Get Ready! (Part 1 of 18 in "It's all about Jesus. -Matthew's Gospel")

The aim of this study is to help us SEE the biblical portrait of Jesus, and not just with our physical eyes (because then we might dismiss Him bc He seems so familiar to us), but our goal is to see with the eyes of our hearts…with deep spiritual understanding. And my hope is that by truly seeing Jesus, we would be left dumbstruck…we might have our happy little worlds turned upside down in awe of who Jesus is and what He has done. 

In our text today, and we find John the Baptist telling people that they need to GET READY to encounter Jesus.  This is his job, appointed by God; the reason he was born was to declare “It’s all about Jesus!”

Part 1 of message starts at 4:28 - Part 2 starts at 27:30

The Joy of "God with Us"

We wrapped up our series, Advent Impact: God's Joyful Impact on the World, on Christmas Eve, by exploring the doctrine of the incarnation of Jesus.  John opens his gospel with the same 3 words Moses used to open Genesis; with that he declared that Jesus is the eternal Word, the revealer of the Father.  Then in vv14-18, he makes it clear that the eternal Word became a man and was given a human name (Jesus), all for the sake of humanity's redemption!

Colossians 2:9 says perfectly, "For in Him all the fullness of Deity swells in bodily form."

And Philippians 2:8-11 helps us to see the purpose of this. "Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Message starts at 24:35

2013 Highlights

2013 was a big year.  We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, Claire introduced us to her personality, Elizabeth lost her first tooth and got her first bike, we sold out house, moved to Plano...it's hard to take it all in.  Thanks to Instagram and Everlapse for the help.

The Joy of God's Provision

In an odd turn of events, the Christmas season often magnifies our focus on receiving, as we anticipate mounds of Christmas presents from family, friends, and co-workers.  When an angel visited Joseph in a dream in Matthew 1:18-25, he provided Joseph with the comfort needed to calm his fears and he helped the young carpenter to see that God would make of Joseph, a provision for God's own Son, Jesus.  This is a story of God's great love...it's an adoption story...we can have joy because of God's provision.

*Don't forget to join us December 24th at 5p for a special Christmas Eve Service as we celebrate The Joy of God With Us!


Message starts at 20:58

The Joy of God's Plan

It's hard to know if Mary recognized that she was in the middle of prophecy being fulfilled, but that's exactly where we find her when the angel, Gabriel came to Mary and announced that she would give birth to a son in Luke 1:26-38.  700 years before the birth of Christ, we find in Isaiah 7:14 that God will send deliverance by a child born of a virgin...and in this perfect moment in time, God chose to use Mary to be the mother of the Deliverer.

God interrupted Mary's plans with His own plan to redeem humanity.  How do you typically respond when your world gets turned upside down?  We find in Mary, an incredible example of faith in God and His plans.



Message starts at 24:38

The Joy of God's Power

Unfortunately, we had to cancel our Sunday worship gathering due to bad weather and bad roads.  I wanted to send out a video to our church to encourage them and to keep us on track in our study.  We are in week 2 of "Advent Impact: God's Joyful Impact on the World."

In Luke 1:5-25, we see the only biblical account of the angel Gabriel's visit to Zacharias.  This instance is the first prophetic word from God to Israel in over 400 years.  In this story, we find that God has not abandoned His plans to redeem Israel.  He will use a country priest (Zacharias) and his barren wife (Elizabeth) to advance His redemption plan.  God will give them a son, John, whose name means "God is gracious," to make ready His people for the Messiah.

We’ll see that God’s Plan is Powerful, we’ll learn a Powerful Truth, and we will get a glimpse of God’s Powerful Grace.

The Joy of God's Faithfulness

The Christmas season is in full effect.  Brown Thursday...or Thanksgiving (as the old folks like to say) has come and gone, I'm listening to Christmas music, Starbucks has shifted from selling pumpkin flavored everything to mint...and I've started a new series for Legacy Church called "Advent Impact: God's Joyful Impact on the World."

This past week we looked at the Joy of God's Faithfulness to His people in Isaiah 9:1-7.  In some of the darkest hours of Israel's history, God reveals that He will be faithful to His promises to Israel.  He will send a Great Light to defeat the darkness and meet their every need.  His name will be: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace!

