All Hail King Jesus | The Gifts Of The King

Matthew 1.23 says this that the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they'll call his name Emmanuel, which means God is with us.

Would you say that?

God is with us.

In Matthew, we first read about this powerful name, the first name that God would have us identify Himself with.

Jump! You can do it.

She's coming.

Mama's coming.

But the Bible says that God will become, and he will become what we identify him with as Emmanuel, that God is with us.

The first name of God would be that God is with us.

That God would be close to us, that God's original intent, his first desire, his primary desire was that he would have relationship with you and with me.

That was his first hope.

That was his first desire.

And so when we look at this scripture as Emmanuel, Emmanuel means that we are not left behind.

Emmanuel means that we are not forgotten.

Emmanuel means that we're not alone.

It's God who is with us.

And if there's ever a lesson that Christmas wants you to realize at this time of year, is that God is near and that God is here.

God is near and he is here.

And if you are feeling that presence today, if you're feeling that nearness today, that is the spirit of Christmas.

That is the heart of the message that God's Son would come from heaven to earth to be with men, to be with women, to be with us on our day today, to share that relationship.

In Luke chapter 2, we read of this story that is primarily the commemorate of the season.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

It's the message of the season.

And this morning I'd like to share it with you as this story very is very much a history-making moment.

And it's a moment where the earth is changed and all people on the earth are changed.

It says this in Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

It says, In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.

This was the first census that took place where I knew I was going to mess this up.

Quirinius was the governor of Syria, and everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth to Galilee, to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.

He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

And while they were there the time came for the baby to be born.

And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.

She wrapped him in cloth and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out of the living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them, Don't be afraid.

I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people.

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born.

He's the Messiah, the Lord, and this will be a sign to you.

The sign is you will find a baby wrapped in cloth, lying in a manger.

And suddenly that angel got a backup company, came up from behind them, the choir erupted, and they this heavenly host appeared with the angel, and they praised God, and they said this, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those who He has pleased.

When the angels left and gone and went to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let's go to Bethlehem.

Let's see this thing that's happened, which the Lord has told us about.

This morning I'd like to share with you a simple message that you would take home.

It's my heart that you would carry this message throughout your holiday season, that the King has come and he's come bringing gifts for all people, for you and for me.

Amen.

Father, we thank you this morning for your presence.

We thank you for those who who are uh who uh have heralded the song that Christ is here, that Jesus is come.

And Father, today we just don't need another uh we don't need another service program, but what we want is real connection with you.

We don't need just another Christmas feeling.

We want the connection with the one who Christmas is all about.

So open up our hearts to receive from you, open up our minds to understand, Lord, the the gifts of Christmas this year in Jesus' name.

And everyone who agrees, you would say, Amen, amen.

Uh I'm a Christmas guy.

I uh literally, I'm a December baby.

How many December babies are out there?

That's right.

Yes, we are good babies, that's right.

I got one of my first pictures taken under the Christmas tree.

That's like I am a Christmas guy.

And uh it took me a little while to like you have to understand with December babies, it takes them a little while to actually deal with the contention of Christmas because they only get like gifts one time a year.

And then there's this huge 11-month hiatus, and then you get gifts again.

And so it was either you got gifts or you got no gifts.

So all those Christmas babies, I pray double blessing, double gifts on you today.

Come on.

So with my birthday so close to Christmas, I I just I don't know, it may be an eight.

The sound, the smell, the flavor, the eggnog, the cookies, oh Lord.

Thank you, Jesus, for all the things related to Christmas, right?

The peppermint.

I all those things are great.

But and I love at Christmas to be able to give gifts.

I love giving gifts during Christmas.

As much as I love receiving gifts, I actually really love being the gift giver.

How many gift givers have we got out there?

You love being a gift giver, that's right.

And there have been years that I have literally nailed it.

I hid it out of the way.

The person receiving the gift didn't even know that they needed what I got them.

It was like it was telepathic.

I was reading their soul.

They weren't even connected as much as I was connected.

It was a blessing for them.

