Peace Through His Arrival! – December 16, 2018 sermon

By Pastor Greg...

There's a story that has become legend in a small southern Minnesota town. I can't vouch for its truth, only that people tell it as though it really happened.

It seems that a man who was retiring from his position as mayor was to be honored at a party. He had served for more than a decade and had been responsible for several significant improvements to the area, and so it seemed good to have the community pay him tribute.

The party was held at the VFW hall west of town, and all agreed it was a great celebration. The music was loud, the room crowded and noisy; food and drinks were available until late into the evening. It was a great celebration.

At the Main Street diner, the following morning, people talked about what a wonderful event it had been… a fitting tribute. Some wondered if the mayor had enjoyed it, but no one seemed to know. In fact, no remembered talking to him or had even seen him there. And after asking around, they learned that he had checked into a hospital the previous day and had missed the party in his honor. It seems no one had noticed.

The parallel to our modern celebration of Christmas is all too obvious. People come together, the food is great, the music warms the heart, but where is the “peace on earth and good will toward men?” I suspect it’s because we’ve forgotten the guest of honor. The season has become about us. Sadly, we have lost perspective.

A great deal is said during Christmas about the announcement made by the angels. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors”[1] (Luke 2:14). But in today’s world we see very little peace, very little at all. Why is there so little peace in this world especially during a season that promotes peace? Maybe it’s because the world is so wrapped up in the celebration that it has forgotten the guest of honor.

The arrival of the Messiah was to usher in a new season of peace for the people of Israel. Through the Prophet Zephaniah, the Lord says, (Zephaniah 3:14-20) 14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 For the Lord will remove his hand of judgment and will disperse the armies of your enemy. And the Lord himself, the King of Israel, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you will never again fear disaster. 16 On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, “Cheer up, Zion! Don’t be afraid! 17 For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” 18 “I will gather you who mourn for the appointed festivals; you will be disgraced no more. 19 And I will deal severely with all who have oppressed you. I will save the weak and helpless ones; I will bring together those who were chased away. I will give glory and fame to my former exiles, wherever they have been mocked and shamed. 20 On that day I will gather you together and bring you home again. I will give you a good name, a name of distinction, among all the nations of the earth, as I restore your fortunes before their very eyes. I, the Lord, have spoken!” [2]

This is an incredible promise God made to the people of Jerusalem. Despite the mocking’s, the persecution, and the hatred Israel had been receiving from the world, a time was coming when God would restore the nation to its former glory. It will happen when the Lord finally lives among them. God will save the weak and the helpless. He will calm their fears. He, the Lord, will sing their praises.

Okay, sure; I know this prophecy looks forward to a distant time; these things will happen when Jesus comes again. I get that; Jesus will come and establish His earthly rule and usher in a thousand years of peace. But there is a deeper truth in these prophecies that we often overlook. And that is, the work Jesus does in our hearts.

As I stated last week, the main reason Jesus came was to make us holy. He came to give His life as a ransom to set us free; because of His life and death, we are no longer held captive by sin and death (Romans 8:2). Jesus has given us this victory (1 Corinthians 15:57). And, here is the really interesting part, because of Jesus our hearts are transformed.

Through the Prophet Ezekiel, God says, “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart”[3] (Ezekiel 36:26). And this happens because of Jesus.

When Jesus comes again, there will be incredible peace on earth. But in the meantime, there is an opportunity for there to be peace in us. However, this will only happen if we remember to turn our focus toward Jesus. He does not force this inward peace upon us. Rather, He offers it freely; it’s up to us to respond accordingly and allow Jesus to do His mysterious work within to transform a hard, stubborn heart into one that genuinely loves and cares for others.

A wise woman once told me that if there is turmoil in our homes, there is probably turmoil in our hearts. And if we want peace in our homes then we need to have peace in our hearts. I suspect the same could be said about our world. Sure, there can be peace, but that peace begins in hearts that are truly focused on Jesus. If we want peace in our world today, then it begins by focusing on Jesus.

Where there is no Jesus, there is no peace. But, to know Jesus is to know peace.

