Christmas before Thanksgiving!

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When Robinson Crusoe was wrecked on his lonely island, he drew up in two columns what he called the evil and the good. He was cast on a desolate island, but he was still alive--not drowned, as his ship's company was. He was apart from human society, but he was not starving. He had no clothes, but he was in a hot climate where he did not need them. He was without means of defense, but he saw no wild beasts such as he had seen on the coast of Africa. He had no one to whom he could speak, but God had sent the ship so near to the shore that he could get out of it all the things necessary for his basic wants. So he concluded that there was not any condition in the world so miserable but that one could find something for which to be grateful.

John 1:1-6 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. 6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.

·       These days the world is pushing the Christmas season way before thanksgiving . Well, in a way they're right: we must have Christmas before we can have a thanksgiving. We must recognize Who this upcoming season is all about!

Try to imagine the world without light.  Think about sundown: the chickens go to roost, the cattle snooze, and man goes to sleep; only that which lives in the darkness moves. But at sunrise: the rooster crows, the hens lay, the cattle low, and man rustles in his blankets to ready himself for his labors.

·       Without light there is darkness; where there is darkness, there's no life! Where there's no life, death reigns!

·       The world was dead in its sins, darkness all around! Jesus brought the light, the true light, that there might be life, and that in abundance!

John 8:12 "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall receive the light of life.'"

"A lot of us have seen the light, but for many of us it's the one inside the refrigerator!"

What is it that we celebrate with Thanksgiving?

I. WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS IS BOTH - GOD AND MAN!

·       GOD IS LIKE...

GOD is like Coke...He's the real thing.

GOD is like Pan Am...He makes the going great. GOD is like General Electric...He lights your path. GOD is like Bayer Aspirin...He works wonders.

GOD is like Hallmark Cards...He cares enough to send the very best.

GOD is like Tide...He gets the stains out that others leave behind.

GOD is like VO5 Hair Spray...He holds through all kinds of weather.

GOD is like Dial Soap...Aren't you glad you know him?  Don't you wish everyone did?  

GOD is like Sears...He has everything.

GOD is like Alka Seltzer...Try Him.  You'll like Him. GOD is like Scotch Tape... You can't see him, but you know he's there.

a.         Jesus is every bit God and every bit man.

b.         He left Glory to face the same temptations and problems that you and I face.

John 1:14-15  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.      

Christianity is Jesus.  God didn't drop a scroll of theology from heaven.  He came Himself. 

Finishing the course on the New Testament, a Greek professor told his class:  "You have studied Christ himself, the whole Christ, all of Christ. When you study the Bible, you are studying the Lord himself. For all we know of the Lord is encompassed in these sacred pages."  Believers study to understand Jesus.

We celebrate that God sent His Son Jesus … every bit God but every bit man … to face the same temptations that we face … to win victory so that we may win victory!

II. WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS  IS BOTH - LIGHT AND LIFE!

a.         Jesus is the reason for life … He is everything.

Helen Keller tells of the dramatic moment when Annie Sullivan first broke through her dark, silent world with the illumination of language. We walked down the path to the well house, attracted by the fragrance of the honeysuckle with which it was covered. Some one was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten -- a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that "w-a-t-e-r" meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free! There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that could in time be swept away.

b.         Certainly, this was how the blind man must have felt `when he saw water for the first time as he washed his eyes in the pool of Siloam.

c.         Just as the Light of the world gave sight to the blind beggar, and just as that "living word" awakened the soul of Helen Keller, so Jesus can awaken your life with the tender touch of His hand.

d.         He can give you light, hope, joy, and freedom like you've never known before.

John 1:4-5  In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

I Jn 1:5-7  This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.      But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

I Jn 5:12  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

III. WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS IS BOTH - SON AND BROTHER!

a.         It is a progression

First, … I know he is the child of the King

Then …. I know the child of the King

Finally …. I become a child of the King

 John 1:12  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--

A Father and his son amass a great art collection together. The Son goes off to war. In his absence his father commissions a local artist to paint his son’s portrait from a photograph. The news comes that his son was killed in battle. The news causes the father to collapse in grief. It is more than the father can bear. He dies. The Paintings are put up for sale in a great auction. Art collectors from around the world come to bid on the auction of the great art. The masterpieces draw huge offers but only one bis is entered for the portrait of the son. A servant who loved both the father and the son makes the only offer on the portrait of the son. $20 is all he has. After all the bidding is concluded the auctioneer stands and announces that whoever takes the son gets it all!

I Jn 3:1  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

IV. WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS IS BOTH - GREATEST AND LOWEST!

a.         The lowest?

a. Born in a stable

b. Laid in an animal’s feed trough

c.  Cursed by men

d. Shunned by the “church”

e. Hung on a cross to die a shame filled death!

b.         The Greatest!

a. The son of God!

b. The promised Messiah!

c.  The Savior of Men!

d. God above all!

