Welcome and opening prayer –
I John 1:1-3 read offstage
What's the Big Deal?
Why an angelic announcement?
Why shepherds worshiping?
Why Magi traveling from the East?
Why all of Jerusalem stirred by the news of Him, and then a plot to kill Him?
The subject we look at this morning is the difference between genuine Judaism and Christianity: The difference between a God Who is coming and a God Who is with us.
Immanuel - from 2 Hb words = with us is God.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
With the coming of this child would come a change in the course of history. No longer would men merely say, "God is there," or "God is coming." Now they would say, "God is with us!"
-Everyone prefers the idea of a God that is with us over a god who is just "out there." People have always built temples and shrines and idols - things they can see and touch and go to - tangibles to help them feel like their god is real. Those gods may be pretty ugly or angry looking, but they at least are concrete. Even the Scriptures invite us to taste and see that the Lord is good.
So, the idea of a God Who is not only out there and on His way, but Who now is "with us" is a great reason to rejoice today!
sing
Angels from the Realms of Glory
While Shepherds
Angels from the Realms
He is with us!
I. A God Who is with us is a God Who Understands Us
Ill - There was a European monarch who worried his court by often disappearing and walking incognito amongst his people. When he was asked not to do so for security's sake, he answered, "I cannot rule my people unless I know how they live." We have a God who knows the life we live.
2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
Hebrews 4:15 we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.
Quote - C. S. Lewis - The 2nd Person in God, the Son, became human Himself: was born into the world as an actual man a real man of a particular height, with hair of a particular colour, speaking a particular language, weighing so many pounds. The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a fetus inside a woman's body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.
John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
He didn't stay aloof. He came to us and became one of us.
Young person, Jesus knows what it's like to be where you are. He knows what it's like to be a teenager. He knows how it feels to be an outcast, to be let down by your friends or betrayed; He knows what it's like to be insulted, or to want to seek revenge when you're wronged; He knows the tug of the world, and the whispering of Satan in your ear to trade life's greatest treasures in for an instant of fun; He knows fatigue, hunger, stress, and loneliness. He knows the temptation of being offered positions of popularity instead of the servanthood that God has in mind for you. He understands the frustration of not being able to make decisions for the people around you because they have a free will.
Since He not only was among us but became one of us, I know that Immanuel is a God Who understands me.
(Let's pray and thank Him that He understands us...)
sing
O Holy Night
II. A God Who is with us is a God Who Meets Our Needs
-Everyone came in here this morning with some idea of what it is they need or want out of life. And Christmas is a time we focus on those needs, or at least what we consider to be our needs...
-Sunday afternoon football and red meat
-ER and shopping malls
-a Bluray player and to be kissed before you graduate!
-We all have our differing ideas about what it is we really need in life. Jesus said to a dear friend named Martha that it's possible to feel like we have a lot of different needs, but that really only one thing in life is necessary. Having a God Who is with us meets our great need.
-No matter what you're age is, whether you realize it or not, every one of us has a need
1. To know God
-Do you have a need to know God? Yeah, you do.
Ill - Have you ever been around a name-dropper? ...."Oh, ya, I know _____." Why do we do that? We want to be known, and we want to say that our experience includes being familiar with important people. It's another way we feel significant in the world.
Through all of history, man has tried to name or identify his god: Molech, Asherah, Ra, Baal, Zeus. The Athenians had idols all over Athens, and even had an idol for an unknown God so they could identify him too!
-People want a familiarity with their god. They want to know him, because - just like a child has a built-in desire to know his parents - we all have a need to know our Creator. It's a need, and "Immanuel" meets that need.
-Ill - (funny) a lot can get lost in poor translation: When Pepsi first hit the market in China, the slogan was "Come alive with the Pepsi generation." But when they attempted to render it in Chinese, it actually said, "Pepsi brings back your dead ancestors." A hotel elevator in Paris attempted to post a message in English: "Please leave your values at the front desk." Or a hotel in Austria that caters to skiers: "Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension."
-John 1:18 - Jesus is the explanation of God - He translates Him for our sakes. "Jesus is God spelling Himself out in language that men can understand."
We have a need to know God, and Immanuel meets that need.
2. To be forgiven
-Most people become concerned about forgiveness at least by the time they are facing death. There are no atheists in foxholes - instead there are confessions, sharing of confidences and the utterance of hope that regrettable things will be forgotten.
-If life's so great, if I'm OK and you're OK, why do I feel so bad? Why do counselors have to help people face what's causing them to feel so guilty? Because we are!
-Do you have a need to be forgiven? Ya, we do -- a need to not only feel forgiven, but to actually be forgiven. And Immanuel is both solutions!
Hebrews 9:13-14 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Hebrews 10:21-22 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
sing
Emmanuel
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Let's thank God this morning that Immanuel meets our greatest needs: (prayer of thanks)
III. A God Who is with us is a God Who Helps Us Now
Ill - I visited the old courthouse in Vandalia, IL where Abraham Lincoln used to work. I was allowed to walk into rooms where he worked, to see furniture he had used. But no matter how much I looked around, he wasn't there. Sure, it was pretty neat to be where Lincoln "had been," but those were just rooms. Today, you can visit Jerusalem. You can "walk where Jesus walked." But isn't it missing something to say, "God was with us."?
-"With us was God"? Hold on! "Immanuel" means He's still with us! We should rejoice over a God Who is with us because that helps us now. That helps us with…
1. Courage
-Do not be afraid. I am with you. Some 40X throughout the Bible, this is the message from God.
-God expects this news to do something to us. It should give us courage. David said though he walked through the valley of the shadow of death, he would fear no evil, for the Lord was with him; God expected Israel to go to war based on His promise: "I am with you"; Jeremiah to go ahead and preach a very unpopular message to a very hostile nation because "I am with you"; Israel to rebuild the destroyed temple because "I am with you."
Psalm 118:6-7 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.
-And Jesus expected His followers to take His gospel into all the world and make disciples because He said, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
-Having God with us gives us courage to face life as it is.
(2. Power)
There's another way Immanuel helps us -Sure, heaven would be a great place -- after all, imagine how easy it will be to live a holy life there - the devil will be gone, no one impure will be around. But I need help NOW! Is that you? That's me! You need help now? You got it!
Immanuel means also that God give us the power we need right now to live like we ought to.
Philippians 2:14-15 Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe..."
Application – Now, if your schedule is anything like mine this time of year, you’re going to have an opportunity to put that into practice before this day is over! I just have a feeling that there are going to be some moments where you’ll be tempted to complain – not that anyone will, but I’ll bet that there will be some times when you’ll be tempted to, or to argue. And here, God commands us to do everything without complaining or arguing!
-How can we do such a thing? How is it possible? How could we "do everything without complaining or arguing"? The key is right above it:
Philippians 2:13 "for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."
Immanuel means God is working in us too.
Ephesians 3:16-17 "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith."
3:20-21 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
-He told the Colossians that Christ in you is the hope of glory.
God is with us, to help us with 2 of our greatest hindrances to right living: Not just with our fears, but with our wills.
Conclusion:
There's great news this Christmas! Not just that God is there or that He's coming, but that He actually came and is now with us. Immanuel -- With Us Is God.
There's also urgent news: That He’s coming again. We want you to be ready. You have a reason to rejoice today. There's a day coming when those who have accepted Jesus will have reason for an even greater rejoicing – to be with Him in the greatest sense. To share His great desire that you and He will be together forever.
