Salvation is With Us

Welcome

Happy Sunday. Welcome to Celebration DC. We are so glad that you are here with us today. Whether you are a first time guest or you’ve been a part of the family for some time now, I pray that you and your family and community are doing well. Please let us know that you are here with us by engaging with us on social media. Share your posts with us and if this time together in anyway encourages you, please consider sharing it with your family and friends. You’d be surprised how influential you really are. Your sharing is the new way to invite people to church. Don’t be more vocal about your politics than you are about Jesus or your church.

Also, if you have any prayer requests or praise reports, we want to hear from you. We love you and want to pray with you and celebrate with you.

Advent

Church it is December. On one hand this feels like the longest year ever but somehow it’s hard to believe how quickly this year has gone. I have to admit, I am so excited for this advent season. Advent is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. Advent means coming or arrival and Christian tradition views this as a time to reflect on Christ through the lens of the physical nativity in Bethlehem, the reception of Christ in the heart of the believer, and the eschatological Second Coming.

This is truly a sacred time for all of us and some of the things you can do to demonstrate your anticipation and preparation for the return of Christ is fasting, praying, scripture engagement, sabbath along with other Christmas traditions. It’s the way we experience this season together. Our faith is meant to be demonstrated and experienced.

Series Scripture

Today, we are kicking off our new series: Immanuel, God with us. If you have your bible, I want to invite you to join me in Isa 7:14…

Isaiah 7:14 CSB

14 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.

Over the next couple of weeks, we are going to be taking a look at arrival of Jesus and what does it mean for God to be with us. Today, my title is Salvation is with Us.

Prayer

Lord, we are thankful for these moments where we can gather in your name. I pray over the next few moments that you speak to us. We invite your Spirit to inspire us, challenge us, encourage us. I decrease and surrender every aspect of this message to you. Give us open eyes, ears and hearts. In the name of Jesus, Amen!

Illustration

If we were to take on the daunting task of giving a summary of the Bible in one statement, I wonder what we would come up with. Nonetheless, I will give it an attempt. The Bible is a love story about a Holy God and His creation and the extremes that He goes through to dwell with His people. Our friends at the Bible Project says that the Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus. Jesus whose name means salvation. That means to rescue. I think those who serve our country, our first responders, those who sacrifice for others. I think of a parent that swoops in to rescue their child from harm. I recall when I had to rescue my daughter from school because she was wearing 2 different shoes.

The plan of God has been to bring order to chaos and salvation and wholeness to His people through Jesus. That IS a love story, isn’t it? Not just the Christmas story, but God’s story; our story. 

Transition

So, If I could make an attempt to better summarize the Bible in one statement that could encourage us, it would be “God is with us”. Sometimes is doesn’t feel like it. Sometimes we can’t seem to find Him, right? It’s like a person who over packs only to panic when they can’t find the essentials. We look in our baggage and we have plenty of anxiety, fear, stress, debt, questions, illness, confusion, conflict, tension, drama, disappointment...all the things. However, I want to encourage you, God is with you. Evidence of God’s presence is you’re still present. We are supposed to check our baggage at the cross and exchange it for hope, healing, calling, purpose. Because God is with us, we have permission dream. We have permission to have hope. We have permission to move forward. Love. Because God is with you, that means His character, His attributes are with you. Salvation, peace, love, and hope are all with you.

Messiah Background/Context

For Israel, they constantly found themselves in oppressive situations that felt hopeless. However, they held on to this idea that God was going to send the messiah to rescue and restore his people. They held on to this principle and passed it on to the next generation. There’s a few lines from my favorite musical, Hamilton, “we may not live to see it’s glory, but I will gladly join the fight, when our children tell our story, they will tell the story of tonight.” The idea was, they were going to live a life that transcends the individual. I believe the best legacy isn’t just what we leave for our children, it is what we leave in them; a legacy of faith.

The messiah gave them permission to dream and have hope. The Messiah gave them strength to hold on. In fact, the idea of the Messiah wasn’t just for us to eventually have trendy church and live lives of such convenience that Jesus is an accessory that we add on. Jesus isn’t an addition for my life, He is a necessity in it. Each time we see a new attribute of God expressed in scripture, it was needed. (Healer, deliverer, provider, peace) These were all moments that required the presence of God. God being with us is understanding, I don’t want Him with me, I need Him with me. Because when God is with us, who He is is with us. What He does is with us.

Be encouraged friends. Hold on knowing God is with us. You have permission to dream, plan, believe because God with us. When God is with us, His character, nature, and attributes are with us. Peace is with us, Love is with us, Hope is with us, SALVATION IS WITH US.

Scripture

Matthew 1:18 CSB

18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit.

Notice the emphasis that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. This meant there was something stirring on the inside of her that was not inspired by man, it was literally deposited by God. This is meant to serve as a reminder, that salvation is of the Lord, none of us can boast. Only God can take your gifts, turn them into an anointing and qualify it with calling. Those ideas, are inspired by God. Pregnant with purpose, calling...

Matthew 1:19–25 CSB

19 So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. 20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her 25 but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.

Observations/Points

This is a difficult situation but Jesus was in the mix. Many times we ask where God is and I believe the better question is have we let God in. Oddly, I see God present throughout this entire text.

Righteousness

Imagine the discussion that took place with Joseph and Mary. It says it was discovered that she was pregnant. That likely means she was in her second trimester. He notices a little weight gain, but eventually it becomes clear that it is in one concentrated area. Mary, a nervous teenager tells her fiance that she is pregnant. Joseph’s life and dreams have changed. He’s going to have to explain to everyone. Does he need to removed any glimpse of her from his page? Scripture says that Joseph begins to think through his exit strategy, but it highlights a massive aspect in all of this. Joseph was a righteous man. Joseph made the choice to not let the situation cause him to lose sight of who he was. He ran his response through the filter of who he was. Don’t let your situation pull you out of your character. When God is with you, He preserves your character.

Rested

Joseph had a tough decision to make but somehow he was able to sleep. Have you ever had a sleepless night? Joseph was able to rest because God was in the mix.

Rest before you react

Rest can bring clarity

Rest can bring revelation

Joseph rested and he got clarity, instructions, affirmation, next steps. For us, sabbath is vital because it allows us to rest in the presence of God. When I first started cooking on my smoker, they would always say, let it rest. It allows the moisture to take root and keep what you’ve been cooking from drying out. You don’t want to expose what you’ve been preparing for to elements that can dry out the flavor of grace. Joseph was able to rest because God was with him

Closing: Salvation is with you

He named him Jesus, the Lord saves. When God is with us, salvation is with us

Salvation makes us righteous

Salvation allows us to rest

Salvation restores us