Mighty God

Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically from the audio and may contain small errors.

Good morning. How are we doing this morning? Three people. One person is very good, and one person is good. Well, it's an honor to be with you this morning. As it has been said, my name is Daniel. I'm a student pastor at First Baptist Burleson in town. I'm the best student pastor job in the world because I also, they're crazy enough to put me on senior staff, which means I get to do a lot of vision casting and things church-wide. I'm not just kind of put into my corner as a student pastor, and part of that is I get to oversee our residence program. So I would actually be remiss if I didn't say thank you, not only for my opportunity to your pastor, but also you've had a lot of different young guys come through since May, I think, is when we started that. And many of those guys, not all of them, but many of them have been our residents. So I mean that's prime time opportunities for young men in particular who are wanting

to preach the gospel. And so thank you to your congregation for the opportunities that you've given to us. And over the course of the year, it's been awesome to partner with y'all in that. And I do believe you get a fresher Drew when that happens too, which is part of the method of the madness. The method of the madness. Yeah. I do want to brag on your pastor for a minute. The thing I love most about Drew is every time I go into dwell, coffee and biscuits in Old Town, Drew is there. And I give him a hard time about it sometimes when he says, Hey, listen, if I don't want to play the air conditioning bill, but welcome, that's, that's a win. So I'm just going to office out of here. But, but the thing I love most about that, and if you've been there, when you're, when he's there, you'll notice this. He, he has become one with the staff. So he's talking, he knows them by name, they know him by name.

There's a purpose to that, and that is to be a pastor of a people, right? Of a community. That is a beautiful thing to see that through. I've never said that out loud to you, but I'll watch you. That's weird. I'll watch you while you're at dwell. And that is really, really awesome to see that. Some of you have met my family. We're back row Baptist this morning, this Jodi. And then I think our little 15 month old Sutton may have just fallen asleep. That's a win for everybody. And then we have a four and a half year old named Sloan,

who's here, she was kind of tucked away between everybody. You know, like before you have a kid, people always warning you to like, take in the moment because it passes so fast. Before you know it, you'll have an 18 year old I always hated that. Anybody else? Like before you're like, I get it, but they're like crying right now. I don't want to take in the moment and then they become four and a half and you're like, I thought you were literally just in my arms. I can't imagine 16, 17, 18 as they get older, how quickly that happens. But it's a joy to have them here this morning. You know, we are parenting in an interesting context and an interesting day and age. I know every parenting stage is different, but we are parenting in what I would call the social media age. So any time that somebody is going to have a child, what do you see pop up on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, you name it.

See, birth announcements, right? And these birth announcements are just creative ways, sometimes dangerous ways. There's actually been birth gender reveals that have actually started four fires out in California. The really big one last year was actually started by someone having pyrotechnics shooting off to say that we're having a girl. And then two months later, the state is on fire because they wanted to use fire to show that. But that's just the day and age, right? Like we do this. And I was doing a little bit of research and found a few that I thought were awesome. This is an eviction notice. You see, he's really excited about that. So the eviction notice, please note that you're required to vacate the premises in 27 weeks because the new tenant is expected in February 2018. They're telling the world that they have a new one coming. This one is near and dear to my heart.

This next one, because of my four and a half year old, it says, I'm guessing the last name is Shark. So they did Baby Shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo. March 2020, pretty cool, huh? Little did they know that baby was gonna be born in the beginning of the pandemic. Man, that is nuts. Just put all that together. March 2020, so baby announcements, birth announcements, they're exciting. And there's something that we hold on to. And in the context of this series that we're going through, the Messiah, looking at who Jesus was, 700 years before that first Christmas, there was a birth announcement. We find it in where we're basing this series out of in Isaiah nine, chapter six. This is God's birth announcement to his people, and he said this, for to us, a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called, wonderful counselor,

mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. So this morning, we are looking at the name of God God in flesh, Jesus Christ, that is mighty God, mighty God. And more specifically, we're gonna see how that speaks directly to the story of Christmas. Now, Old Testament is written in Hebrew. So this term here in Isaiah 9:6, mighty God, it's actually the word El Gabor. Will you say that with me? El Gabor. Everybody, not just true. El Gabor, there we go. El Gabor is mighty God. And in the translation, there's a couple of different ones I love here. One is champion. So the only one standing when the conflict is over, he is the champion. El Gabor. The other one is hero. One who gains the respect of the people because of his actions.

