CHRISTMAS HOPE!!!

Good Morning!

Merry Christmas church!!

Let’s be reminded once more about what Isaiah said would happen when this child was born.

Isaiah 9:2 ESV

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

What exactly does that mean?

Well, to understand what it means we have to understand what was going on. Israel during this time was in a national crisis, they were under siege economically, they had been devastated their very existence as a nation seemed to be under threat.

“dwelling in the darkness of death”

This was a time where they were uncertain about their future they had the darkness of the fear of safety or the safety of the ones they loved.

They were feeling like they were abandoned and all alone, like they were helpless and hopeless and right by themselves. they felt even that they had been abandoned by God!

bc of thier past sins they had made some big mistakes and there really was no way for things to come back together the way they were supposed to be.

Maybe you feel like your there right now, maybe there is the darkness and fears about your own future maybe you are facing uncertanties of your own, I think most of us sitting here today feel uncertain about the times our nation is in right now.

I mean none of us really know for sure what this next year holds for us in terms of a job, maybe its the health of a loved onemaybe its your own health thats the problem and thats leading you to the dark corner of fear.

Maybe this is the first Christmas your going into as a divorced man or woman, or maybe your just sitting there wondering where the fire for the Lord has been? You have prayed and you have asked God for help but you haven’t seen the desired results yet...

Maybe its just the darkness of the fear of death

Maybe you have this sense or feeling that you have been abandoned by God. Well you don’t know what I have done God has surely turned His back on me....

WHAT IF ALL OF THE PROBLEMS IN YOUR LIFE ULTIMATELY CAME FROM OR AT LEAST WERE AGITATED BY THE FEELING THAT YOU WERE SEPARATED FROM GOD?

Some of the smartest writers from our time have pointed out that alot of our drive in life goes back to a fear that were are not accepted not approved the fear that we are living under some kind of judgement...

Aurthur Miller who wrote a ton of books and serval plays was asked in an interview about a theme which seem to come up in everyone of His books and plays:

He said when he was a teenager he stopped believing in God but even after he stopped believing in god he said I feel like I carry around this sense of judgment I could not escape judgment, I still felt like I had to prove myself to others to have them say that I was ok that I was acceptable to others, he said he relized that he had simply replaced the God he knew from his childhood with the approval of an audience, he was still looking for someone to tell him he was worth something.

Madonna said:

“my drive in life comes from a fear of being mediocre, thats always haunting me, I push through one spell and then discover myself to be a special human being, but then the feelings come back and I feel like I am boring and mediocre unless I do something else. I still have to prove to people that I am somebody, my struggle continues it never goes away I guess it never will.”

The Bible explains this universal need that we all have in Genesis 2 where it says that the first effect of our sin is a sense of nakedness.

Now if you know the story of Adam and Even you know they were naked before they sinned but they had no sense of shame of thier nakedness at al.

They were clothed in the love and acceptance of God, and being clothed in the love and acceptance of God even though they were naked they had no shame in it because things were innocent and they knew they had thier fathers apporoval.

Having stripped themselves of the love and acceptance of God by eating the fruit and disobeying God they now felt exposed.

They felt ashamed and under judgement.

WHAT IF THE PROBLEM BEHIND ALL THE OTHER PROBLEMS IN YOUR LIFE WAS BEING SEPARATED FROM GOD?

Blaise Pascal “The human heart has an infinite abyss in it, the abyss the longs for happiness and years for acceptance and runs to various things and think they have found it at last this is what I had been missing this will fix my heart!

HE said that various things work at various times but very seldom gets it all the way where we wanted it to be, deep down we still know that there is something else happening that we are missing.

“This inability to be happy what does this craving point to? other than at something that was once there is now missing?”

He was talking about Gen 2 and that which was there but now is not there was the love and acceptance of God.

Into that darkness into that nakedness into that separation God sent a child, He wasn’t a normal child he would live the weirdest life, He wasn’t born into power and privilege the way you might expect God would have done it, he would not rule from a throne, He would make his life with the broken poor and oppressed.

He grew up without anything He had ever said or done being wrong.

He grew up to die even though nobody could point out anything he did to deserve death.

He was born that way bc he wanting you to know that YOU DO NOT SERVE A GOD WHO CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE HUMAN CONDITION HE BECAME A MAN IN ORDER FOR US TO HAVE SOMEONE TO GO TO WITH OUR PROBLEMS. HE WAS BORN IN POVERTY BC THATS WHAT ALL OF US ARE BEFORE GOD. HE DIED A CRIMINALS DEATH C THATS FOR OUR SINS.

ISAIAH SAYS HE WAS BORNE OUR GRIEF AND CARRIED OUR SORROWS HE WAS WOUNDED FOR OUR INIQUITEIES AND THE LORD HAS LAID ON HIM THE SIN OF US ALL!! BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED

(BIBLE ON HAND)

That separation will always be keeping you from God what Isaiah says is that Jesus came to bear our sin and our sorrows He took upon Himself that separation when His father turned his face away from Him, he put our sin debt put it in a grave and buried it forever so that now nothing remains between God and me and nothing keeps me from being loved and accepted by Him.

Look at how Isaiah described our relationship will be with this child

Isaiah 9:6 ESV

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.

