Pastor Brian and Jacque Lother
Brian: Wow, what a great day! Jeff didn't know what the message was this morning, but actually, we are going to light this third Advent candle. This candle is actually called the joy candle. I don't know if Jeff knew that this morning, but my whole message is about the two groups of people that were most joyous about the birth of Jesus. That was the shepherds and the angels. I just see God working throughout this whole service today. It's really kind of exciting. I'm excited to hear what I have to say.
Jacque: He always does that. I'm excited to hear what I have to say. So are we.
Brian: Oh, good.
Jacque: I just have to say one thing though. I'm so thankful God made music, aren't you?
Brian: Yes.
Jacque: That was so beautiful, Bill. These beautiful traditional songs just bring Christmas even closer and brighter and warmer.
Brian: Tonight is going to be fun.
Jacque: Tonight is going to be a lot of good music,
Brian: At 6:30, it's not going to be live-streamed; it's going to be zoomed.
Jacque: Zoomed
Brian: Tell everybody how they can find out how to do that.
Jacque: Okay. I wrote a note here. You can go to the website, Myhopecommunity.com and click on events. The link is right there. Touch the link. Boom, you are there. Not any more to do, but enjoy. The other thing you can do is go to your app, your Hope Community app, and at the bottom of the screen is a little button for events, click that. The first thing that pops up is the Zoom tonight.
Brian: We have a bunch of music that people are going to do; a lot of it's prerecorded, the Rileys and Nethertons, and so forth did some the music for us.
Jacque: Ours won't be, so you can come in here our mistakes.
Brian: Yes, ours won't be. The reason we did, we have some skits tonight and different people performing and...
Jacque: We have some of the funniest people at Hope, and they write these skits that are creative and fun. Even if you have an aversion to Zoom, just push it away and come and join. Yeah.
Brian: The reason we had to do it on Zoom set of live stream is we had multiple people and acts, and we really couldn't record all that live stream and do the social distancing and have the proper protocols here in the auditorium. That's why we are doing it with Zoom and we've been able to prerecord and send things in and what have you. So join us at 6:30 tonight, and it will be a fun night as well.
Jacque: I have just heard this week of this podcast about the healing of joy and laughter. It's really good for us mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, every way, so tonight will be a healthy night.
Brian: We will be having joy tonight, one of the reasons for the seasons. Of all the players in the Christmas story, and there were a lot of players... I might share some of that next week, all the different players in their role and so forth in the Christmas story. Of all the players in the Christmas story, the ones that seem to be the happiest about all that was taking place were the angels and the shepherds. The angels were excited to bring this wonderful news. Sometimes we think that God keeps angels in the dark up in heaven. I think there had been a lot of talk through our years, anyways. People talk, people have all sorts of debates about time and heaven and time will be no more and all that sort of stuff, but that's a discussion for another time. Maybe Joel and one of his engaged groups can talk about that.
I just really personally believed that God had shared with the angels about the plan of salvation and that some of those angels were going to have a role to play in how this was going to unfold. Not the least of which was Gabriel coming to Mary and Joseph and others, but on the night that Jesus was born, there was a much larger group of angels that were dispatched. I just think that they had been waiting excitedly for maybe a long time. I don't know if they get impatient, probably not, but they waited a long time to bring this wonderful news. The angels were excited to bring good news. Have you ever had good news to share with somebody? Were you excited to do it? Yeah? They were excited to bring this wonderful news. After the shepherds got over their initial fear, they too were filled with great joy. They were filled with great joy. Man, couldn't we use a dose of that today? Wouldn't you agree? We could use a dose of that today.
Terror is living up to its name today, and I'm not just talking about Taliban terror. They are still alive and well, of course, but we have terror over COVID. We have terror over people losing their jobs. We have terror over what's going to happen in the future. Terror is living up to its name today, and we could use a big dose of joy. We could use a big dose of joy. So I want to read this portion of scripture of the Christmas story is found in Luke chapter 2, verses 8-14 above the shepherds and the angels. Jacque, why don't you read that real quickly?
Jacque: This is from the Message Bible. There were sheep herders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angels stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I am here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody worldwide. A savior has just been born in David's town, a savior who is messiah and master. This is what you are to look for- a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger".
