Cornerstone Christian Center
Cornerstone Christian Center
Discover the Message | Christmas at Cornerstone 2024
Imagine wandering through a European Christmas market, the air filled with the scent of spiced mulled wine, surrounded by twinkling lights and the joyful hum of holiday cheer. This episode takes you on a journey through these festive scenes, even touching corners of the world like the Middle East, where Christmas isn't traditionally celebrated but the spirit is universally embraced. We reminisce about family traditions that prioritize shared experiences over material gifts, like advent calendars and admiring dazzling light displays, capturing the heartwarming essence of the season.
Turning our attention to the nativity story, we strip away the commercialization often associated with the holiday to focus on the profound arrival of Jesus. The narrative unfolds with a spotlight on the powerful angel Gabriel, not as a gentle cherub but as a formidable messenger of God's presence. We discuss the importance of directing prayers to God alone, underscoring a faith journey that encourages spiritual growth and service to others during the Christmas season. By exploring the stories of Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds, we draw connections to our own roles in God's plan, emphasizing a deeper, faith-centered understanding of Christmas.
Through the stories of Zechariah's leap from doubt to faith and Mary's unwavering obedience, we are reminded of the transformative power of saying "yes" to God's calling. This episode invites listeners to reflect on their relationship with Jesus, offering a message of forgiveness and grace that is available through His sacrifice. As we wrap up, we extend a heartfelt blessing for a Christmas season filled with peace, love, and the joy of community. Join us as we embrace the spirit of obedience and the blessings that follow, inspired by the timeless tales of the nativity.
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Merry Christmas. It's such an amazing time of year. I'm so excited that Christmas is here and I was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt yesterday, so it feels super Christmassy. No, but it's amazing. It's a time for celebration and that's one of my favorite highlights of this time of year is getting to celebrate with family and have those times, those moments, together. I think that's one of my highlights for this season and what separates it from other holiday seasons is that our intentionality to do things like that and to celebrate together and evil like christmas is your favorite holiday. It's your favorite season.
Speaker 1:Some people have been been going christmas since before thanksgiving. Some people are like forget you, I'm all'm all about 4th of July fireworks, meat, flames, exploding things. Yeah, I get you, I'm with you both, but I think Christmas is amazing and one of the things I love as the highlight is the intentionality of it. One of the things that we used to love to do when we lived in Europe was go to the Christmas markets, and if you've ever had a chance, I encourage you to do so. We have some that are here. It doesn't quite get up to the level they have in Europe, but it's amazing because it would be this intentionality of dressing it up. You know, our version of that is the mall, right, so it's like the mall is all dressed up, but there it's the city center, and so before you even get to the city center, you could actually start to experience it before you get there, because it'd be the glow from all the lights that would be at the city center and there'd be this smell of the food to be wafting in and the warm drink, and you would just kind of be like oh, like a Scooby-Doo moment where you're following your nose down through the roads to find where it's at and you're like I got to figure out what's going on over here and you'd want to be a participant in what is happening. It makes you want to celebrate with other people, and it's so much so that, you know, even as we lived in the Middle East, it's a place that doesn't believe anything like what we believe, but they still celebrate Christmas, which is hilarious, and they do so because they don't want to miss out on the celebration, even if they aren't really about what the celebration is about. So we would go to the mall and everything is dressed up in the Middle East just like it is here, and we were like, okay, merry Christmas, because it's amazing.
Speaker 1:One of the things we also like to do with our family is we like to enjoy going and looking at Christmas lights and that's one of the things that we've always enjoyed doing. I know, growing up out here, you know you drive around to do this right. So up out here, you know you had to, you drive around to do this right. So you get in your car and you go and see the lights and the sparkle of the lights and what that would look like and it's pretty beautiful. I mean you look from place to place the different lighting setups, people's house and get in there with, like, maybe a coffee or maybe like a hot cocoa and get to experience all the shimmer of the lights. Or when we lived in big cities, like in the Middle East or in Europe, we would go and walk to different places where they had it and set up. It's so beautiful just to kind of take it in and get to celebrate that.
Speaker 1:It's these traditions that we build in our life that have this meaning and they have this. It has a weight to it because we're intentional to do it, and that's really all traditions really are is an intentionality that's passed down from one generation to the next, and so, as we start to talk about this, that's something that we want to do with our kids too. So, celeste and I, we just made it a habit where we're going to do stuff that's more experiential. It's not about the gift necessarily, it's more like let's do stuff together, and so we started doing that from the time our kids were really young, and so one of the things we would like to do is go to like a Christmas activities and we do the the tree where you pull things out of the of the advent calendar. Anybody have that kind of thing going, uh.
