December 10, 2017; Sunday Morning

JOY TO THE WORLD

Luke 2:9-14

  

Matthew     Presents Jesus Christ as King of Kings

                 King must have a lineage

                 

Mark          Presents Jesus as a Servant

                 Not important where a servant comes from

                 No lineage

Luke           Presents Jesus as the Son of Man

                 Identify with man

                 Die for man

                 Redeem man

                 Every man has a family tree and lineage

                 

John          Presents Jesus as God himself

                 God has no family tree, has no lineage

                 

Matthew traces Jesus all the way back to Abraham

         Luke traces Jesus all the way back to the first Adam

         John takes Him all the way back to the beginning was the                                       word and the word was with God and the word was God

As the bells begin to ring…I thought about 3 things where there is great joy…

1…JOY TO A SOVEREIGN GOD WHO WAS TOUCHED BY THIS WORLD

More blessed to give than to receive

There’s something about being a giver

·       Brings joy to your own heart

·       Expression of love for someone 

Joy in the heart of a perfect, holy, righteous God

·       He gave His son for sinners like us today

·       He gave his son for our sin

I believe it thrilled the heart of God for Christmas to come because it showed man one more time, the heart of God, I love you, I love you, I love you!

Unconditional love

Everlasting love

John 3:16

2…THERE’S JOY TO A SINNER THAT’S BEEN TRAPPED AND BEATEN DOWN BY THIS WORLD

One day, Somebody told you about Jesus

·       Jesus Came

·       Jesus Lived

·       Jesus Died

·       Jesus Rose again

·       Offered salvation

You ...

• Did what God said
• Believed what God said
• Received what God had

• Your sins rolled away
• God released you from your past
• Wrote your name in the Lambs Book of Life

What was Jesus destined for?

·       Live a sinless life

·       Pray tremendous prayers

·       Miracles and healing

·       Go to the Cross

·       Have a painful death

·       Go by the cemetery

·       But He will rise again

·       So that you and I may have eternal life

We’re all tarnished and trapped

·       Tried to do better

·       Get a new lease on life

·       Never works

Joy to the world, The Lord is come

Better way to live

Better way to die

3…THERE’S JOY TO EVERY CHILD OF GOD WHO’S TROUBLED BY THIS WORLD—longing for the day that we will replace this world

You know why we celebrate Christmas?

·       That baby is our ticket out of here

·       One day we’ll leave our troubles behind

·       One day we’ll leave our sorrows behind

§  Heartaches

§  Illness

§  Tears

Joy to the world

Joy to the world

Jesus cares about you

December 6, 2017; Wednesday Night

Final Comments To Faithful Christians!

Colossians 4:7-18

As we come to the close of our study of the book of Colossians the apostle Paul does not offer pithy epitaphs, or catchy cliches.  He offers his own, personal final comments to a group of faithful Christians.  If the book of Colossians were a journal, these verses would constitute the last page.  This would be the final entry before the book was closed, the latchet clasped, and laid upon a shelf.

1…The WALK that DEFINES Our Life!

Verse 5

deals with our walk, or our behavior as Christians.  We are to:

A…There is a Responsibility to be Exercised!

The "walk" of which Paul speaks is directed in a very specific way, to a very specific group. 

The responsibility spoken of here is not just a responsibility to the Lord, but to the lost.  We not only have a responsibility to those that are saved, but to those that are unsaved.

We are to live in light of the fact that what we do, and how we do it makes an impact on an unsaved person.  What we say, and how we say it cast a great impression on those who do not know the Lord Jesus.

B…There is an Opportunity to be Maximized!

Verse 5 not only includes a responsibility we are to exercise, but an opportunity we are to maximize.  We maximize every God-given opportunity by:  “...redeeming the time."

In modern terminology, when one redeems the time, we would say, 'they are making the most of it.'  The idea is that as Christians we are to take advantage of every opportunity that God places in front of us. 

2…The TALK that DESCRIBES Our Life!

Much of the Christian life is not only measured in how we walk, but in how we talk.  In fact, what we say does much to describe the type of life that we live.  Jesus said, in Matthew 12:34,  

"...out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

Verse 6

The word "grace" speaks of "pleasantness, attractiveness, or charm." The believers' interaction with others is to be based upon pleasant speech.  This not only includes what we say, but how we say it.  We are never to speak with the motive to tear someone down, but we should seek to build someone up. 

B…The Purpose of Graceful Reaction!

Our speech often identifies where we are from, it also identifies who we are.  It is an index of ones character.  One's vocabulary is often an indication of one's spirituality.  Therefore, one's interaction, and reaction carries a divine purpose, mentioned in the last part of verse 6:

"Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man."

If you would allow me to paraphrase the Apostle Paul's words, he seems to say:

"It all comes down to this one thing, in a nutshell. You need to know what to say, and how to say it to every individual."

3…The CHALK that DIRECTS Our Life!

As we come to the final section of this letter, it is almost as if the apostle Paul takes a piece of chalk and draws out a guide, and a goal to direct our lives as believers.  He does that reminding us of:

A…The Expectation of a Faithful Life!

Verse 12 describes what God expects from us as His people.

"...that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God."

B…The Explanation of a Fruitful Life!

Verses 7-18

Tychicus:        Committed One

Onesimus:       Converted One  

Aristarchus

Marcus                        These 3 were the Comforted Ones

Justus

Epaphras:        Crowned One

Luke                Concerned One

Nymphas         Congratulated One

Archippus:      Challenged One