John 1:35-37  The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.  When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"  When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

1 Pet 1:17-19  Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.  For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

V. WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS IS BOTH - GRACE AND TRUTH!

a.   We are no longer under the law but are now under grace.

A husband and wife didn't really love each other. The man was very demanding, so much so that he prepared a list of rules and regulations for his wife to follow. He insisted that she read them over every day and obey them to the letter. Among other things, his "do's and don'ts" indicated such details as what time she had to get up in the morning, when his breakfast should be served, and how the housework should be done. After several long years, the husband died. As time passed, the woman fell in love with another man, one who dearly loved her. Soon they were married. This husband did everything he could to make his new wife happy, continually showering her with tokens of his appreciation. One day as she was cleaning house, she found tucked away in a drawer the list of commands her first husband had drawn up for her. As she looked it over, it dawned on her that even though her present husband hadn't given her any kind of list, she was doing everything her first husband's list required anyway. She realized she was so devoted to this man that her deepest desire was to please him out of love, not obligation.

John 1:16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

Eph 2:8-9  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.

c.          It is through the Grace of God that we are given the privilege of serving Him!

VI. WE CELEBRATE THAT JESUS IS BOTH - CREATOR AND SAVIOR!

a.   Jesus came and died to save us from our sin.

"If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.  If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.  If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.  But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior."

Matthew 1:21 Jesus, … he will save his people from their sins."

Mark 8:35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

An orphaned boy was living with his grandmother when their house caught fire. The grandmother, trying to get upstairs to rescue the boy, perished in the flames. The boy's cries for help were finally answered by a man who climbed an iron drain pipe and came back down with the boy hanging tightly to his neck. Several weeks later, a public hearing was held to determine who would receive custody of the child.  A farmer, a teacher, and the town's wealthiest citizen all gave the reasons they felt they should be chosen to give the boy a home. But as they talked, the lad's eyes remained focused on the floor. Then a stranger walked to the front and slowly took his hand from his pockets, revealing severe scars on them. As the crowd gasped, the boy cried out in recognition. This was the man who had saved his life. His hands had been burned when he climbed the hot pipe. With a leap the boy threw his arms around the man's neck and held on for dear life. The other men silently walked away, leaving the boy and his rescuer alone. Those marred hands had settled the issue. And so it is with Jesus. His nail-pierced hands remind us that he has rescued us from sin and its deadly consequences.

Avoiding the Trees!

Kim Reichelm is the “extreme skiing” world champion. You may have seen her on television skiing down the peak of a treacherous mountain that looks like certain death for anyone trying to go down it on snow shoes, let alone skis. Some have died on these attempts, and others have become seriously injured, but the sport of extreme skiing is alluring more and more people to the dangerousness of the challenge. The November 1999 issue of Outside magazine, in an article entitled “The Trees: Lovely, Dark, and Deep,” says that one of the favorite extremes of skiers is running through a stand of trees after a fresh, deep snow. It is extremely dangerous, as Sonny Bono and Michael Kennedy, both of whom died after crashing into trees while skiing, found out. Tim Etchells, the writer of the article says, “What you focus your eyes on becomes critical in the woods. Look at the spaces between the trees — the exits where you hope to be traveling.” Reichelm, the expert in the sport says, “The secret is not to stare at what you don’t want to hit.”

·       What he is talking about is focus.

o  The extreme skier who focuses on the trees is more likely to hit the trees. The one who is looking for the spaces, or the exits, between the trees is going to miss the obstacles.

·       If we are focused on our fears, we will likely go crashing into them. But if we focus on the open places between them, we will likely avoid them.

·       In the article, the author says, “With practice and a little luck, you’ll soon be ripping through the tightest of trees without getting a mouthful of bark.”

·       We want to practice our faith maneuvers to  get through the forest of fear without getting a mouth full of bark.

Matthew 6:25-34 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? [26] Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? [27] Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? [28] "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. [29] Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. [30] If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? [31] So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' [32] For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. [33] But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. [34] Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight”.

So how do we stay on the straight paths which God has made for us?

I.          Focus on the fact that God will see you through anything!

a. How many of you play a movie in your mind of all the bad things that could possibly happen in the future?

b. There is always something to worry about:

                                       i.    losing your income,

                                     ii.    your children,

                                   iii.    illness,

                                   iv.    terrorism, just to mention a few.

c.  It is easy to focus on the trees, and not so easy to focus on the open spaces.

d. How do we deal with this kind of worry?

In the movie Apollo 13 — one of the astronauts is looking at the earth from space. As he stares at planet earth, which now seems so small, he lifts his thumb until the entire earth is blocked out. The earth, which seemed so large before, was now so small that he can no longer see it. This, in effect, is what we do with the worries and fears we have. We lift the finger of faith and place it over our fear. We focus on the face of God, and in so doing the problem that at one time seemed so large before, now seems almost insignificant.

e. We have a promise from Scripture which says,

                                       i.    2 Peter 2:9 “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials. . .”

