OPENING
Expectations
are a funny thing. In 1999, I found myself crammed into a minivan with some of
my friends headed to St. Louis, MO. You see my brother in law told me to make
sure that we had that evening free because he was going to get up early that
day and wait in line for tickets. Corrie (my wife) and I had wanted to go but
had no intention of waiting outside all day. In fact, as we pulled up to the
venue that night, we were expecting to see a movie, but the other people at the
show were expecting sooo much more than we were.
Our
van-full of about 8 people were the only ones there who were not “in costume.”
And when I say, “in costume,” I mean some were elaborate: there were props,
detailed face-painting, and it looked like many that were quite expensive. As
we entered the venue and found our seats, suddenly mock sword fights broke out
in the aisles. Later, the most elaborate costumes paraded down in front of the
screen and people cheered and voted on who had the best ones… Until someone who
had yet to see the film (I mean this was release night for crying out loud!)
came up in the full garb of the villain: his face painted, head shaved and he
had apparently glued the horns to the top of his head.
But
it wasn’t over, as the previews played people cheered or booed depending on if
it was a sci-fi film or not… weird. And then these words (after 17 years)
finally, came across the big screen again: “A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…” You
see, I got brought along to see a movie (or so I thought) Star Wars Episode I:
The Phantom Menace… but I had no clue exactly what I was getting into. My expectations were obviously too low. The 400
other people who came to the movie that night…
·
Came with great expectations.
·
They came ready and...
·
Expecting all of their dreams after 17 years to
be fulfilled.
·
They were expecting a great experience and not
just a movie!
This Christmas
season, we want to raise
your expectations. There are so many expectations that swirl around
Christmas--expecting presents, good family times, good food… that often leave
people feeling disappointed and depressed!!
And yet, Christmas
really is all about these expectations:
·
the coming KING
· the Kingdom
breaking in
· the Presence and
power of God among us
·
the grace of Jesus for every person and the power of
God to change lives
Are you
ready? Do you have great expectations for Christmas? Now, I don’t expect
light-saber fights in the aisles and everyone dressed up in costumes through
the next months, but I do hope that we can move from just a nice time of
reflection this Christmas and move into the excitement that is Jesus coming to
live among us!
PRAYER &
WELCOME
OVERVIEW
We
are calling our Christmas series this year: “Expectations.” The word Advent refers to our anticipating an event,
expecting that event, and then preparing for something great to
happen. Specifically, in regards to
Christmas, it refers to the arrival of Jesus, so this season is often referred
to as Advent. For most of us, we do
anticipate and prepare for things during the Advent season. But, for us this
year, we want to focus on “expecting” God to act!
Give
an brief overview of the upcoming sermons.
·
Leah – Expecting God’s welcome (into His family)
·
Hap – Expecting God’s miracles
·
Various (Daniel in Urbana) – Expectations Fulfilled
in the coming of Jesus to live among his people.
·
Di – Expecting God’s Goodness (faithfulness
& blessings)
TODAY:
We will be looking at “Expecting His presence” not presents.
BODY
Take
a few minutes and tell the story of
Moses not wanting to move from the mountain unless the presence of God
went with them.
Moses
wanted Israel to be: A People of the Presence.
Over
the years/history of Israel that mindset waxed and waned until finally the Lord
sold them into slavery as their nation and His temple were destroyed. As you
read the Old Testament prophets you hear God’s disappointment and his
consequences for his children who had chosen not to follow & love Him. But,
in the midst of their exile, the Father spoke great words of hope as well:
Isaiah 7:13 Then Isaiah said, “Listen well, you royal family of
David! Isn’t it enough to exhaust human patience? Must you exhaust the patience
of my God as well? 14 All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign.
Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will
call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).
Isaiah
9:6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The
government will rest on his shoulders. And he
will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His
government and its peace will never
end. He will rule with fairness and
justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate
commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make
this happen!
And
so, Israel began to hear the heart of the Father. That he would not leave them
alone forever. That he would not forsake them entirely. Rather, that He would
return to them. That he would return miraculously in a virgin birth. That he
would bring his rule and reign amongst them again… that His presence would
return!
And
so, we find Israel waiting in great expectation for the reign of the son of
David to return… for 100’s of years! They were waiting for the King and His
Kingdom to return.
(from Morphew’s BREAKTHROUGH) We see
this fulfilled in the account of Jesus’ birth. The angels bring “good news of great joy!”
(Luke 2) What is the good news? The Kingdom of God has broken in. God has once
again come to live among his people. The King has arrived!
And
again in Revelation 12, we see with the birth of the child with whom the
“dragon” began his war. And with great excitement heaven shouts, “It has come
at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of
his Christ.”
