"sending Help" Signed -- God Series

“Sending Help” signed -- God

Does anyone here have a birthday right around the holidays? How do you like that?

(The Little boy and his prayer for a bike joke)

Two weeks before Christmas a little boy had a birthday, and before his birthday came, he prayed, “God please give me a bike on my birthday.” His is birthday came and there was no bike. So, since Christmas was right around the corner, and he didn’t get what he asked God for on his birthday he got a little mad. That’s when he looked around the house and found a stature of Mary, so he got a great idea. He took that stature of Mary, and he wrapped it up in a blanket, hid it inside a drawer, and said, “God, if you ever what to see your mother again, give me a bike for Christmas.”

How many of us have ever found ourselves trying to bargain with God? God, if you’ll do this, then I’ll do that.”

Well, one of the important lessons I’ve been relearning this year is that God doesn’t have to do what I say but I can count on Him to do what He says He will do. Are you learning this too? And when He does come through, I need to be ready…

(Prayer)

If you would like, you can turn to a Scriptures in your Bible. We're going to be looking Luke chapter 1 and Luke chapter 2.

Luke 1:26-38 The Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative (The wife of Zechariah he was of the priestly division of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron brother of Moses.) is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Three reasons why Jesus had to come:

#1. To save humanity from sin.

Jesus came to save humanity from the consequences of sin.

Awareness that things are not as they should be.

Theodicy – The term theodicy combines the Greek words Theos (God) and dikaios (justification). It is an attempt to justify or vindicate God for the existence of evil.

Sending Jesus was God’s answer to the big Question: Does God care? And if he does, what is He willing to do about it?

The truth is, God does care and, and Jesus was and is God’s answer. The answer to our brokenness was not of this world, the answer had to come from above. Even Creation itself was broken in the Fall so it’s remedy could not come from the earth. The earth couldn’t heal itself nor could mankind. They both needed saving.

1 Corinthians 15:45-47, 45 For the scripture says, “The first man, Adam, was created a living being”; but the last Adam is the life-giving Spirit … 47 The first Adam, made of earth, came from the earth; the second Adam came from heaven.

The great late Dr. Adrian Rogers recounted a story he had heard, about a schoolhouse fire that happened down in South Carolina. The children were trapped inside that schoolhouse. The bells rang, the alarms went off, as the strong men of that community gathered to try to rescue the children from the fire. But they were barricaded by too many fiery obstacles. It was an inferno. They tried to get the children out, but it was too late. Mortal flesh could not rescue them. One father was there, and he could see through the flames, and he saw the face of his little boy. His little boy could also see his father. The little boy, said Daddy can't you save me? Can't you save me?