LIGHT HAS DAWNED // LIFT OC
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OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW
In Chapter 1
In Chapter 1
We have the very controversial genealogy of Jesus
A Genealogy tainted with sin, poor decisions, truth altering actions, adulterous behaviors, and the uncontrollable snowball effect of sin.
It wasn't until Jesus came on the scene that The Streak of His Genealogy’s was broken by the life Jesus lived and the Victory he had over sin
In Chapter 2
In Chapter 2
We have Jesus being born into a very volatile situation
Where his earthly father had to come to grips with the pregnancy of his Virgin Fiancee
A man, who could have removed himself from the drama of the virgin birth,
Instead decides to enter into the shame of Mary
Bear the burden of shame and drama of being seen as an adulterer
We also have a ruler who is so insecure about his identity
Cant deal with the fact that there are rumors of a Coming Messiah
Something that had been prophecied about
He is challenged to the core and makes a rash decision that effected so many families.
Something that God allowed
Something that doesn't look good on a PR Level for the Lord
How many people do you know that don't come to church because of the “Bad Things God has done”
They say:
“How could God had predicted that?”
“How could a Good God allow such a thing”
“Is it true that God allowed a massacre but spared his Son?”
All valid questions But they are not the right questions
The deeper question is why would man come up with such a plan, and have other men execute on that plan?
We must remember that the Genius behind Hitler wasn't what he accomplished it was that he convinced and moved others to act upon what he believed
The question we should be asking here concerning Herod are these:
Why was it safer to be one of Herod’s pigs than one of his sons?
Why would this man, one of the most powerful rulers of his time, feel threatened by a So-Called Coming-Messiah?
Why was Herod so insecure, if he had it all?
In Chapter 3
In Chapter 3
We have John the Baptist relegating himself to 2nd place in all things
His whole identity is wrapped around preparing the way for Jesus
He preached a message no one was preaching
Rolled out the red carpet of repentance
That as repentance was lived into
The presence of God would refresh and restore people from the brokenness of sin.
After Baptizing Jesus
We have a very climactic ending to his baptism
The skies open up
A Dove descends upon his head.
The Father proclaims and puts a stamp of approval on Jesus
And guess what happens?
God rewards Jesus by allowing everything he stood for to be put to the test
In Chapter 4
Jesus is led up to the Wilderness to be tempted by Satan
Here, every bit of Jesus’ humanity would be tested
The need for physical nourishment
The desire to rebel against His Father’s Word
The real temptation of exchanging the eternal for the temporal
The desire to focus on earthly empires at the sake of the eternal kingdom.
These were all real feelings that tested His real Humanity
In the Wilderness, and through out his entire Ministry,
The constant denial of the Flesh and constant embracing of God’s Will
Separated Jesus from many of the God’s that we have today
It placed him in a Category of His own.
No one in history can compare to how the Book of Hebrews describes Jesus
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Before we read Tonight’s text, I want us to ask ourselves a couple questions
Whether you’ve been following Jesus for a while, or you don’t even know what that means:
If you have yet to begin your journey with Jesus today
What is causing you to fear what God has for you?
If God exists, if He is real, if this Bible is true
What things do you know are getting in the way of following Christ?
How can you live into the truths of God today?
What does God have to offer that is foreign to the framework of your life today?
What behaviors are currently misrepresenting who you are in Christ?
If you are already in your Journey with Jesus
What is preventing you from making some bold decisions today?
What areas in your life need God’s Attention?
Is there a difference between your reputation at home and your reputation at church?
Where e you constantly defeated?
TURN TO
TURN TO
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles:
16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
MATTHEW 4:
IF YOU WERE JESUS, AND COULD PICK ANYWHERE TO SET UP SHOP
YOUR HQ, YOUR HUB, WHERE WOULD IT BE?
FOR SURE A SUPER HOLY PLACE
NASHVILLE, COLORADO SPRINGS, MAYBE EVEN JERUSALEM
CHECK OUT WHAT JESUS DID:
As He is looking for a place to establish his HQ, there are a couple options:
NAZARETH
Nazareth, his hometown, seemed like a great place to begin his Ministry
However, He wasnt really a hometown hero
In fact He had trouble ministering to his hometown
Even after opening and reading out of the Scroll of Isaiah in
Many people in Nazareth couldn't get passed the fact that Jesus was the Son of Joseph.