Couple of weeks ago drew a rift on heroes, Dallas Cowboys, which is very appropriate in the Metroplex. I actually did not grow up in the Metroplex. So I didn't really care about the Cowboys for a long time. I grew up in College Station. So just really no professional teams nearby. But I loved baseball growing up. Loved baseball. I got to meet one of my heroes. I've been meeting a hero before in person. Yeah, so mine was Pudge Rodriguez. Played catcher for the Texas Rangers. And I didn't have a crazy aunt, But I had a crazy, like mom's best friend, her name was Luanna. Luanna was and still is crazy. And what we would do every year is we would drive to Houston on the weekend that the Rangers and Astros were playing. It was usually in the summertime, make a family weekend, a little family vacation out of it, meet up with our friends from out of town, Luanna and her family.

And we found out, this is how crazy she is, she found out that the visiting teams that came to Houston to play would stay at the Galleria Mall at the hotel and the gallery mall. So, do you know what little Daniel and my brother and our friend did all day on Friday leading up to game one, all day on Saturday? We literally spent time in the mall looking for anyone who looked like an athlete, chasing them down to ask them, hey, are you a member of insert teams named here? Now, the process was pretty humiliating at the time because I'm like 11 years old, dealing with all like these new hormones and what does it look like? And I feel like a weirdo, but I do have a baseball that has all, it's like 90% of the 1996 Elena Braves signed on it because I was that person like, hey kid, go ask the baseball player. Now, one year, Texas Rangers were in town and this was actually after the game,

it's so crazy where we were waiting outside of the hotel in the little drive up thing, and I kid you not, black Cadillac shows up And out of the back seat comes Pudge Rodriguez. So I walk up to Pudge with his baseball card. Like, hey, hey, Mr. Rodriguez, would you sign my baseball card for me? And I kid you not, this was the baseball card. I got to meet Pudge. He signed the baseball card for me. He was really rude. And I was kind of offended. And then we walked upstairs, watched SportsCenter. He had slipped a disc in his back that night. So he was not very happy to be being bugged by an 11 year old kid. But got to meet my hero. Oh, Geburr means champion, it means hero. And we see this mighty God throughout scripture, Nehemiah 9:32.

We see that he keeps his covenant in steadfast love. In Jeremiah 32, 17 and 18, we see the prophet proclaiming that nothing is impossible for you, mighty God. In Zephaniah 3.17, we see that there is a mighty God who stays. And so what we're going to do this morning is we're going to be looking at the story in Matthew 2, 1 through 12, and exploring together a little bit what it looks like for the mighty God to become flesh, for Jesus to step out of eternity and step into the first story of Christmas. And I want you to notice something here, and this is this, that there's going to be a few different players in this story, one of which is going to be a king, Herod. Another is going to be wise men. And I want you to see how these people are reacting to the mighty God who has come as a baby. Can you just kind of store that in the back of your mind as we're getting ready to dig into El Gabor in this story?

And so we're going to be in Matthew, chapter two, starting in verse one. Matthew chapter two, starting in verse one. And it says this. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, the days of Herod the king. Behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born the king of the Jews? For we saw his star went rose and we have come to worship him. So wise men arrived to the scene, right? And they're coming to King Herod and they're saying, hey, we've seen this star in the east we have come to find this child who was born king of the Jews. And what we see is that they're actually coming not just to a place, but they're coming in in search of a person. And they're coming to look for the king of the Jews. And what I love is that so Genesis 1 1 God does what? Speaks the earth into existence. He creates by his word by decree, which makes him the

the owner and the ruler of creation, right? Like he is God and he speaks earth into creation. What we see here is then the earth turns around and is speaking proclaiming the birth of the king. God has come. So that which is subject under God is now speaking of proclaiming that the king has come and these wise men who something may have had some astrological background, right? So they see like this star in the east and they're like, okay, we got to go there because there's something have we know that the king of the Jews is here and they use that term king of the Jews and you can tell it is kind of sets Herod off a little bit right like oh this is interesting king of the Jews but I had ruling authority over them but now there's someone to be concerned about in his initial reaction we're gonna see is that he is troubled pick it back up in verse 3 so when King Herod heard

of this he was troubled in all of Jerusalem with him. In assembling all the chiefs and priests inscribed with the people he inquired over them where the Christ was to be born. And they told him in Bethlehem of Judea, for it is written by the Prophet and you O Bethlehem in the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared and he sent them to Bethlehem saying go and search diligently for the child and when you found him bring word to me that I too may come and worship him." So he's troubled it and did you notice that it said it wasn't just Herod who was troubled. Herod and whom? All of Jerusalem that's striking to me. You've got chiefs, priests, and people who are looking for the Messiah trying to put all the pieces together and yet when He