Speaker 1:And so we've pulled those out and we would maybe go to like a Christmas event where there's a lot stuff going on, so maybe like a Christmas festival and there's busyness and there's lights and fun and all sorts of good stuff going on. But you know it's really wrapped up around the Santa Claus version, reindeer version. You know lights and sound and that and that's all fun and good, but it's not the real meaning of Christmas. The real meaning of Christmas is the nativity, and I'll tell you this that you know all that busyness is super fun, we enjoy it, but without the real focus, the real meaning of Christmas, then, all this stuff is is a big light parade and a shopping sale. See, the nativity is the real meaning of Christmas.
Speaker 1:And so it's interesting because, you know, as we push in on this figure of the nativity and we look in the central role of the coming of the Christ and all those figures that surround him and Mary and Joseph and the others that are part of this narrative, each one of them reflects how God's intentionality brought them together in the story. Each one of them gives us a frame of reference how we can connect to that person and they can give us a way where we can say, yeah, I understand it from this perspective. And how we can connect to that person and they can give us a way where we can say, yeah, I understand it from this perspective. And how we can come in and we too can be those that go and worship the Christ child that God came to us. In a way, we can understand that both the lowly shepherd and the magi of great wealth and knowledge can come and both kneel before the Christ, that we see all of heaven proclaiming the glory of the Lord, rejoicing in the heavenlies, and all of this story tied together around Jesus and it's a powerful thing.
Speaker 1:And so it was interesting, as we had this time with some friends and we went out to one of these festivals and we had a great time. Man, we were going and we were on the big wheel and there's all sorts one of these festivals and we had a great time. Man, we were going and we were on the big wheel and there's all sorts of stuff and slides and fun lights to look at and animatronic things that are doing stuff, and we were kind of like, okay, no, where's the nativity at? And so we had to kind of go find it and it was tucked away all the way in the back. Now I'll say this that when we got there in the back. Now I'll say this that when we got there, it was actually really well done. It was life-size and really big, and you can see in this next image, I mean it was huge and it was really really nice and it even had, like the camels and everything. And we may or may not have had people in our party trying to ride said camels, I don't know, but it was really nice and there was actually this kind of quiet moment in the back because it was separated away, where you got to really enjoy it and reflect on what the nativity really means. And in the place where we were at, it was actually pretty interesting because they had actually a setup, a gigantic book open telling the story of the arrival of Jesus, and I was kind of shocked that they included this in this display, but it was absolutely amazing.
Speaker 1:And so, as we got to do this, we were with our family and some friends and we're dialoguing together and our youngest, amelia she takes after her mother in that she is a star for the stage and she's ready to go. You guys don't believe me, but Celeste literally was like a national human video award type of person and coach of people. So you think it's me? No, no, my friends, secretly it is her. So Amelia's taking after her and she starts to show us the correct way to present to the baby Jesus, which looks like this this is how you should correctly do it. So she's showing you have to have both arms out. You have to totally engage to the baby Jesus. You can't just like here you go Jesus. No, you have to get down and actually lean in. This is the proper way to do it, and so we were like, oh, that's good, I didn't know. I personally didn't know about that, so thank you for helping me clarifying it for me in my life.
Speaker 1:She went over and she started reading the story to us and it was pretty amazing because she's going through it and she's reading it dramatically and she's doing some voices and I was getting a kick out of it. It was really good. She's like really going into it and explaining it to us and at the end she did an offering and an altar call. It was so good, you guys, I raised my hand. No, she didn't, but it was really good. Because here we are in this place and she's getting to tell the real meaning of this whole Christmas season. When we cut away all the marketing, we cut away all the gifts, the real meaning of Christmas is the arrival of Jesus, and so our challenge is to discover the message of Christmas in this season. We're so excited that you chose to worship with us today at Cornerstone. If we haven't met, my name is Jay and Celeste and I. We have such a great opportunity of being here and leading a great team of people at Cornerstone.
Speaker 1:We very much see ourselves in need of a Savior. None of us is perfect, none of us have arrived anywhere, and so that means that each one of us is walking after Jesus. We wanna be those that are following him. That's what it means to be a Christian, a little Christ, a Christ follower is that we're walking where he's leading us to go. And since that's true, then we wanna be intentional in our actions, intentional in our character, intentional in our thought life, and that we want to be more like Jesus. We do that by loving God and making disciples and reaching the world, and we're intentional together, in community, in that we want to connect and grow and serve. And so let me encourage you to do the same, that you would be someone who gets involved and is intentional in your life after Christ. Amen.