Brian: And then at once the angel, this angel that brought this initial, information to the shepherds…
Jacque: The angel was joined by a huge angelic choir. Oh, I would have loved to have seen that, singing God's praises glory to God in the heavenly heights, peace to all men and women on earth who please him.
Brian: Boy, I wonder what that sounded like. Do you ever wonder? We've got the choir from Northfield; that's a world renowned choir. I was privileged to sing in a 400 voice chorus at the University of Minnesota. The Box Society is another great choral group here in the Twin Cities. Jacque, you've been a part of other great choirs in the past, but I can guarantee you, the combined quality of those choirs paled in comparison to this choir. I can guarantee you that. They began singing before an audience of shepherds of all things, shepherds out in the country. I can't help, but think this had to be what I would call the joyous sounds of heaven. Heaven is a happy place. Heaven is a joyful place, a joyful place. That joy was brought to earth by the angels.
Part of the glory that they brought was the joy of the Lord that day. I'm not sure how long they sang that night, but I can guarantee you this, that when the angel choir finished singing, there was not one shepherd that said, I thought that would never end. I thought that would never end. Why do they have to sing so many verses?
Jacque: They sing the same thing over and over.
Brian: I remember when we were kids, our worship services were more traditional and we would sing out of hymnals. I still remember as a young boy the worship leader would say, turn to page so and so, and I was saying to myself, ‘I hope there's not eight verses to this song’. I would get to it, and then there were seven, I thought, 'Oh man, this is going to take forever.' And then the good news came and he said ‘let's think verse one, three, and five’ or whatever. I don't think the shepherds were thinking like that that night when the angels were singing. Time stood still, and the joy of heaven was being poured out on the earth. Did you know that joy can be contagious? Joy can be contagious. We just have to be open to it. We just have to be open to it.
Let me tell you something that destroys joy. Anger destroys joy. I've never seen a joyful, angry person or an angry, joyful person. Anger destroys joy. I would just simply say to everybody today, it's much better to be joyful than to be angry. It's much better to be joyful than to be angry. The bible talks about the effects of being angry and all of that, even on our bodies, and the effect of joy. A joyful heart doth good like what?
Jacque: A medicine.
Brian: A medicine. Being joyful is medicinal to us. It heals us from the fallen world that we live in and the fallenness of ourselves. Let's go on. Let's read the next few verses- verses 15 through 20 here in this same story.
Jacque: As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheep herders talked it over, 'Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.' They left running and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met with the angels had said about the child. All who heard the sheep herders were impressed.
Brian: Everybody was impressed who heard them. They didn't keep silent. Joy brings energy to us. When you are joyful, you have more energy than when you are depressed or down in the mouth or whatever. This joy they had caused them to be energized and they left how? Running. Let’s read it again. They left running. They ran because they were so full of joy. They had a bounce in their step. They had personalized the message. They had personalized it. The angels came and told them the news and they said, 'Oh, that's good'. They didn't just say, that's good, and go back to their shepherding. They personalized it. They applied it to themselves, and they said, let's go see this thing. We have to do the same today. We have to personalize this message that the angels brought to the shepherds. There is a very good reason today; even in a very dark world, disappointing world, even maybe depressing world. There is very good reason today to have joy.
Jacque: And you know what, some days we have to choose to have it.
Brian: We do. The instructions to us are the very same as they were to the shepherds. That instruction is this, go look for the savior who has been born. Go look for the savior. I encourage you today; those of you who are watching by live stream, and those of you are here, go look for the savior; seek him. Let's go find this thing that the angels talked about. Let's go look for the savior who has been born. Let's go see for ourselves and let's do it how? Quickly; let's do it quickly. Let's do it quickly. Don't wait; no hesitation, but jump in with both feet. You will never be disappointed. I remember last year, Bill came to me after one of our Advent services, and he said to me, "I don't want to lose out on one moment of joy." I don't want to lose out on one moment of joy. Jesus came and said that your joy might be what?
Jacque: Full.
