Call Him Jesus

Good morning, well as my wife Sharon would say, good morning y'all.

I'm Sam and this is Sharon and we're going to do a little reading for you this morning and finish off with a prayer.

This is the second Sunday of Advent.

Each week of Advent we prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth by lighting a candle and focusing on different themes of Christ's coming.

Last week we lit the candle of hope.

This week we light the candle of peace.

Like each of us, Jesus was born into a world that knew of war, rebellion and discord.

Jesus came into this world proclaiming peace, blessing the peacemakers and exemplifying what it means to be a man of peace.

Jesus also came to the world knowing that our greatest need was ultimately for peace with God.

Our sin made us his enemies and Jesus came to pay the price for our sins so we could live at peace both with God and with each other.

Please join us in reading this passage from God's word found in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 13 to 17.

Ephesians 2:13–17

The scripture is on the screens behind us.

His purpose.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barium, the dividing wall of hostility,

by setting aside in his flesh the law with his commands and regulations.

His purpose.

His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross,

by which he put to death their hostility.

He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.

Let us pray.

Thank you God for sending Jesus, the one who purchased our peace with you.

Thank you that he came proclaiming peace and that one day he will return to rule all nations with justice and peace.

Please let us live our lives reflecting the peace which we have been given through Christ.

And in Jesus name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

All right.

Before you guys sit down, could you turn to your neighbor and say hi and just greet one another?

Okay.

If you greeted at least one person, you can sit down.

How are you guys doing?

How are you doing today?

Awesome.

Wow.

Great.

Good job, buddy.

Hey, my name is Tobin and I'm one of the pastors here at Watermark Church.

If you're here for the first time, we want to welcome you during this holiday season.

We realize we have a lot of visitors here and just realize that our church is kind of controlled chaos as kids are with us.

And that's what we think life is about.

So we want to model that for you and try to learn what that means for us to go on a journey together.

I love the holiday season.

I love the songs that we just sang.

I love the tree, even though this is not a real one.

It looks great, the smell of the holiday seasons.

Last weekend, I broke one of my cardinal rules, though, in the holiday season.

And the cardinal rule is never go down to Causeway Bay on a Saturday during the holiday season.

And so I took Caitlin down and we were shopping and it was just chaos.

So we tried to get from Ikea to Times Square and we just, it was just kind of like, and my, Caitlin's like this tall.

And I kept turning around to her and I said, Caitlin, remember, never come down to Times Square on a Saturday during the holidays.

Because I had broken the cardinal rule, right?

And so I felt like you were there with like 10 billion of your closest friends.

And it was out of control.

And so finally, we're sitting in line and no one in line looks at each other.

Do you notice that?

You're purchasing stuff and people, they're not looking at each other whatsoever.

Their heads are down and they're just kind of sitting there.

And so I finally said, well, I said, I tried to make eye contact with people just to talk and no one would make eye contact with me whatsoever.

I think they just felt like I was a weird foreigner, right?

But then all of a sudden, this other lady made eye contact with me.

And I said, hey, Merry Christmas.

And she said, Merry Christmas.

And I just, I said, so how are you doing?

And she looked at me and she said, lonely.

And I said, what?

And she said, lonely.

Isn't it amazing that we can be in such a crowd of people and be lonely?

And I've been thinking about that for two weeks now.

And I went home and I thought about this idea of crowded loneliness.

I don't know if anybody's ever coined that phrase, but I'll just say it here because I like to make up words anyway.

But I think that we had this sense of crowded loneliness.

Do a Google search when you go home today on your internet and you will find at least 50 studies on loneliness within the last month throughout the world.

And it's amazing to see what people are saying.

Chinese University put out one last month.

And they said that 50% of the people they interviewed felt loneliness.

To a point where it was causing them mental anguish and physical anguish.

The statistics said that 70% of people in Hong Kong don't even walk next door to knock on their neighbor's door to get to know them.

And it was amazing as you read survey after survey this idea of loneliness and how it pervades our world, which is so connected in every other way.

But people are walking around with a sense of crowded loneliness.

No one knows them.

So when we come to the passage today in verse 23 and we read the words,

Emmanuel, God with us.

This is the first time in 2,000 years anybody would have heard those words put together.

Because before it was always God is for us.

God is for his children.

God goes before us.

God is there and he's going for us in battle.

But in the advent of Christ's coming,

God becoming human,

coming down to be with us

in the midst of our crowded loneliness.