COUNSELOR- SHOULDERS THE LOAD, SOMEONE WHO HELPS YOU IN LIFE, SOMEONE WHO LIGHTENS THE LOAD SOMEONE WHO DOES THINGS FOR YOUR GOOD, HE DOES NOT KEEP YOU FROM PROBLEMS BUT HE WALKS WITH YOU THROUGH YOUR PROBLEMS,

MIGHTY GOD WORKING IN ME AND THROUGH METO MAKE ME INTO WHAT HE WANTS ME TO BE, TAKING EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN MY LIFE SO THAT THEY ARE WORKING FOR HIS GLORY AND MY GOOD

“well if God were really on my side then I wouldn’t have any problems,”

but God has bigger purposes for than keeping you from all problems He is making you into something and He is doing something in this world that will accomplish His greater purposes.

He doesnt keep us from problems all the time instead He keeps us in those problems

EVERLASTING FATHER -

This is the most important thing we need in our savior!

(Bo Jackson)

This is the type of relationship the Lord Jesus Christ wants to have with you, someone you can go to for help someone to strengthen you when you are feeling weak, someone to mold you into something...

In Christ we have an eternal father!

Jesus is the everlasting Father the most fond memories of your father pale in comparison to the love Christ has for you!

He shalle be called

THE PRINCE OF PEACE!

He would bring us peace by restoring us to peace with our Heavenly Father.

Horizontal disfunction almost always goes back to a vertical disfunction with God.

Some of you look at your families and they seem to be in disarray but I am here to tell you that family difunction is only the reslut of somewhere down the line in that family there being some broken peace within someone in rebellion to God.

As people our souls are so dissatisfied without god that we turn to other things and we being to abuse them and use them, thats why we have ahard time loving people and trusting people and forgiving people instead we use them bc we need them to fill a place bc were missing God, we do the same things with power, money, food and drink.

Thats why the Peace of God in your life only comes from peace with God.

You might have noticed this that when people find God they become better husbands fathers and friends, they become more content as wives, they become more devoted husbands.

Thats bc our souls were made for God and our souls are restless until we find our rest in Him.

One day Isaiah says is gonna restore the Earth the way it was intended to be, he will right all wrongs and He will serve up justice.

BUT FIRST He had to be born as a substitute for our sins so that we could know God again.

Before He could lay out perfect peace of God on Earth He had to bring peace with God between us and the Father this was the light God sent into our darkness!

MANY OF YOU WANT YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGED THIS YEAR, WHAT IF THERE WAS SOMETHING GREATER THAN CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES?

WHAT IF IT WAS TO KNOW GOD WAS REALLY WITH YOU, TO KNOW GOD AGAIN AS YOUR EVERLASTING FATHER, TO KNOW PEACE WITH ALMIGHTY GOD, TO WALK WITH THE WONDERFUL COUNSELOR TO KNOW THE PRINCE OF PEACE?

Isaiah 9:2 NKJV

The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.

Shadows arent real things!

Your dwelling in the shadow of death SHADOWS CANT HURT YOU!

There was a pastor about my age, had kids about my kids age.

When this pastor was my age his wife developed a very rare form of cancer, it took her life within about 3 weeks and he did part of the funeral, and his daughter was riding home with him and she heard him say in the message

Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil

She looked at her dad and said Daddy you said that mommy walked through the shadow of death what is the valley of the shadow of death?

This pastor thought for a few seconds trying to figure out how to explain this to a little girl and he said beside the car this big ole tractor truck drove by and the way the sun was shinging it cast a big shadow over thier car as it passed by them.

He looked over there and he said sweetheart if you had the choice would you rather be hit by that truck or would you rather be hit by its shadow?

She said well of course daddy id rather be hit by the shadow, and he said thats right, Jesus got hit with the truck of your mommies death so that all mommy would pass through was the shadow.

Jesus would take the truck of darkness he would take the condemnation, the shame, the abandonment ALL OF IT SO THAT ALL WOULD BE LEFT FOR US IS A SHADOW

You see when he died on the cross there was actual darkness covering the Earth, there was an unatural unexplainable 3 hour period of darkness that we had encountered into His soul on the cross Is said He bore the penalty for our sin He actually was punished for the things I done wrong

On the cross He faced abandonment, He would look to the sky and say MY FATHER MY FATHER WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME

That was not petry that was the son of God forsaken by the father so that you and I would never have to be forsaken by Him.

He would go into the tomb where He would meet my death head on and he would defeat it so that theres nothing left for me but the shadow.

ONE DAY SOMEONE IS GONA CALL YOU ON THE PHONE AND THEY ARE GOING TO SAY DID YOU HEAR BROTHER KYLE DIED BUT DONT YOU BELIEVE A WORD OF IT I AM MORE ALIVE THAN EVER I AM KICKING UP GOLDUST IN GLORY BC OF WHAT MY LORD JESUS CHRIST HAS DONE FOR ME!

There are many of you who might feel alone YOUR NOT!!!

ALL OF THIS IS A SHADOW

He said I will never leave you nor forsake you

YOu might feel abandoned YOU CANT BE

HE was abandoned for you

You might feel condemned

THERE IS NOW THEREFORE NO CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS

JESUS WENT INTO THE DARKNESS SO THAT YOU COULD HAVE THE LIGHT OF GODS PRESENCE

SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY SDHALL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE SO THAT NOW I DONT CALL HIM JUDGE I CALL HIM FATHER!!

I call Him Mighty God I call Him my wonderful counselor

Do you know God this way?

You can!

There are two groups of people here today

you do know God this way you have come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord

God is with you!!!!!!

You are not alone take heart!!!

Dont be afraid of shadows!!

2. Others dont know God

He loves you deeply but He is not with you and you are in darkness and you really are alone but the good news is HE has offered Himself for you, to rescue you, He has removed the separation if you will recieve Him.

Hwo do you know HIm?

RECEIVE HIM

(The gospel)

He is the gift!!!

GODS RICHES AT CHRISTS EXPENSE