May we never forget the Guest of honor during our Christmas celebrations this year.

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[1] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Lk 2:14). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

^[2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Zep 3:14–20). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

^[3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Eze 36:26). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Prepared for His Arrival December 9, 2018 sermon

By Pastor Greg...

A woman and her husband interrupted their vacation to go to the dentist. "I want a tooth pulled, and I don't want any painkillers because I'm in a big hurry," the woman said. "Just extract the tooth as quickly as possible, and we'll be on our way." The dentist was quite impressed. "You're certainly a courageous woman," he said. "Which tooth is it?"

The woman turned to her husband and said, "Show him your tooth, dear."

Why do we laugh at jokes like that? Well, mostly because the ending is not what we expected. And the longer we think about the story, our laughing turns to sympathy. I mean, what does this trip to the dentist tell us about their married life… you know what I mean? If we actually take the time to think about what has been said, there is far more to the story than an initial chuckle.

It’s the same with the Christmas story.

When we tell the story of Christmas, we typically think of Mary, Joseph, some shepherds, the angels, the animals, the innkeeper, the Wise Men, and, of course, the Baby Jesus. However, there is a part of the story that is often overlooked; it’s the unexpected part of Christmas that Hallmark forgot.

“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 2“But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. 3 He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord. 4 Then once more the Lord will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past” (Malachi 3:1-4).

The Prophet Malachi turns to those living in Jerusalem and assures them that the Messiah will arrive one day. But, before He appears, a messenger will clear the way for the promised Lord (this messenger was John the Baptist; Jesus attributed the prophecy here in Malachi to John - compare Matthew 11:10). But Malachi shares something unexpected. He says the Messiah – the Lord the people desire – will refine and cleanse, not just comfort and love. When the Lord appears, He will thoroughly purify and cleanse the people; He will work in their lives to make them holy.

Unfortunately, this is something Israel forgot; they overlooked this part, and instead were merely looking for a Messiah who would love them and care for them. They did not expect this kind of Messiah.

I think today, people overlook this as well. It’s the part of the Christmas story we tend to ignore.

God, in His mercy, sent His Son – the Messiah – to ransom us and give us everlasting life. The little Child in a Manger is a “Light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel”[1] (Luke 2:32). But, as Malachi points out, the tiny Baby will also confront our sin. Through the heat of trials and the washing of our heart, the promised Messiah will prepare us for the day when He presents us to the Father. According to the Apostle Paul, Jesus came to make us holy and clean; a church without spot or wrinkle (compare Ephesians 5:26-27).

If we examine the Christmas story more closely, we will realize that the whole reason God sent Jesus in the first place is because we are sinful people. We just cannot stop making a mess of things; our lives are a hopeless wreck. In Jesus, God does for us what we could not do for ourselves. As we gaze into the wooden Manger and the tiny Child sent by God, we recognize that He has come to wash away our sin and burn away the things in our life that do not belong.

It just seems to me, this is part of the Christmas story that is overlooked.

In the Old Testament, God sent Malachi to remind the people what their Messiah would do. In the New Testament, God sent John the Baptist with a similar message. John’s message of repentance and baptism is symbolic of refining and washing. He prepared people for the work Jesus was sent to do in their lives. The Church continues to spread this same message. God sent His Son because our lives are blemished; we are people soiled by sin. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If we allow Him, Jesus will do His work in our life… preparing us for the day we stand before God the Father as people who are holy and clean. As we await an Advent of our own – Christ’s second coming – I pray that this Christmas Season we are reminded why Jesus came in the first place.



[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Lk 2:32). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

Anticipation! Advent 2018 – December 2, 2018 sermon

By Pastor Greg...

I recently purchased an item online; it’s something I don’t do very often. I’m more inclined to buy something once it is in my hands. And I suppose it takes a bit more faith to buy something without seeing it than it does to know what the product actually looks like or how it feels. Spending your money and then waiting for the product to arrive requires faith; this, I have learned. I wonder when it will arrive, and if it will arrive… and will I like it once it arrives. I think shipping companies understand this nervousness. Why else would they give you a tracking number? They provide that service to ease our apprehension. They seem to say, “You can trust us; we track your package through the entire process.”

