Embrace The Change (Christmas) Series

Embrace the Change

CHRISTMAS 2014

Times And Seasons Part 3

I want to start by reading the story of the birth of Jesus,

from the gospel of Luke.

Luke 2:4-7

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

This is the greatest event in human history,

yet its captured in a very simple story.

There was a census being taken

of that part of the Roman empire, for tax purposes,

so Joseph and Mary were forced to go to Bethlehem

to register,

they were not there by their own choice.

and I want you to notice something in verse 6.

It says that while they were in Bethlehem.

going about their business,

the time came for the baby to be born.

We read right by that phrase, the time came…

But have you noticed that

God works in your life at just the right time.

We've been talking the last couple weeks

about the seasons of our lives,

When God wants to do something in your life,

he does it at just the right time,

though you may not always feel ready for him to do it,

just like Mary and Joseph were not ready for this.

They didn’t have a sonogram,

they didn’t know the due date,

And they weren't near any family to help with the birth,

They didn’t know it was the right time,

that God had arranged…

they were just going about their business,

doing what they had to do,

and the time came.

And I wanted to tell you that,

I believe for many of you sitting here this morning,

the time has come, for something great

that God wants to do in your life.

The time has come.

And you might not feel totally prepared,

because you're never gonna feel totally prepared,

and you might not have everything in your life together,

but what I love about God, is that

when its time, its time.

And when its time, nothing can stop God

from doing what he wants to do.

When its God's time, it’s the right time.

And I believe that right now

its time for joy, and peace,

and love, and grace,

to burst forth in your life.

How many of you would like to see that in your life?

You'd like this Christmas to be a new beginning,

a time for restoration,

a time for redemption,

a time for new things in your life?

Let me tell you, its time. Its time.

I want you to finish this sentence, in your mind…

If I could change one thing about myself,

it would be… FILL IN THE BLANK

In fact, if you came with someone else this morning,

turn to them,

and tell them how you'd answer that…

Now notice I didn’t say,

If I could change one thing about you…

Don’t answer that question to the person you're sitting with,

or else we'll have fights all over the auditorium,

and your Christmas will be ruined,

and I'll get hate emails.

If I could change one thing about myself, it would be… FILL IN THE BLANK

I don’t know about you,

but when I ask myself that question,

I have a long list of things I'd like to change,

and I'd have a hard time choosing just one.

Now why did I ask that question?

Because the Christmas story is all about change.

But as we all know,

all change is not created equal.

For example,

There's good and bad change.

Some change is a mixture of both,

but some is just all good.

Let me give you an example a good change…

I'm gonna play a noise,

and you figure out if you know what it is.

[dialup modem]

None of the young people here have a clue.

That’s what we used to have to do,

to get on the internet…

It’s a dialup modem.

You used to have to ask your mom,

can I have the phone line for 30 minutes,

and nobody's gonna be able to call us during that time,

the line will be busy,

but I want to get on the internet.

How many of you remember getting

the free AOL cd in the mail,

with 40 hours free internet time.

Who here had a screen name on Instant Messenger