The Beginning of the Road
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One of my projects is to take pictures of the end of roads. In Fort Kent is a sign signifying the beginning of a road. The sign says, “Welcome to Historic Fort Kent, This marks the beginning of U.S. Route 1 ending in Key West, Florida 2209 mi. South, Fort Kent Chamber of Commerce.
I took this some time ago and they now have a new sign. The distance was incorrect on this one. The little green squares were put up by the Northern Door Inn and give the distance as 2390 miles.
Fort Kent is the beginning of US Route 1.
Everything has a beginning except God.
I first came to this church on June 21st, 1982. I remember it well as it was a Monday, the first day of VBS. I walked into the church that evening and was informed that I had an adult class.... God gave me a message for that week on the Will of God that came to mind as I walked from the back of the church to the front. That was a beginning of the road here in Palermo.
We have to begin somewhere. I was born in January, 1953 in Barre, Vt. I was born again in East Orange Vermont around 1957. That was the time I put my trust in Jesus Christ. A lot has happened in my life since then, but most of what has happened is a result of the new beginnings I had in Jesus.
In a few weeks this church will be at an intersection and taking a new road, a new beginning. As I will be stepping down, God will bring another man to pastor this congregation. We could be very sad about this if it wasn’t the fact that God is the one bringing the man.
If God is in it, its got to be good!
People this last weekend went through the Journey to Bethlehem.
The Journey to Bethlehem is not the end of a journey, but the beginning of a journey. We have seen people who have started their journey of following Christ or have rededicated their lives to Jesus as a result of this event. For those who took serious note of Jesus, they had a new beginning.
Bethlehem is a place where people find Jesus.
It is amazing to me how many people found Jesus when he was born.
The shepherds came to see Jesus. Angels appeared and said to them,
10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Mary had already been told of the special child she bore. But when the shepherds came,
19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
In other words, she worked hard to remember this amazing visit from the shepherds.
Simeon met Jesus. He said,
29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
Anna met Jesus. Scripture says,
38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
The magi or wise men from the east came to Jesus.
11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Even Jesus left heaven’s glory and came to this earth as a baby with a new beginning.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
One cannot think of a more diverse group of people who found Jesus in Bethlehem. Wise men and shepherds. Old people and young. Jews and Gentiles. They all found Jesus in Bethlehem and for them, it was the beginning of a road.
Bethlehem is the beginning of the road for us as well. Our Bethlehem is where we meet Jesus.
The world can be divided into three groups.
The first group are those who have never heard about Jesus. No one in this building is in this first group. All I have talked about today is Jesus.
The second group are those who have heard but have not responded to Jesus.
What response does Jesus want? God that Father sent Jesus to be the savior of the world! He wants you to believe that Jesus is your savior.
What do we need to be saved from?
We need to be saved from sin.
The world around us is trying to convince us that we are all naturally good people.
If that is so, why do we lock the doors to our home or cars and put our money out of sight or in the bank when visitors come over?
If goodness is inbred in us, why did the people on North Sentinel Island in India kill John Chau, a missionary who came to them with no weapons and no physical threat of any kind?
The truth is that we are all sinners, some of us are just more refined than others. We might not kill someone who visits our home, but if we don’t like them, we might say to a friend, “That person makes me so made I could almost kill him...” Why would we even thing that? Because all of us are short of what God intended.
We can try to reform ourselves, but we are unqualified. We often don’t even know what good looks like. We don’t need reform, we need salvation. We don’t need to fix the potholes in our road, we need to find a different road.
That road begins in Bethlehem. It beings with Jesus, who came to die on the cross to forgive your sins, and rose again to be here to give you a new and different life.
Life is never the same for this third group. Though some have never heard and some have heard and not responded, this third group includes all who have put their trust in Jesus Christ.
When you trust Christ, Christ comes into your life to send you in a new direction. We say with Paul,
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
What a fitting end to Journey for you to make that decision to trust Christ, to begin that journey with Him.