Speaker 1:Now, this Christmas, at Cornerstone season, we're actually focusing on this idea of discover and looking to see this theme of discovering the message of Christmas for this week. As we do so, we're going to be looking at the Christmas narrative and looking at that nativity scene, as we talked about each one of those elements as being so important. So as we look again at that nativity scene, you can see all of those different characters that are shown there and many times as we look at nativity setups, often it's what it's baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph. You might get the deluxe pack right and then you get like one shepherd, one sheep, only one, one possible cow, and if you get the bonus jumbo pack, then you get maybe one camel and a wise man. But that's the thing is that many times the angel you get is usually stapled to the top of whatever the structure. Is that they go underneath, right, it's a little cherub that's on top and it's not really quite the picture of what a real angel would be.
Speaker 1:Today we're actually starting the story with the picture of who Gabriel is the angel, and so we're talking from that perspective, looking at Gabriel, and I'll tell you this that the angel, gabriel, is not a cherub. In fact, whenever we look in the Bible, when we start talking about it, though, we understand in part, we understand this that they preceded us in the way that they were created before God as heavenly beings, and then, at the same time, they have this connection to God, especially Gabriel and Michael and others that are depicted throughout scripture as those who are actually in the presence of God, and then actually it says that Gabriel his name is that God fights for me or on my behalf, that he's a warrior on God's behalf. So whenever you think about Gabriel, it's not a little floating cherub, it's not like some little fat baby with wings and a heart. No, this is someone who is a warrior, who is reflecting the very presence of a holy God when he shows up. So it's someone to take serious.
Speaker 1:If you were walking through the streets of Rome today, you would see some beautiful depictions, some amazing statues of what an angel might look like, and many times these are stylized. They're obviously beautiful I mean amazing and they're actually quite grand, but the angel looks more like he deserves to be in a boy band than an angel who's bringing a message. Right Like, I'm sure they're all very handsome gents, but the idea is that the glory of God would be there in the presence. That is the gravitas of the message they're bringing. So, as you think about the heavenly realm and we think about all this is happening here, what we don't wanna get mixed up is this idea that somehow these beings are the ones we pray to.
Speaker 1:Friends. We only pray to God alone, only to God alone. Sol to God alone. The idea is that we only give him glory, father, son and Holy Spirit. We only pray to the Lord. Why? Because I'm not praying to Gabriel on my behalf to do anything for me. I'm praying to the Lord, who is the one with the power. The Lord is the one who gives the emissary, the one who sent out to do the work. He's the one that gives them their charge. So I'm praying to the source of the whole operation.
Speaker 1:We're not praying to, though we hold her in high regard. We're not praying to Jesus' mother on earth, mary, because she is not a deity unto herself. She is chosen as a person just like you and I. We're not praying to any of the saints, though they are great people. We revere them. They are martyrs for the faith.
Speaker 1:Guess what? We pray to God alone, because praying to anyone else to do anything else, friends, becomes idolatry. So our heart is not to try to pray for this one or our archangel Gabriel, or this other one to do these things. No, friends, what we pray to is to the Lord, and the Lord is the one that does the work. So, in this case, what we do is we hold in high regard Gabriel. Is what he's doing? Is he's doing the work of God. Now he's the one that actually brings the message. Angel, as you break it down all the way into Greek, actually means messenger, so that's what we look like here in this story.
Speaker 1:So, as we go into the narrative of all of Christendom and we look into the narrative of the nativity, the precursor that there was going to be a Messiah was said hundreds and hundreds of years before it was said and forecasted even by David in his writings, and then later, as we see it in Isaiah and other places that have been before and after that, the word of God, the continuation of scripture, is constant and is consistent, and that message, the crimson thread of redemption of God, is throughout scripture, all the way to us today. And what's amazing about this is it picks up here, actually, with the one who's going to be in front of Christ, john the Baptist, and that's where this story starts, in the life of Zechariah. Now Zechariah is John the Baptist's father and he doesn't know he's going to have a son. In fact, zechariah is in a difficult place because he's someone that he and his wife Elizabeth they've wanted children, they've wanted an heir for all these years and they were unable to have one, and so it was a hard place in their heart with God, and they struggled, but they still wanted, and it says that they were in right standing before God. So what it means is, though they wanted this and though their prayer hadn't been answered yet, they didn't get bitter at God. I don't know about you, but I think I've met a few people in my life that their prayer didn't get answered in their timing, so they got mad at God, and then they got bitter at God and they stayed mad, don't we? And so here's the problem, though. See, that would work for anybody else, but Zechariah has a very unique job.
