Advent: Love
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INTRO
INTRO
Welcome to Christmas at Awaken!
S/O amazing dream team!
Mention You Card
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Dedication Sunday 1/8
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God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
I appreciate creative story tellers
I appreciate creative story tellers
I was listening to John Maxwell the other day and was astounded by how great He was at telling stories.
But some of the greatest story tellers are not found on stages, or even in publishing houses.
There are two types of great story tellers.
THEY KNOW HOW TO PERFECTLY CONSTRUCT THE NARRATIVE BASED ON EVERY INTRICATE DETAIL
THEY KNOW HOW TO EMBELESH THE FACTS TO MAKE THEM SOUND BETTER THAN THEY REALLY ARE (they lie a little.)
Some of the greatest story tellers are found in barbershops after fishing trips
And on online dating profiles
Some folks have an incredible imagination and it shows in how they present themselves on their online dating profile.
EVERY FILTER ON THE PICTURE
EXAGGERATED HEIGHT, EXAGGERATED SENSE OF HUMOR
TR: One of the places that we see great story tellers celebrated and elevated is in the business world based on how well you tell your story with your resume.
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Resumes share intentional information
Resumes share intentional information
When I send a resume to a company - I include my strengths and my competencies
I am careful with the words that I use to describe my experiences and my prior work experience.
I craft every paragraph to perfectly encapsulate who I am as a person and what value I can bring to the company to which I am applying.
A resume is what I have to say about myself.
who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Tonight as we prepare to celebrate the Christmas holiday, I want us to realized that Jesus is God’s resume.
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Recap of Advent
Recap of Advent
The weeks leading up to Christmas are traditionally referred to as the season of advent.
The word advent simply means “arrival”
This season is traditionally characterized by the highlighting of four things (peace, hope, joy, and love).
As a church we have been considering these things from the perspective that they are all gifts Jesus brought with Him when He arrived. Here’s a quick recap for our guests.
Peace: This is the Hebrew word “shalom’” which means “complete.” I have a stillness and a completeness in spite of the brokenness surrounding me.
Hope: Jesus is our hope…He is an assurance that no matter how dark our circumstances may be, they can improve because of the person of Jesus.
Joy: This is the greek word “Chara” which means to rejoice or take delight. The joy that Jesus brings is permission to take delight in the midst of life’s hardest seasons.
But tonight I want us to focus on the fourth aspect of the season of advent. I want to consider the love that we are shown by the arrival of our savior on that cold night in Bethlehem.
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It’s more than reconciliation
It’s more than reconciliation
Often when we focus on the love of God we turn our attention to its grandest outcome; the reconciliation of sinful man to a holy God.
This is such a beautiful reality.
Starting in the garden, sin introduced death and made it to where we could no longer walk in communion or relationship with the holy God of heaven.
Religion had done it’s best for millenea to try and rectify the brokenness that sin had brought…but it had done so to no lasting avail.
When Jesus went to the cross one of the grandest outcomes was the reconciliation of man back to God.
And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
There is no longer a barrier between man and God because Jesus came to bring us back together by his work on the cross..
While this is a very real and very beautiful aspect of the love of God…I also want us to notice a lesser talked about aspect during this holiday season.
Jesus didn’t only come to reconcile people to God…He also came to repair perspective about God.
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God: The long white beard and black judges robe
God: The long white beard and black judges robe
The pervading view of God in this day would have been a harsh disciplinarian with a small margin for acceptance.
If you could somehow keep the four hundred laws
If you meticulously observed every sacrifice
If you faithfully paid your offerings
THEN GOD MIGHT RELUCTANTLY ACCEPT YOU
Those who had knowledge of God assumed He was anxiously standing by watching their every move so he could write them off and cast them out of the family.
This mentality had produced a group of people who wanted to please God, but were weary in their experience.
They were working tirelessly to somehow not be cast out…but their pace was not sustainable.
TR: AND THEN CAME THIS BABY...
The celebration of Christmas is the celebration of a historical pivot...
We went from completely and totally sinful to completely and totally righteous by the birth of this child.
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This baby would grow up
This baby would grow up
As this child grew…He became a profound teacher of the ways and words of God.
He would open the scrolls and teach the word of God with authority so much so that the scribes and pharisees were “astonished” by Him.
Not only did he teach the truth of God’s Word…but He carried the authority of God’s kingdom.
As he was performing miracles…and teaching the word of God…He always had one common denominator truth.
I am doing the will of my Father who sent me. {SIGNIFICANT}
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The Father loves us
The Father loves us
Remember, the idea has been that God is reserving His favor for a select few who can somehow get everything right.
But Jesus comes and says it is the will of the Father...
...For prostitutes to be redeemed
...For tax collectors to walk in relationship
...For common people to be treated as dignitaries
...For broken people to be healed
...For bound people to be set free
JESUS ENCAPSULATES HIS PURPOSE WITH A PROPHETIC PASSAGE HE QUOTES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT!
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
Are you poor?
Religion doesn’t have much use for you and your lack of profitability
But Jesus came to preach the good news to you
Are you brokenhearted?
Religion doesn’t have much use for you because the complexity of your issue taints the cookie cutter experience religion tries to paint
But Jesus came to mend your brokenness by walking neck deep into your mess
Are you bound?
Religion disowns you for your continued pracitce of destructive patterns
Jesus came to set you free by taking your bondage upon Himself.
Jesus came to fix the broken perspective of a world that thought God was out to punish them…When God was actually passionately pursuing an opportunity to restore them.
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Jesus shows us that God loves us.
Jesus shows us that God loves us.
Long story short…Jesus came to fix the perspective of mankind by showing them that God is not annoyed by them or put off by their existence…JESUS SHOWS US THAT GOD IS RADICALLY AND PASSIONATELY IN LOVE THE PEOPLE HE CREATED!
Are you broken? God loves you
Are you sinful? God loves you
Are you weary? God loves you
Do you doubt him? God loves you
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John Saw it Firsthand: God is love.
John Saw it Firsthand: God is love.
It is the New Testament apostle John who knew Jesus more intimately than any other disciple.
While everyone else was trying to figure out if they were going to be the one who would betray Jesus…John was leaning against him...
Understanding that Jesus was the express image of God…Look what John said about the God of heaven who had been misinterpreted as only the judge.
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
As we celebrate this Christmas season…may we take a moment to see the love of God that is so clearly laid out in the person of Jesus.
Christmas is really a remembrance of the day that God sent His resume to man.
who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Jesus is precisely what God has to say about Himself.
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Story of Shawn and His brother wanting a bicycle.
They believed the picture was it because they misinterpreted the intention of their father tonwards them!
THIS CHRISTMAS THE STORY OF JESUS REMINDS US WE HAVE A FATHER THAT LOVES US AND WANTS RELATIONSHIP WITH US!
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