It was astounding.

I wish I could take you back to the sense of awe and excitement in that individual's face, right, Natalie?

It was wonderful.

Still reminiscing about it today.

Remember that time you gave that gift and just shocked me.

But there have been a few years where I've missed it.

And I didn't quite uh represent.

One year in particular, I had a great idea, and uh it wasn't like an exercise bike or a gym pad, like it wasn't a silly idea.

But you know, in families, you have like dollar amounts, right?

You have like budgets.

And I I had my dad for Christmas, and I was like, you know what?

And I ended up, and my family doesn't understand this, but I got him a walkie-talkie.

A single walkie-talkie.

I got him one, one really good one.

And he kind of like opened it and like looked at me and wondered, like, what are you thinking?

And I what I was thinking is I'm gonna buy myself a walkie-talkie, and when I need one, I can borrow yours, right?

And it was a selfish motivation, and and it it all worked out.

But everyone was kind of like, you missed it, Brody, on this one.

It was a really great idea, but you missed it.

And I think it should be an exciting time to be giving gifts during Christmas.

And whether you're retired and you're 60 or you're six, you should have the same wonder and awe when it comes to giving gifts.

Especially the, I believe, the older we get, the more connected and exciting it ought to be become because we realize the gifts that we've been given.

At first, it's really trivial: a puzzle, Lego, an orange in a stocking that you get excited about.

But now, as we get older, we realize the true gifts of Christmas are things that can't be packaged.

That's right.

They can't be bought, the world can't give.

And specifically, I believe that God has come, the king has come to give three gifts.

Now, let me just share with you a little bit about this king.

And it may be a little bit of an introduction to you, but this king didn't enter the world like many other kings would come and like be recognized, like many other kings would be recognized.

He came in the form of a baby.

He was born in a manger to very inexperienced, wide-eyed parents.

And that's why the angels said this.

The angels in the story said, You're gonna find something very odd.

It's gonna be uncommon, it's gonna be surreal to you.

When you see it, you'll know, but it's gonna shock you a little bit.

He says, You're gonna find this king, and this king is gonna be wrapped in cloth.

Now, the history of this cloth is the Jewish people, when they would travel, as Mary and Joseph were traveling, they would have to carry cloth with them.

In the case that they came across someone who had died on the road or someone who had been injured, they weren't allowed to touch dead bodies.

And so they would carry cloth with them so they would they wouldn't actually have to touch them, but they would they would wrap them up and take them so they would be buried properly.

So they were carrying this cloth, and that was the cloth that it was a very base material, and it was the cloth that you would find the King of Kings wrapped in.

Not only would it be a baby, but he would be wrapped in cloth, and he'd be laying in a manger, a feeding trough.

We get so accustomed and associate, you know, the nativity scene.

We miss sometimes the reality that this king will come wrapped in cloth, laying in a feeding trough.

It's unreal, it's a miracle.

And then you'll know you found the king.

That'll be a sign to you.

You'll found the king when you see that.

And it gets even crazier.

The shepherds would meet this baby Jesus in this manger, and wise men would come.

Now, wise men, smart guys, magi, the top of the king's courts, Persian rulers, would come to meet baby Jesus.

Estimated their time of travel would probably have been nine months, ten months of travel to come to find Jesus.

They would have found this toddler.

And and the Bible says that when they saw the toddler, how many of you have ever seen a toddler before?

Like, who ever goes, wow, that is a king?

When they came to this toddler, they realized that who he was, and the Bible says they threw their gifts down and they bowed down and they worshiped a toddler.

Yes, we always see there's great, there's great opportunity and there's great future in a child, and we always see that seed of of greatness.

But for them to be able to look at a toddler and say, That's God, that's a king, that was a sign of something to come.

So this story comes that this king is come in the form of a baby.

So don't forget this baby is the king.

It doesn't look like any other king, but he's a king, and as soon as he came, he brought gifts with him.

Because every time the king comes into a place, he brings with him gifts.

So let's look at verse 10 here of the Christmas story where it says that there's an emotion that will come to the world.