Speaker 1:Zechariah is a priest who goes into the temple to make worship of God in the Holy of Holies. This means that his heart has to be right before God, because if he goes in with sin in his heart into the holy of holies, he dead, and so what happens is in their day. What they would do is they would rotate who was going in, who was going to make the sacrifices before the Lord with incense, who was going to go into the holy of holies and do this job. That was so important, and it was so important, and you had to have your life so right. That was so important and it was so important and you had to have your life so right that they didn't just assign it. They actually were like, okay, we're going to take a rotation. And then out of the rotation they would draw lots and they would say, okay, whose job is it? Whose job is it this time? Whose job is it this time? And Zechariah pulls the short straw and they're all like, looks like you, bro, you're the one. I believe in you, zechariah, go do it. Man, because they know this that if he's not right with God, they're going to have to pull his dead body out of there. So all the priests would walk into the Holy of Holies with a rope tied around their ankle and a bell on them so that they could still hear when they were moving around, because if they stopped moving and the jingle didn't go anymore, they needed to pull that dude out of there because there was no other way to get them out. And so it's a real serious thing with them going into Holy of Holies. Because he had to deal with this tension in his heart about God didn't answer my prayer for a son and I need to go into this place and I need to go, make worship and penance for the people of God. And he has this tension in his heart when he's going in to do these things. And so we pick up here and I'm going to ask you to turn your Bible, your tablet, your phone and we're going to be looking today from Luke 1, starting at verse 8.
Speaker 1:Now, while he was serving as priest before God, when his division was on duty according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing at the right side of the altar of the incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him and fear fell upon him. And we'll pause for a second. You could imagine, as you walk in there, you're like okay, okay, okay, lord, forgive me, forgive me. He's done all the washing, he's prepared his heart, he's ready to go in through. You see, the veil is there. He has to pass through. He's going in. He's like, okay, here we go, here we go, here we go. Let's get it together, zechariah, let. So he's brought over with fear.
Speaker 1:But I love what happens here in this first moment, right away he responds. It says the angel said to him do not be afraid, zechariah, for your prayer has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John, and you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth. And what happens whenever you get the answer to the prayer that you've been asking all these years? What if the answer to the miracle you're asking for is available to you in being obedient today and going in to do the worship of God today, in bringing the worship of God before the altar of God today? What if it's available for you? What if God says yes to the thing you've been asking and asking, and asking, and asking for? What if it wasn't his timing yet and so he couldn't say yes to you? But now he says yes to you? How are you going to respond?
Speaker 1:See, it's a hard thing because Zechariah is in this place of tension because he had to also understand that sometimes, whenever we ask God for things, the answer is no. And that's a hard thing to understand because whenever we pray our daily prayer, we pray Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What does that mean In my life, lord, that your will be done over what I'm asking you for, lord. If it be your will, then, lord, I ask for my miracle. I ask for this thing to happen. I ask for this change in my regard, in my story. Lord, you know my story. You know the hairs on my head. You know my story. You know me from the time I was in my mother's womb. You value me. You know me uniquely from everyone else around me. I don't need to explain any of those things, god. I know, you know me. But, lord, your kingdom come. Your will be done so in Zechariah and his life, as he prayed this over and over as a priest of God, as he was the one who understood the things of God and the tension of God's will being done. God who provided for the children of Israel all the way through the desert place, the one who guided them, the one who directed them, opened the rock for water, the one who gave them the promised land, who forgave them time and time and time again, the one who gave them King David and King Solomon, the one who provided a way forward. He knew that that God could do anything, and still he hadn't answered his prayer. And so there's a tension. I'm not sure if that counts for me. I'm not sure if that counts for me.
Speaker 1:Here's Gabriel, the messenger of God. Dare, I say, the special ops of heaven sent with this message that the time has come, that the precursor, the Messiah, is about to be born. He's chosen you to be the father of this guy, john. It's amazing news. Everyone's going to be excited and Zechariah's like I don't know. I don't know if it's possible for me. He responds in this way, and you can see it in scripture. Zechariah said to the angel how shall I know this? For I'm an old man and my wife is advanced in years.
