{"id":756,"date":"2012-12-09T14:12:04","date_gmt":"2012-12-09T14:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=756"},"modified":"2012-12-10T14:20:02","modified_gmt":"2012-12-10T14:20:02","slug":"what-are-you-looking-for-this-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=756","title":{"rendered":"What are You Looking for This Christmas?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Message by Chad Kelly<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

rec1209-113434<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Gilmer Middle School 6th<\/sup> graders make their own \u201cGrownup Christmas List\u201d.\u00a0 Some of their wishes are:<\/p>\n

For homeless people to get a home<\/p>\n

For the world not to be torn apart by people arguing<\/p>\n

For my family to be fixed again<\/p>\n

For a dad who doesn\u201d\u2122t leave us, one who would help us if we were in need, sick or if we needed a place to stay<\/p>\n

For people who need food to get food<\/p>\n

For my family\u201d\u2122s business to make it through<\/p>\n

For me to get a bed<\/p>\n

For my family to love me like they do my siblings<\/p>\n

For my family to not be torn apart, that we\u201d\u2122re together again, not spread out all over<\/p>\n

For a dad that will always care<\/p>\n

For a trip to Mexico to see my grandmother whom I\u201d\u2122ve never seen<\/p>\n

For my dad to have a better job, because he comes home tired and his back hurts all the time<\/p>\n

For my grandma to stop taking drugs, talk to my dad, and to see her again<\/p>\n

For God to fix our water and take away the ants where we will not have to move this Christmas<\/p>\n

Those are the wishes of pre-teens who live within just a few miles of where you are sitting this morning.<\/p>\n

What are You Looking for This Christmas?<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Luke 4:16-21<\/strong><\/p>\n

Advent is Jesus coming to show us that God does not shut out, but welcomes in, those who \u201cdon\u201d\u2122t belong\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Luke 4:16-21 (MSG)<\/strong><\/p>\n

16-21\u00a0<\/sup>He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,<\/p>\n

God\u201d\u2122s Spirit is on me;
\nhe\u201d\u2122s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,
\nSent me to announce pardon to prisoners and
\nrecovery of sight to the blind,
\nTo set the burdened and battered free,
\nto announce, \u201cThis is God\u201d\u2122s year to act!\u201d<\/p>\n

He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, \u201cYou\u201d\u2122ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus said that the reason He was born was to bring hope and help into the everyday lives of those who need it most\u201d\u201dthe \u201coutsiders\u201d, the \u201cunacceptables\u201d of society!<\/p>\n

The groups described in our text were just such folks!<\/p>\n

Looking out on our world this morning from where we sit right now, these \u201coutsiders\u201d, those who are \u201cunacceptable\u201d might include Muslims, blacks, homosexuals, illegal immigrants, alcoholics, divorcees, drug-users, adulterers\u201d\u00a6you fill in the blank with the kind of folk that you find it easy to stamp \u201cREJECT\u201d.<\/p>\n

Jesus says that He came for THOSE very folks!<\/p>\n

Jeremiah 30:17<\/strong> (NLT)<\/strong><\/p>\n

17\u00a0<\/sup>I will give you back your health
\nand heal your wounds,\u201d says the Lord.
\n\u201cFor you are called an outcast\u201d\u201d
\n\u201d\u02dcJerusalem for whom no one cares.\u201d\u2122\u201d<\/p>\n

And I\u201d\u2122m so glad\u201d\u00a6because MOST of us have been, to some degree or the other, much like those whom we now find it so easy to hate and reject.<\/p>\n

Advent is Jesus coming to show us that God does not shut out, but welcomes in, those who \u201cdon\u201d\u2122t belong\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

What does that mean?<\/em><\/p>\n

It means that Jesus came to change peoples\u201d\u2122 lives right now!<\/p>\n

Yes\u201d\u00a6part of changing our lives right now is giving us hope for an eternity with God in peace and righteousness.<\/p>\n

BUT, there is a real element of present change that Jesus says He was bringing when He was born in that out of the way stable in the little village of Bethlehem!<\/p>\n

Ronnie McBrayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus\u201d\u2122 ambition was not to whisk people away to a far removed heaven.\u00a0 His ambition was to put heaven inside of people!<\/p>\n