In essence, that's what we do every time we wrap a gift and we give a gift on a on a Christmas morning, we watch people open.

We're what we're doing is we're replicating the emotion of the Christmas time, the Christmas, the original Christmas event.

But that moment of time when Jesus was announced, the scripture says this that there would be great joy for all people.

That the angels said to them, Don't be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be to all people.

Would everyone say joy?

There's an emotion that is a gift to you this Christmas of joy.

Hey, joy.

Turn to your neighbor and just smile at them a little bit.

This is a gift.

This is a gift to you.

Now turn to that other one that you didn't look at and smile at them too.

You know your second choice?

That's right.

The Bible talks about this life that we'd have, that we have an enemy that's going to come and rob, kill, steal, destroy, want to take away from you.

But Jesus came that you would have joy abundant, joy transcendent, joy that bubbles over joy.

This joy would come.

We're also reminded that the choir comes afterwards and they say there's going to be another emotion.

Peace is going to come to the earth.

Peace to the earth.

And after that, a final one, pleasure.

All God is pleased.

There'll be pleasure that's associated with this joy and this peace.

There'll be this pleasure that comes because you're in right standing with God.

There's great joy, great peace on the earth.

And when the king comes, he comes for these three primary reasons.

Because when the king comes, he comes to establish his kingdom, his dominion, his space.

So when Jesus came to the earth, he was putting his stamp on the place where he came, and he was saying, I'm going to establish my kingdom here.

It's much like what we hear about the same language comes from Romans chapter 14, verse 17.

Romans 14:17

It says this the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, it's not external.

That's not the kingdom of God, but of righteousness, peace, and a joy in the Holy Ghost.

The kingdom of God is not external, it's here.

So let's look at one of the first gifts of Christmas: righteousness.

Let's talk about that for a moment.

It's a big word, it's not a word that you use too often, other than if you're a 90s kid and you're like, righteous, man.

Like that's totally righteous.

I'm not dating myself.

I'm just saying people in the past have said that.

Maybe you've heard heard that before.

But righteousness is a big word.

It actually just simply means you're right in your standing with an individual.

And what God said is, I'm gonna come and give you a gift of righteousness.

I'm gonna be pleased with you.

Before you and me, there's pleasure.

Righteous, you're in right standing with me.

We have right relationship.

You know when a relationship is broken, you know what that relationship looks like.

You know what that sense and that division and that angst is like.

But when there's righteousness, you can stand eyeball to eyeball, look each other in the eye, and be right with one another.

It's a righteousness that we pursue.

Now, some of us look at this righteousness and we go, can we really be right with God?

And we look back at our lives and we look at the way we've performed, and we go, no, no, no.

My performance doesn't determine my righteousness.

My performance cannot determine my standing with God.

You might say, well, Brody, I've screwed up, I've messed up, I've and you bring this roller coaster of highs and lows into your relationship with God.

Some days it's good because you've done good.

And some days because you've done bad, you think, oh, God isn't pleased with me.

And and and you think your performance determines God's value of you as an individual.

Well, Christmas is here to remind us that you weren't saved based on your performance, so you can't be unsaved based on your performance.

And that reminder is that God is pleased with you today, tomorrow.

He is when he sees you now, he sees Jesus.

He sees perfection, he sees when you've allowed the gift of righteousness to live in you, who is Christ, it becomes when he sees you, he says, I love you, I value you, I care for you.

You're you're right with me.

You're right with me.

And for those of us who are very performance-based, that's hard.

That's hard to swallow.

But the reality is that God is pleased with us because of who Jesus is.

Now, this is good news because without Jesus, we've all fallen short.

The Bible clearly says no one is good on their own.

No matter how hard you try, there's no one that's good enough.

But Jesus is the one who makes us good.

He's the one who went to the cross, took our sin upon him, took the weight of our wrong upon him, and bore our junk.

How many of you had junk?

Have got junk, got junk?

You've got it.

No question.

And you can say, Jesus, you've taken that.

You've taken that from me.