arrives there's still this disconnect, right? In this fear and I mean I think sometimes we can get so busy in digging deep and in formulating it and putting more head knowledge here that we totally miss the heart of what Christmas is in the heart of the Savior. Here is the Savior come and they instead of speaking out to worship Him or speaking out to try to figure out where He's at right I just don't sense that there is this this connection we could see that carried out through the Gospels too right this constant butting heads of Jesus Christ. I think there is so much more to following Jesus than just knowing it all here. In fact, the Shema in Deuteronomy 6, you say, Love the Lord your God, right, with all your heart, with all your might and strength. Your heart there in Jewish tradition was, there was actually, they didn't know the brain existed. So when they say, Love the Lord your God with all your heart,

they're actually meaning, yes, your mind, but your soul, your very being. Am I loving the Lord my God with everything that I am and every step of the way? We know the generations of Jewish people kind of forgot this, right? You see generations who lose the blessing of God because they're not passing on the things that they've taught and learned to their children. So I just have to wonder if perhaps the busyness of religion perhaps got in the way in the fact that there was no connection between being a hearer and then a doer as James would say. Being a hearer of the word and a doer who actually puts that into practice and believes it. Herod reacts and we see later he's reacting with cruel intentions, very cruel intentions to keep himself in power, to get rid of this boy who has been proclaimed the king of the Jews because he has come, this mighty God. And yet even with his intentions, even with the things that are underneath the

surface, I think it's very interesting the fact that who is the main character of this story in terms of the protagonist who is driving action? It's God Himself. Why are the wise men there? Because they saw a star that God put in the sky. Why do they keep pursuing? Because God is lining everything up, put them in the right place at the right time, they have the right conversation. So God is firmly in control of the situation. He's leading them there. Pick it up, verse 9 of chapter 2. It says, After listening to the king, they went on their way, and behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it had come to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. And then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

So they find the boy. In their first reaction, A is to give glory to God, to worship the Lord, and then they fall on their faith in front of this boy who is mighty God in flesh. They worship Him. They bring Him gifts. Have you ever given a bad gift before? I've given bad gifts before. In fact, the first Christmas I ever had with my wife Jodi, I, okay, I was very practical, right? So I was like, hey, I want to give her a gift that I know that she'll use. She'll get the most out of it. It'll be something that's just awesome. She can look back a decade from now and say, man, that was a great gift, right? And so me and my overthinking self, I went to the store, picked out the perfect gift, brought her home, wrapped it up, and she opened it up and she's like, oh, fantastic. A printer. And I've actually never lived that down, although it was a great printer, and it did last for a long time, Drew.

It was awesome. But that was not a great gift. These wise men though bring great gifts. They bring these gifts that symbolize royalty and Holiness and and get this sacrifice Tony God is at work even in the first few moments in the first few years of Jesus's life royalty and holiness and Sacrifice pointing to the future that would be Jesus's life in his mission here on earth God is sovereign in this story. He is a mighty God who is appearing in flesh. God the Father is sending God the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit to be with us. Amen you well, God with us. And I love the reaction of the wise men that they just go face down in front of them. Philippians 2 we actually read it. So, Jesus, although he has every right of God, lays that aside to step down out of eternity, become flesh, becoming obedient, even to death on a cross, so that he overcomes the grave

and he is then given the name above every name, the name of Jesus at which every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. The reality for us is that the wise men were just the first ones. We follow the example of these wise men and to be Frank Herod, his knee will bow to the baby who became the savior of the world who is the king of the universe, our mighty God who came before us and gave his life up for us because every evil by that same mighty God who came as a baby two thousand years ago is still alive today still alive in power and that still has implications for us and yet I feel as if we forget that in the story of Christmas and in our daily lives that if you've given your life to Jesus you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, the seal of your salvation and through that you are serving the mighty God of the universe and yet we let things get in the way of us remembering that and putting that into

practice and living in such a way that would honor Him but it also brings glory to Him through the way that we live our lives. And I think there's some things that we see in this story just to put into application that we still struggle with. And the first one I want to lay before you today is actually the sin that I believe that Herod was displaying here, and that is a pride. So one thing in response to the mighty God who has come at Christmas time is to let go of your pride. I don't know what you brought into this room. I don't know what is holding you back from serving Jesus faithfully, from taking the next step with him today. But for some of you in this room, it's the pride of feeling like, you know, either I've got it all together or he can't handle my stuff, and I want to tell you this morning that he can. He's mighty God. So let go of the pride that is holding you back from a relationship, a deeper relationship

