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God With Us Is Jesus
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Mt. 1:22-23; Lk. 2:6-7; Rm. 5:1-5
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Transcript
Reflecting on the Meaning of Christmas
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Speaker
want to start this evening with just a simple question. What is the Christmas season all about? Most of you would respond with the one word answer and that answer would be Let's try again.
00:00:14
Speaker
Everybody would answer with that one word and it would be? right. So there will be a little participation in this sermon. I just want to let you know right now. When I point to you, your answer will be?
00:00:28
Speaker
Most of us would say this season is all about Jesus. Some people would probably convince you that this season is more about their tree decorating skills.
00:00:40
Speaker
Because nothing says holiday spirit like climbing on a ladder with the balance of a baby giraffe. Others would probably tell you Christmas all about surviving that family gathering with the in-laws when someone brings up politics or religion.
00:00:57
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And then others of you might genuinely believe the holiday is all about cookies. And we pray for those people, but not too hard because down deep we all like cookies.
Jesus as the Central Figure of Christmas
00:01:10
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The funny thing is, friends, no matter how hard we try, now how many lights we hang, no matter how many hall Hallmark movies we watch, or how many Christmas cookie platters we bake, no matter how hard we try to take Christ,
00:01:26
Speaker
out of Christmas, that spotlight seems to just keep swiveling right back to that baby in the manger. Friends, there's only one main character in this story, and it's not you, and it's not me.
00:01:40
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The Christmas season gently reminds us this time of year, hey, by the way, you're not the star. There's only one star of that story, and it is Jesus. Way to go, y'all.
00:01:54
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Every decoration, every tradition, every candlelit moment, it's just the supporting cast to the main character. And that main character Jesus.
00:02:05
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You guys are nailing it. So today, for these next few moments, let's just push aside the busy, planning, all the tinsel, all the packages, all the gifts, all the to-do list, and simply focus on Jesus.
00:02:23
Speaker
Not on the gifts under the tree, but the only gift, the true gift, the Savior, the light of the world, Emmanuel, with us, who died for you and I on a tree.
00:02:40
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Long ago, the prophet Isaiah foretold the birth of the Messiah, who would be called Emmanuel, God with us. Matthew mentions in his account on the Christmas story in Matthew 1.22, Matthew,
00:02:52
Speaker
It says, all of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet, that the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.
00:03:04
Speaker
um I'm often reminded this time of year, the Christmas story is a powerful story. It's filled with wonder and intrigue and miracles and real life situations.
00:03:16
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It's a story that involves God stepping down out of heaven onto earth in the person of Jesus, the most wonderful and gracious gift of all eternity.
00:03:27
Speaker
Now I want you to do me a a big favor for just a few moments. I want you to close your eyes and think to yourself, in years past, during Christmas, perhaps you were a young boy or a young girl, what was the best Christmas present you have ever received?
The Humble Birth of the Messiah
00:03:46
Speaker
Maybe it was a Barbie doll or a BB gun or a bow and arrow set or maybe it was a puppy. Whatever it is, whatever that best gift was that in your mind's eye when you close your eyes you think yourself, yeah, that's the best gift I've ever received. Brothers and sisters, that best gift pales in comparison to the ultimate gift that God gave us in Jesus.
00:04:17
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It's in Jesus that we find and experience hope. It's in Jesus that we find and experience joy and peace and love. Each of these themes that we've walked through over the Advent season.
00:04:29
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It's a time of celebrating the ultimate gift, Jesus. And it's what we celebrate tomorrow when you're with your family.
00:04:39
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Luke in his gospel gives this magnificent story, this account of the gift of Jesus, yet it's so understated. In Luke chapter 2 it says, While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born.
00:04:53
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And she gave birth to the firstborn, a son, and she wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them.
00:05:03
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We said a couple weeks ago, There's a significant lack of details in this account. No height, no weight, no color of his eyes, just a baby born.
00:05:14
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This long-awaited Messiah who the Jews have been hoping for and praying for has finally come into this world in the most humble of ways. A human, an infant, a crying baby. Thank you, everybody, for that timely... We planned that, by the way.