As we come to communion today,

we celebrate God with us.

I don't know what that means to you.

I wonder what it would have meant to that lady

who I asked how she's doing

if I said God is with you

if you want him to be.

But as we come to communion,

the symbolism,

the truth,

Matthew 1,

Emmanuel,

God with us,

Matthew 28,

the end of that book,

go out and do not fear

because I am always

with you.

I'm going to ask the communion stewards

to come forward right now

as we take communion.

Communion is not a watermark thing.

It's a family of God thing.

So if you're here today visiting us

and you have made a profession of faith,

you've invited Jesus Christ

into your life

for the forgiveness of your sins,

we would invite you

to come and take communion with us

and be a part of our family

because that's what families do.

Now we have little kids here

and little kids are going to come up

and you know where your children are.

You know where they're at

in their spiritual journey.

If they haven't invited Christ

into their life,

we would ask you

not to let them take these elements

but just to teach them.

So far I know

in the history of this church

we've had three little kids

come to faith

because their parents

have used this time

as a teaching moment

instead of allowing to eat it

like it was candy.

You know where your children are.

The Bible also says

that this time

is a time for us

to examine our hearts

and our lives

and to ask that question,

what does it mean today

for me

to have God

with me?

What does it mean

when I walk through the university

and I'm about to take my finals

this week,

next week,

and the following week

even up to December 25th?

What does it mean

that God is with you?

What does it mean

when you walk into your work

on Monday

and you hear

and you think

God

is with us?

The communion students

are going to come up right now

and we'll play

a little background music

and as you think about that

when you're ready

come up and get the elements

take them back

to your seat

and we'll take them together

as a family.

Everybody get a chance

to receive the elements?

Okay.

Crowded loneliness

in the middle of the darkness

in a small backwoods town

of about 130 people

God came

to break the darkness

to shine light

and to free us

from our loneliness.

No longer God for us

but God

with us.

My prayer and hope

is that you would think

about what that means

as we walk through this day.

On this last night

on earth

Christ had one last meal

to teach his disciples

this lesson.

And in this meal

in scripture

we're told

that he takes a loaf of bread

and he blesses it

and he breaks it

and he gives it

to his disciples

and he said

this is my body

which is broken for you

take and eat

the body of Christ.

And a while later

we're told in scripture

that he takes a cup of wine

and he does the same

he said

this wine represents my blood

which is poured out for you

it's a new covenant

that I give you

to bring you back

to the family

the blood of Christ.

