God With Us
Transcript
Well, good morning. We are in our third week of our Give Series, and our Give Series is something we do every year, so we always have a series kind of entitled Give three years in a row. And basically what we're doing at this time of year is we're going to intentionally take some time to study the Bible and to remind ourselves. I said study the Bible. We don't usually do that. We're always studying the Bible.
But take time to remind ourselves of what Christmas is about and not just get caught up in all the consumeristic stuff that goes on in our culture. So as Christians, what is always happening is there are some things in culture that we can just kind of accept, that we can go along with, that we can celebrate. And then there are other things in our culture that we're going to have to at times push back on. And so one of the things we just try to do around this time of year is rally ourselves as a church to be generous to some specific causes, to not just have Christmas roll by and all we thought about was gifts and giving and receiving gifts, but we actually think about some more long-term or some more other ways to be generous and to be helpful.
And so this year we've got two gift projects, and we talked about it last week. We may have bitten off a little more than we can chew, and so I don't think so. But we kind of got our work cut out for us. And what we've done is we're partnering with City Church, which is a church plant in Knoxville, where we're trying to raise some money for them so that when they hit the ground, we helped add into them hitting the ground running when they all move to Knoxville and get rolling. And we are helping the Staley's, who are a family affected by the flood that live in northeast Columbia. And we actually had a group of nine people go over yesterday to serve and work at their house and got a lot done.
And we're taking another group this coming Saturday to have another day of work over there. And then in January we'll have to go back to do some rebuild stuff. So right now we're just trying to make a few rooms in their house that are unsafe safe, and then we'll go back and make them beyond safe and back into being like nice and actual rooms in their house. And so that's kind of what we're going for. So I don't know about you.
I like Christmas, and I like the Christmassy-ness of Christmas. And I know some people get annoyed with Christmassy stuff. I was talking to someone this morning, and they said, yeah, I'm already over Christmas music. Like I'm annoyed with it at this point. I'm done. And I'm like singing in front of them because I just love Christmas stuff.
But I'm also the type of person I will cut down like random neighborhoods I've never been in just to see like the people who've lit up their house and decorated. I really appreciate the people that do that because I like the shiny lights and the colors and the tackiness and stuff that goes along with Christmas. I string up lights inside of my house because I want to enjoy them. So if they're on the outside of my house, I only see them when I pull up. So I have like lights strung around like the green outdoor lights and tree lights just strung around my house because I just plug them in, and my house is just lit up with Christmas lights.
And maybe a redneck, but I like that. But another thing you see around Christmas a lot is nativity scenes. And so you'll see nativity scenes. And nativity, the word, we looked it up. It just means like dealing with birth or your birth or something. So you could take someone to the place of your nativity.
So wherever you were born, you could say, this is the hospital of my nativity. They would think you were weird, but you could say that. That would be a correct way to use that word in a sentence. And so really nativity scenes are just a celebration of Jesus' birth. So it's the place of his birth.
And so you see these a good bit. We've got a few to look at this morning. And this is one of those that's like just the outline stuff. They're just shining lights on it. You can see that like Jesus is glowing. They're praying to him is what it looks like.
Maybe they're just praying over him. You've got the star lit up. You've got an angel that's just doing like the Vanna White thing. Like here they are. I don't know how long the angel stood there just doing that. But all right.
So the next one. So that one, you've seen stuff like that. Then you've got this kind. This is like you'd set up at your house. The thing about this nativity scene is it has everything. It has like birds that just float magically.
It's got a shooting star thing going. There's a beagle over here because they hung out in the Middle East. But it's just a whole lot of stuff. You know, it's like a 47-piece set. All right.
So then there's other ones that are just like more stylistic. So these people like coordinated all their outfits together. They're like, Jesus is going to be born. Everybody got your red sash. Yes, I got it. There was one guy who didn't have it, and he doesn't get to be in the picture.
