Communion 12/20/20
Notes
Transcript
Pray first, asking Holy Spirit to come and search our hearts
Pray first, asking Holy Spirit to come and search our hearts
This week we will celebrate Christmas.
This week we will celebrate Christmas.
Jesus Birth is foretold back in the Old Testament
As we look at this event it is foretold back in Isaiah
Lets read this together.
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 popular song “Mary Did You Know”, one of my favorites, and maybe one of yours, asks some probing questions that warrant our thoughts. Mary was likely somewhere around the age of 16, possibly even younger than that. Having a baby out of wedlock in those days was very much looked down upon.
A girl who became pregnant out of wedlock would have been terrified. The whole social structure was set up for children to be born within marriage. Genealogy and ownership of children was seen as very important. Girls who became pregnant outside marriage would probably have had to leave their homes and their families.
There was the potential of being sold into slavery or of being stoned to death. She may have been married off quickly or banished from her home and village, which may have led a women to prostitution or slavery when she had no way of supporting herself. According to the New Testament Joseph, after being visited by an angel, decided not to send her away or to expose her but to marry her.
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Up to this point Mary is not mentioned in the Bible, but it is evident by the angel’s greeting that Mary had a close relationship with God. But even at that, being greeted by an angel would be frightening. The angel then goes on to tell Mary the reason for his visit to her.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Putting yourself in Mary’s shoes so to speak, what would your reaction be to that news? Remember having a child out of wedlock was a very scary thing back then for a women. Her first response was one of “how can this be”?
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
The angel gives a simple explanation and Mary accepts it, we don’t know if that was the total extent of their conversation or not, but that is all that is recorded in the Bible.
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
I doubt that Mary had any idea of what lie ahead of her, but she didn’t have to know, she simply trusted her heavenly Father in what He was asking of her. I remember back in the 80’s when Rev Tom Kile was here, he said that our response simply needs to be “yes Lord”, some of you may remember that. Faith doesn’t require us to know the outcome, it simply asks for us to be willing. Are we that apt to obey when the Lord tells us something or asks us to do something? Especially something that very well could adversely affect us or be out of our comfort zone? Mary’s reply wasn’t “well let me think and pray about this, I’ll let you know”. It was a simple act of faith, “let it be as you say.”
Let us now take some time to search our hearts, to ask God if there are some things that we need to confess, that our hearts would be right with Him. If our will need’s to come back under his will, that we would be willing to say like Mary, “let it be according to your word”
Then the worship team will lead us in
1st “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
1st “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
In Louie Giglio’s book “Goliath Must Fall” he points out how God used young David in a roll that the rest of Israel’s army was not willing to fill. They were petrified of Goliath, which was understandable from a human standpoint, but something they were missing was the part that God played in all of this. David put his faith in the living God, the one that Goliath and the Philistines were mocking, this wasn’t a decision that he made that day, but a decision he had made repeatedly before again and again leading to this day. This was the same God that Mary said “yes” to as well.
What is our response when God asks us to do something out of our comfort zone, what do we do when He asks us to to visit someone, to maybe tell them about Jesus, to spend more time in His Word or in prayer? Maybe it’s to make a phone call or invite someone to church or share with them something God has shown you in His word or how God has met a need in your life. What ever it might be, what do you suppose might happen if we responded in the same way that Mary and David did?
Lets look at the words to this song.
Mary did You Know?
Mary did You Know?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy
Has come to make you new?
This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would calm the storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy
Has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby
You kiss the face of God
The blind will see, the deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak
The praises of the Lamb
The blind will see, the deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak
The praises of the Lamb
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy
Is heaven's perfect Lamb?
That sleeping child you're
Holding is the great, I Am
2nd “Here I Am to Worship”
2nd “Here I Am to Worship”
How often do we give up in our praying when maybe we don’t see an answer to our prayers right away?
In Anne Graham Lotz book “The Daniel Prayer” she brings out how Daniel in spite of being hauled away from his home country at a young age in a to a foreign land, where the kings plan was to brainwash them of their former lives and upbringing. But Daniel would not stop praying to the one true God.
3 Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”
Daniel knew about this law, he could have closed his windows and prayed in secret, but he didn’t.
14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 15 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”
16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” 17 And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
19 Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
How often do we let fear stop us from following what God is leading us to do? What is God leading us to do that maybe we don’t want to do, maybe fear, or busyness or maybe we simply don’t want to do something He is prompting us to do.
At this time let us spend some time in prayer asking God what it is specifically that He wants us to do? I could be to spend more time in His Word, or more time in prayer, or maybe it’s to put into action something that he has already shown us but we are reluctant or make excuses not to do it. Ask God what it is that you need to do to follow in His footsteps. After the time of prayer the worship team will lead us in our next song.
3rd “Jesus Messiah”
Lexham Context Commentary: New Testament The Lord’s Supper Is Instituted (22:19–20)
Jesus breaks bread and drinks a cup with his disciples. Jesus declares that the bread represents his body and the cup represents his blood. The act of his disciples eating the bread and drinking the cup is analogous to entering into a new covenant just as the Passover meal is the representative meal of the old covenant.
22:19 Jesus moves beyond the celebration of the Passover meal to the institution of a new commemorative meal. Jesus takes bread and says that it is his body. Jesus’ disciples are to eat the bread in remembrance of him.
22:20 Christ also takes the cup of wine and proclaims that it is his blood. However, Jesus goes beyond saying that it is his blood to stating that his blood will inaugurate a new covenant.
19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
We take communion in remembrance of Jesus fulfilling the “New Covenant”, we are no longer bond by the sacrifices of the old testament, but through Jesus once and for all sacrifice, He has brought us into the “New Covenant” through his blood.
Let us take communion together and the worship team will lead us in our last song.
O Holy Night
O Holy Night