Father we thank you

for this day

we thank you

that we do not have

to be lonely

because of your son

who's come into this world

to bring us back to you

that you are always with us

your spirit is always with us

as your children

no matter where we go

in the joy

and in the happiness

and in the trials

and in the temptations

and then for most of us

just in the normal

slow

boring day of life

the truth is

that you are there

and that you're talking to us

and that you're with us

and so we come before you

as a family

and we just worship you

we praise you

we thank you

and we pray that we would not

forget this truth

as we walk amongst the crowds

of this day

and realize

that most of them

walk

in loneliness

and they need to hear

the message

that we have

we love you

we praise you

in your son Jesus name

amen

okay

so one of my favorite things

about being a pastor

is to do baby dedications

and so we do baby dedications here

we don't baptize children

at Watermark

we basically dedicate children

we believe that baptism

is for people

who have made a personal confession

and profession of their faith

and so we get a chance

to dedicate two babies today

a boy and a girl

and so I'm going to ask them

to come up

the parents

Aaron and Haley

and Jason and Natalie

so we're going to have

a crazy day here

so let them come on up

so we have

we have little Gracie

and we have Jason Jr

and I'm going to ask

all the kids

will the kids come down

front for me please

can you help me with this

so all the kiddos

come on down

and you guys can sit down

because I need your help

okay

okay

good job guys

how you guys doing

how you guys doing

good

are you ready for Christmas

yeah

so what are you going to

get me for Christmas

nothing

what's up with that

okay message

I need that

hey guys

we have a very special thing

that we get to do today

and maybe your mommy

and daddy did it for you

and maybe you'll be able

to do it personally

and so we're going to

dedicate a baby to God

and show the baby

to this new church family

and so who would

Aaron and Haley

you want to come first

come on up

come on guys

and so this is Aaron and Haley

and they've been with us

for almost two years now

right

so it's been great

and little Gracie

how are you doing

yeah

we have a bond going on here

so this is

I feed her diet coke

she had her first sip of diet coke

last week

and we just kind of

connected after that

so when we bring a couple

with their child up

that we ask a couple

two questions

and then we'll ask you guys

a question

so I'll ask you those questions

so in coming today

do you confess your faith

in Jesus Christ

as your Lord and Savior

okay

and is it your desire

to raise up little Gracie

in a household

that always points her

to Christ

and that you too

will walk with her

model her

in the good times

and in the hard times

what it means

and how the gospel

has changed you

okay

can I

can I take

can you

can you come to me

wow

whoa

okay

so I'm going to ask you guys

a question

as a church family

look at that

look at the babies over there

see the babies

okay

as a watermark church family

will you guys commit

to come alongside

little Gracie

to pray for her

to encourage her

to help her

when she gets in trouble

which I know

that will never happen

will it

no

and to point her

to Jesus

for as long as you guys

are here as a community

will you guys commit to that

say we will

that's great

okay

hey can you give me a kiss

okay

that's what Christina did

the first time

I tried to kiss her too

hey let me

let me

let me pray

can I pray with you guys

yeah

Father we just thank you

for this dear family

we thank you for Gracie

we thank you that

what a miracle

just life is

and how you brought them

together and brought them

here to this church

and we just pray

your blessing upon them

we pray for your protection

for your encouragement

as husband and wife

we pray that it would

always be a family

that would love you

that would do amazing

things for your kingdom

as they already have

and just feel your goodness

every day

as they look at this

little girl

we pray for Gracie

that she would come

to know you at an early age

and that she would do

mighty things for your kingdom

we love you

amen

amen

amen

amen

and so then

why don't we

can we

can we clap for that

is that good

I just think that's

yeah

okay

it's organic

right

okay

so Natalie and Jason

hey JR

how are you guys doing

he's feeling a little

under the weather

he's under the weather

okay

so guys

can you help me

is this

what is this right here

wow

wow

I was just expecting

the baby

that's

you know everything

okay

okay

so Natalie

and Jason

I'm asking you

the same question

today

in coming

and bringing

little junior

here

do you confess

your faith

in Jesus Christ

as your Lord

and Savior

and is it your desire

to walk with him

all the days of your life

and raising up

little junior

and all the other juniors

that come

I heard you guys

want like ten

in a house

six

okay

so six

only six

and raising him up

in a house

that always knows

the Lord

and loves him

is that your commitment

okay

so should I try

to hold him or not

you can try

okay

hey come here buddy

I got some Diet Coke

for you

okay

we'll try

oh

hey

hey guys

as a church family

it's your commitment

to help

Natalie and Jason

to be alongside

little JR

to encourage him

to point him to Christ

to speak words of truth

and affirmation to him

to correct him

as he's doing things

maybe he shouldn't be doing

and to be his aunts

and uncles

wherever you see him

will you commit to that

okay

wow

sweet boy

Father

we just thank you

for this dear family

we thank you for little JR

just how you made him

and grafted him

we thank you for

bringing Natalie

and Jason

into our midst

and just how

they've already impacted

this church family

after being here

for such a short time

Lord we pray

that you'd watch over them

protect them

guard their house

guard their homes

and let them be a family

that always knows you

and points them

pray for little JR

that he would come to know you

at an early age

and that he would do

mighty things

for your kingdom

Lord we love you

and your goodness

and we pray all these things

in Jesus name

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

Wow

We gave him a little NyQuil

beforehand

or something like that

okay guys

hey guys

will you pray with me

let's pray

Dear Jesus

Dear Jesus

Thank you for these

little friends

Thank you for these

little friends

Help us to be

good brothers and sisters

to them

Help us to be nice to them

Help us to obey our teachers

Help us to obey our parents

Help us to love Jesus

Amen

Amen

Okay

Watermark kids

you are dismissed

Kids

go to class

Thank you so much

Thank you guys

Today's scripture

is found in Matthew 1

18-25

Please follow along

in your bulletin

Now the birth of Jesus Christ

took place in this way

When his mother Mary

had been betrothed to Joseph

before they came together

she was found to be with child

from the Holy Spirit

And her husband Joseph

being a just man

and unwilling to put her to shame

resolved to divorce her quietly

But as he considered

these things

behold

an angel of the Lord

appeared to him

in a dream

saying

Joseph son of David

do not fear

to take Mary

as your wife

for that which is conceived

in her

is from the Holy Spirit

She will bear a son

and you shall call

his name Jesus

for he will save

his people

from their sins

All this took place

to fulfill

what the Lord

had spoken by the prophet

Behold

the virgin

shall conceive

and bear a son

and they shall call

his name Emmanuel

which means

God with us

When Joseph woke

from sleep

he did as the angel

of the Lord

commanded him

He took his wife

but knew her not

until she had given birth

to a son

and he called

his name Jesus

This is God's word

You shall call

his name Jesus

because he will

save his people

from their sins

Every year around

this time

we have lots

of celebrations

lots of decorations

going up

trees with bright lights

and candles

and you know

there's this

strange genre

of music

that starts playing

everywhere

where there's about

20 songs

that have been redone

about 2,000 times each

and anywhere you go

you hear some

random combination

of these covers

of these songs

just playing

and you're like

I've heard this song

everywhere

for the past

three weeks

What's Going On?