We got a little bit of time left, hey, Michael?

We got some time, Michael.

Give me, give me 15 minutes.

Thank you, Michael.

You are a gift.

It's simply a gift.

And so this righteousness is really a gift.

And so the peace is a second gift.

The peace is the second gift.

And this peace, scholars agree, is like righteousness and peace, they're almost synonymous.

They're almost synonyms.

Synonyms.

I'm thinking of cinnamon right now.

It's a Christmas Eve.

But they're synonyms.

When you're right with one another, there's peace between you.

When you're right, there's peace.

And so the moment that we we live in this peace on earth, this peace between God, this peace between men, that's what God came to bring us.

Would you say peace?

It's just such a wonderful word.

You gotta imbibe that word.

Like if you look at the world we're living in today, how many of you know?

The world could use more peace.

The world could use peace.

And I'm telling you today, peace cannot be found in a new prime minister or a new president or a new economic, technological advance, or any type of like environmental fix on the world.

It will not bring peace.

Peace does not come through those things.

Peace is an internal, it is something that's in us that needs to be fixed.

We are in opposition to something.

We don't even know what it was until Jesus came and He made right, He gave us peace between each other, ourselves, between us and God.

Peace is powerful.

Listen to what the Bible says about it here.

It says, there is a peace of God which transcends all understanding.

Some of us try and look for it and like, oh, I'll just get like I'll find peace for my life by reading the self-help book.

This peace transcends self-help.

Tony Robbins, all those guys are wonderful people.

They cannot give you the peace.

This peace transcends understanding and it guards your heart and it guards your mind.

I need that peace to guard my heart.

I need that peace to guard my mind.

Over this season, especially, Lord, guard your heart, my mind, guard my heart with your peace.

Peace is, in my view, peace is more of just a feeling, it's like a person.

He, the Bible actually calls him the Prince of Peace.

And he stands in the gap and he'll guard you from fear, anxiety, pressure, trauma.

He will guard you to help you move forward.

I love the peace of God.

The gift of God this Christmas is righteousness.

The gift of God is peace.

And lastly, the gift of God is joy.

The joy.

The joy that we live in.

Peace is wonderful, and the righteousness of God is wonderful.

But this joy that we have, it's not based on circumstances, whether or not you got the right gift.

Joy is based on this life that is inside of us, and it transcends our current capacity to have joy, to laugh in the valley, to laugh when you're going through pain, to laugh when you're going through challenges.

I know that there are people in this room today who have struggled and have had challenges with relationships, health, family loss, diagnosis.

I know that people have dealt with sickness.

And the joy allows you to carry through.

Joy allows you to move forward through those difficult times.

I need joy every day.

The scripture says the joy of the Lord is my strength, and it's my portion.

And that Jesus had the oil of joy.

It means everywhere he went, he was just like wiping us down with it.

Here you go, have some joy, have some joy, have some joy.

That is the joy that God wants us to carry.

A joy that transcends our own ability.

I like what the scripture says about have yourself a merry little Christmas.

Merry means joy, to be merry in heart, to have a merriment, that joy in our heart.

And it's the little things oftentimes that we need to be look at and go, you know what?

Thank you, God.

I'm going to look at the joy that you've given me.

Thank you, Lord, for two eyes.

Thank you, Lord, for two ears.

Thank you, Lord, for two eyebrows.

Amen.

Like, thank you, Lord.

For the house and the clothes and the friends and the community and our city and our country.

Thank you, Lord, for the cover that you've given us.

These things having this Christmas and this joy goes beyond ourselves.

It's a joy that we can actually have for others as well.

Where we look across the street and there's someone, our neighbor is going and having a going on another vacation, and we're like, thank you, Jesus.

Way to go, guys.

Enjoy the sun.

How many of you have that?

That's a struggle in you right now.

It's like, enjoy it, enjoy it.

And you can actually, with a clear, clear heart, be able to have joy for other people, joy for others in their success, and carry them and celebrate with them.

This is the joy that we have at Christmas.