Advent is Jesus coming to show us that God does not shut out, but welcomes in, those who \u201cdon\u201d\u2122t belong\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

David Bosch<\/strong><\/p>\n

God\u201d\u2122s reign (the Kingdom of God) arrives whenever Jesus overcomes the power of evil.<\/p>\n

Jesus welcomed those who \u201cdon\u201d\u2122t belong\u201d.\u00a0 Jesus touched the untouchables\u201d\u00a6He hung out with the worst of society and loved them!\u00a0 He healed the sick, He gave hope to the poor and He fed the hungry.<\/p>\n

Jesus transformed the everyday lives of those He met!<\/p>\n

And He still IS bringing transforming grace to peoples\u201d\u2122 everyday lives!<\/p>\n

And guess HOW He\u201d\u2122s doing that today?<\/p>\n

Jesus continues to graciously welcome those who don\u201d\u2122t belong through US, His CHURCH!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sadly, sometimes the church misses Jesus\u201d\u2122 desire to use us as His hands and feet and it\u201d\u2122s more like what Philip Yancey says\u201d\u00a6<\/p>\n

Philip Yancey<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like fine wine poured into a jug of water, Jesus\u201d\u2122 wondrous message of grace get diluted in the vessel of the church.<\/p>\n

God help us NOT to dilute Your grace!\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

For the grace of God in Jesus Christ is rich and powerful and hope-giving and peace-providing and life-changing! God forgives us of ALL of our sin and gives us a new way to live that makes both today and eternity radically different than before!<\/em><\/p>\n

Every time we give a coat and socks to someone, feed a meal to a family, or send a box of food (and a turkey) home with, a family\u201d\u00a6 Jesus is graciously welcoming them through you.<\/p>\n

Every time you\u201d\u2122re DON\u201d\u2122T treat the weird kid at school like everyone else does and actually try to get to know them, Jesus is graciously welcoming them through you!<\/p>\n

Every time you relieve your family members by sitting with their comatose son so that they can rest, Jesus brings transforming grace into their lives.<\/p>\n

Every time you provide work for someone who needs it, Jesus brings transforming grace into their lives.<\/p>\n

Every time you welcome into your home someone who didn\u201d\u2122t have a home, Jesus brings transforming grace into their lives.<\/p>\n

Does this mean that we don\u201d\u2122t need to tell folks about the Cross and the forgiveness and peace with God that Jesus bought there?\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

NO!\u00a0 Of course not!\u00a0 I\u201d\u2122m simply saying that a Gospel that doesn\u201d\u2122t include practical love, transforming grace for everyday living\u201d\u00a6it\u201d\u2122s not the Gospel of Jesus!<\/p>\n

For, according to Jesus Himself\u201d\u00a6<\/p>\n

Advent is Jesus coming to show us that God does not shut out, but welcomes in, those who \u201cdon\u201d\u2122t belong\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Does this mean that Jesus will, through His church, \u201cfix\u201d every hard situation, right every wrong?\u00a0 Does this mean that Jesus will answer every one of the wishes of those Gilmer Middle School 6th<\/sup> graders?<\/em><\/p>\n

No.<\/p>\n

But\u201d\u00a6it DOES mean that He most definitely WILL change some of their lives in amazing ways, IF we as His Body\u201d\u201dHis hands and His feet\u201d\u201dwill get involved in those situations.<\/p>\n

Advent is Jesus coming to show us that God does not shut out, but welcomes in, those who \u201cdon\u201d\u2122t belong\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Samuel Escobar<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a most authentic way, the church is the continuation of the incarnation.\u00a0 It is the expression and embodiment of Advent.\u00a0 We are the next chapter in the Christmas story.<\/p>\n

Oh, not that WE can, on our own, do ANYTHING to \u201cfix\u201d anybody or anything in this world!<\/p>\n

But JESUS CAN\u201d\u00a6through even US\u201d\u201dwho are jars of clay holding His amazing treasure of grace\u201d\u00a6<\/p>\n

JESUS CAN, through US, bring transforming grace to the everyday lives of those all around us!<\/p>\n

And THAT, my friends, is what ADVENT is all about!<\/p>\n

Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Communion<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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