and people start

singing these songs

and people start

using words

you never hear

any other time of year

like festive

and merry

and I don't know

other words like that

and you know

if you come to church

you hear lots of messages

about Mary

and about the virgin birth

and about Joseph

and his response to it

and the shepherds

and it's this great time

of celebration

and so today

we're starting

our Christmas series

here at Watermark

Advent series

and today we'll be

looking specifically

at the name of Jesus

when the angel

tells Joseph

that you will call him

Jesus

because he will save

his people

from their sins

we'll be talking about

the importance of the name

the significance of the name

if you're wondering

my name is Eric

I'm the youth guy

here at Watermark

and my name

actually means

honorable ruler

I looked that one up

to find out

since we're talking

about name meetings

today

it comes from

a Scandinavian background

I guess I was just

born to be a king

or something

and interestingly

I'm named after

my grandmother

her name is

Penny Knudsen

and I know

what you're thinking

I don't see

that connection

at all

but actually

her maiden name

is Erickson

and so when my parents

had me

they wanted to keep

that name in the family

so they named me

Eric after my grandmother

and as you think

about names

names can tell you

a lot

about a person

you know

if someone walks

through that back door

right there

and they come over

and they start

introducing themselves

to us as Lucifer

we probably think

oh don't want to have

my three-year-old

hanging out with this guy

if a three-year-old

kid walks through

that door

and walks up to you

and he's like

hi my name is

Li Ka-shing

you know that his parents

have some very high

expectations for him

in life

and in the same way

the name Jesus

has a great significance

it's actually

it was a fairly common name

back in Jesus' day

it comes from the same

root word

as Joshua

which is a fairly common name

even today

and it means

Yahweh is salvation

for any Israelite

living back in the days

of Jesus

this term

Yahweh is salvation

was a loaded term

it would bring back

images in their minds

that would point them back

to their founding

as a nation

to the core central place

where God had saved

his people in the past

and that is

their slavery in Egypt

now if you don't know

the story

the Israelites were

they had moved to the land

of Egypt

because there was a famine

there was food in Egypt

so they went down there

and they settled there

they started to grow

and then eventually

a pharaoh

a king rose up

who didn't know

the back story

of how the Israelites

had actually saved Egypt

during that famine

and he got scared

said they might

try and take us over

and he made them slaves

to stop them

from having that potential

of rising up

and rebelling

this slavery

lasted

400 years

generation

after generation

after generation

was born

lived

and died

knowing nothing

but slavery

for their lives

and it didn't appear

that the situation

was getting any better

anytime soon

actually things looked

to be getting much worse

pharaoh

in his fear

because the Israelites

kept growing

kept getting more numerous

decided that it was

a good idea

to have the

the baby boys

killed

whenever they were born

in Israel

he had laws made

that when a baby boy

is born

they throw him

in the river

and let the baby drown

so that there cannot be

a rebellion

of the Israelites

against the Egyptians

it was a dark

bleak situation

with no sign

of hope

for the Israelites

but in this dark

bleak situation

God appears

to an Israelite

who is living

in exile

from Egypt

as a shepherd

and tells him

I want you to go

to Egypt

and tell Pharaoh

the king

to let my people go

and so this

this exile returns

his name is Moses

he comes to the pharaoh

and he says

God says to let

his people go

and pharaoh

doesn't want any of that

he says

no way

we got free labor

I'm not giving this up

you guys are staying

actually

because you're complaining

about your work

I'm going to make it

even harder

and because pharaoh

does not listen to God

because he stands up

for what he wants

instead of what God wants

God sends a series

of ten plagues

that systematically

destroy the nation

of Egypt

he turns their water

to blood

he sends frogs

that just overrun the land

he sends diseases

he sends a huge hailstorm

that destroys lots of stuff

he sends darkness

on the land

and finally

to top it all off

he kills the firstborn son

in every Egyptian household

yet gives the Israelites

a means of saving

their sons

by sacrificing a lamb

in that son's place

and finally

after

the firstborn son

in every household

in Egypt has died

pharaoh says to Moses

get out of here

we don't want you

your trouble

leave

and the Israelites

after 400 years

of slavery

