"Such A Little Town"

“Such a little town”

Date: December 11, 2011

Scripture: Micah 5:1-5

from the series Christmas B.C.

Introduction

It is quite common, particularly in the United States, to be driving along on a major highway and see a giant billboard that reads, 'Jesus Is The Answer'.

 And we know Jesus is the answer….what is the question?

 'Do I matter to God?'. 'Does God care?'.

Scientists tell us that our sun is one of 500 billion stars in the Milky Way,

• medium-sized galaxy among 200 billion others

• All swarming with stars.

Can one person, on a speck of a planet, in a speck of a solar system, in a medium-sized galaxy, make a difference to the Creator of that Universe?

Does God really care about me?

The celebration we call Christmas answers this question for us.

• God cares for us so much that He sent His Son to save us from our sins

• From the penalty our sins deserved.

• Jesus is indeed the answer.

as a preacher I really believe/all my heart/when I stand up to preach I am not just doing/order to say something, but rather because I have something to say.

 Not something I have concocted in my own mind,

 But I really feel every time I preach God has laid on my heart for His people to hear.

 Maybe not always what people want to hear,

 But what people need to hear.

Hopefully the reason you feel you need a preacher at a church is so that you can be challenged to be more like Christ.

 It is to be corrected/convictions we face on a daily basis.

 one of gratitude that we have been taught something

 Or corrected in an area, which may make a difference in our lives or in our eternity.

What makes something so deep a conviction within you that you are serious about change or response?

What does it take for you to feel conviction over something?

How many times do you have to feel conviction over something before a change develops?

The people of Isaiah’s time responded quite differently to the confrontation of their sin.

Rather than responding with repentance they responded by going all out in their sin.

Sermon

So, where does this CONVICTION come from?

Why do we have this instinctive awareness or feeling that this kind of thing is wrong?

Where do we get our opinion that this is unjust? Not right?

o According to Isaiah 51:7, we know what is wrong/right because God has written His law on our hearts.

In other words, spotting injustice is part of the programming that our holy and JUST God has given us.

o "A sense of justice comes with the kit of being human."

And if you doubt this,

I challenge you/pick/copy/newspaper, whether it leans to the right or to the left.

o Take ten minutes and note how many articles

o That relate to humanity's longing and aching/peace/ justice.

o I promise you will have no trouble finding dozens/examples.

This is why stories are written about murder/child abuse, bank robberies/drug busts, epidemics and wars.

 This is why things like this are considered NEWS

 We all instinctively know their presence is a bad thing.

We think, "This is wrong. Someone should do something!"

 So we put these stories in newspapers and on TV.

This is why for this next year every presidential candidate will promise to deal with these kind of things in their own way,

o because no matter what party they are affiliated with,

o they know we ALL cry out that someone has to do something

o something has to be done,

o Something to deal with all the injustice in the world.

Well that inner voice that tells us when things aren't right

 SAME VOICE we read about in the pages of the Bible

 Coming from God through the lips of His PROPHETS...

 PROPHETS who spoke out over/over again about the actions and attitudes they saw as just plain wrong.

This is why the EMOTION that most often characterizes the Prophets of Scripture is not joy or serenity, but rather ANGER.

 Don’t the prophets of the Bible tend to strike you as being kind of CRANKY?

 Here's a few examples to show you what I mean.

The prophet Amos said, "Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who oppress the poor and crush the needy!" (Amos 4:1)

Isaiah says, "Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to Me; I cannot STAND your evil assemblies!" (Isaiah 1:13)

Micah says, "Should you not know justice, you who hate good and love evil, who tear the skin from My people and the flesh from their bones, who eat My people's flesh, strip off their skin, break their bones in pieces, chop them up like meat for the pan?" (Micah 3:1-3)