with Him and trust that He is mighty God. Number two would be this. Don't, I think this is what frankly was Pharisees and scribes and so many of us in the room, it's just busyness. Anybody else busy in this season? I mean, I've got a theory. So we have like 12 Christmas parties this year. Wife's a teacher, there's like four or five of them at her work, four or five of them at our church, on top of friends. Like, my theory is that we missed the year of it. And so now everybody's just trying to like make up for lost time. But man, it has been a beating at times. Have we allowed the busyness of life and the busyness of season to cause us to miss out completely on the joy that is the mighty God come flesh? So I would implore you, do not let the busyness of the season, the busyness of life steal your joy that is supposed to be reminded of the forefront of our mind in this season.

And kind of hand in hand with that is this, turning down the white noise in our lives that we can see the mighty God. So we began sleeping with white noise, actually kind of out of necessity because babies, right? For the baby there, and then you turn the monitor on. And when we have our baby monitor on, we're actually getting the white noise from the baby's room on top of a box fan in our room that gives us more white noise. And you know what I know, the moment I realized that we sleep with a lot of white noise in our house is when we went to a retreat this past summer. We were in the middle of the Piney Woods in Huntsville, Texas, throughout the Huntsville, Texas. And in this little cabin, we didn't have any white noise and you can literally hear the band next, like one wall over, their full conversation. clear, because white noise fills a room where you can't concentrate, you can't hear clearly

what is happening on the other side. So I would argue that we need to actually eliminate some of this white noise in our lives, some of these things that if you're like me, I get in the car and I'm compelled to turn the radio on or turn the iPod on or listen to something and there's no real reason sometimes except for just like man it's quiet but perhaps God wants us to sit and quiet something to reflect on who He is to remember who He is and that's gonna take us intentionally turning down that white noise because we are actually distracting ourselves from seeing God for who He is. God is a mighty God. He's a God who gave up everything that is due His in Jesus and stepped down and became our Savior. He deserves our attention and our affection, especially in this season when we set aside time to remember just that. But may we not slip into being Herod or Pharisees

or scribes or those who are distracted, may we be people who recognize and realize that Mighty God has come and Mighty God is still with us today. My prayer for you, that you would turn down the noise, put away the distractions, rest, remember and reflect on who God is so that he can do a work in your heart in this season. Let me pray for us, God, thank you for your word. Thank you for being a mighty God. Thank you for your sacrifice. If you did not come, there would be no reason to celebrate God. We do remember you in this season and we thank you God and we remember. I do pray you would help us to turn down the white noise, to set aside the distractions, God, that we would find a fullness of joy in you in this season, God, that Jesus would come alive in our hearts and our minds like never before God and that you would do a new work in us. Or new our minds, new our hearts, draw us closer together but also closer to

you. I pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Daniel. For some of you that, man, the Spirit is calling, the Spirit's talking to you. There's a decision that you need to make. We like to end our services with a time for you to respond. We're gonna sing and we're gonna stand and sing in a second, but as we do, as we stand and sing, let me encourage you, if there is a decision that the Lord is calling you to make, make it, do it, act on it. If you need to pray, pray. If you need somebody to pray for you, ask somebody to pray for you. I'm going to be up here right here, and there's nothing more spiritual about my prayers versus somebody that's sitting next to you that you can trust to pray for you, but if you want someone to pray with you, then I will do that. For some of you, you need to make a decision about joining the church. For some of you, you need to make a decision about following the Lord in

baptism, giving your life to Him, becoming a Christian. Maybe that's kind of your next step. I'm going to be up here, and I'm going to be here to help. So Let's stand and sing. David sing that same song again. Oh, come all you unfaithful come we can unstable come. No, you are not alone. O come, barren and waiting once, there is a waiting come. See what your God has done. Christ is born, Christ is born, Christ is born. O come, bitter and broken come, with fears unspoken come, taste of His perfect love. O come, guilty and hiding once, there is no need to run. Sing what your God has done. Christ is born, Christ is born, Christ is born. He's the Lamb who was given, a slave for our pardon. His promise is peace for those who've been. He's the Lamb who was given, a slave for our pardon. His promises be for those who believe So come, though you have nothing come He is the offering come

See what your God has done Christ is born, Christ is born, Christ is born, yeah Christ is born, Christ is born