All right. So next one. Then you've got people who do stuff like this, which who knows how long it took to get this to work out right. And in the right corner, it says fleas, navi dog. So if the dogs dressed up wasn't offensive enough, let's just throw this in here.
All right. Then you've got people who just like look around the house and find random things. So that's like a volcano with Batman on top. There's a Lego Garfield. The Bears quarterback is there. There's Obi-Wan Kenobi.
I don't know how the dude with the overalls, he just gets to be there. Like I don't know. And Frankenstein. So that's more traditional, like what you're used to. It's like all this isn't. You read it in your Bible.
No, I'm kidding. All right. So then you've got like Peanuts. They do their own kind of thing. And I think this may even be in the show they do. The next one's my favorite.
It's made out of bacon and sausage. We've had a debate. I think that's long, like long stem rice, but someone else was saying it was hash browns. But if you make a nativity scene, do you feel bad eating it? Like are you allowed to eat? Like it seems like you just wasted time.
Just go ahead and cook the bacon and eat it. Don't take forever. But anyway, there you go. That's a ham, sausage, bacon nativity scene. But we see these all the time, and I think we kind of get used to them.
Yeah, that can go away. We don't need to stare at bacon forever. People are just going to start getting annoyed. It's like, oh, I need a biscuit now. We see nativity scenes a good bit. And it's – I think we've over – it's the celebration that Jesus, that God, became a baby.
And so we set these up in our yard, and we have like a live one, and like church put on a big one, and have to order a camel from somewhere and have them walk around. And we celebrate this, but honestly, it's a little bit bizarre, if I can use that word, that God would become a baby, if you think about it. It's just a little bit – it should make us think. It should make us go, okay, what was the point of this? Like if we're celebrating that God became a human, what – why? What was he doing?
And so let's turn to Isaiah 9. We're going to look at what we've been doing a good bit. Isaiah chapter 9, if your Bible looks like this, it will be page 369. But what we've been doing a good bit is looking at Old Testament prophecy, which is where – so like if you watch movies and stuff and people see a prophet, like prophets like their eyes roll back in their head, and they like utter like cryptic sayings sometimes, and like they don't even know they said it, or like nobody knows what it means, but it's a prophecy, or like they have to climb a mountain and go talk to someone who's blind. And that's not what prophecy is in the Bible.
Prophecy is that God speaks specifically through people. So it's a person speaking on behalf of God what God told them to say. Now sometimes they have visions. Sometimes there are a little bit of things that go on with it where he's giving them imagery that they're – but it's not them. It's God that is speaking. And they're not speaking on their own behalf or through their own power.
They're speaking through God. And so that's what Isaiah is. And we're going to look at a really small prophecy that he made, or a really small section of prophecy that he made that's talking about this coming Savior. But we're going to pray before we hop in. God, we thank you for the time that we have to study your word together. And I pray, Lord, that you would help us to grow in our appreciation for what you did at Christmas, what we're celebrating at Christmas, and what we're seeing when we see a nativity scene.
So, God, I pray that you'd help us to see that and to accept the invitation that you're making through being born here. In Jesus' name, amen. Isaiah 9, verses 6 and 7. This is a really pretty kind of piece of prophecy, but it's also – it puts these two images together that are kind of hard to hold together. So it says, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and he shall be called.
So we're going to stop for just a second. So he's saying there's going to be a child born, there's going to be a son given. And this theme runs throughout a lot of movies and stuff where there's this promised person coming, this promised son, this promised child that will be born, this destiny child. So there's like this thing that kind of runs through. Like we see it a lot as a theme, and this is actually what happens in Jesus. There's this promise that this son will be born, this child will be born.
So here's what it says. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. So he'll be in charge. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, and on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Okay, so there's going to be a baby born. And then Isaiah says some stuff that is not okay except for under one circumstance. He says some stuff that would not be okay to say except for under one circumstance. What he says is he'll be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father. That's not okay unless this child that is born is actually God. Those are not okay names to call him.
