INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Have you ever been in a situation where you were going to have people come stay at your home for a while?
• Maybe you knew it was coming or maybe it was a surprise visit.
• Most of us are not ready for such guests. We are busy, we work, or we have things that keep us occupied so we stress about having the time to get things in order to have said company.
• Unless you have a big house making room for guests takes some work and some planning. The speed of life gets in the way.
• It was a tumultuous time; it was time for enrollment for the census. The Romans would call a census for two reasons, one for taxation purposes and secondly for compulsive military service. The Jews were exempt from the military service. This was a census for tax purposes.
• The Jews of Jesus day were looking for the Messiah, you would think they would be preparing themselves for His arrival, but for many it did not seem as that would be the case.
• Jesus was about to enter this tumultuous world and a time in which God deemed as the time!
• SLIDE #2
• Galatians 4:4 (HCSB) When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
• The long-waited Messiah was about to come, would they make room for Him? Will we make room for Him?
• I want to turn to Luke 2:1-7 as a springboard for our message today.
• SLIDE #3
• Luke 2:1–7 (HCSB) 2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. 2 This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, 5 to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him snugly in cloth and laid Him in a feeding trough—because there was no room for them at the lodging place.
• Let’s begin by noticing…
• SLIDE #4
SERMON
I. From the beginning people have struggled to make room for Jesus.
• Have you ever looked for something to only find that what you were looking for was right under your nose? TALK ABOUT SCREWDRIVER IN HAND.
• This was the situation before the birth of Jesus. The world that Jesus was born into was a very religious world.
• The Jewish people were longing for the day that their messiah would appear and help them break the bonds of Roman rule.
• World looked for Christ, the Messiah – He was to be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
• He was to be a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 12:3)
• He was to be of the house of David (Isaiah 11:1)
• He was to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
• The Jews had the Old Testament prophecies. There were many people who felt that the Messiah was about to come at any moment.
• There were 61 MAJOR and about 270 minor prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus during His lifetime.
• Bethlehem had no room for Jesus
Because of the fact that all the Jews had to return to their place of birth, the cities were filled. No rooms in the inn – all places were filled.
When the long awaited Messiah came there was no room for Him.
He had to be born in a stable – barn – shed – laid in manger (feeding trough). This is not the way you would expect the Savior of the world to get His start.
• If got so bad for Jesus that a couple of years after His birth
• It is interesting that in this Jewish town, they did not have room for the savior that they were looking for.
• The people knew that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem.
• In Matthew 2, Herod gathered the Scribes and Chief Priests together to determine where the Messiah was to born; they knew it would be Bethlehem.
• SLIDE #5
• Matthew 2:13 (HCSB) After they were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy Him.”
• Jesus gets run out of Bethlehem, literally! He goes to Egypt then when Herod dies God directs them back to Israel.
• SLIDE #6
• Matthew 2:22–23 (HCSB) But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee. Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that He will be called a Nazarene.
• There were many other places in the nation that did not have room for Jesus. I would think the worst would be being rejected in your hometown.
• SLIDE #7
• Matthew 13:57 (HCSB) And they were offended by Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”
• Toa make things even worse, there was not room for Jesus in His OWN FAMILY! John in His commentary in John 7 says…
• SLIDE #8
• John 7:5 (HCSB) (For not even His brothers believed in Him.)
• Next lets us realize that the story has not changed much over time.
• SLIDE #9
II. Today people still struggle to make room for Jesus.
• In a world that was eagerly looking for the Messiah, why did the world reject Him?
• Maybe He did not fit into their traditions. He stayed with the wrong people. (Matthew 9:9-11)
• Maybe He did not fit their preconceived ideas. (Many wanted a military leader to release Israel from Roman rule)
• Maybe He made the “righteous” people feel uncomfortable. (Clean the inside of the cup as well as the outside Matthew 23:26)
• Maybe He made people look at themselves the way they really are. (Jesus was the perfect example, sinless- Hebrews 4:15)
• No any of these reasons ring a bell today? It would seem as though we are in a world today that is not eager to see the Messiah. Look around you, today probably more than any time in the history of our nation we are trying to avoid seeking the Messiah.
• There are elements of our society that is trying to make sure there is no room for Jesus.
• The ACLU threatens to sue cities over nativities scenes, cities are giving in. School districts are eradicating Jesus from the lexicon.
• Go to the www.thomasmoore.org if you want to see some of what is going on.