God knew that this would be a thing
In fact, the very scroll that Jesus opened in Nazareth
Had a very particular prophecy of something that would happen in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali.
It said that the people of this region
The people of Galilee, which were and are to this day, predominantly gentiles
Are people who sat in darkness
Who were accustomed to dark and evil times
These same people,
Would see a great light
Out From among these people
A people whose community was recognized as the “Shadow of Death”
From this Dark PLace
A Great Light would dawn
It is very interesting to me,
It is very interesting to me,
Bethlehem served its purpose as His birthplace
Nazareth was a great hometown for His Childhood
But when it came to Ministry
Capernaum? Really?
I
Jesus didn't chose to establish his Ministry in a place surrounded by believers, but in the shadow of death known as Capernaum
Verse 17 states that from this place and from this time forward
Jesus began to Preach a message of Repentance picking up right where John the Baptist left off
Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand
Jesus knew that the best way people could prepare for what He was about to do was to Repent
The best way to prepare for such a Kingdom is to roll out the carpet of repentance and usher in the presence of God
As he went about preaching, check out what happened:
As he went about preaching, check out what happened:
18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
As Jesus is doing his thing in Capernaum, which is in the North West Region of the Sea of Galilee
He sees these two brothers, Simon and Andrew
Who were busy being fishermen
He walks up to them and says to them
“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men”
Let’s, look at this a little deeper
The first command is to Follow Jesus
To be a Jesus Follower
To be at his side
describes this process as this:
“Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,”
The only thing that the disciples had to worry about was following Jesus
The only thing that needed their full attention was being with Christ
This would be the defining factor for their ministry
At the end of the day, they weren’t known for their eloquent speech
That He would show them Why.
But they were recognized for being with Jesus
That He would send them Out.
The Goal of being with Jesus was to know firsthand that they were loved.
To know how much God cares about everyone and everything.
Reading about it is good, it will help you pass a quiz
But living it out, will help you be victorious over the battles of Life
Living a Life as a Follower of Christ will not only effect your life
And encourage you to love
But those around you.
It has the potential to shift our perspective and make us more than conquerors in Christ.
Today, this process is better known as Discipleship
It is where we allow people into our lives
That they would learn from how we carry ourselves
That they would know the behaviors we practice in the home
That they would know the rhythms of a Christ Follower
That they would have a clear understanding of what it is to follow Jesus
Discipleship always begins with Following Jesus
These first adopters were courageous
They had no idea what they were getting themselves into
All they knew is that something radical had happened at the Jordan
His Cousin was in Jail
His hometown was filled with Gentile Influence
As a Jewish Fishermen, there was no real reason to follow Christ
THINK ABOUT IT:
Establishing great dependence on Him
Growing deeper in how you trust him
Cultivating an intimacy and longing for more of Him and less of you
For these two, the result or the fruit of this action was a shift from self-sustenance to Eternal-Dependance
For these two, Following Christ was a shift from self-sustenance to Eternal-Dependance
They would go from trusting their own strategy, to believing a strategy that they had never seen before.
LETS LOOK AT THIS SHIFT IN DETAIL
They would still be fishermen
It shifted from Fish to Men
They would still have to prepare the bait The shift was from lures and worms, to context and bible references They would still have to mend nets But now, they weren't untangling string, they were untangling the messiness of life and restoring value in humanity. They would still need to get dirty and put in late hours Because they knew that church would be messy and it would involve a lot of work Before we look at how these two responded? Lets look at a better question How would you respond? If all you know is fishing It’s the way you provide for your family It is central to your deepest identity Some dude, who is claiming to be the Messiah, comes at you sideways Hey, I know you like to fish and all, but lets shift the focus a little bit Let’s move it from a self-sustaining focus to a Gospel-Centered Venture. Jesus had their attention, and their response is Immediate Immediately, They dropped their nets Their tools Their identity And Followed Him Jesus wasn't done yet What about James and John, the Sons of Zebedee Same But this one hurt a little more This one hits home with me on a deep deep level. James and John, not only left the boat, the nets, and the tools They left their dad They left the family business Immediately, they followed Jesus In a culture that was centralized by Family and the Family Business In a culture that you were defined by the amount of resources and property you had, In a culture that gauged how blessed you were by the size of your family Jesus moves the focus to the depth and size of the Eternal Family Jesus is centralizing that which lasts forever Jesus is centralizing that which had a greater purpose The radical thing about this, is that Jesus is causing drama within the family Why? Because He wasn’t central to the greatest ministry Zebedee could have ever had. Would Zebedee be upset? Oh Yeah Would he be bitter towards Jesus? Oh Yeah But thats between Zebedee and the Lord What Peter, Andrew, James, and John had to realize was that what God was calling them too was far greater than what He was calling them from. Though this had an element of fear What the boys learned quickly was this: The fear of disobedience is greater than the fear of the unknown. What God had prepared for them, was far greater than any eye had seen, nor ear had heard, nor anything that had ever entered into the heart of man. Here is the good news:
They would still have to prepare the bait
The shift was from lures and worms, to context and bible references
They would still have to mend nets
But now, they weren't untangling string, they were untangling the messiness of life and restoring value in humanity.