In Hebraic Jewish understanding, it's a very serious thing to – it's blasphemy to take on the name of God or to be worshipped as God or to be called God when you are not. That's actually why they kill Jesus later. They accuse him of blasphemy because he is taking on the name of God. He's being called God. And they're saying, no, you're not. But he is.
He is this promised son. And here's what's crazy. These two images do not fit well together. Everlasting Father. Mighty God. Little bitty baby.
Now I know in our church family a lot of people have recently had children. A lot of people will be having children soon. And I'm not specifically if you're a mom in here and you've recently had a baby or if you just had babies. I'm not talking to you. Your child is excluded. But I'm talking about every other child that has ever been born.
Babies are ugly. Not yours. Yours was precious. Precious little baby angel. All the other ones look like little greasy trolls. Like they just didn't come out right.
Like they don't – every time I've ever seen a baby and they're like, isn't it beautiful? I'm like, hmm. Look how small it is. Like I just try to change the subject. Look at how – like when you say that you mean like look how big its head is. But you mean like look at – you just have to – oh, your baby could be in movies.
And like you're trying – it sounds nice but you meant like Voldemort in the train station in the last movie. Like that's what it looked like. Like you just – you're like, oh, this baby is so precious. But like I had a baby and Anna's like, isn't he beautiful? And I'm like, not really. Like I know I was part of the team here but this – this ain't looking so good.
Like his head's kind of odd shaped and like his face looks like a frying pan. Like I don't know. It turns out okay. They get cute. And I didn't mean – not your baby. Your baby was an angel.
But other people's babies. Not yours. Other people's. All of the other people's babies. Not cute. And God became one.
Everlasting Father. Mighty God. Little mushed up funny looking baby. That happened. And we've tried to clean this up. We've tried to make it nicer.
There's the song Away in a Manger. Away in a Manger. That song – that should be on the singing team. Melody Squad. In that song, this is one of the lyrics. The cattle are lowing.
And lowing means making noises. But mooing didn't sound as good. That's why we don't sing the cattle are mooing. No, it's – they're lowing. The baby awakes. But little Lord Jesus.
No crying he makes. Mmm. The only baby that never cried. Jesus. That would be the creepiest baby ever. Like, that's how babies communicate.
They can't speak. So, like, it's not like – are we trying to argue that Jesus could talk when he came out? Hello, mother. Hello, father. I'm God. I'm going to take a nap now.
Like, that didn't happen. He was a normal baby. Like, if he didn't cry, that's how they communicate that they're hungry and stuff. Like, the cattle low. They're lowing. And he wakes up, but he doesn't cry.
So, he just does this. How does he communicate that he's hungry? Like, no. He was a regular baby. And here's the thing. There's a little bit of us.
At least it's in me. I don't know if it's in you. There's a little bit of us that's like, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Calm it down. Like, I look at the bacon nativity scene, and I think a little bit – I would have a hard time eating that. Because it's like, well, this is a nativity scene.
You can't eat baby Jesus. I don't care if you made him out of a sausage. Like, this is weird. You shouldn't have done this in the first place. There's the one with Batman, and you're like, no, no. Batman doesn't need to be here.
There's a little bit of this where you're going, this is degrading. You can't say that baby Jesus was mushy and funny looking. The whole nativity is degrading. That's the point. God became a baby. That is absolutely degrading.
Absolutely humiliating. He humiliated himself. That's what humble means. He humbled himself. He humiliated himself. He wasn't even born in a palace or a nice place.
It wasn't like a mushy, weird-looking baby in a nice house. He was laid in a feeding trough. The whole thing is degrading. Every single of the prettiest nativity scene you've ever seen, even that one that had 42 pieces and a beagle, is degrading. Because God became a baby. And there's a little bit of us that's like, okay, but why?
Why would he have to become a baby? Why did he have to be born? Couldn't he just show up? Couldn't he just have walked out of the woods? Like just ripped open the fabric of the world and stepped out and like glowed and floated? Like when he's 30 or around there and goes back to his hometown and preaches, they don't even listen to him.
