GOOD THINGS (2)

God’s plans require “Sacrifice”

LAST WEEK RECAP

Welcome back to Good Things, last week we talked about ‘God’s plan seem to go wrong”?

Which we learned have to “Joy because God’s plan from the beginning was to restore humanity relationship/our personal relationship with Him”

Bring JOY which is Himself

God’s JOY is not about their situations but their hope in God’s LOVE AND PROMISES

TO CRUSH SIN AND DEATH

And God uses the prophets Malachi to John the Baptism point to Jesus “THE PROPHET”

Emmanuel is “God with us” and what is really means.

God’s plans require “Sacrifice”

IMPORTANT !!!!!

Sacrifice vs Good Sacrifice

Cain and Abel or The Good son vs Bad son

One is Good(Loving) vs One is Not Good(Loving)

One is from the heart vs One is Not(Self)

Can You Relate???

Christmas comes with obligations for everyone. Some of those obligations we choose and some are chosen for us.

Buying a gift for family members and close friends? People that we like is one thing.

Going to your cousin's cringey Christmas play? Maybe not so awesome.

POLL | "What are some sacrifices-you’ve had to make at Christmastime?"

Do any of these sound familiar? Have you ever had to . . .

Help hang Christmas lights until you thought your arms would fall off?

Not see your friends because you had family obligations?

Sit next to your weird Uncle Eddie at Christmas dinner?

Eat every bite of Aunt Edna's Christmas-tree-shaped Jell-O salad?

Babysit your younger relatives while the adults went Christmas shopping?

Spend a ton of your savings on Christmas gifts?

CAN YOU SEE HOW SACRIFICE PLAYS MORE IS OUR DAILY LIVES THEN YOU MAY THINK!!!!

We all make at least the occasional sacrifice at Christmastime, so as we look at a few more of the events that led to the very first Christmas, think about the discomfort and hesitation you sometimes feel when you're being asked to be inconvenienced you don’t want to do.

"Sacrifice" isn't usually what we think about when we think about Christmas, is it? Instead, we think about what we want, the gifts we're excited to receive, and the experiences that make us happy.

But what if, this Christmas, we asked ourselves some new questions, like . . .

What have other people given up for me this Christmas?

What has God given up for me?

What can I give in return?

Why does it matter if I do?

LUKE’S SACRIFICE

SCRIPTURE | Luke 1:26-38

The full story of Christmas can be found twice in the Bible — once in the Gospel of Matthew and once in the Gospel of Luke. Today we're going to look at Luke's version of the story.

Luke tells the story of Jesus from a different perspective than the other Gospel writers because he was not Jewish. Unlike Jesus and His disciples, Luke was a Gentile (which is just another way of saying he was not Jewish).

While some of the other authors of the New Testament wrote mostly with a Jewish audience in mind, Luke wrote his book with everyone in mind — Jew or Gentile, religious or non-religious.

Luke risked his reputation and social status with his Gentile (non-Jewish) family and friends to follow the way of a radical Rabbi named Jesus.

Luke knew God's plan for humanity included every person, no matter their ethnicity or religious background. He wanted everyone to know Jesus was good news for them too — especially people who weren't usually prioritized by the religious leaders of the time.

Maybe that's why Luke wrote down the stories of more women than any other Gospel writer. Women were often overlooked in society at that time, but Luke seems to have noticed the way Jesus always elevated and honored women.

One of the women whose story Luke told is Mary, the mother of Jesus. When we meet her, she is an unmarried young woman.

MARY’S SACRIFICE

INSTRUCTIONS: Read or summarize Luke 1:26-38.

“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”‭‭ Luke‬ ‭1:26-38‬

Can you imagine being in Mary's shoes? That angel gave her a lot to process.

At first, Mary was really "troubled," which makes sense. This was a major upset. An inconvenience. Not part of the plan.

Then she was confused. How was this even possible?

But in the end, she said, "Okay!" She was ready to be part of God's plan for the world, even if it meant making some sacrifices.

SCRIPTURE | Luke 1:46-55

INSTRUCTIONS: Read Luke 1:46-55.

“And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.””‭‭ Luke‬ ‭1:46-55‬

In Mary's song, we see she had hope that God's love would one day win over all the evil and broken things. When she saw that promise being fulfilled, she was full of joy that she had a role in making God's plan finally happen.

Mary expressed a lot of joy, but that doesn't mean she wasn't making a big sacrifice.

Mary was a real teenage girl, having a real baby.

She would experience a real pregnancy with all the discomfort and labor pains that came with it — in a stinky stable, no less.

She would have to deal with judgment and assumptions from people who didn't know her story and simply saw an unmarried girl with a baby.

But Mary trusted God had good things in store, even if she had to make some sacrifices in the meantime.

GOD’S SACRIFICE

Omnipotence(All Powerful), Omniscient(All Knowledge and Wisdom) and Omnipresent(All He is everywhere)

SCRIPTURE | Romans 12:1

There's a passage in the book of Romans that captures Mary's attitude in this moment.