Speaker 1:Friends, how often do we actually get the news of the miracle we've been asking for and then we don't believe it? Friends, how often have we been praying for that loved one? Maybe it's a child, maybe it's a grandchild, maybe it's a neighbor, maybe it's a friend that we've known from our past. Lord, if you'd only intervene in their life, lord, only if you draw them near to yourself, and then you hear about God working in their life and you're like I'm not sure if it's going to stick. How many times you're like, lord, man, I need this opportunity, lord, I need this new thing. And God's like, I'm opening the door for you here and you're like I don't know if I like this one, but if you're like, lord, man, I just really need this. And if you give me guidance, god's like did you do what I told you to do? But, lord, if you give me different guidance, ones I want to do. Lord, if only I don't want to go to work, just lottery.
Speaker 1:God, please something. What happens if he's already answered your miracle? You just haven't accepted it yet. And see, one of these things that's amazing is this tension of being able to rejoice whenever God says yes to your circumstance, and not just ah, finally, but thank you, god, for what you're doing in my life. Zechariah doesn't respond that he's like I don't think it's possible. See, he had lived a long time. He has a lot of doubt, he has a lot of regret in his life, he has all these things built up and so he's just like I'm old, my wife is old. How is this possible, dude, you're talking to an angel. What are you talking about right now? You know I love this because it's not logical, but it's still logical. Does that make sense? How many of you guys could go a hundred percent. You're like yes, zachary, I'm with you, bro, absolutely. And other people are like what are you talking about? This is an angel. The angel came to tell you he's gonna do a miracle. Listen to the angel, right, and I'll say this. I love Gabriel's response.
Speaker 1:You gotta remember Gabriel's a warrior, messenger of God. They tie him to do all sorts of things. They say that Gabriel's the one that was sent out by Michael, who's the head of the armies of God, to go do all these things like smite Sodom and do all these things and rescue the Hebrew children from fire. They tie him to doing all sorts of things. There's all sorts of riddance outside of the Bible about this stuff, and so we can't say yes to any of those things. But we know this that he is a serious guy.
Speaker 1:And here's this old dude who's like I don't, I don't know about it, I don't know. Gabriel gets upset. Gabriel says the angel answered him, says I am Gabriel, I stand in the presence of God and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you the good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time. I love this.
Speaker 1:I love this so very much because sometimes we keep speaking doubt, though he's already said yes to the miracle, we keep speaking the opposite of what he's already wanting to do in our life. We keep speaking the curse over us, though he's saying I'm already doing the change in you, he's already doing the work, he's already doing the change, and we keep speaking the old thing over it. So sometimes he's like shut it, shut it, and he shuts Zachariah's mouth literally so he could no longer speak doubt to the miracle God was doing. Here's the amazing thing. I love the symbolism that's here the tie together.
Speaker 1:The idea is this God shuts Zachariah's mouth of doubt, but he uses his son John to be a mouthpiece to a generation. He ends up using him to speak knowledge to people, to call from the wilderness People come to repentance. He speaks out to them and lives differently than them, calling them to repentance in God. His father had to make penance on their behalf. He calls them to turn their life back to God and repent. The things that Zechariah was doing were seeds that became fruition in God's plan for John's life because he put them in order. It's amazing because it's a thing where it went beyond what he was able to do because God was in it. If only he'd shut his mouth to the doubt and believe in his heart that God could do the miracle.
Speaker 1:Friends, god has a plan for your life, just like he has a plan for Zechariah. He has a plan for your kids and your grandkids, just like he has a plan for John, and he has bigger plans than what you have for them, because he's a God who cares about them and loves them from their birth and from their infancy and from inside their mother's womb. He knows the plans he has for you, even in the midst of terrible circumstances. Like we read in Jeremiah, he says I have plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to bring you to a place of fruition and not devastation. Friends, even though we go through difficult places, his plan is still for you. You still have to believe for the things he has for you. You can't speak that doubt over your life, and so what happens is a miracle is amazing, because what happens is whenever John is born. Everyone is amazed because Elizabeth is excited and there's a whole story that goes into that, with Mary coming and coming and meeting Elizabeth and rejoicing with her, and just in meeting Mary, john is filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb Amazing story and it talks about how John is used by God in such a dynamic way.
Speaker 1:All these things coming together the message of God. If only we would be those who, the same way, discover what God wants us to do. Maybe you're here, you haven't embraced a life in God, friends, that's what you need to discover in this season is that there's a God who loves you and wants a relationship with you. Maybe you're here and you have understood that and you have embraced that. Then the next thing is true that you need to draw near to him and make him the Lord of your life. And then you need to make, say Lord, what is it that you have for me? How can I be in step with where you're leading me to go? What is the message that you have for my life? What's the meaning of things I need to do? And if we say yes to that, then he'll open up the next opportunity.
