Sermon Tone Analysis

I feel so grateful to share our final message in the series “Simply Christmas.”

As we begin a new year and consider our future together as individuals, couples, families, and a church, I am enthusiastic about what God wants to do among you and through you this year for the sake of our church and community.

90 years ago this year, in 1926, the Founding Pastor of University Baptist Church - now Christ Journey - William Russell Owen penned these words as the Lord placed upon his heart a dream for a church in Miami.

He wrote: “The future beckons us to build a great church…making North and South America one…Our future is as bright as the promise of God.” 90 years later - 4 generations removed from those words, and indeed our future is still as bright as the promise of God… The future you long for is already yours in Christ.

***A couple of weeks ago, I experienced the joining of the North and South firsthand when I received an invitation to join the Spanish-speaking Bible class for their Christmas party lunch.

The title of the class alone precludes me from ever attending.

I know how to say baño, comida, and pantalones.

Three very crucial words, but not enough to get through.

Although, I am learning, and perhaps one day, you will need an English translator to understand my sermon.

How great would that be?!

Just before I left, though, I asked if I could share a few thoughts about how grateful I felt that they would ask a new guy like me to join their party.

I spoke through a translator and said that what we experience each week - what we’re experiencing right now - with so many cultures, languages, and ethnicities represented in our church not only bears witness to the Spirit-filled dream of William Owen, but it is a glimpse into very Heaven itself when the redeemed of every nation and language will one day be united in worship to our Lord Jesus Christ!

I long for that day, and until it comes, I pray that we continue to be a church in Miami for Miami where men and women like yourselves can experience the hope and redemption of our Lord.

I believe that 2016 might be our best year ever, which beckons a heartfelt evaluation for ever one of us, asking: what do I need to release in order to cling onto the future that God promised us in Christ?

Each of us long for something, but The future you long for is already yours in Christ.

What do you need to release now in order to embrace the future that Jesus purchased for you long ago?

Is it your Control?

Power?

These very characteristics that face our lives today… also permeated the world of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Christ.

(hold up my nativity scene)

About a year and a half after Jesus’ birth, three wise men appeared from the East who brought gifts to honor the now the toddler-aged Savior.

How many of you own one of these in your home?

Of course you do, I have one, everybody does, my mother in law owns has more than I can count.

This tranquil scene of Baby Jesus lying in the manger with his parents, the wise men, and a few token sheep appears as perfect as a Christmas morning, but truthfully, this scene could not be further from their reality.

Matthew chapter 2 records what happened after the Spirit led the wise men a different direction from which they came in order to avoid death, beginning in verse 13:

13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.

“Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said.

“Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him.

He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.

As new parents, Mary and Joseph lived in an insecure and uncertain world.

Refugees living in a foreign land, fleeing a ruthless, murderous king.

A far reach from this scene here.

The Christmas that continued for Mary and Joseph - and the future in store for them - looked much less like trees and presents and twinkly lights - but more like political unrest, desperation, and insecurity.

Sound familiar?

But the Good News of Great Joy about what this scene represents is that nonetheless God entered into our world as one of us - as a human being - breathing our air, walking our land - the incarnation - with all of the pain and brokenness contained within it.

Given the recent tragedies from the last month, the questions showing up on my twitter feed have been asking: Will the violence ever stop?

Will the terror ever end?

I lament the growing violence and insecurity of our world, as well, but our laments and fears are not new.

The same violence and political unrest in our world that occurred then still exists to this day.

But as a church this should not surprise us… did you know that every book in the Bible describes some aspect of our human brokenness and our longing for restoration, beginning all the way back to the very beginning in the Book of Genesis.

Of the 1189 chapters in the Bible, only the first 2 chapters record a time of perfection and goodness.

From the outset, the enemy stood near, and using the fruit of the tree, Satan promised Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:5 that in succumbing to him:

“You will be like God.” Genesis 3:5

Sometimes we confuse sin and pain entering our world because of a piece of fruit.

Rather, sin entered into our world because Adam and Eve - and every person thereafter - including you and me - believed in the false promise that we could live like the god of our own life.

It’s infused in our DNA to think that we can truly live this way.

What a tempting offer!

Who doesn’t want:

Control

Power

Immortality

Authority

Security

Every person who ever walked this earth desires the very characteristics inherent in living as the god of our own life.

Herod killed every boy under the age of 2 in his province because the birth of King Jesus threatened

his control

his power

his authority

ultimately, his future as the king.

Sure, Herod did live a couple of thousand years ago… but think about those areas of your life where you have faced the greatest amount of tension and conflict.

An argument with your spouse?

A beef with a coworker?

Tension with your kids?

Think about what part of your future causes you the most amount of fret?

Is there a common thread?

A threat to your power?

A diminish of your control?

A question of your authority?

Afraid of your future?

Perhaps the greatest threat to your future is… you, and your desire to live like the god of your own life.

It makes me wonder if we have a bit of the wise men in us and also a bit of Herod in us, too.

While all of us want so badly to hold onto our power, control, and future, even to the point of our own demise, ultimately, we lose it because these characteristics belong solely to God.

Recently, my beautiful… 2 year old daughter, Hannah [[[Show Picture of Hannah]]] - already parents of 2 year olds are nodding their heads - learned a new word, “Myself”

Hannah, do you need help up the steps?

She lets go of my hand… “myself”

Hannah, would you like me to cut your vegetables?

She’ll snatch the knife, waving it around, yelling myself!

I gotta admit, it’s kinda cute.

But where this new word “myself” has gotten us into trouble is when I go to buckle her in the car.

She wants to push down on the buckle… by herself, but her little 2 year old fingers are not yet strong enough to secure it.

So every time Daddy tries to help, she grasps onto the buckle as tightly as she can, yanks it away, and screams “myself!”

And every time I attempt to regain control, instantly my beautiful 2 year old chubby cheeked daughter transforms into a raging 25 lb ball of emotion and anger… and why?

Because even my 2 year old daughter understands the feeling of control, and she wants it!

She desires - at 2 years old - to live like the god of her own life… already!

Pray for us!

All of us desire to live like the god of our own life - all of us do - but rather than letting God be God in all of his perfection and goodness and love and us follow his perfect way, how often do you instead buy into the age old lie that you can do it yourself!

If I just hold on a little tighter… If I just work a little longer… If I just get a little more…

Like my daughter holding onto the buckle of her seatbelt yelling “myself,” we hold tightly onto the things of our life over which we fear losing control…

Like a vice, we grip so tightly onto

our family - our kids

our work - our job security

our dreams - our identity

our health - our livelihood

and, our future!

All good things that God instilled within us!

But what happens when these things become bigger than our grip can hold?

When death or separation occurs within your family?

When the economy goes bust and your job comes to an end… Take control?

When your dreams become unrealized… Fight all the more?