One of the things says, isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this the builder? Isn't this the guy who used to just work here? Why are we listening to him? He'd lived a normal, everyday life. Had to cut his hair.
Had to walk places. Had to get strep throat. That's humiliating. That's degrading. And the question is, why? What's he doing?
Galatians 4. Flip over there with me. We'll spend the rest of our time there. It helps us answer this question. Paul is talking about kind of who we are in Christ. He's writing this letter to the church and he helps cue us in on why.
It'll be page 632 if you've got one of the blue and white Bibles. If you don't own a Bible, just take this one home with you. We want you to have a Bible. I want you to read it all the time. We're going to start in verse 4. I love this.
When the fullness of time wasn't a backup plan. It was when the moment was right. He wasn't scrambling to try to figure something out. It was when the moment was right. When the fullness of time had come. God sent his son.
Born of a woman. This is Galatians 4 verse 4. When the fullness of time had come. God sent forth his son. Born of a woman. Born under the law.
To redeem those who were under the law. Okay, stop there. We need to talk about that phrase. Born under the law to redeem those who were under the law. We joked the other day when we started this series. That one of the arguments we make around Christmas time.
Is just that. It's Christmas. So like when you're getting an argument with your family. When you're hanging out and doing Christmas stuff. When somebody's bringing up some things. When someone's crying.
When somebody's like being a jerk. Your grandmother will go. It's Christmas. We do not have that here. It's Christmas. And all the argument is.
Is that you could wait two weeks and be a jerk. But you can't be a jerk today. Because Christmas is coming up. Like that's the argument. And that's kind of a funny weird argument to make. Although we all accept it.
The funnier thing that's kind of sad. Is that we can't hang out with our family for two hours. Without getting in an argument. That's the worst part. I was hanging out with my brothers. And my family over Thanksgiving.
And my younger brother and I got into it. Over a ping pong game. It was getting heated. Somebody else. Like it worked out well. That someone else came out.
And we were both a little bit embarrassed. That we were arguing over ping pong. And we had to like get in. So we had to figure out what the score was. And move forward. And really the biggest problem was.
He wouldn't listen to reason. Like I was pummeling him with wisdom and logic. And he would have none of it. But the truth is. I mean I'm getting. I'm really looking at my younger brother.
And arguing with him. And serious. Over ping pong. And I still feel right. Yeah. We can't hang out for three hours with family.
Without getting into it. There's a little bit of us. If we're honest. If we're honest. We look at the world. And all of us are going.
Yeah this is messed up. This shouldn't be the way it is. Like. There are things that happen. That are just wrong. They shouldn't happen.
If we're honest. We look at ourselves. And think the same thing. I'm not. I'm not really as loving. As I would like to make out.
Like I'm not really as kind. I'm not really as generous. Like I give myself the benefit of the doubt. Like I had good intentions. But really.
But there's a little bit of us. The whole time that thinks. If I just. If we could just. Teach the world. If they could just not be ignorant.
These problems would go away. If we could just. If everybody had good. Family situations. These problems would go away. If everybody just knew the rules.
If everybody was just informed. Over what was good. And what was bad. Like these would go away. If I just. If I just got another chance.
If I just knew the rules. That's the law. There's a little bit of us. When everything got messed up. That it was like. Okay.
But don't we just need to be coached up. That's what religion is. Can't you just tell me what's good. And what's bad. And then we can get it right. Nope.
You see. The world turned into a hot mess. Pretty quickly. After God made it good. And then God gives the law. Which is that idea.
Which is what we all want. A little bit. It's what we all. I can figure this out. If I just have the rules. You just coach me up.
And I can do this well. Just give me another shot. I can do it. I can figure it out. I can be good enough. I can accomplish it.
I just need to know. Kind of what rules to play by. And the truth is. Where the law comes in. There's just more broken laws. We just mess the rules up worse.
