SPEAKER_00 0:01

21 December. Thank goodness. How good is it? Hopefully most of us are off work. If hopefully we are winding down to a break at least if we're not off work yet. I know Yandy's looked forward to this all year, so she was ecstatic the other day. I'm ecstatic. I don't have to worry about emails for a couple of weeks. Don't have to worry about my calendar for a couple of weeks. It's just rest now. Awesome. It feels like after a long one has been a pretty long year, it's finally the opportunity to stop, right? To enjoy some time with friends, to enjoy some Christmas celebrations, do all the stuff that maybe we didn't get to do this year, that we were we've been a little bit too busy. Maybe it's just hitting that time of peace that we've been talking about all year. You know, that time we can just sit at home, relax, read a book. You know, the the idyllic Christmas, right? The silent nights, the candlelights, the nostalgia as we watch a Christmas movie, maybe die hard at home alone. I figure that covers the gamut of Christmas movies. But you know, that that that's that's awesome, right? That's what we get to look forward to. But I'm also really just cognizant that that's not always the case, maybe for all of us. Um, you know, just yesterday, the wellness app from work on my phone popped up saying, hey, um, holidays can be hard. So if you need help, reach out to people. Here's how you can reach out uh to your friends and so um and and find ways to be in with people in your community. So can I just say if you're here and you're feeling that way, we we're here for you, and we're glad you're here and we're here with you as well. And actually, can I just take a moment, like in light of what happened in Bondi a week ago? Um, arguably one of the most idyllic spots in our city. You know, maybe maybe that second kind of part of Christmas, that feeling, is a little bit more true this year for more of us. You know, that maybe everything that's uh we expect to go great doesn't really play out in life. So I just want to acknowledge that as well. So it's more I just want I just want to say this. Like, I believe, and I believe this is what the Bible has to say to us that whether we're feeling amazing going into Christmas this year as we should, it is a joyful season, um ready to celebrate, ready for the holidays, or whether we're feeling the pressure, we're feeling the anxiousness, the sadness of last week, or anything in between, really. I think God has promised us something far greater in the person of Jesus. And that's why we come together for Christmas. That's why we celebrate Christmas. That actually, Christmas isn't just this sentimental, nice thing that we do out of tradition. It's not just a time for us to spend time with our families and friends, but rather Christmas is a necessity for us. It's a necessity for the people of uh during the time of the Bible, just as it is a necessity here for us now in Sydney in 2025. Because this is what the Bible promises, right? Just as we heard earlier, beautifully read out to us, the account of King Herod speaking to his wise man about who this new king would be in Matthew 2. And here's what they come back to that prophecy they dug up from the old textbook scrolls, right? It's a prophecy given 700 years before Jesus would actually be born. Quoted from Micah chapter 5, and it says this But you, O Bethlehem Ephraim, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf. And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord's strength in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. Then his people will live there undisturbed, for he will be highly honored around the world, and he will be the source of peace. See, this prophecy given seven hundred years earlier was uh to have promises a time where the Jewish people will get the leader and the ruler that they deserve. They will finally have a king that does right by them, they will get a ruler whose origins are from the distant past, or in other versions from ancient times, right? Like that his rule will be eternal, that this ruler has always been and he will always be, that he was a word there in the beginning, and that he'll be there at the end. This ruler will be eternal, everlasting. What's this ruler gonna do? Well, he's gonna lead his people, he's gonna lead his people, and his people will live there undisturbed, and he will be the source of peace. How good does that sound in the midst of chaos and change and new seasons and Christmas parties? Undisturbed. He will be the source of peace. I wonder if you feel like that too, maybe like in the middle of our hustle, in the middle of our Christmas shopping, in making every family event that we've signed up for between now and the 26th, man, I could really use some of that peace. I could use that idea of a silent night. I would give so much for a silent night. I could sit by the fire, maybe not here right now, total fire ban. And just stop and linger. That nostalgic picture perfect version of Christmas, I would love that. But you know what? I think the Bible says a lot more about Christmas. Right? It's not just about feeling nice for a day, but Christmas is a necessity, remember. See, for the Jewish people during the time of Micah, they