Speaker 1:See, the story continues with Gabriel, and it does so in picking up with Mary. Now, we talked about Mary because she's someone we hold in high regard. She's this one that became an instrument of the glory of God in bringing Jesus incarnate here to the world. And it picks up with this story in Luke 1, 26. It says in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was says in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph and the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said greetings, o, favored one. The Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at this saying and tried to discern what kind of greeting this might be. But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this was. And so the angel said to her do not be afraid, mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, and he will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the Lord. God will give to him the throne of his father, david, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever In his kingdom. There will be no end. I love this.
Speaker 1:Gabriel, in the same way brings the message, but the response is different. The response is not one of doubt. The response is one of uncertainty, but eager to say yes to God. In fact, she just says yes. She just says yes to the Lord. That your servant will do as the Lord asks is essentially her response. And you think about this idea.
Speaker 1:She comes and she has the same encounter. This angel comes to her and he's like you are blessed of God. She's like okay, what does that mean, right? I mean, if someone showed up to you, you'd be like, hey, highly blessed one of God. You're like, oh, what are you asking me to do? And the angel said listen, you have this amazing thing. You are gonna get to be the mother of the son of God. You get to care for him and bring him into this world and you get to nurture him and direct him, and you get to protect him and be the one that comes alongside him and you get to be the one that coddles him and brings him up close to yourself. This is what you get to do and this is what your charge is. And she says let it be so. And I love that. I love the difference in her heart.
Speaker 1:That Zechariah it says that he was still honorable as unto God, he had still done these things, but he had such a reserve in his heart to believe. And Mary, she just said yes to God and friends. That's the same thing that we have to realize about ourselves is that so often in our youth we can say yes to God because we haven't had the heartbreak and we haven't had all the things that have gotten in our way, and the older we get, the harder that might become, because we've had all this train wreck of things that we did on our own and we know where we're frail and we know where we fall short and we know all these things and so we're not so certain about that. But God says I'm not done with your story yet. I still want to do things in your life. I still have a plan and a purpose for you. If I didn't, then you wouldn't be here anymore. But since you have breath in your lungs, then guess what? I still have a plan and a purpose for you. I still want you to do things of great value, and so you need to lean into me.
Speaker 1:Discover what message I have for you in this season, friends. None of us is done yet. If you think you are, re-engage, discover what God wants to do with you in this season. It's not what he did in your life, it's what he is doing in your life. Friends, if I lived off the things that God did in my life, I'd already be done. 20 years of doing ministry oh man, hang it up, baby. We did it. Praise the Lord. Guess what? If he gives me tomorrow, let's go again tomorrow. If he gives me 20 more years, let's go for those 20 years too. Because guess what? It's such a short life we have that we would honor God with all of it so that we can live eternally with him with no regrets. So we can live hearing those words when we enter into eternity. Well done, my good and faithful servant. You did everything I asked you to do, friends. That's what I'm talking about is that we would discover what God has for us in this season.
Speaker 1:It tells about other people that received a message from the angels. It doesn't say it was Gabriel. It says an angel of the Lord talked to them about it. One of those that got a message was Joseph. And how many people know that Joseph needed a message. You know, if your fiance showed up, she's like God told me that I was gonna get pregnant without you. He's like I'm sorry. What did you say to me? It said he was an honorable man. He heard the news before he heard from the angel. He was like this girl is out of her mind, but he loved her. So he's like I'm just gonna divorce her quietly. I'm not gonna like loved her. So he's like I'm just gonna divorce her quietly. I'm not gonna like shame her, cause in that culture he could have drug her out in front of everybody, killed her, bludgeoned her to death of rocks. Like it's a shame culture, like he had the right to do all that. Cause it brought shame on him that she would be found pregnant with while they were engaged. It's just terrible. And so he's like, no, I'm not going to do any of that. But no, the Lord sends the message.
Speaker 1:And think about if it was Gabriel that showed up in his dream. He's like, hey, you need to take care of Jesus. He's like okay, okay, I got it. I got it. I got you. I got you. I'm with you, baby, stepfather to Jesus. I'm with you. Think about that. He's the one that gets called to protect him and provide for him. He's the one that's supposed to create a space around him and look after Mary and look after the family. He is charged with those things and so he steps up to the plate and he does it, and I love that.