It wasn't just coaching that we needed. We needed something to get all together. Different. My dad went to Liberty University. Way back in the day. When it was more intense.
He was asked. Politely not to return. My uncle went. He graduated. I think. His oldest son went.
His middle son went. His third son went. Several of those were asked. It's okay. You're good. Just don't come back next semester.
My older brother went. He didn't finish up there. My younger brother went. He didn't finish up there. Several of them. It was just a formally nice request.
You're good. You're good. You don't have to come back. Then my older brother Logan. Went to Bob Jones for a while. I went to Presbyterian College.
And I didn't break a whole lot of rules. Do you want to know why? Presbyterian College didn't have a lot of rules. I broke one. You're not supposed to have a full size refrigerator. In your dorm.
But Matt and I were roommates. And that little refrigerator wasn't cutting it. So we went and talked to. Our RA. And he was like. As long as I don't see it.
When I check your room. You're good. We threw a blanket over it. We also had a pet squirrel in our room. Those were the only rules we really broke. There weren't a whole lot to break.
We could stand up here all day long. And just talk about rules. We could stand up here all day long. And just lay the law on top of ourselves. It's not going to fix us. You could be as coached up as you want to be.
You can know everything that you're supposed to do. It's not going to fix you. And so Jesus was born. When the time was right. He was born of a woman. Born under the law.
To redeem those who were under the law. See every single one of us fails miserably. Fails miserably. When it comes to the law. So Jesus had to be born into the system.
To get us out of it. He had to be born under the law. Into the system. So that he could live perfectly. Do what we can't do. To redeem us.
To buy us back. Born under the law. So that. So he was born. The reason he was born of a woman. The reason he was born.
So that he could be in the system. He could be under the law. So that. Those who were under the law. That's us. All of us have failed miserably before God.
All of us stand condemned before God. None of us will get to walk into the throne room of God. And say. Check out my track record. You're welcome. I crushed it.
Just here to get my high five God. You owe me. None of us get to do that. Even though we give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. We don't get to do that. So he was born under the law.
So that he could fulfill it on our behalf. So that he could rescue us. Redeem us. Buy us back. So that we might receive adoption.
As sons. And because you are sons. God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts. Crying. Abba. Father.
So not only do we get to receive adoption as sons. But for those who place faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit helps us be sons. And the reason it says sons. And not children. Is that sons are heirs.
So you are no longer a slave. But a son. And if a son. Then an heir through God. So in their society.
Females didn't inherit anything. So it's actually really beautiful. That we all get to be sons. Because in that society. That means you're an heir. So we all get to inherit.
What Jesus earned on our behalf. Here's what's beautiful. When you see a nativity scene. As humiliating. And as degrading as they are. And as how much it's trying to wed.
These two ideas. Of this little screaming baby. Helpless baby. With everlasting father. And mighty God. Jesus was born here.
So that we can be born there. Jesus was adopted here. You see Joseph in all those nativity scenes. That's not Jesus' dad. Joseph adopted Jesus. Jesus was adopted here.
So that we. Could be adopted there. That's the nativity scene. Is that he was born here. So that by faith.
We can trust Jesus. And he will redeem us. And we're born again. We're not. We're made new. And we're adopted into the family.
Jesus was born here. And adopted here. He joined himself with humanity. So that we can be joined. With eternity. So that we can be adopted.
Into the family of God. So that we can be. Completely welcomed. By Jesus' work. Not ours. And that's what's.
Really exciting. About our. Our give series this year. So it's really exciting. About church planting. See Jesus left heaven.
And joined with humanity. He said. I'm going to. Take your problems on myself. I'm going to take the law on myself. I'm going to.
Fulfill for you. What you can't fulfill for yourself. And he. Lived a normal. Life. For most of his life.
Had a job. Lived in a community. Celebrated holidays. Completely fulfilled. The law. And then went to a cross.
