CHRISTMAS MOVIES part 4

"WHITE CHRISTMAS"

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

with Adam Waters

Introduction

· OPEN: Have you ever tried to get the blood out of something?
· I have had a love affair with playing backyard football for a long time, but it comes with a price (broken nose, broken lip).
· But what has become clear is that as soon as I sustained those injuries, my shirts were done.
· As we continue our re-education of Christmas, we come to the central idea of a Savior…

D-THOUGHT: Jesus brings restoration to a broken world.
· When Jesus came to earth, he came with a mission to restore all things in Creation as the Father intended… the Jews never understood this. They thought the Savior was coming to restore only Israel… We can’t make a similar mistake. The Savior came not only to restore our personal relationship, came not only to restore the church, but everything… families, male and female, slaves and free men, all peoples/tribes/nations… Jesus came to restore all people to intimate relationship with the Father.
· Our question this Christmas is this: How do we partner with Jesus’ restoration project?
· FOR A WHITE CHRISTMAS SPEND TIME IN GOD’S PRESENCE: There is something that has always been interesting to me: Whenever someone spends a lot of time in the presence of God, either they turn white or they glow… sometimes both. 1)every picture of angels that we’re given, 2)Moses, 3)martyrs for the faith Rev6, 4)angels, elders, praising multitudes of heaven, 5)Jesus transfigured with Moses/Elijah
· FOR A WHITE CHRISTMAS SPEND TIME LISTENING TO GOD: Isaiah 1:16 Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. 17 Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. 18 “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. 19 If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat. 20 But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
· FOR A WHITE CHRISTMAS SPEND TIME APPEALING TO GOD FOR PERSONAL CHANGE: Psalm(MSG) 51:1-3 Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry. I know how bad I've been; my sins are staring me down. 4-6 You're the One I've violated, and you've seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. I've been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What you're after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life. 7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean, scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don't look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I'll let loose with your praise. 16-17 Going through the motions doesn't please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice. 18-19 Make Zion the place you delight in, repair Jerusalem's broken-down walls. Then you'll get real worship from us, acts of worship small and large, including all the bulls they can heave onto your altar!
· FOR A WHITE CHRISTMAS We are going to spend some time as a church family focusing on the blood of Christ: Introduce Communion. Once we accept Jesus as Savior, it’s impossible to get the blood out and that blood makes us white (Revelation 7:14) not red.