were under attack from the Assyrians. The enemies were literally at their gate and they were facing into annihilation. See, Israel wasn't doing well anyway, and God was proclaiming this judgment over them. At this time, this was a nation that had decided to go their own way to do what they thought was better instead of what God had instructed them to do. That they would even consider making deals with other nations to try and ward off an invasion, knowing full well that God had told them not to mix with the other people and to do things that are different because they were God's people. See, Mike is pretty honest about how he how bad things have gotten, right? The leaders were corrupt, the courts were rigged, the rich using their power to kind of hoard wealth and land, the prophets were teaching uh people what they wanted to hear as long as they kind of got paid. Um, and and they're they're leading these people away from God. And so God kind of says sharply through Mike, if you read that prophecy, that this can't go on forever, that there has to be a consequence for this. Right? Not because God is short-tempered, not because he he just doesn't want to put up with it, but but because he's a God that can't simply shrug his shoulders at injustice. I think that's a great thing about God. He can't just pretend that the betrayal and the cruelty and the idolatry, all of that stuff doesn't matter to him. See, Mike right here is speaking into a real historical and spiritual crisis for Israel. But what God is doing is he's using that moment to promise something far bigger. Right here, he's promising a king who will not just deal with the historical issues like the enemies at the gates, but also deeper with the problem that's in their hearts. See, the amazing thing about Micah is that at this point of judgment, at this point where God is saying there is a consequence to sin, he gives them the biggest demonstration of mercy. He gives them Jesus, a promise that's ultimately filled in Jesus. See, it's at this point where Israel seems to be at their worst, it's people most seemingly most sinful, that prom that God promises one day he will give them his son. That this new king would rule them and he would be their source of peace. That in this absolute time of chaos, of potential invasion, of threat, of suffering, God says, No, I will give you peace. Actually, more than that, I will give you my son that will be the source of your peace. See, it's important that we see what God doesn't do here, right? He doesn't go, you know what, it's fine. Let's pretend none of this happened, it's fine. He doesn't lower his standards, he doesn't call what is evil good. Instead, he promises a king who will come and bear the weight of their sin and the judgment that comes with rejecting God.

unknown 8:21

St.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

Michael doesn't just promise a king, he shows us the heart of that king as well. If you read on in chapter 7, after this long confession of sins, we see that God's promise is that with Jesus our sins are forgiven, our sins are swept into the depths of the sea, never to be seen again or to matter again. See, when when Micah talks about the fact that his origins, this king's origins are from ancient days, and he promises that he will be our peace, this is not just a vague inner calm wellness peace that we're talking about. We're talking about a new reality where God and his people are reconciled, brought together, and where judgment that should have fallen on us now falls on him and it's dealt with. And so when we go forward 700 years in the New Testament, we see how this happens. We've just seen the nativity. The child who is born in Bethlehem grows up. He lives a perfect, faithful life that Israel never lived, and then he goes to the cross. There, Jesus, this Bethlehem king, stands in the place of his people, taking him onto himself the judgment that Micah warned about. See, that's why Christmas can never just be a sentimental day. See, the manger that we saw before is pointing to the cross. Right? This birth of Jesus is only good news and brings great joy because of what this child has come to do. See, the single biggest cause of disturbance for us as people is this rift between us and God, and it's fixed because of Jesus and because of the cross. See, it's because of him that we have peace. He is the source of our peace. See, in Matthew, he he tells us his story, he tells us of the what happened, about these uh king how King Herod reacts to being threatened by this new king, and then he talks about these wise men who looks up these prophecies. But then I think and then we see these wise men going and bringing praise and honor uh to this new king. And so I think what Matthew wants us to see is that there's already uh the nations are already coming to this promised king. There are already people coming to him in praise and in worship. Just like in Micah 4, it actually pictured the nation streaming up to the mountain of the Lord. So Micah IV just quickly says, in the last days, the mountain of the Lord's house will be the highest of all, the most important place on earth. It will be raised above all other hills. And what does it say? And people from all