They would still need to get dirty and put in late hours
Because they knew that church would be messy and it would involve a lot of work
Before we look at how these two responded?
Lets look at a better question
How would you respond?
If all you know is fishing
It’s the way you provide for your family
It is central to your deepest identity
Some dude, who is claiming to be the Messiah, comes at you sideways
Hey, I know you like to fish and all, but lets shift the focus a little bit
Let’s move it from a self-sustaining focus to a Gospel-Centered Venture.
Jesus had their attention, and their response is Immediate
Immediately,
They dropped their nets
Their tools
Their identity
And Followed Him
Jesus wasn't done yet
What about James and John, the Sons of Zebedee
Same
But this one hurt a little more
This one hits home with me on a deep deep level.
James and John, not only left the boat, the nets, and the tools
They left their dad
They left the family business Immediately, they followed Jesus
In a culture that was centralized by Family and the Family Business
In a culture that you were defined by the amount of resources and property you had as a family
In a culture that gauged how blessed you were by the size of your family
Jesus offers to move the focus to the depth and size of the Eternal Family
Jesus is shifting their attention to that which lasts forever
Jesus is centralizing that which had a greater purpose
The radical thing about this, is that Jesus is causing drama within the family
Why?
Because He wasn’t central to the greatest ministry Zebedee could have ever had.
Would Zebedee be upset?
Oh Yeah
Would he be bitter towards Jesus?
Oh Yeah
But thats between Zebedee and the Lord
One day
What Peter, Andrew, James, and John had to realize was that what God was calling them too was far greater than what He was calling them from.
Though this had an element of fear
Though this might have seen disrespectful
These were grown men.
And I believe God
What the boys learned quickly was this:
The fear of disobedience is greater than the fear of the unknown.
What God had prepared for them, was far greater than any eye had seen, nor ear had heard, nor anything that had ever entered into the heart of man.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I WRESTLE WITH CONSTANTLY:
Here is the good news:
BUT Here is the good news:
23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. 25 Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.
As Jesus discipled these guys
They were able to see and be eye witnesses to who Jesus was
As Jesus allowed them to be a part of His ministry, they were able to testify of all that He did.
Teaching in the Synagogues
Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom
Healing all kinds of Sickness and disease
Those who were tormented, demon possessed
Epileptics, Paralytics
So much so that the multitudes followed him everywhere he went.
Jesus wasn't impressed with the crowds following Him
He was interested in what these followers of Christ had to say
They had left everything in order to follow him
While the crowds followed him only when it was convenient
CONCLUSION
I have realized that Following Christ will always cost us something
If you have never followed Christ,
It has cost me my identity
It has cost me my pride
Right now, all of my peers own homes, and have upper level management positions
I would probably be making anywhere from 120-150K a year
I wouldn’t have to worry about my 2000 Honda Odyssey with 210K miles from starting
I wouldn’t have to worry about how I could fit 3 beds into a 250 square ft room, let alone be content with 770 sq ft home.
Following Jesus will cost you something
What are you willing to give up to follow Jesus?
Is it your past?
Im here to tell you that He has a better future
Is it your failures?
Im here to tell you that He can restore all things
Is it your expectations?
The 12 left everything
Not knowing what to expect
Not knowing where they would go
Not knowing what the ROI was
But im here to tell you that what God has for you will blow your mind
If youve been living into a different identity, you are ripping yourself off.