“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit. One who is righteous has many adversities, but the Lord rescues him from them all. He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
We are sometimes tempted to think something about Jesus that is far too often presented as the truth, but which is about as far from that point as it could possibly be. We think He came to save people who have it all together. We think this even in spite of hearing numerous stories of dramatic conversions in which someone who was as far from God as he could possibly be finally embracing the Gospel. We treat those like the exceptions that prove the rule: Jesus came for the put together, and I’m not that. This morning, let’s talk about the truth.
“For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us – not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy – through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Several years ago, I surprised my wife for her birthday by having one of her very good friends who lives a few hours away drive in for the weekend. It wound up being a very fun and special time, and she was completely surprised. Now, in that instance, surprise guests were a delight for her…but only because I knew they were coming and had prepared appropriately. Absent that, surprise guests would perhaps not have been such a good surprise. We want to know when people are coming – especially important people – so that we can be prepared. When Jesus came, God the Father had told us He was coming and even made a big announcement on the night of His arrival, but we were not prepared. We’re still not. Let’s talk about why His coming is nonetheless a very good thing.
“The angel replied to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. And consider your relative Elizabeth – even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ ‘See, I am the Lord’s servant.’ said Mary. ‘May it happen to me as you have said.’ Then the angel left her.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
A huge part of preparing for Jesus’ arrival means preparing ourselves for Him to do things that only God can do. In saying that, I don’t just mean we must prepare ourselves intellectually for His acting in unexpected or unbelievable ways. We need to prepare ourselves to join Him in those actions. We must prepare ourselves for a life of total obedience rooted in faith. Without that, we aren’t going to experience much of anything He wants to do. This kind of willingness is what started Jesus’ whole journey on earth. Let’s talk about it this morning.
This week we are continuing in our series, God with Us, by starting to unpack that phrase itself. If Jesus is God with us, what does that mean? Well, let’s think about the words themselves. There are two parts here: Jesus is God, and Jesus is with us. Let’s start with the idea that Jesus is God. What does that really mean? The apostle Paul had something to say to help us get our minds around it. Let’s talk about just who Jesus is and what that means for us.
Bigger than We Imagine
Over the last generation, The CBS network has proven itself to be a bit of a genius when it comes to creating really engaging reality shows that attract a fairly sizable and very dedicated viewing audience. As a result, they have a few that have been on the air for a very long time. I remember folks who would get together to have Survivor watching parties each week when I was in college, and the show is still going strong. Another of their more popular reality series that never made it to quite that level of popular impact, but which has nonetheless endured for more than a decade, is a show called Undercover Boss.
“Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel,’ which is translated ‘God is with us.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)
The day is finally here! I’ve been waiting for this year’s round of Music of the Season Fridays for months. Each Friday of this Advent season we will pause and give some attention to some great music that gets the spirit of the season right. Some of these will be songs that are intimately familiar, some will be totally new and original. All of them are ones that caught my attention for the way they capture the message of the season in a way simple words just can’t do. And, to make it even easier for you to enjoy, I’m not going to put any of it behind a click through. It’ll all be right here in your inbox. That, of course, means I’m not going to write as much because I want the songs to be the star here, not me.
This first song of the season is one that I didn’t even realize was a Christmas song the first few times I heard it. It was just playing in the background. But one day when I was listening through my AirPods – which always allows me to give the actual lyrics of a song greater attention than I usually would – it dawned on me what they were singing about. Not only is this a great song, but it is actually a perfect accompaniment to my sermon series this season. In fact, it just almost has the same title: For God Is with Us. As you begin your day, take a few minutes and listen to the way Joel and Luke Smallbone of For King and Country capture the wonder of the idea that in Jesus God Himself came to be with us. I hope this will stir your heart with the significance of this idea as much as it did mine. Blessings to you as you begin the second weekend of Advent.
The Nexus 