Speaker 1:You see, these other characters that I get to hear about that story and that's some of those are the shepherds, that they're outcasts, or the people on the low end of the spectrum and they're way out taking care of cattle and other things while everybody else is in the city. It's the very people that Jesus, whenever they were looking down and looking after the hearts of who would be king over Israel after Saul, they saw David out in the countryside doing the very same thing. That's why Jesus, when he was preaching and is in his maturity, he starts talking about the good shepherd, the one who cares after the sheep. That's who he is, and so it's amazing, as they go and they report his arrival there in little Bethlehem, they go out to the shepherds and say, hey, the Messiah is here. You guys get to be front row to this whole situation. It says the heavenly host, proclaiming glory to God in the highest. And they proclaimed all those things.
Speaker 1:It said that later, as the wise men came, it says that it would be even up to two years later that they were looking and they came arriving because they were following a sign that they understood. They understood the star, and so the Lord gave them a message, a way to follow it, and they looked through scripture and they saw what was there. And so they're following the star and where it was leading them to go. And so, as they arrived, they thought they'd showed up. Whenever they went there to the main castle, they're like this is the spot, where are we at, where's the king of the Jews, where's he at? And the leader's like nope, what are you talking about? And so this was a big fiasco, this is a big problem. And they start leading through the scripture and then they start searching out the child and he's like hey, show back up and tell me where the child is. I also want to go worship slash, kill him, slash, kill him. But they don't understand that. They go and they worship the child and they bring them the gifts, and then they too get a message, and their message is listen, you need to go another way home. You got to worship. Now protect him and go a different way home. In the same way, joseph gets a second message, and this time it says get up, take your family and get to Egypt, because you're not safe here. And so now Joseph, who had the charge of already looking after Mary and looking after Jesus, now he has to go and uproot his life and take them to a foreign land for a season and protect them, so that God can do his plan.
Speaker 1:Friends, all of these messages were about obedience. Think about it like this If God gives you a message and you're not obedient, then what good is it giving you another message? Many times we're asking for direction from the Lord, whenever we already got a clear answer last time and we didn't do it. And so you know how many times are we preventing ourselves from doing the very thing that we're asking God for.
Speaker 1:God, use me in my life, direct my life. He's like great. I need you to deal with this attitude. I don't want to. Okay, how am I going to direct your life if you have a bad attitude? But, lord, I want you to direct my life. I want you to open doors in front of me Cool, you need to forgive these people. But, lord, I have a reason why I don't like those people. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I forgave you. You need to forgive these people Because I need to use you in a way and I got to do things in your life and use you in a way. But you have to be already forgiving these people or else I can't use you to reach these people. But God, I don't know, I can't really trust you with this giving thing. I can't trust you with the sacrifice thing. He's like great, then I can't bless you with the things I want to bless you with, because you can't handle the little things here. But God, I mean I want more of the things. Yeah, that's great, more of the things is gonna take you away from me, so I might not give you more of the things until you can figure this thing out. See, the obedience thing.
Speaker 1:I can tell you in my own life where there were seasons where God was like, hey, you need to do this. And I was like, absolutely, and we would go and do it. He's like yeah, and I'm like Lord, give me a wife. For the love of God, give me a wife. He's like cool, you need to draw near to me and stop trying to figure it out for yourself. I said, deal, and I did so and he brought me a dope wife she's so good. And so I got a wife and I got a son and a hell of stuff and I'm like this is amazing. We got a house and we're going great and the ministry is awesome and all these things. He's like cool, you're gonna give all that stuff away and you're gonna go to Europe.
Speaker 1:I was like what are you talking about? He's like are you saying yes or are you saying yes? I'm gonna say yes, we, we get there and amazing things. God is gracious and it's difficult, but he's good. And then God calls us to go to the next place and we say yes to that. And then we're obedient to God. And there's a place in there, somewhere where, even in the middle of that stuff, where he's like I need you to deal with this attitude. I'm like man, but God, I'm already doing all this other stuff, doesn't this count? I'm like man, but God, I'm already doing all this other stuff, doesn't this count? He's like listen, this is preventing you from what you need, what I want to do with you.
Speaker 1:If you only understood that by dealing with this thing that's in your heart, it will open up everything else for you. It's the message I'm bringing to you today that if we're obedient to God. It's the message I'm bringing to you today that if we're obedient to God, he will open up all the things you've been asking for because they'll be in line with his heart. If we are going for our own things, we're praying for things out of our own heart. If we're going for things that are his kingdom come, his will be done, then guess what? He will fulfill his promise because it's in his word. And, friends, I'm not telling you anything that I haven't struggled, or struggle with myself, that we need to be obedient as unto God so we can see the miracle of God take place, as unto God, so we can see the miracle of God take place. The message for you is the same for me that we would be those that are obedient to God, draw near to him and do what he's asked us to do so he can do greater things in our life and use us for his glory.