are free

they leave the land

of Egypt

they're walking

through the desert

towards their promised land

and they're excited

and they're walking along

they're coming up

God has them go

around

around

another country

so that they don't

have to fight there

they go on a

on a way that will be safer

where they can avoid fighting

but this way brings them

along towards the sea

and right as the Israelites

are getting close

to the sea

the pharaoh

changes his mind

it says

it was a bad idea

to send those Israelites away

we had a good thing

going for us

we had free labor

for hundreds and hundreds

of years

and I have just given that up

that's not okay

we need to get them back

so he takes his army

and goes out there

and chases down

the Israelites

and right as he

catches up

to the Israelites

the Israelites

are against the sea

they are trapped

the Israelites

see the Egyptians

coming

and they are afraid

but God comes down

in a cloud

and sets himself

between

the Israelites

and the Egyptians

and blocks the Egyptians

from being able

to come up

and attack

the Israelites

God parts the sea

and lets his people

walk across

on dry land

and right as they are

finishing getting across

he moves the cloud

forward a little bit

so that the Egyptians

can come in

to the sea

and follow the Israelites

across

and the Israelites

are standing

on the far shore

watching the Egyptians

come across

the same dry strip

of land

that they have just

walked across

themselves

only the Egyptians

don't get to the other side

God closes the water

back in on them

and the dead bodies

of the Egyptians

that have been chasing

the Israelites

wash up on the shore

in front of the Israelites

and they know

that they are

free and saved

once and for all

that God has brought

a salvation

to his people

that they could not

achieve on their own

this is the central

act of salvation

in the mind

of any Israel

then or now

when God took

his people

freed them

from 400 years

of slavery

and brought them

into

ultimately

into the promised land

that would be

their new home

and for any Israelite

in Jesus' day

when they heard

the name Jesus

when they heard

the name Yahweh

is salvation

this story

is the one

that would come

to mind

and throughout

the Old Testament

God had made

many promises

to his people

that he would send

someone who would

be a savior

he made amazing

promises about

how this savior

would be a king

about how this savior

would rule justly

how he would rule

over the nations

how he would

he would take

the line

the royal line

of David

the greatest king

of Israel

and he would

sit on that

and reign on that

throne forever

after the line

of David

and any Israelite

in Jesus' day

would have known

about these promises

they would have

been waiting

for this savior

to come

so they had

an understanding

of the way

that God

had saved

in the past

they had an

understanding

of the promises

that God

had made

about the savior

that was to come

but then

there's a third

ingredient

that sort of

blended together

and gave the Israelites

a very clear

mental picture

of what they thought

would come

when this messiah

when this promised

one came

the third ingredient

was their current

political situation

now for the Israelites

in Jesus' day

their situation

actually

very closely

resembled

what had been

happening

in Egypt

the Israelites

in Jesus' day

had been

political captives

to foreign nations

for hundreds

and hundreds

and hundreds

of years

in the Old Testament

the nation

of Israel

actually split

into two nations

the northern kingdom

disobeyed God

and got dragged

off to captivity

and never came back

but the southern kingdom

in about 587 BC

was dragged off

as captive

by a country

called Babylon

Babylon was the world's

superpower at the time

they came in

they destroyed

Jerusalem

the capital

they tore down

the temple

where the Israelites

believed the presence

of God dwelt

the nation of Israel

was destroyed

the people were

taken captive

and brought away

as slaves

in a foreign land

a few years

after that

a country

called Persia

came in

and took over

Babylon

the Persians

were still

rulers over Israel

although they were

nicer than the Babylonians

the Persian kings

actually gave the Israelites

money to go back

and rebuild their temple

and rebuild the city walls

and the Israelites

had a little bit more

freedom under them

but they were still

not free

they were still

under a foreign power

this lasted

for a couple hundred years

until a country

called Greece

came in

and took over Persia

and the Greeks

came in

and they wanted

to unify

all the world

that they ruled

so they

one of the aspects

of unifying the world

was getting

the whole world

to follow

the same religion

and to do this

they had to destroy

the religious practices

of all of the places

