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."
all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
matthew 1:21-23
____________
i heard an incredible message at a service i went to at cricket arena this morning with my family. the pastor asked the question "is Jesus the reason for the season?" followed, of course, by a sea of people responding "yes!" before he said "don't answer this before you hear the message...i'm tricking you."
[this guy also looked just liked tyler durden from fight club. don't know why, but i just had to say that.]
the scripture was matthew 1:21-23 and the pastor spoke about how Jesus is not the reason for this season. the reason for the season is me. it's you. Jesus' birth would have been irrelevant if it weren't for those He came to save. if it weren't for sinful people, Jesus wouldn't had to have come in the flesh and died for all of us.
we could not get to Jesus, so He came to us. we can't get to Him today with good deeds, unceasing prayer, by going to church everyday or anything else we try to do to "get to Jesus." He comes to us. daily, hourly, every minute of the day He is with us. God with us. oh, how we tend to forget.
Jesus did not need this "season." He is the reason for everything, year-round. WE are the reason for the season of His birth and we should rejoice in the fact that the most precious gift we ever received was sent to meet us where we're at.
what a refreshing message to hear this morning! i would probably have to say that the past few months of my life have been the most challenging i've ever experienced personally, and i was having a hard time even remembering that Christmas is in two days. i came into the season exhausted all-around and unfortunately feel like i haven't even had an hour to think outside of myself and get into "the spirit." and being the Christmassy jinglchelle that i am, it's been hard for me to feel like i'm just going to have to let this season pass me by and put on a fake smile and get through the holidays. i desperately needed to hear those words from God.
people often ask me why i pray so hard for God's will or why i really do want to do what God wants for my life. they ask why i don't just go completely selfish for awhile and try to make things happen for myself because obviously i can always go back to my roots -- why not take a little time to do what michelle wants instead of worrying about God all the time. i've thought about that a lot lately, because honestly, answering "because i love God" or "because we're supposed to" just doesn't cut it for me. and that's not why i do it. the reason i want to please God is that it's the least i can do. plain and simple, no fancy explanation...i don't see much point to a life lived for myself - a life that satisfies for a season and leaves you completely dissatisfied in an instant.
God sent his son to be born on earth to die for me. i'm the reason and i never quite got it. and now i feel "the Spirit" in a completely different way that i ever have at Christmas - God with us.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Everytime I hear "Jesus is the reason for the season", I want to flip out. This holiday is about commercialism and big spending. And you might even say it's about family. But it's not really "about" Jesus, and it never really was.
Obviously, the title caught my attention when your post showed up on my google reader.
Anyway, I really liked the way the pastor put it.
If you want to celebrate Jesus, celebrate his grace all year round. Celebrate the fact that we can be in communion with God. And celebrate love and grace and peace.
Why do you think Jesus came for you? Why did he come as a babe to grow and die for the propitiation of your sins? Do you think it was so that you could sit in comfort and say "this is nice!"
If we are the reason for the season, the whole glory of the gospel is veiled.
Yes, Jesus came for us in the SMALL picture. But in the big picture, we are saved so that we may commune with God for HIS glory!
I don't know you at all, but I am a fellow follower of Christ. I'm also not a freak.. I just want people to understand that a man-centered gospel is not the gospel at all. Search your scripture, keep reading, keep learning. But after a while if you still think that God would have any reason in wanting humans because of humans, you have missed it. God wants humans because of God. He wants and demands worship. Scripture and logic defy any reasoning for a gospel that centers around man. Hope that makes sense.
Post a Comment