come let us ignore him
Notes
Transcript
INTRO to the series
INTRO to the series
I love Christmas ( paraphrase the Christmas Story
At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
. The Birth of Jesus! The Incarnation!
We celebrate it! We call it Christmas!
I love Christmas stories
I love Christmas movies
I love Christmas songs
here are a few of my favorite
but instead of come let us adore him our culture sings come let us ignore him
Like the Inn Keeper in the Bible story, they are rejecting and trying to ignore there is a savior born on this day
1. Ignoring that God’s Son has, is making HIs entrance into the world But, Like the Inn Keeper They’re too busy, not interested enough, too selfish to make room for the savior
The Businesses that profit from His birth try to ignore Him
While Christmas brings to them their greatest profits for the year they wish you a happy holiday!
1. Without Christ there is no holiday
2. Without Christ there is only a few days of celebration but no lasting happiness
I understand, they don’t want to be offensive!
1. They want to be politically correct
2. They don’t want to lose someone’s business (bottom line)
Our government is singing, Oh Come Let us Ignore Him
We use to live in a country where Christmas was celebrated from the local hardware to the White House.
1. No one hesitated to acknowledge the Christ in Christmas!
2. They may not have been Christians!
a. But they recognized Christmas as the Christian Holiday and the celebration of the birth of our Lord
Since before this country began, Christmas was about the birth of Christ
1. Our fore-Fathers celebrated the birth of Christ
a. On the White House Lawn
b. In every state capitol
c. Every county and every municipal building housing those in legislative and ruling powers celebrated Christmas not Happy Holidays
That statement does not mean every mayor or supervisor or every government official is an unbeliever
1. But if they’re Christian I think it’s time for them to stand up and say: The song won’t change!
a. Christmas is, was, and always will be about Christ!
b. If you don’t want to celebrate it then don’t, but don’t try to change the fact of what I believe
Our Schools sing: Oh Come Let Us Ignore Him
a. Gone are the days when our children will be told the story of the Christ in their schools! (We need to get them back)
1. Gone are the manger scenes and the angels rejoicing!
2. Gone is a major part of the American life and culture because we want
3. Gone are the days when Christmas carols are sung in school Christmas programs ( though there will be no singing this year)
I. what does it mean to adore something
Adoration Defined “A deep love and respect, worship or veneration in the spiritual sense.”
A. Adoration always Precedes worship
The idea is that as you grow in your affection and love for God, your life will become worship. A lot of times, we associate the idea of worship with what happens at the beginning of the service, where we come together once a week and we sing worship songs. But, throughout the scriptures, God shows us that worship is more than merely singing songs. The first time worship is brought up in the scripture is when God tested Abraham. He asked him to take his son Isaac up on the mountain to sacrifice him. It was a test. Abraham said, “I’m going to grab my son and we’re going to go up on the mountain to worship.” That idea of worship was an act of obedience. In other words, it was a display of his love and trust that God would provide another way and of course we know that he did. That was a foreshadowing that God was actually going to give his own Son Jesus to die on behalf of the sins of the whole world.
B. Adoration transforms obedience out of oblation to obedience to the Lord out of Love
Adoration transforms obedience out of obligation, which is what we call religion. When you’ve got a list of dos and don’ts and you do them in order to be a good person and to behave yourself and to do your very best to earn God’s love, that is what we define as a religion. But a lot of people have come to Family Worship Center and they’ve found out that we’re not preaching religion, we’re preaching a relationship. Adoration transforms that obedience out of obligation to an obedience out of love. When you’re obedient out of love, you begin to life a life of worship. That’s a huge differentiation between religion and relationship. I’m here to tell you today that God wants a relationship with you today.
Illustration of Kids
remember Christ came in this world as a baby
as parents what do we do as parents
we remember
we know
we value
Transition I want to teach from Ephesians 3
History and background of the text
Paul is in his first stint in prison. From what we know, Paul was in prison twice. The second stint – where he wrote 2 Timothy – ended in his death. In his first stint, he wrote several letters. One of them was a letter to the Church at Ephesus. Ephesus was a pretty wealthy city. It was a port city, so it was full of a lot of economic wealth. It was also a melting pot of cultures. In a lot of port cities like in Atlanta or Los Angeles or Houston, you’ve got all kinds of diversity, all kinds of people, all kinds of religions that are clashing and melting together. That was Ephesus. Paul is writing this letter and, specifically in Chapter 3, he’s giving explanation. He says, “hey, I want to remind you of what God has done in my life and the message he’s given to me for you.” The specific message and role that Paul was given was the message to go to the Gentiles. So, God was the God of the Israelites and there was this mystery. They didn’t know how God was going to save them or what exactly the Messiah would look like. But when he came and fulfilled all these prophesies that pointed to Jesus, Jesus then turned and he was welcoming the Gentiles. He wanted to adopt them into God’s family. That was Paul’s mission. It was his specific role to bring that message to the Gentiles. He writes in Chapter 3 and he kind of rolls this out.
When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles … assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles. As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets.
And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus. By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.
II. How to live a life of Adoration to the Lord
We remember what God has done
A. we remember his deliverance and protection
The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
B. We remember his provision
And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
D. We Remember his Freedom
But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.
C. we remember His Blessings
2. We know God
I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.
God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
To know God… This idea of manifold wisdom… Manifold is a cool word. It’s the word for a tapestry. A tapestry is made by taking all these different colors of yarn and weaving them together. What’s interesting is if you look at the back of a tapestry, what does it look like? It’s an absolute mess. But when you come around and look at the front of the tapestry, it’s a beautiful work or art. As you look at a tapestry, every angle offers you a different view of its beauty.
As you grow in your knowledge and your wisdom of God, you’ll grow in your understanding and you’ll see different aspects of the beauty of God. Much like looking at a diamond, at every angle, as you grow and you walk with him, you’ll see these new angles of his beauty. You look at that tapestry and you think about your life. Of the seemingly mess that is Adam Meyer, God wants to take my mess and he wants to weave me together into a new creation, created in Christ Jesus, with his unfathomable riches, and he wants to use me to be a blessing to the world and then he wants to bless me for eternity in heaven.
A. we know him personally
This is what the Lord says:
“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
or the powerful boast in their power,
or the rich boast in their riches.
But those who wish to boast
should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
who demonstrates unfailing love
and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
He’s got the same plan for you. Each one of your lives is a beautiful work, a tapestry if you're willing to walk with Jesus. Apart from Jesus, life is just a mess. But he uses all things to work together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purposes.
B. he know his wisdom
For the Lord grants wisdom!
From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
C. we know is heart for others
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
D. We know HIS peace
I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying,
for he speaks peace to his faithful people.
But let them not return to their foolish ways.
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
3. We value and treasure God
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
It’s one thing to be adopted into a loving family. It’s a whole other thing to be adopted by the King. Those are the riches that you're stepping into. That’s your inheritance. I think there are too many times where, as I go through out my life, I minimize my standing before God. When I mess up, when I say something foolish, when I upset my wife, when I get caught in a lie, that shame and guilt wants to tell me, “Yeah, you’ve got your salvation, but you’re still just a mess.”
A. We recognize his rightful place
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
B. We Honor God with our lives
we honor God with our bodies
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
we honor God with our possessions
Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with the best part of everything you produce.
we honor God by how we treat others
Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker,
but helping the poor honors him.