Heaven
understood the coming of God’s presence among us, the coming of the Kingdom of
God to have happened at the birth of Jesus NOT just at the cross! The Kingdom
came at the birth and was fulfilled at the cross.
So…
What
are you/we expecting to happen this Christmas?
I
know for me, it will be hard to expect anything different than a normal holiday
season. I mean… I like our Christmas stuff at my house.
I
know that my 3 kids will be looking under the tree to find out who gets what
presents. I know they will want to play with their cousins. I know that my
parents will want all of us over at their house. My wife Corrie will want to
watch White Christmas, Elf and Holiday Inn. There will be parties and church
services, lights and maybe a board game or 2. I “expect” that it will be a good
time!
And
for many of us, there might be difficult family dynamics (in-laws) or the
reminder of lost loved ones… or no loved ones at all. You might not have good
expectations.
What will we do this holiday
season?
What
will we expect?
Will
we expect the status quo and the same Christmas traditions we’ve always had OR
will we take all of those good things AND ADD TO THEM!
As
we look at the prophecies of the “virgin birth,” it might also be good to
recognize that with the presence of the King comes the actions of the King and
his Kingdom!
In
the depth of the prophet’s despair over the sins of Israel and in the midst of
their Kingdom being overthrown, it wasn’t enough just for a new King to be
foretold, but the people also needed the hope of what kind of actions the King
would bring…
Isaiah also prophesies about what
happens in the presence of the King! 61:1
“The Spirit of the Sovereign
Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will
be released and prisoners will be freed.”
I
think its time to “raise
your bar/your expectations!” this Christmas season. Those of us who have
given our lives to the King, who have accepted the grace of Jesus & now
walk fully in His favor, filled with His Holy Spirit… we are a people of the
presence of God. We carry with us the Kingdom everywhere we go! You are the
ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.
APPLY IT
And
in this season, You have a unique
mission field. Every time you visit family & friends for the holidays, you
meet with a group of people that no one else gets to interact with quite like
you do… and you should expect that God’s presence goes with you!
Let me share a story from one of
the leaders at the Urbana Campus, Carla Green:
After the More Love, More Power Conference I was determined
to go out and practice the stuff in a real way outside of the church. The first opportunity I had outside of church
came at a family reunion weekend in Quincy, IL.
We were there with my parents and my sister and her husband. My brother-in-law has always enjoyed
discussing the latest theological issues on end of times, creation vs.
evolution, women in leadership (My personal favorite), the list and the discussions
are exhausting. I know his heart is in
the right place and he has a desire to know as much as he can. However, this is not the encounter I was
wanting on this particular weekend. My
mom, sister and I were in Hobby Lobby when a mother came in with her child that
had some sort of handicap. He was
completely out of sorts and she could not get him under control. Our hearts when out to both of them and when
she left the store, I decided to follow her to see if I could pray for
her. I had a sense that God just wanted
to let her know that she was not alone.
It was a great prayer time and God definitely met us there.
Later in the day, we were at the actual reunion. My aunt who is in a wheelchair and has
trouble standing and walking because of her diabetes. Was leaving the reunion and a few of us were
trying to help her into her car. She was
in pain and it took a lot out of her. I
think her being that frail caused her embarrassment and she was in a great deal
of pain. I wanted to give her a hug and
pray for her, which is not part of what our family does, but I decided to go
for it. Even though we were at a family
reunion, it felt pretty private. She was
really blessed and I saw the many years of walls she has put up, come down.
The next morning, when my parents, sister, and brother-in-law
met for breakfast. I could tell
something was on my brother-in-law's mind.
He very gently and humbly told me how impressed he was with my behavior
this weekend praying for the lady at Hobby Lobby and my aunt. (I didn't realize anyone had seen me.) He could see Jesus' love in such a real
way. The amazing thing it is the one
thing that broke our need to engage in pointless religious conversations that
are not life giving and for him to really see all of this in action. My lesson...show people what you are talking
about!
We bring the already into the
not yet! We are a people of God’s presence. We bring the Kingdom with us
this Christmas season. And so, don’t be surprised… rather come expecting God’s
presence to show up this Christmas, because you bring it with you!
Look
for opportunity to share God’s love.
Look
for opportunity to pray for someone (Morgan’s mom and her finger).
Look
for opportunity to be Jesus to others… you are the bearers of the good news!
Bring the good news of great joy with you. A savior has been born! And not only
was he born, but he died and rose again to set us free.
MINISTRY:
Specific
words for this message:
·
Boldness
·
Opportunity
·
Family Relationships