Message starts at 19:35

How to NOT SERVE

"Will you serve?" is one of the most intrusive and threatening questions we can be asked.

To serve is to humbly give up your rights and preferences to meet the needs of others.

We find a lot of calls-to-serve throughout the bible…and a good number of excuses made in response.  Moses is likely the most-famous excuse-maker in the Bible.  We’ll contrast Moses' excuse-making in Exodus 3-4 to the example of the perfect servant, Jesus, in John 13:1-17.

Message begins at 24:35

A Community of Transformation

We live in a culture that is training us for isolation...we can have it "our way" and we should have it "our way."  The spiritual reality is that we were created in the image of the community of the Trinity, and so we were created for community.

In Ephesians 4:1-17, Paul calls the Ephesian Christians to "live in a manner worthy of their calling," and he lays out the expectation that their "calling" demands a unity of the Christian community.  This unity comes when Christians have a transformed attitude and a transformed economy.

This is what Jesus intended for His followers: that our lives would be transformed by knowing Him.  He left with us His Spirit (the Holy Spirit) and spiritual gifts to help bring us together as a Community of Transformation.

In week 4 of Legacy Church's "Common Values for Uncommon People" we explore our core value of Community.

Message starts at 36:58

A Debt of Love

People love to spend on new things, not pay off debts owed.  It's not fun to pay our debts!  In Romans 13:8-10, we find that christians are to pay whatever they owe...and as christians, there is one debt that we all owe.

Jesus gives a new commandment to His disciples: "Love one another."  When we love, there's no need for any other laws, because love covers it all.  The Apostle Paul calls this our only debt, to love one another.

Week 3 of Legacy Church's "Common Values for Uncommon People".  We believe that All People Matter...today's text tells us that our love-debt is to be paid out to All People.

Message starts at 28:06

Living Worship

Romans 11:36-12:2


This was week 2 of our Core Values Series "Common Values for Uncommon People".  We tackled Legacy's Core Value of Worship.  We say that Worship is a Lifestyle.  To understand worship as a lifestyle, we must first understand the doctrine of the Trinity and the the doctrine of the image of God.  Why?  Watch and find out:





Message starts at 32:18

Live Sent

This week, I so enjoyed having Keith Smith and some of the elders from Pantego Bible Church pray over me and my new church as we began our journey together.  I also kicked off a new series called "Common Values for Uncommon People"in which we are examining the 5 values that drive Legacy Church.

Core values are the DNA that define us, and who God has called us to be.  They are more than creeds on our website...they are the essence of who we are.  Those values that we hold in common all reflect our desire to place God, and then others, as more important than ourselves...that makes us an uncommon people.

This Week we focused on 'Mission', or, to Live Sent, as we studied John 20:19-21.  What we discovered is that  our God is a missionary God and the Bible is full of His sendings.  In this story, Jesus reveals to His disciples 3 features of His sentness and how those are to be the model for our own sentness.

*My friends from PBC and the message start at 24:45

An announcement, a parting, a greeting, and a sermon...

This past weekend I had the honor of teaching God's Word for Legacy Church in Plano.  Coincidentally, I will be doing so on a weekly basis starting October 27th as I am following God's call to serve as the Pastor of Legacy Church.

It's a bittersweet season as we begin to close a great season of ministry with Pantego Bible Church and begin a new season with Legacy.  The past 4 years with PBC have been a true blessing to my family.  We have built incredible friendships, loved our communities, and learned so much!  To PBC, this was no easy decision for us, but in the end we believe God wants our obedience even more than our readiness.  Our life is forever marked because your impact; you will be missed.  I will continue to pray for you with confidence as you Make God Known by Making Disciples, who are Changed by God to Change the World.  You already do this so well, and I know God will continue to use you in great ways!

To LC, on behalf of my family, I would like to express our great thanks for your warm and generous welcome.  We are so please to be joining you in community and in ministry!  I share in Paul’s sentiment to the Ephesians, “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers”.  Your reputation precedes you and was proved when we had the chance to meet face to face, and I am personally thrilled to serve as your pastor.  I anticipate great days ahead!  See you in a couple of weeks!

If anyone is interested, here's my message from this past weekend.  The whole service is posted.  James and the worship band did an awesome job of helping us all look upon God and respond to him!

Message starts at 32:45.

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