• School are banning kids from prayer and talking about Jesus. IT is sad to see what we are doing
• It is getting so bad that in New Jersey Assemblyman Ronald Dancer introduced Bill No. 4481 is a proposed law in the State of New Jersey that would allow any “school district to teach about traditional winter celebrations, display holiday symbols on school property, and include musical selections with religious themes.” (www.theblaze.com)
• Stores were stopping there employees from saying Merry Christmas. Now we have Holiday trees. Although Christmas has become commercialized Christmas is still a tradition in which we remember the birth of Jesus, by the way which is a HISTORICAL FACT!
• Our society is busting apart at the seams. We are redefining things we have no right or business redefining in the name of tolerance.
• Could it be that people do want to make room for Jesus because they do not want to be accountable to anyone?
• Our Government is becoming increasingly hostile toward Jesus. The liberal courts are doing what they can to rid Society of Jesus.
• I do not think government wants Jesus because maybe they would have to start using some biblical sense with their spending!
• Jesus is even getting crowded out of some churches also.
• How does that happen? When man’s philosophy replaces God’s Word. When our traditions push Jesus and His Mission for us out the door.
• When we lose the spirit in which Jesus wants us teach. Do you think Jesus hangs out at the church that spews hate at the funerals of our dead soldiers?
• Does the programming of the church reflect the mission that Jesus gave to His church? Some churches are just political entities. Some are just preaching a social gospel. Some are just fixated on taking care of themselves, with no heart for people outside the kingdom of God.
• Does teaching of the church match the teaching of God’s word.
• Maybe Jesus takes churches out of comfort zones, maybe it is easier to teach what people like instead of what people need.
• Maybe it is easier for a church to ignore the mission of reaching the lost and replace that mission with keeping the doors open and looking nice.
• Is there room for Jesus in our homes?
• It is so easy to go through the day and get to the end of it and realize we have not spent any time in the word or in prayer
• Guilty! How much time do we spend in front of the television?
• How much time do we spend in God’s word? How much time to spend in prayer? I am not saying you cannot watch television, but if you say you do not have time to read, study and pray, then maybe we should look at how we spend our time.
• What are you talking about with your children? We wonder why our children do not grow spiritually.
• Why? Maybe we are too involved with our own entertainment and work?
• Where do our priorities show that Jesus is the Lord of our home?
• For those of you with children, you realize your children see what is important to you. DO not expect them to be faithful followers if you are not.
• Is there room in your home for Jesus?
• Do you have room for Jesus in your life?
• Ok, that was not fun, but in order to correct a problem, we need to expose it in our lives. So, let us finish with this thought.
• SLIDE #10
III. Today is the day to start making room for Jesus!
• I really believe most of us want to make room for Jesus in our lives. I think we get sidetracked and get of course.
• One of the reasons is that making room for Jesus is not easy to do. It requires us to get rid of some things in our lives and that is not always easy to do.
• Making room for Jesus obliges us to examine the priorities in life.
• Ultimately I believe we make time to do what is important to us. If I wake up in the morning having to think about working out, I am not committed. If I have to wake up or go to bed wondering if I am going to church, I am not committed yet.
• Today I want to encourage all of us to start for the first time or for some of us, hit the reset button with our faith and commitment to Jesus.
• Just like eating right and working out is good for our body and well worth the effort and discipline to do such, making room for Jesus is well worth your time and effort.
• I want to issue a challenge to you; I will call it a 35 week challenge.
• In January we will spend 31 weeks in The Story. We will have a week of Faith Promise and 3 weeks of Easter related messages, hence the 35 Week challenge.
• I want you to see if you will commit for maybe the first time to come to FCC for 35 weeks in a row. Now if you are hospital sick you are excused.
• But I want to give you the opportunity for those 35 weeks to get to know Jesus in a deeper way.
• During those 35 weeks we will have Sunday school classes doing the Story and we will have various Life Groups. Mine will cover the Story.
• Would I dare to ask you to commit during those 35 weeks to get involved in a Sunday School class and/or one of our Life Groups.
• I believe if you will make that commitment you will grow and it could be a faith-changing event for you.
• I believe if you take that challenge you will develop the discipline to achieve growth in your faith and your faith will be deeper.
• You will enjoy getting to know other Christians at FCC also!
CONCLUSION
• The Messiah the nation of Israel was longing for had arrived, but they had no room for or no place for Him.
• What they were looking for was right before them, but they had no room for Him. What about today? Is it any different?
• Are you ready to make room for Jesus? Today is the day to start!