that they conquered

so the Greeks

came into

this newly rebuilt

temple

that the Israelites

had

and built

an altar

to Zeus

in the temple

of God

and to make matters worse

they took pigs

into the temple

and sacrificed them

which for the Israelites

was a big no-no

it made the temple

unclean

and unusable

for the worship

of God

the Israelites

were so upset

about this

that a family

called the Maccabees

actually raised

a rebellion

against the Greeks

and were successful

in kicking them out

for a few years

and so the Israelites

actually had a brief window

where they had

freedom

but not long after that

another world superpower

arose

and Rome came in

and took over

the nation of Israel

and as Jesus was born

Rome was ruling Israel

which had been

under captivity

to foreign rulers

for hundreds

and hundreds

and hundreds of years

with only a short break

of their own independence

and the presence

of Rome

was one

that would have been

felt daily

by the people

the Romans had

people stationed

around the world

to enforce

their rule

on the people

that they conquered

they had tax collectors

who would be

in each city

and these tax collectors

would collect

taxes from the people

to send

to the Roman government

so that the Roman government

could continue functioning

but the tax collectors

also charged

a little extra

so that they could

put some in their pocket

and keep it also

and

in addition to tax collectors

there were soldiers

stationed all around

one of the things

that the soldiers did

is if you couldn't afford

to pay your taxes

the tax collectors

would have the soldiers

come in

and beat you up

a little bit

to make you want

to pay more next time

the soldiers

maintained peace

which meant

crushing any

potential rebellions

against Rome

they were able

to enlist people

to help them

with carrying their equipment

in general

the presence of Rome

was not a good thing

in the eyes

of the Israelites

for their lives

and the people

in the days of Jesus

would have been

ever presently aware

of the need

for salvation

from this Roman rule

and one night

in a manger

in a small town

of Bethlehem

there's a baby born

this baby

carries a name

that means

Yahweh is salvation

and he is born

into a nation

that is waiting

for salvation

he is born

into a nation

that knows

of the ways

that God has saved

in the past

they know

of the promises

that he will do it again

and they see

a situation

that they are

very aware

that they need

to be saved from

and as this baby

grows up

he starts doing miracles

he starts healing

the sick

raising the dead

making the blind see

and people

start following him

and realizing

there's something

special about this guy

he starts teaching

about a kingdom

that is not of this world

a kingdom of heaven

and people think

this is it

this is the savior king

that we have been waiting for

he's coming to bring

a new kingdom

crowds of people

start following him

to remote places

even when he tries

to get away from the crowds

they follow him

at one point

the crowds even decide

they want to make him

their king

but he slips away

and escapes

before they're able

to do that

and as long

as his message

sounds to the crowd's ears

like what they want

to hear

they follow him

but eventually

they start to realize

that the savior

that they're expecting

and the savior

that they want

is not necessarily

what they're seeing

in this man

they realize that

rather than

affiliating himself

with the politicians

and the religious leaders

he's hanging out

with tax collectors

and sinners

and prostitutes

the people that no one likes

the people that no one

wants to hang around with

he's not raising up

an army

and starting rebellions

he's

he's traveling through

from town to town

just healing people

and teaching

and then

he starts talking about

how he's going to suffer

and die

these are things

that are unthinkable

for the Jewish mind

for their Messiah

to do

for this promised one

who was to come

and as he starts

saying these things

and doing these things

the people realize

that he's not

the man

they thought

he was going to be

and they reject him

as their savior

and in one of

the greatest ironies

if not the greatest

irony of history

the people

reject Jesus

as their savior

and kill him

yet through

that rejection

he is able to accomplish

the ultimate salvation

that he came to bring

for them

because as God

looked down

on his people

he saw that they had

a very real need

for salvation

from the Roman rule

but he saw

that they had

an even greater need

for salvation

from their sin

the Bible teaches

that sin

is our rebellion

against God

that each of us

on our own

says in effect

to God

you don't know

what's best for me

you don't want

what's best for me

I know better than you do

I'm going to follow