over the world will stream there to worship. So Christmas is the start of that movement 2,000 years ago. It's the start of people from every background, postcode, story, being drawn to Jesus to a peace that they can't achieve for themselves. It is for that reason that Christmas is so much more than sentiment. And so it is because of that that we can rejoice in it. We can when we sing carols to rejoice, it's not just because it's been a nice day, no, but it's because peace has broken into the world now because of Jesus, even as we wait for it to complete and enter its fullness. Because he is the source of our peace. So just as we head into Christmas, I want to leave you with this one question for this Christmas. What kind of peace are you really after this Christmas? What kind of peace are you after? Are you after the kind of peace that is sentimental, that you have a good holiday, or that means all your Christmas traditions are met and made at your family events? And don't get me wrong, that's not bad at all. That is all really good stuff. It's a great time, great peace to be enjoyed and loved. But there's so much more. So can I just encourage you this Christmas? Remember the absolute height of peace and security that we can have in Jesus. See if His if Jesus is a Messiah, our hope is in the one who is of old or from ancient times or who is eternal, then his rule and reign transcends history and time. Right? Then his peace and security transcends our context and what happens to us now. So whatever happens now, whatever is seemingly impossible to overcome, whatever season we're facing into, change that we're facing into, we know that we are secured, we are cared for, atoned for. Our promise is true in Jesus who has come and will come again. John 16 says this I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows, but take heart, because I have overcome the world. See, Jesus has come and has overcome the world, that in him we may have peace. So we're three, four days out. What might it look like to rest in that peace this Christmas for you? It might look like bringing your fears and your failures to God instead of hiding them, naming those things before him that you're you're worried about or ashamed of, trusting that those sins have been swept into the sea, that he's not going to drag it back up and hold it over you. It might actually look like choosing to forgive, or at least starting kind of that forgiveness journey. There might be tensions as you go to these family events or these events with friends, but that normally makes them makes that Christmas lunch tense or exhausting, maybe. Not because the hurt is small, but because we have the ability to forgive because we have been forgiven much, and your king is the prince of peace. So maybe it's forgiveness. It might look like pausing in the busyness. Maybe on Christmas Eve, maybe in the car, on your way to your next gathering, maybe as you walk in. Maybe it is a simple prayer to say, Hey Jesus, you are my peace. Help me to trust you today. See, I think being undisturbed for us probably doesn't mean that our phones stop ringing in the next four days. I don't think everything just stops. The news cycle is not going to stop. So I don't think that peace is the absence of notifications, but I think that peace is the presence of a shepherd in the midst of those notifications. So maybe it's pausing for that. And for some of us, I think it might mean for the very first time saying to Jesus, I've been living on my own as my own king, and I want to turn from that and receive the peace that you gave me when you died and rose again. If that's you, today would be a wonderful day to start that conversation as well. Whatever, I just want to encourage you with this as we go in, as we wrap up for the year as well. So whatever the news has to say to us over the coming weeks, whatever the anxieties we may be facing into, seasons that are coming, shortcomings that we feel, I just want to say Jesus is enough. And he is the source of your peace. Jesus is the one who swept your sins into the depths. He is the one that we can look into look to as our ruler and our leader and our king that won't fail us. He's the one who's done everything. Remember that the peace that Micah that is promised in Micra is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God even where the troubles are. He is the source for our peace. And I hope that's encouraging to you this Christmas. Let me just pray for us. Lord, thank you for giving us your son. Thank you for giving us the ultimate peace. Thank you that peace means the presence of you in our lives. Thank you that it doesn't matter what comes at us in this world, uh, good things or bad things, Lord, thank you that you remain true, you remain faithful. So, God, just as we go into Christmas, Lord, help us to celebrate and enjoy time with our families and friends. But more than that, help us to celebrate and to enjoy you. Help us to praise you, worship you, come to you through this next week. Lord, that we would leave not just feeling refreshed from a holiday, but refreshed spiritually because we know that you are a God with us, Lord, that Jesus is Emmanuel and he is our peace. We pray all this in your son's name. Amen.