00:05:36
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It's a baby crying in the manger. Frail, vulnerable, think about it, physically dependent upon his parents. Brothers and sisters, this is the God of the universe who created it all.
00:05:50
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It blows my mind to think that as he steps down out of heaven, he does so not as a full-grown man, but as a baby in a manger.
The Essence of Jesus' Teachings
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He came with us as one of us. Why is that so important, you ask? Well, church family, it's because in that way God can relate to you and I. He understands exactly where you are spiritually this evening.
00:06:16
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He knows exactly where you are physically right now. He knows where you are emotionally. Because just like you and I, he came to earth as one of us.
00:06:30
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He's not some far-off God up in sky, up in heaven, like Star Wars says in a galaxy far, far away. No, friends, he's personal. He's intimate.
00:06:41
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He's right there with you. And he wants to have an intimate relationship with you. And I put a note to myself, how fabulous of a gift is that today? As I sat down earlier today, I thought to myself, that gift...
00:06:54
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of an intimate, personal God who created the entire universe, He wants to have a relationship with me. He wants to have relationship with you.
00:07:06
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The miraculous events and the announcement of that that birth, while it was proclaimed from the heavens to the most unlikely characters we said last week in the shepherds, it was a very personal and quiet announcement as well to Mary and Joseph.
00:07:24
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That a Messiah would be born. And that these lowly shepherds, these outcasts, these foreign sages who in God's sovereign plan just so happened to be out looking one night when a disruption of all eternity happened.
00:07:41
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And it's in that darkness of night that a single star shone through nice and bright. And in the middle of it was this baby and that baby was? Jesus.
00:07:52
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Emmanuel with us. God with us. personal, intimate God with us.
Living an Abundant Life Through Jesus
00:07:59
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Brothers and sisters, He is the fulfillment of all hope. He is the embodiment of love. He is the source of joy. He is our peace.
00:08:07
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He is life abundant and life eternal. It's a story all about Him. And so this Christmas season, i hope you remember, it's not all about you.
00:08:19
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It's not all about the gifts that you got for your relatives or didn't get for their relatives. It's not all about the tree and what's under the tree. It's about the one gift that came that was displayed for you and I on the tree.
00:08:37
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John 10.10, Jesus is described this way. says he's the giver of abundant life. He is the way, the truth, and the life in John 14.6. He's the alpha and the omega, the first, the last, the beginning, and the end as described in Revelation 22.
00:08:54
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He's the one we've been waiting for for for weeks, these last four weeks, building week after week longing in anticipation for tomorrow. That we get to celebrate his coming, his arrival.
00:09:08
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He's God with us. He gives us peace today. But friends, there's a peace that's coming that we're waiting for, and it's his second coming. It's a longing that you and I should have as Christ followers.
00:09:20
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It's an abundant life that he promises to those who place their trust in him, but it's an abundant life that you and I can experience today. It's not one that we're waiting for to get to heaven. It's one that we can experience right now.
00:09:35
Speaker
Let me close this evening with the Apostle Paul's description of this abundant life, this everlasting life that we have in Christ. and i And I pray that you just listen as I read it. You'll see it on the screen here, Romans 5, 1 through 5. I just want you to to listen with a real close ear and see if you can spot the Advent words, hope, peace, joy, and love.
00:09:58
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The Apostle Paul says, therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
00:10:09
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Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand. And we confidently and joyfully look forward to God's glory. We can rejoice too when we run into problems and trials.
00:10:26
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For we know that they help us develop endurance. And an endurance develops strength of character. And character strengthens confidence, hope, and salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment.
00:10:39
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For we know dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love. Isn't that just a beautiful description by the apostle?
00:10:50
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Of the life that is brought to us by Jesus. So tonight on Christmas Eve, let us be like those shepherds of long ago. Let us eagerly seek out Jesus, our Savior, Emmanuel, God with us, and truly worship him.
00:11:05
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Because brothers and sisters, he is worthy of our worship. And all God's people said,