(CFRA
broadcast date: December 18th, 2011 - #657)
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Listen to Radio Podcast Here - (and follow the notes, below):
http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/5436/good_news_657_dec18.mp3
Listen to Radio Podcast Here - (and follow the notes, below):
http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/5436/good_news_657_dec18.mp3
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Broadcast Notes:
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Immanuel
·
God
with us
·
God
given for us
·
God
is the Way for us
·
God
lights the way for us
1
God With Us
Matthew
1:21-23
‘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’
John 1:1, 14
In
the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God…. and
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
The
Incarnation is the Miracle of God the Son taking on
human
form and coming among us. God with us
and yet human.
100%
man
100%
God
We believe the truth of the
Incarnation in which God accepted us without condition and sent Jesus Christ,
born of the Virgin Mary, to redeem us and restore us to a relationship with
Him.
(Josh/Sean
McDowell)
The Incarnation speaks to us and says
three incredible things:
·
You
may have turned away from me, but I’m not turning away from you.
·
You
are so important to me that I will go to extraordinary lengths to have a
personal Relationship with you.
·
I’ll
enter your world and become human like you to save you from death and eternal
aloneness without me.
(Josh/Sean
McDowell)
The Island of Molokai
Located
in the state of Hawaii.
In
the late 1800’s the government sent Lepers to a colony on the Island.
In
1873, a brave young priest, Father
Damien volunteered to spend his life serving the 700 lepers.
He
recognized that the lepers were suffering physically,
socially, emotionally and
spiritually.
Damien
built hospital clinics, Churches and 700 coffins.
Whenever
there was a church Service he would stand up and warmly greet his congregation
as ‘my dear brethren’
It
was the morning of 1885 at the Age of 45, in a calm voice he began the Church
Service with…..
‘My fellow lepers, I am one of you
now’
1 God With Us
2 God
Given for Us
The Virgin Birth
Mary,
impregnated by the Holy Spirit
Isaiah
7:14
‘Therefore
the Lord himself will give you a sign:
The
virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son
And
will call him Immanuel’
God
With Us
God
One of Us
Isaiah 9:6
‘For
to us a child is born
To
us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders.
And
he will be called:
Wonderful
Counselor, Might God, Everlasting Father,
Prince
of Peace.’
1 God With Us
2 God Given for Us
3
God is the Way for us
The Good News
‘I
bring you good news of great joy for everyone!
The
Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord – has been for you tonight in Bethlehem,
the city of David!
-Luke 2:10,
11
‘The angel said to them, “Do not be
afraid. I bring you good news of great
joy that will be for all the people.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ
the Lord.’
Here’s the Truth!
·
Christianity teaches that humans are
helpless and can do nothing to merit salvation.
·
Christianity teaches that God takes the
initiative to reach out to all people.
Romans
5:6,8
‘When
we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time… God showed His
great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners’
This Message is about truth….
now
let’s examine His truth claims.
John
10:9,10
‘I
am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved……
I
have come that they may have life and have it to the full.’
John
3:36
‘Whoever
believes in the Son has eternal life but whoever rejects the Son will not see
life for God’s wrath remains on him.’
John 14:6
‘I
am the way, the truth, and the life.
No
one comes to the Father except through
me.’
These
are either ‘truth statement’ by one who tells the truth and never lies or these
statements are pure fraud.
C.S.
Lewis, professor at Cambridge University and once an agnostic, said that statement makes Jesus either a:
Lunatic - Liar
- Lord
You
need to decide.
The
choice is yours
1 God With Us
2 God Given for Us
3 God
is the Way for us
4
God lights the way for us
The Light Factor!
Scripture - John 1:1-14
John
1:4-9
‘In
him was life and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness but the
darkness has not understood it.
There
came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning
that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as
a witness to the light. The true light
that gives light to very man was coming into the world.’
The
Bible says that we saw His light and beheld His Glory!
As
we read the last chapter of the last book of the O.T. and then turn to the
first chapter of the first book of the N.T.
…… we are confronted with the fact that God became silent. He stopped talking to His
people for four hundred years.
·
400
years of silence
·
No
Word from God
·
No
Light, just darkness
·
The
Silence of Darkness
And
then the Wise Men Saw the Light
·
They
saw the light
·
They
followed the light
·
They
pursued the light
·
Seeing
(saw) the Light
John
8:12
‘I
am the light of the world. Whoever
follows Me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’
I Saw
The Light
I
wandered so aimless, life filled with sin
I
wouldn’t let my dear Savior in
Then
Jesus came like a stranger in the night
Praise
the Lord, I saw the light.
I saw the light, I saw the light
No more-darkness, no more night
Now I’m so happy, no sorrow in sight
Praise the Lord, I saw the light.
Just
like a blind man, I wandered along
Worries
and fears I claimed for my own
Then
like the blind man
that
God gave back his sight
Praise
the Lord, I saw the light.
I
was a fool to wander and stray
Straight
is the gate and narrow the way
Now
I have traded the wrong for the right
Praise
the Lord, I saw the light.
As we look to that Stable in Bethlehem
This
is Christ the king
Because
of Him we can:
·
Release our fears
·
Renew our faith
·
Receive our forgiveness
·
Rebuild our relationships
Christmas is:
Love
tugging man back to God with the powerful grasp
of
a tiny hand reaching from a bed of
straw
Did you hear that……. God is tugging you back to Himself
Because you are His treasure...
Because He loves you and you matter to
Him you need to know that you are His treasure……
Ann Weems, wrote:
"It was a family treasure.
"It was a family treasure.
That
golden vase, the priceless vase that had belonged to my great-grandmother &
my grandmother & now to my mother.
The
vase sat on the mantle, out of reach of little fingers. However, I managed to
reach it. I climbed to reach it, &I broke it. I broke the family treasure.
"Then I began to cry in loud sobs that brought my mother running. I could hardly get it out. ’I broke the vase,’ I said.
"Then I began to cry in loud sobs that brought my mother running. I could hardly get it out. ’I broke the vase,’ I said.
’I broke the treasure.’
"A look of relief came over her face, & she said,
"A look of relief came over her face, & she said,
’Oh, I thought that you had been
hurt.’ She hugged me, & made it very clear that I was her priceless
treasure."
You see, the message of Christmas is that God is our Father, a forgiving Father who stands ready and anxious to take us to Himself because we are His treasures, created in His image, and loved by His Son.
You see, the message of Christmas is that God is our Father, a forgiving Father who stands ready and anxious to take us to Himself because we are His treasures, created in His image, and loved by His Son.
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To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link:
http://proxy.autopod.ca/podcasts/chum/6/5436/good_news_657_dec18.mp3
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