Speaker 1:All of these stories, all of these narratives, all of these characters are tied back to looking at the baby Jesus and his arrival to us. Christ comes to us in a way that we understand. He comes to us in such a humble place and it's a way that we understand he comes to us in such a humble place and it's a way that we can approach Friends. My challenge and charge to you is to discover the message of Christ this Christmas.
Speaker 1:Today, we have this opportunity to respond to this gospel message. It's one that's transformative for so many of us, for those of us that have said yes to Jesus. We said Lord, I believe you are who you say you are. I ask you into my heart and life, I want you to be the Lord of my life. And so, for us, we've become those who are Christ followers. We've said Lord, I know where I've sinned and I've fallen short. I ask you to forgive me of my sin. And so we've invited them into our heart and life. And today there's an opportunity for you to do the same.
Speaker 1:You have to answer that question have you embraced Jesus? See, nobody can answer that question for you. It's your question alone, and it's a powerful one, because for us, friends, all of the sin and all of the mistakes and all those things that separate us from a holy God. All of those things have been paid for by Jesus. They've been paid for at the cross. And so Jesus came into this life in a manger, but he paid for all of our sin and all of our mistakes upon the cross. He didn't have any sin or mistakes of his own, but he took mine on himself, he took yours and he paid for them with his life so that we could be forgiven, so that we could be reconnected in relationship with the Holy God. And I tell you this it's one of those things that we don't fully understand how he could do that and love me while I was so unlovely, and how he could forgive me of all the things I've done. But I'm so thankful for his grace and I'm so thankful for his love and I'm so thankful for his forgiveness for me.
Speaker 1:And that's my prayer for you as well is that today you would embrace the forgiveness of God, the grace of God, and that you would invite him into your heart and life to be the Lord of your life. Ask him to forgive you of your sin, start a new life in Jesus, the apostle Paul. He writes it like this to the church at Rome he says, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified. With the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Speaker 1:Friends, today is your day. It's your opportunity to say yes to Jesus. I'm going to ask if you're here in the room, you just stand out right where you're at and bow your head. If you're online, you prepare your heart for what God wants to do. God wants to do.
Speaker 1:Friends, we've been praying for you that you would make a response, a commitment to Jesus. Maybe you're here and you've never made a decision for Jesus. Today's your opportunity. Or maybe you have made a decision in the past for Jesus, but you haven't been living it and you need to make a recommitment to him today, as heads are bowed here in the room, if you just raise your hand right where you're at, if that's you, if you want to make a decision to follow Jesus today, if you just raise your hand, say, pastor, include me in that prayer today, just make a decision to follow Jesus. We thank the Lord. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. See, the hands are there. The hands are there. Thank you, lord. Others, friends online making decision, we give Lord praise. Thank you, jesus. I'm going to ask everyone if you just read this prayer aloud with me. Lord, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Jesus. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you In Christ's name. I pray Amen, amen.
Speaker 1:Friends, we rejoice in you making a decision to follow Jesus today, several people raising their hand in this service Praise the Lord. As we come to this altar during this worship song, we do so with intentionality, to draw near to the Lord that in this season, we would discover what he's speaking to us and be empowered by the Spirit to be obedient to him, lord. We thank you so much, Lord, for your word today. Lord. We thank you for Gabriel, lord, and sending him with the message of your redemption for mankind. Lord. We thank you for Zechariah, lord, and even through his learning here in this story, lord, how you used him, lord, as a mouthpiece, eventually, of your glory. Lord, testifying of what you have done.
Speaker 1:Lord, we thank you for Mary, lord, the example to us of being obedient to God and saying yes to you, lord. In the same way, lord, we ask for that in our lives. We say yes and we ask you, lord, to have your will in us. Lord, that we would be obedient to you in what you want to do in our lives and through our lives for others. Lord, we come to this altar, lord, asking for you to impart your spirit upon us, lord, in a new way. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Before we go, let me pray this blessing over us the Lord bless you and keep you. Lord, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Lord, lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Lord, I pray a blessing upon your church, your people. Lord, you empower us by your spirit to live your love out to those around us. We pray this in the powerful name that is Jesus Christ. Amen, amen. Know this. We love you very much here at Cornerstone. God bless you and Merry Christmas.