Week 4: Jesus in the moment
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How many have ever been on a crazy road trip? (Share story of me and YB going to Arkansas.)
Well today we are going to talk about one of the craziest road trips of all, and that’s the birth of Jesus.
Recap the series
-Week 1- Jesus in Genesis
-Week 2- Jesus in history
-Week 3- Prophecies in the OT about Jesus
This story is the ultimate drama, like have you ever really thought about everything going on in this story? (Recap and read some scripture)
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
So let’s get this straight a virgin named Mary get’s pregnant through the Holy Spirit? And she’s carrying the savior of the world.
This to me sounds like the most scandalous drama filled story ever.
(Imagine today’s headlines.)
(Use Florida man story) (Explain)
Most famous one, “Florida man get’s beat up by the Easter bunny.”
Imagine the headlines for Jesus being born
“Florida man claims wife got pregnant by a ghost.”
“Florida woman claims she is carrying the saviour of the world.”
My point, is how crazy these stories sound. In fact today, the title of the message is scandal of hope.
The word scandal defined is “Causing general public outrage.”
Jesus being born was the craziest event to take place, and yet it was because of this event that the hopeless world finally has hope.
Up until this point, there was a great silence in the earth for over 400 years from the end of the old testament to the start of the new. As Jeremy pointed out last week, there was endless prophecies about a coming messiah, and yet He was nowhere to be found. But then Hope came!!
“The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity--hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory--because at the Father's will Jesus became poor, and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross.” -J. I. Packer
Share why I love Christmas. (Bring people into the beauty of this season.)
I think for many of us, we could share memories that are similar, but for a lot of the world, Christmas is a hopeless time. In fact a recent survey conducted on Americans found that 55% were experience loneness, sadness, and feelings of hopelessness during this season.
You know when I look at this story, Mary and Joesph were facing many odds. She was pregnant, not with Joesphs baby, Josesph wanted to divorce her, they are on the run, and she gives birth to Jesus in a manager, then they must escape to Egypt because of Herod’s decree to kill all baby boys 2 years and under in Bethlehem.
Oh and for the moms in the room, Mary was in her third trimester on the run, so you could say, everything was against them.
The question I have pondered on, is what carried them through this trial? I believe one thing, HOPE.
HOPE is the very essence of Jesus.
One And Only Point: Hope in Jesus will carry you through the hardest seasons.
So how do we have hope this Christmas?
1.) We pray to experience the fullness of His joy.
-I think hope is directly connected to Joy, specifically joy in Jesus.
-In our story it says that Mary and Elizabeth were filled with Joy and that John the baptist leaped for joy in Elizabeth’s womb.
2.) We remember the word of the Lord.
-Mary and Joesph stood firm in the midst of adversity because they remembered the word of the Lord.
-Matthew 1:24-25 “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”
-For those that need hope this Christmas season, can I just remind you of his promises for your life. (Give moment of encouragement.)
3.) We eagerly await His coming again.
-Give funny story about not wanting Jesus to come as a kid. (Left behind series)
-Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
-Knowing Jesus has come gives us hope, and knowing He is coming again for His church gives us assurance of His promises.
-Talk about the song Emmanuel. God with us. Talk about God moving toward us, and let this song be the cry of our heart.
End:
This Christmas, let us embrace the fullness of Jesus. Let’s be a people consumed with His hope, and let’s allow that Hope to see the brokenness around us.
-Talk about Christmas Eve services
(Give story of waitress I invited.)