Brian: Full. This is part of the whole gospel blessing and story. I'm not sure if there's anything that brings more genuine, real joy than a life that has been restored. When a person has been lost and in and their life has been restored, I'm not sure that there's anything that brings more joy to that person, and maybe many others than that truth right there. The incarnation, the arrival of God, to the earth in human form was the very beginning, the inception of God with us, God, with us. Let's read that, Matthew chapter 1 verse 23
Jacque: The Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.
Brian: Let me just say this; Jesus didn't come just to visit. He came to move into the neighborhood. That's what he did. His arrival revealed the heart of God. I think the Pharisees had truly missed what the heart of God was. I think people throughout history have missed the heart of God and what it's all about. As a matter of fact, even since the coming of Christ, I think many people today have missed what the heart of God really is all about. That's why we need to look at Jesus as the lens to help us understand what God is really like. What is he really like? He didn't just arrive to visit; his arrival revealed the heart of God. We see that heart spoken up just two verses earlier than the one we just read in Matthew chapter 1 verse 21. Here is the heart of God.
Jacque: And she will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
Brian: He will save his people, not just from the eternal consequences of sin, but he will save his people from the destructive power of sin because he is a restorer of life. Jesus is the one who sat by a well and restored the Samaritan woman when she was an outcast and broken and rejected, even by her Samaritan community. Jesus was the one who restored the integrity of Zacchaeus when all of his friends and neighbors had rejected him because he was a tax collector. He was no longer written off because Jesus restored him. He restored and save the woman who was caught in adultery, and he would have done the same to the man if he would have had the courage to show his face that day as well. He would have done that. He restored the outcasts, like the lepers and the woman with the issue of blood.
There wasn't a leper that ever got a hug. Jesus hugged the lepers. He kissed the lepers. He gave them value. He restored the sanity of those who were demonized like the Demoniac of the Gadarenes. We have people today from post-traumatic stress disorder. It's an avenue; it's an opening. It's a doorway for the demonic realm to come and bring fear and terror into their lives. There are still men today who fought in the Vietnam War who wake up screaming in the middle of the night. They need the savior. They need to be restored. The suicide level of people in the military is through the roof. They need restoration for their traumatized minds. This is what Jesus brings. He called himself Emmanuel, God with us. God with us, not just God made us, not just God thinks of us. We've said to people ‘oh, I've been thinking about you’, but God isn't just thinking about us. It's not just God above us. It's not even just God watching us. It's what? God with us. He is with us. This is what Christmas is all about.
God is where you are right now. Pastor Jeff even said that this morning. You might be in your office or you might be home, or maybe right now your home is your office. You might be in the kitchen right now making lunch and watching this live stream. You might be driving in the car. You might be flying in a plane. Wherever you are, God is with us. His offer to us is this come to me and I'll restore you. Come to me, and I'll clean you up. It's not, if you clean yourself up, you can come to me, but it's come to me. Like you said this morning, Jacque, let God do the heavy lifting.
Jacque: Every time we turn to God, it is in response because he has already asked us to come. We are always just responding to his.
Brian: That's right. It's not my grip on him that matters, but rather his grip on me. That's what matters- his grip on me. Christmas is about Christ. I'm so glad that people actually say Merry Christmas. I hate the word Xmas. I like it. I say to people all the time, Merry Christmas. Have a great Christmas. Merry Christmas, because you know, after all the name Christ occupies six of the nine letters of the word Christmas.
Jacque: We are supposed to say happy holidays, they say.
Brian: We are going to Merry Christmas.
Jacque: I always do too.
Brian: I wish people happy holidays, but I'm also going to say Merry Christmas, because we are not celebrating 'Santa-mas' or reindeer-mas or you-mas or nog-mas.
Jacque: Or Elves-mas.
Brian: Elves-mas or shopping-mas. We are celebrating Christmas, and the last time I checked, celebrations are supposed to be full of what?
Jacque: Joy.
Brian: Joy, joy, joy.
Jacque: The scriptures say that God was pleased. He was joyful to send Jesus. God is a God of joy. He is full of joy. Sorry to interrupt.
Brian: You are not interrupting. The joy of the Lord is our strength. That incredible moment, if you can, in your mind's eye, go back and revisit in a sense, the manger scene, and that first moment that Mary touched the face of Jesus, just ponder that for a second. That first moment, all of you women who've had children, that first moment that that baby might've been laid on your tummy or you held it and you touched its cheek. The first moment that Mary touched the face of Jesus for the first time is the moment that God made his case, that there is no place that he will not go. There was no place that God will not go.
