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