INSTRUCTIONS: Read Romans 1

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”‭‭ Romans‬ ‭12:1‬

I know what you might be thinking. "Is God asking for me to sacrifice my body? What?" Don't worry. Here's what Paul (the author of Romans) is trying to teach us . . .

Because Jesus sacrificed Himself for our sins once and for all, we no longer need to make religious sacrifices in order to be loved by God. We're already loved, just the way we are.

But if we're going to make any sacrifices to God, God invites us to sacrifice ourselves — to give ourselves to God just like Jesus gave Himself fully for us.

When you think about it, you start to realize that Christmas is all about sacrifice.

The very first Christmas would never have happened without Mary's sacrifice. Because of her love for, and trust in, God, she gave up her own plans in order to say yes to God's plan. Because of Mary's sacrifice, Jesus was born!

On that very first Christmas, another sacrifice happened as well. By coming to earth as Jesus, God was making a sacrifice too. Jesus (God Himself) chose to give up His heavenly existence in order to experience an earthly life — a life He always knew would end in death and suffering.

Then, thirty-ish years after that first Christmas, Jesus' sacrificed Himself. He gave up everything, eventually even His life, for you and me, so God's plans could be completed.

And now today, God is inviting you and me to consider how we can make a sacrifice in order to be part of God's plans too.

God's plans for us and for the world are always good, but just like Mary, Jesus, and so many who have gone before us discovered, God’s plans require sacrifice.

IMPORTANT !!!!!

WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT?

PUTTING HIM FIRST WILL ALWAYS BE A “GOOD SACRIFICE”

LIKE ABEL, LUKE AND MOTHER MARY

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

STORY | Talk about a sacrifice you're glad you made.

I don't know what kind of sacrifices God might be inviting you to make.

Maybe it's a sacrifice between you and God. Maybe you're being asked to give up on a bad habit, or pattern of behavior, or sin that's holding you back from experiencing all of the "good things" God has for you.

Maybe it's a sacrifice God is asking you to make for others. Maybe there's someone who could really benefit from something you have the power to give them. Maybe part of God's good plans for you and them involves this sacrifice you're being asked to make.

REFLECTION | Reprioritizing

A sacrifice always costs us something, otherwise it wouldn't be a sacrifice. We might hesitate because we're afraid . . .

Of wasting our time, energy, or money.

Of our reputation getting ruined.

Of giving up control.

Of losing family and friends.

Of feeling uncomfortable.

That following God's plans will make our lives boring, restrictive, or unhappy.

But do you remember how full of joy Mary was after she decided to make a sacrifice in order to be part of God's plans? God's plans are always bigger, more fulfilling, and more full of joy than any plans we could design for ourselves.

So what about you? What can you give? What are your priorities right now and how can you re-prioritize them to be more selfless?

YOUR TIME: Think about how you're using your time. Of course, there are plenty of things on your schedule that are important, but how can you find pockets of time to spare? How can you sacrifice some of your time to better connect with God? How can you sacrifice some of your time to care for and serve someone else? Who or what might God be inviting you to spend your time on?

YOUR ENERGY: We all have a limited amount of energy each day, but if we're honest, we're probably not using our energy on the best things all of the time. We might be spending too much energy worrying about things that don't matter, or doing things that only help us and no one else. So what would it look like for you to sacrifice some of your energy and give it to God or to others? What kinds of things do you think God might be asking you to do or care about? Who might God be inviting you to spend your energy on?

YOUR STUFF: You're probably not rich, and that's okay. But we all have some "stuff" we don't need. It might be an object you own (like money, clothes, or anything you own that you can share) or something else you have (like a skill, a friendship, an opportunity, or a relationship). How can you use the stuff you have to sacrifice for God or for someone else?

• INSTRUCTIONS:

Between now and Christmas day, hang onto this reflection and keep thinking about it. Look back over the things you wrote or drew and ask questions like . . .

What can I sacrifice today in order to be part of God's plans?

How difficult will it be to sacrifice the things I've listed?

Do I need to push myself to find anything more challenging?

Who will benefit from what I decide to sacrifice?

What has been preventing me from making these sacrifices sooner?

CLOSING COMMENT

In the last few weeks, I hope you've learned to see the Christmas story in a new way. It's not just an old story we repeat every year. It's a reflection of God's plans, which began at the beginning of time and are still in motion today. Christmas reminds us that . . .

God has a plan to restore everything that was broken by sin and death.

Jesus completes God's plan through His birth, life, death, and resurrection.

Jesus brings joy. He did it when He first arrived on earth and He continues to bring joy right now to everyone who knows and loves Him.

God's plans have always been good, but God’s plans require sacrifice.

This Christmas, will you choose to be part of God's good plans?

“People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply acknowledging a great debt we owe to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its own reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny? It is emphatically no sacrifice. Rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, danger, foregoing the common conveniences of this life--these may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing compared with the glory which shall later be revealed in and through us. I never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought not to talk, when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father's throne on high to give Himself for us.” David Livingstone.