If he is willing to be born in virtually a barnyard, then you can expect him to be at work anywhere. He will be at work in the bars. He will be at work in the boardrooms. He will be at work in the brothels. He will be at work in the prisons. He will be at work in your neighborhoods. He will be at work in the slums. He will be at work in the impoverished areas, and he will even be at work in the up and outers neighborhood. That moment that Mary touched the face of Jesus was when God made his case that there was no place that he was not willing to go. No place is too common. No person is too hardened. No distance is too far. No person is too far gone. No person is too far gone for God to not be able to touch him and reach him. No person is too lost. There is no person he cannot reach, not one. There is no limit to his love. When Christ was born, so was our hope, and so was our joy born that day.
Christmas invites you and me to believe in the wildest of promises. What is the craziest promise you can think of that God has made to you? Christmas invites you to keep believing in that, because God became one of us so that we could become one with him. He became one of us so that we could become one with him. He did away with every barrier that night in the manger. There was no longer going to be a barrier where God would not go and could not go. He did away with every fence. He did away with every sin. He did away with every obstacle or every grave where things go and are place there when we think they are dead. He did away with them all. Anything that might keep us from him was demolished the moment Mary touched his cheek that night in the manger.
I invite you today, here again, those of you who are in our auditorium and those of you who are watching by live stream, I invite you, encourage you to invite him in. Invite him in; he is knocking at the door. Go to that door, open it up and say, come on in. Escort him to the seat of honor in your heart. Escort him to that place. Call the kids, call the neighbors, all the family, call everyone, and tell them Christmas is here. Christmas is here. Call them all. Christ is here. Let your heart, even if it feels dark to you, let your heart become a manger for Christ, that place where he can be born, that place where his love will shine brightly and your joy can be full. Your joy can be full.
Let's pray. Father, I thank you today that our joy can be full. Our joy can be full because you allowed a human to touch your cheek in the manger. You allowed yourself to come into this world. In fact, you demanded in a sense of all the powers that be that you come into this world and you came with a purpose. That purpose was to destroy all the barriers, all the fences, all the obstacles, anything that might keep us from you. You destroyed them all. In your birth and in you becoming the incarnation of God, we have now been given not only the access to come to you, but you are with always- God with us; not just watching us, not just someone who is keeping a list to see who is naughty or nice. Not someone who visits once a year with a gift, but someone who is with us at all times.
I pray today that our hearts, we sang earlier, make room in my heart. I'll make room in my heart. We make room for our hearts to become your manger, where you can be born again in us. We thank you, Jesus. We thank you that you would love us like this. It causes us to be full of joy, full of joy. You have come to bring the joy of heaven to earth, to us. It's a supernatural thing that can come into us and be a part of us. Even in the struggles, even in the difficulties, even when there are questions that aren't answered, you give us this wonderful place of the joy of heaven on earth. We are so grateful today. We bless your name. We bless your name. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah.
I'm so glad that you came today; so thankful that you are tuning in to our live stream. We've got so many wonderful friends around the country right now from live stream. Yes, it's so great to see everybody here. Let me just bless you. I want to bless you with the blessing of heaven today. Let's just kind of raise our hands and kind of do this like we are willing to receive something from above.
Jacque: Like we want to catch it.
Brian: Yeah, we are going to catch this from God. Now, may the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine and smile upon you. May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you his peace. May you receive the joy of heaven just like the shepherds received the joy of heaven. They said, let's go see, let's go taste and see that the Lord is good and be full of joy. This, we pray, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. God bless you. Have a wonderful, wonderful day. Make sure you tune in tonight at 6:30 for an incredible time.
Jacque: Lots of fun. And then we are going to be on zoom. If you want to talk to a few people on zoom, right now after the service. The numbers should be right there, or you can go to your Tuesday email and find it or go to the app. Let's talk on Zoom. I'm going to jump on there quick.
Brian: Good All right, God bless you. Great to see all of you. Bye-bye.
Transcript taken from the Sunday morning service 12-13-20. If you would like to watch the full service, click one of the links below.