that ‘generosity fuels the mission’. We have been able to see God work in amazing ways through this offering and we are excited to see how He will continue to use the generosity of God's people.
-This week we'll talk specifically about our no more spectators lane. In this lane we focus on moving people from the sidelines to the front lines of ministry in our community. There is so much community ministry that happens through no more spectators but for the our multiply offering we want to highlight one area in particular where your generosity can move the needle in a very tangible way in the coming year.
-Hey as a church we've been partnered with the pregnancy network for years. God has place a vision in their heart to be in a new city and we have the opportunity to get behind in a big way by becoming a founding member of their new Winston Salem location that will open in January next year. Check out this quick video about why they are going to Winston Salem.
**Show Video from Pregnancy Network**
(if you want to watch it)
https://youtu.be/Nd-wuiK_DyY
Vision gap:
-Church, the only way we are going to be able to accomplish this goal is if our church opens up their hands in big way to give towards the pregnancy network through our multiply offering.
-We say all the time that the pastors might set the vision, but the congregation sets the pace. This is no exception. We are so hopeful for what God could do in the lives of women who not only need physical care, but need to hear about the God who loves and cares for them and their unborn child.
-Your giving is a tangible expression of the love that we want the lost and hurting in the Triad to know and experience through the body of Christ.
Call to Give:
-You can give to the multiply offering throughout the whole month of December so be praying and preparing for that now. We also want to finish out the month of November strong.
-To join us on our mission to make disciples and multiply churches we would invite you to join us in giving. You can do this by visiting our give page or texting MHGIVE to 41411.
-You will hear even more about the Multiply offering over the coming weeks, so please be in prayer for our Multiply offering and how God is inviting you to jump in.