Good Things

“Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.”‭‭ Luke‬ ‭2:10

Intro

Welcome back to Good Things, last week we talked about ‘Waiting on Gods plan”?

" Which we learned waiting to a “GOOD THING because it the waiting for THE GOOD NEWS”.

Waiting means HOPE AND EVENT OR SOMETHING.

We saw some of God's plan for humanity unfold over time.

It started in Genesis with the promise of a child who would one day come to defeat sin forever.

Then over the span of thousands of years, God left more clues about what was in store.

King David learned the coming king would be one of his descendants.

Then the prophet Jeremiah said the Savior was still on the way, and that God's promise to send Him was still good.

Today I want to introduce you to another prophet named Malachi, who gave God's people yet another hint about the Savior who was to come.

Usually when people talk about the Christmas season, they talk about joy, peace, family, friends, everything going PERFECT. But we all for living in the world that's not true at all!!!

“God’s Plans don’t seem to work”

Today we're looking forward to Christmas day and remembering Christmases past!

STORY | Can you think about a time in Christmas when things went wrong? OR Christmas catastrophe.

• EXAMPLE : Uncle Ariel dress as Santa and got stoke is a chimney, girt mailed wrong and lied about it.

Christmas isn't Christmas without a little catastrophe, am I right?

Gifts get lost in the mail.

Got the wrong gift.

Someone just forgot.

Aunt or uncle that going to embarrass you.

Family members you just don’t get along and they don’t with you.

There's a big fight during Christmas dinner.

Your family's overly aggressive light display knocks out the power in your entire city. You know, the usual.

But what if I told you these little mistakes and big catastrophes aren't just interruptions to the Christmas season? What if I told you they actually have a lot to do with why we need Christmas in the first place?

SO WHAT? Why does it matter to God and to us?

QUESTION | "What is Christmas all about?”

• You might be familiar with the phrase, "Jesus is the reason for the season."

But what does that mean? What exactly are we celebrating?

GODS PLAN IS TO RESTORE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP THAT YOU LOSE IS THE GARDEN OF EDEN BY CRUSHING SIN.

Usually when people talk about the Christmas season, they talk about joy, peace, and the gift of baby Jesus. Of course, all of those things are true! But here's another way to think about it. Maybe . . .

We long for joy because we're familiar with sadness.

We want peace because we're so often in conflict.

We celebrate the gift of Jesus because He's a gift we desperately needed.

At Christmastime (and all the time) sometimes our plans go badly, things get broken, and relationships get damaged. That's the human condition.

We humans mess up and make mistakes sometimes. Sometimes we make small mistakes that hardly get noticed. But other times we make huge mistakes that really hurt us or others.

READ THIS ABOUT SIN (MISSING THE MARK, THE TARGET IS JESUS. BUT WE ARE TRY TO HIT A TARGET WITH A CROCKED STICK)

In Scripture, this tendency toward brokenness is often called "sin." Sin is anything less than God's best. Sin is something we do by choice, as well as something we can do accidentally. Sin often happens when we act selfishly, only caring about what we want, instead of thinking about what God wants or how our actions affect other people. When we sin, we damage our relationship with God and others.

So why am I talking about sin at Christmastime? Great question!

Last week, we saw how this season before Christmas (the season of Advent) is all about reflecting on God's plans for the world and waiting for God's plans to become reality.Like we saw last week, God's plans are good! It has always been God's plan to restore the brokenness in the world, clean up the mess we've left, and heal the wounds we've given ourselves and each other. And Christmas is a vital part of that plan.

“The PROPHET is here!!!”

MALACHI MEANS “MY MESSAGER”

““The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,” Deuteronomy‬ ‭18:15‬

“Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”” John‬ ‭6:14‬

“Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.” Luke‬ ‭4:24‬

“Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the Lord of hosts. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire And like launderers’ soap.” Malachi‬ ‭3:1-2‬ ‭

“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.” “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ ” John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”” Mark‬ ‭1:1-8‬

WHILE WAITING ON JESUS

JOHN HAD THREE JOBS:

POINT PEOPLE TO JESUS: John's primary role was to announce that the best part of God's plan was coming, and it wasn't him. Jesus was on the way!