LIFE TRUTH - Bad things will happen, but a good God will see us through them!

f.   Concentrate on how big our God is, not how big our problems are.

g. We know that God is able, and that is all we need to know.

h.We have the confidence that nothing will happen to us that God cannot handle, and even use for our benefit.

Psalm 34:17-19 “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry. . . . The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all”

i.   This is why the Bible can say things that seem absurd to those who have no faith.

James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything”.

j.   We have the assurance that God cares for us, is watching over us and using even the ugly places in life to do something beautiful in our lives.

II.       Focus on what is unseen, rather than what is seen.

a. Elisha and his servant

                                       i.    2 Kings 6 …Elisha and his servant in Dothan.

                                     ii.    The king of Aram and his army come to make war with Israel, and they surround the city.

                                   iii.    Elisha’s servant got up early in the morning - went to look out over the city wall. When he did so, he saw the great army of the enemy amassed around the city.

                                   iv.    He ran back to the prophet Elisha and told him about the threat of terror. You can almost hear him gasp for breath as he tries to get the words out fast enough to the old prophet.

                                      v.    Elisha says something that his servant found incredulous.

                                   vi.    V. 16 “Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” And the Bible says, “Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:16-17).

                                 vii.    There was a heavenly army which surrounded the people of God of which Elisha’s servant was totally unaware.

                               viii.    The unseen was the reality, what was seen was the illusion.

                                   ix.    The unseen reality can only be seen by faith.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal”.

b. If what is unseen is the eternal, and the seen is temporary, then we need to focus on what is unseen rather than what is seen.

c.  The Red Sea was the illusion, the dry ground through the middle of it was the reality.

d. The walls of Jericho were only an illusion, their collapse was the reality.

e. Goliath was the illusion, little David was the reality.

f.   The cross was the illusion, the resurrection was the reality.

Every magician knows that the secret to his success is getting people to focus on what he wants them to see so that he can fool them with what he does not want them to see. The devil is the evil magician who wants to fool you with an illusion of fear which he places before your eyes. He does not want you to see that he cannot fulfill what he threatens, and that even if he succeeded, God would use his own magic against him. God would turn his work into something which would bring about God’s plan rather than thwart it.

g. The book of Hebrews in the New Testament tells of the trials of many of the biblical characters. As it talks about them it says,

Hebrews 11:13-16 “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them”.

God’s heart swells with pride over those who through perseverance have learned to trust him, even though they could not see the answer to their prayer coming.

h.To focus on the unseen is to focus on real things — eternal things. This is faith. This is reality.

III.    Focus on the fact that God is in control, not on your inability to control.

a. Understand that God has a plan for the world and a plan for your individual life, and that he is carefully working it out.

b. He is in control — so you don’t have to be.

c. For the Christian, things do not happen by accident, they happen on purpose.

                                       i.    Nothing catches God off-guard.

                                     ii.    Nothing surprises him.

                                   iii.    He is carefully, and with great skill, weaving all the events of life together into his eternal plan.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”.

d. Even when I don’t see how what I am facing could possibly be a part of God’s plan, I believe that it is.

e. I hold onto that by faith.

He knows what he is doing, even though he may not have informed me what it is. My responsibility is to walk in faith, not in fear. My responsibility is to persevere and push through the present dilemma I am facing until I come through on the other side.

François Fénelon, the seventeenth-century French Bishop, said, “Don t worry about the future — worry quenches the work of God within you. The future belongs to God. He is in charge of all things. Never second-guess him.”

f.   You cannot see the whole picture — only God can.

g. Just because your life seems out of control does not mean that God is not in control.

h.So you have to trust that there is a plan, even if you don’t understand what the plan is. Just because you cannot grasp it does not mean it does not exist.

Dr. E. Stanley Jones, the great missionary to India, has a beautiful passage in his book Transformed by Thorns. He writes: “I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath — these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely — these are my native air. A John Hopkins University doctor says, ‘We do not know why it is that worriers die sooner than the non-worriers, but that is a fact.’ But I, who am simple of mind, think I know. We are inwardly constructed in nerve and tissue, brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way. To live by worry is to live against reality.” Fear deteriorates the quality of my life and even destroys me physically. I was not designed to live this way. Faith breathes life and joy into my mind and body, and I find wholeness.

I recently read that a dense fog that covers a seven-city-block area one hundred feet deep is composed of less than one glass of water. It is, however, divided into sixty thousand million drops. So little water creates so much gloom, and it can cripple an entire city.

i.   Worry and anxiety are like that. Just a small amount can settle on you like a great cloud of gloom and keep you from enjoying your life.

j.   Jesus was trying to change our focus from fear to the faithfulness of God when he said:

Matthew 6:26-29  “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these”

k. What helps me most when I begin to worry is to change my focus to the faithfulness of God.

Matthew 6:31-34 “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”.