On our behalf. And the truth is. Church planting. Is a small picture of that. It's. I'm going to leave my home.
That's what city church is doing. I'm going to leave. Our home. And we're going to go. Join with this community. We're going to go get jobs here.
We're going to go be a part of. This here. We're going to go. Be around in normal life. That's what our groups are. It's us walking in normal life.
With the city. With each other. There's something beautiful about. Jesus becoming a human. Which means that. All of the normalcy of our lives.
Has meaning. And matters. Jesus didn't just float in. Say some stuff. And float out. No.
He went to work. He walked around. Cooked food. Cooked food. And so that means that. As we walk in normal life.
We get to join in. It's actually. Made humanity. In some ways. Godly. Just to go to work.
Just to build a relationship. Just to be friends with each other. Because that's what Jesus did. So that he could redeem us. So that he could buy us back.
And we get to go do the same thing. So that more people can meet Jesus. So go to work. And realize that your goal. As Jesus went to work. To work perfectly.
Your goal is to see more people meet Jesus. To get bought back. To know that he. When he was born. Came to rescue them. That's why we're.
That's why we're. Partnering with the Staley's. To help their house. Jesus said. This isn't my home. And I'm going to make it my home.
And I'm going to make it better. We get to do that. This isn't our home. But we're going to come alongside of you. We're going to treat it like it is. We're going to make it better.
The band's going to come back up. And here's what I want us to remember. Here's the big question. That every nativity scene. Screams at you. You see.
Jesus was born here. So that we could be born again. And he was adopted. So that you could be adopted. And when you see a nativity scene. At your grandma's house.
Riding down the road. A plastic one set up at Walmart. The question is this. Have you trusted Jesus? Have you been born again? Have you been adopted into the family?
That's why he came. He was born of a woman. So that we could be born there. So that we could be redeemed. He was adopted here. So that we could be adopted there.
And the way that works is by us placing faith in Jesus. So when you see a nativity scene. Have you done that? And if you have. Remember that. And celebrate that.
Every time you see one. That God humiliated himself. He degraded himself. So that we could be exalted. He was an inglorious. Un majestic little baby.
So that we could have glory. And majesty. And share that with God for eternity. That's the nativity. That's the celebration of that. That he humiliated himself.
So we could be exalted. Exalted. So we could be welcomed. So that we could be adopted. So that we could be made new.
And we're not going to work it out. We're not going to fix it on our own. We're not going to know enough rules. We're not going to accomplish it. We're going to receive it by grace. And just be welcomed in through what Jesus did on our behalf.
And that's what we're celebrating at Christmas. And that's the picture we get to see every time we see a nativity scene. And if you see one that's cheeky. It's poking fun. Every nativity scene is degrading. And all the more that we get to celebrate.
That our God humiliated himself. So that we could be exalted. So that we could be welcomed. That he was adopted here. So we could be adopted there.
That's the God we serve. That's the Jesus who's welcomed us. And you don't have to earn it. You don't have to accomplish it. He came when the fullness of time was right. To rescue and to redeem and to make you his.
And that's the invitation. To trust Jesus. To be made right by him. Not by your own work. Not by your own. That's why he had to be born under the laws.
Because we've all failed it. God we thank you. We praise you. Pray that we wouldn't miss it. But that we'd get to celebrate.
What you've accomplished for us. God I pray if there's anybody in here. Who has not been born again. Who has not been adopted into your family. Who has not fully trusted. What Jesus accomplished through his life.
And on the cross. And as he rose again from the dead. Pray that you would. Through your Holy Spirit. Send it into their hearts. And let them cry.
Abba. Father. That through your Holy Spirit. You would grab them. And bring them into your family. You've already done everything.
That needed to happen through your life. And through your death. And through your resurrection. And God that I just ask. That your Holy Spirit would move now. To grab people.
And to bring them in. That God you would do. Your work of adopting. That you would do your work. Of redeeming. And making people yours.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.