CALL PEOPLE TO CHANGE: John called anyone who would listen to change their hearts and lives because God was on the way. John knew following God has the power to transform us inside and out. That's true for individuals and the whole world too!

INVITE PEOPLE TO BE BAPTIZED: As an outward sign of an internal commitment to transformation, John baptized people with water to show they had died to their old life and were beginning a new life in God.

“JOHN SAID IN THE SCRIPTURES “LOOK! THE LAMD OF GOD, WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD”

God's people had been waiting a long time for God's plan to be complete. They were so eager to meet the Savior God promised that they wanted John to be the answer! But John knew he wasn't the last piece in God's puzzle.

His role was to point people to the One who was: Jesus, the only one who could address humanity's sin problem.When Jesus finally began His ministry, Scripture says John looked and Jesus and said, "Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."

“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.””‭‭ Matthew‬ ‭1:21-23‬

THINK ABOUT FOR A MOMENT: IMMANUEL “God with us”

WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT?

IF YOUR HAVING THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS EVER OR OR THE WORST BC DEATH, LONELINESS, DEPRESSION, THINGS THAT YOU ONLY KNOW. IMMANUEL IS WITH US!!!

‘GOOD OR NOT SO GOOD SITUATION GOD IS WITH US”

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” ‭‭II Peter‬ ‭3:9‬

CAN YOU SEE HOW MUCH GOD LOVES YOU?

SO WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE THE BIRTHDAY BOY?

OUR GIFT IS TIME,

NOW WHAT? What does God want us to do about it?

RESPONSE | Receiving Jesus' Love

The Bible tells us Jesus is God Himself, come to earth — Emmanuel, "God with us." Just like the prophets prophesied so long ago, God was on the way. When God finally arrived, He chose to show up not as a conquering king, but as a helpless baby named Jesus.

• The Bible also tells us Christmas is a day to celebrate the coming of a Savior who would take away the sins of the world.

Jesus came to restore the brokenness and take away the sins of everyone who has ever lived — including you and me.Does that help you see just how much God loves you? There is nothing you have to do to earn God's love. You've had since before you even existed. Even in the earliest days of humanity, your Creator already had a plan in place to rescue you.Through Jesus, all of the broken things in the world and our lives can be healed, restored, forgiven, and made new.

• As you're preparing to give and receive gifts with each other this Christmas, don't forget to receive the gift that's been offered to you by God: despite our sin, the unconditional love of Jesus. How? You have a few options.

EMBRACE IT: Is it hard to love or forgive yourself? Do you have difficulty loving or forgiving others just as they are? How can you get more comfortable with embracing God's love for you and others?

ABANDON IT: Is there anything you need to abandon? Is there a sin you need to let go of? Can you identify an attitude you have that gets in the way of embracing God's love for you? Have you built walls to keep God or others out? Is anything worth letting go of so God can fill you with more good things?

FORGIVE IT: Is there anything you need to forgive or have forgiven? Do you need to take any of your sins and mistakes to God? Do you need to forgive yourself because you're someone who beats themselves up over mistakes? Do you hold a grudge against someone who has hurt you? How can you find forgiveness for yourself or others?

TRANSFORM IT: Do you have a struggle, behavior, or habit that feels impossible to change? What do you wish God would make right? What in your life do you need God to transform?

God's original plan for us and the world was really good, but sin damaged our relationships with God and each other. But God has always had a plan, and that plan was always good. God's plan rights our wrongs. It brings healing and hope to our catastrophes. It restores our relationship with God. It's this plan that we celebrate every Christmas.

As you continue preparing for Christmas day, remember what we've seen about Jesus today:

Jesus was born because we all needed to be rescued from our own sin and brokenness.

Jesus was born so God could be with us.

Jesus was born so you'd know you're loved.

Deep down in your bones, down to the last hair on your head, I hope you know God loves you just as you are.

Jesus was born to complete God's plan.

“Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You shall see disaster no more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak. The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.””‭ ‭Zephaniah‬ ‭3:14-17‬

“And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.” And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”” Luke‬ ‭2:25-35‬

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”‭‭ Philippians‬ ‭4:4‬ ‭