Anticipating something requires faith.

Scattered throughout the Old Testament are promises of a new King. This King would one day lead the Nation of Israel with honesty, justice, and fairness. However, God constantly stressed He would arrive in the future. For example, in Jeremiah 33 we read, 14 “The day will come, says the Lord, when I will do for Israel and Judah all the good things I have promised them. 15 “In those days and at that time I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will do what is just and right throughout the land. 16 In that day Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this will be its name: ‘The Lord Is Our Righteousness (Jeremiah 33:14-16). This promised King - described as the Messiah, the “anointed one” - would come someday. But it the meantime, Israel would have to wait in anticipation. And that waiting required faith… and patience. Lot’s of patience, especially in Jeremiah’s time. You see, when Jeremiah wrote his words, it began to seem that God had forgotten His promise.

400 years before Jeremiah was born, God promised David that his descendants would reign in Jerusalem forever (2 Samuel 7:16). Yet, by the time Jeremiah wrote his words, Babylon was about to capture the city of Jerusalem and march the last descendant of David off into captivity.

Very shortly, Jerusalem would be ruled by someone not related to King David, and people were likely to wonder if God had forgotten His promise or changed His mind. Jeremiah’s words assure the people that no, He had not. God continued to promise that one day the Messiah would appear.

Many of the Jews held this promise close to their heart. They had not forgotten what God had promised to do; to send them a “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). In New Testament times we see that some had not lost faith; they still anticipated the Messiah’s advent – His arrival. Consider a man named Simeon. He was expecting the promised King (Luke 2:25). Many people were anticipating the anointed One of God (compare Luke 2:38b). Even the Apostle Philip proposed that Jesus was the One the prophets had written about (John 1:45).

The Jewish people did not lose hope; because of their faith, they lived in anticipation… awaiting the day when the Messiah would appear – His first advent. Even though their situation in life had gone from bad to worse (secular influence from Roman society, corruption in their own government, and disingenuous religious leaders), people still anticipated God fulfilling His promise. Sure, they were expecting a “ruler,” not a “savior,” but they still awaited His arrival.

And that waiting took faith.

We are doing the same thing today. Today, the Church awaits the arrival of its King. The whole idea of Advent is recalling how Old Testament saints anticipated the arrival of the Messiah and remembering that we are awaiting an Advent as well. The faith required today is the same kind of faith demonstrated by these Old Testament saints. We’re just waiting for His second Advent.

In New Testament times, some critics scoffed at the idea of Jesus’ return. “What’s taking Him so long,” they taunted. Sadly, they lacked the faith to anticipate the Lord’s coming; they didn’t have the faith to trust in God’s promise.

In response, Peter says, “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent” (2 Peter 3:9).

Like the package I wished would soon arrive, I tend to wish the Lord would come again; the way I see it, the sooner, the better. But “sooner” is not God’s plan. God’s plan is to be patient and wait for a while, giving people an opportunity to repent and be saved. This requires patience on my part; anticipating His return with faithful patience.

Not too much has changed since the days of Jeremiah or Peter. Things today are going from bad to worse. Christians today are still dealing with the influence of a secular society. We still face corruption from leaders and government officials. And even the Church has become hypocritical in what it teaches. We know the Lord is coming, again, but we have no idea when.

We wish it would be soon.

I know how you feel; I wish the Lord would come right now and take us away from this crazy world and all its corruption. But see, I feel this way because I am not willing to faithfully wait. Like that package the UPS driver is supposed to deliver, I know God will one day send Jesus to gather the Church to Heaven; He has promised to come for us one day… someday (compare John 14:3), so I just need to be a little more patient.

The Christmas Season teaches us to patiently wait for things. But instead of waiting for the UPS Truck or Santa Claus, we are waiting for the Messiah… just like the people of Israel on that first Christmas. We too are looking ahead to the arrival of the Messiah; a day is coming when the Messiah will come and rule as King. We anticipate this day; I pray we have the faith to wait patiently, expecting His arrival at any moment.