what I think is best

instead of what you say

is best

I'm not going to trust

you to rule

I'm going to rule

and be the God

of my own life

and we rebel

and we disobey God

and God saw this

and God knows

that he created us

to find our ultimate joy

our ultimate fulfillment

our ultimate purpose

in life

through a relationship

with him

and that because

of this sin

because of this rebellion

that relationship

is broken

and the worst part

about it is

that we are so blinded

to this slavery

that we have

to sin

that we don't even

realize that we're slaves

with the Israelites

they were constantly

aware of the oppression

of the Roman rule

in their lives

they had daily reminders

of the fact

that they were not free

that they were

under someone else's rule

there were soldiers

marching down the streets

there were tax collectors

knocking on their doors

they knew

that they were captives

to another nation

and yet with sin

far too often

they and we

are blind

to the fact

that we are captives

yet God was not

and so he sent

a savior

to save them

from their greatest

captor

from their sin

and to allow them

to have

a new relationship

with him

and because

that did not fit

their expectation

of a savior

they rejected him

they killed him

and he accomplished

their salvation

in that moment

of rejection

and as I think

about this story

of the Israelites

and how

they rejected

the savior

who came

to fulfill

their needs

yet didn't fulfill

necessarily

what they wanted

him to do

it made me start

thinking about us

how in our world

today

in our lives

are we like

these Israelites

obviously

each of us

has problems

in our lives

you know

it's different

for everyone

but they're there

for some people

it may be

that they're

in broken

relationships

that they want

healing

they want

God to be

their savior

who will bring

healing

in these

broken

relationships

for some

maybe work's

not going

too well

and they want

God to step

in and be

their savior

by changing

their situation

at work

for some

maybe they're

sick

they have

a disease

and they want

God to heal

them

and be

their savior

from this

disease

and in each

of these

situations

we have

a picture

in our minds

of the type

of savior

that we want

God to be

for us

and we often

pursue him

as that

savior

rather than

as the savior

for our sins

I was thinking

through and I

realized that this

is something

that I do

often

actually

especially last

year

last Christmas

time

it was the

first Christmas

where I didn't

get to go

home

now growing

up Christmas

was a huge

fun

important holiday

in my family

we would have

you know mom's

side of the family

get together on

Christmas Eve

dad's side got

together on

Christmas Day

we would have

parties with

huge amounts

of food

and we would

have presents

that we would

exchange

and we get to

spend the day

with family

and it was a

great time

for making

memories

memories

and last

year I

didn't get

to go

home

and I

looked back

and I

remembered

all of these

past

Christmases

and all of

the wonderful

times that I

had had

during these

past

Christmases

and rather

than being

thankful for

all of the

great opportunities

that I've had

to spend this

awesome time

with my

family

it just

made me

sad

because I

was like I

don't get to

make those

memories this

year

I have to

miss out

I don't

know what

I'm doing

for Christmas

all I know

is that I

won't be

with my

family

and it

was sad

and it

was tough

and I

looked to

God

to heal

me from

my sadness

you know

I'd read

in the

Bible

and it

talked

about how

in God's

presence

there's

fullness

of joy

and I

was like

I am

not

feeling

this

right now

I am

sad

I want

God to

make me

happy

and rather

than pursuing

God

as a

savior

for my

sin

I

pursued

him

as a

savior

from

my

sadness

and here's

the thing

it's

absolutely

very

100%

true

that in

God's

presence

there is

fullness

of joy

but

that

fullness

of joy

is found

in a

renewed

relationship

with God

not

necessarily

in having

the life

circumstances

that we

prefer

and because

I was so

blinded to

this fact

I just

wanted him

to change

my

circumstances

to make

me have

life

the way

that I

wanted

life

and so

I

wanted him

to do

that

and when

that didn't

happen

I thought

God must

be upset

with me

or I

must be

doing

something

wrong

because

I'm not

feeling

the way

that I

think

I'm

supposed

to be

feeling

I'm

not

seeing

God

as the

type

of savior

that I

want him

to be

for me

and I

think that

in some

way each

of us

does this

in our

lives

it may

not be

in that

exact

situation

but each

of us

has ways

that we

look to

God

as a

savior

to save

us on

our terms

from the

things that

we want

salvation

from

rather

than

from

our

sin

and

really