Come on up, Michael.

Doesn't he look good today?

Sharp dress.

King brings us gifts.

He brings us people around us.

He brings us righteousness, right standing with God.

He brings us peace.

The peace that passes understanding.

And you know what I've learned about peace?

Peace is not the absence of storms, peace is the presence of God in the midst of the storm.

And that's knowing like you're gonna go through storms.

Storms in life are guaranteed.

Storms at Christmas are guaranteed.

But when you're going through a storm, you just have to look up and go, thank you for the peace.

And you can sit back and drink your egg and have your cookies and you enjoy the peace because of what Jesus brought.

He brought righteousness, he brought peace, and he brought joy.

Now these are all free gifts today.

And it's the desire, I believe, of everyone's heart to actually experience these gifts.

So as we close, it's our practice to provide opportunity and actually give each individual in this room, someone today, the opportunity to receive these gifts.

Because in life, there are moments and there are times where we can just put these things on the side, and we just forget about the value that like forget about the opportunities that we have, and and the fact that God has given us a free gift.

The king came to give you joy, to bring you peace, to make you right in your standing with him.

It's too much to over to not recognize.

So you may have wandered in today with a friend, you may have come in today based on a on an invitation, you may have just come in because you heard that there was a Christmas festivity.

But you might be here today and you might be feeling disconnected, alone, separated from God, feeling not right with Him.

And you're not sure where to go.

And I'm here to tell you today that the gift that the King brought 2,000 years ago is still available for you today.

And it begins with your relationship with Jesus Christ, and it begins with the one we've been talking about.

It's realizing who becomes king in your life, who will you allow to sit on the throne of your heart.

We call that Lordship, and we say, Jesus, would you sit on the throne in my life?

Would you sit on the throne in my heart?

And would you allow me today to confess my wrong and receive your forgiveness?

And it begins with that relationship.

So if you want that today, you don't have to join a church.

Honestly, churches are good for you to be a part of.

You're gonna want to join a church, but you don't have to to receive Christ.

It comes down to a decision.

You're not members first, and then you get Christ.

Christ came before all this.

He says, I want you, and I'm Emmanuel.

I want to be with you.

I came for you, and I'm not leaving without you.

So I'm gonna chase you down.

I'm gonna give you every opportunity.

And so today it's as simple as a prayer.

So I'm gonna ask everyone just to bow your heads and close your eyes and just provide a personal time today between you and this King, Jesus, between you and God.

And if you've been listening to this message and it's been speaking to you, you'd like to make that decision today, would you just take a moment and just raise your hand?

Everyone's heads are bowed and eyes are closed, but it's just identifying with this decision today, and that you want to make this real.

Is there anyone in this room today who wants to make a decision to follow Jesus?

Wants to receive these gifts that he has to offer.

Just raise your hand up real tall.

I see your hand.

Is there anyone else today?

I see that hand.

Is there anyone else?

I see that hand at the back.

Make this a Christmas like no other.

Make this a Christmas to remember.

Amen.

So would you pray with me, everyone?

Just repeat these prayers at your seat.

And for those who raised your hands, this is meaningful to you right now.

Say, Jesus, I need you.

I invite you into my heart.

Forgive me of my sin.

And for living my life without you.

Today, I surrender control of my heart to you.

Sit on the throne in my heart.

I receive righteousness, peace, and the joy that you offer.

Thank you for this fresh start.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Would you give a hand for all those who made a decision this morning?

Amen.

As Malachi and Rebecca are coming up, I just want to take a moment here and just say thank you to the teams who have been uh serving.

How many of you were so encouraged by the worship this morning and just the creativity?

Many of those songs were just written by those on the team.

And we're believing that God is awakening the artists in the church and awakening those writers and those singers and those musicians, and that God is drawing people to this place.

And so if you see them today, they're gonna be best dressed, okay?

Out in the lobby.

Go ahead and give them a hug and thank them for all the work they did.

Thank you.

Thank you, Pastor Brody.

Let's just give it up for Pastor Brody one more time.

What a great message.