Joy

Jay Brooks, Associate Minister

Isaiah 61:1-11 (NIV) tells us: "The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."

"They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God."

"You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. 'For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed.' "

"I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations."

These words we just read were written over 2,700 years ago. They were God's message of hope to his people. The Hebrew people were well versed in scripture. They knew the story of how sin entered the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve. They knew of the consequences of sin unloosed on the world. They lived with death, disease, broken relationships, and injustice, just as we do today. When they heard these words from Isaiah, they were looking for hope, for restoration, and for healing.

Seven hundred years after Isaiah gave them this message of hope, a baby was born in a tiny village, in an occupied country. The parents were temporarily homeless and delivered the baby in an animal enclosure. It didn't seem like a sure-fire way to rid the world of sin. In fact, soon after, they had to flee to Egypt to escape Herod's slaughter of innocents. But that first Christmas was a critical moment in time when God became a man and made his dwelling among us.

We celebrate Christmas because that baby grew up and accomplished some amazing things-- miracles, healings, teaching, training, resulting ultimately in his death on a cross. His "death" was followed up by conquering death through his resurrection from the grave.

• His name, Jesus, means "He saves" and he made a way to save us from our sins.
• He was also called Emmanuel, which means "God with us" and Jesus walked among us on the earth.

• When we call him Christ, we recognize him as the promised one, and he is the one Isaiah spoke about, who makes all things right.

But when you think of Christmas, and of Jesus, and about all the good that he brought to us, do you ever wonder? Do you wonder why there is still sin, and disease, and brokenness in our world? Christmas's aren't always happy occasions for everyone. In fact, we all still have need of hope. While Jesus' first coming started the healing, it is at his second coming that we will see the final victory. Our hope is still in Jesus. Jesus came as a baby, bringing hope for the weary. He is coming again, but this time as a victorious King. Two thousand years after his birth, we wait in eager expectation for Jesus, the joy of every longing heart.

Nic Cook, Worship Arts Minister

A couple of weeks ago, I spoke about the good news that God is for us. He has a plan and is able to carry it out using broken people, no matter what. We learned that there is no wasted pain in his plan, and that his Spirit guides and brings that plan about. So today we get to put the exclamation point on the end of that good news. Let's listen to what John has to say in John 1:14 (NIV). "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

This is a great passage. The imagery is incredible, but I'd like to read from "The Message" which is a poetic paraphrase of the Bible. It says: "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood."

Isn't that a great way of saying it? God moved into the neighborhood! He became flesh and blood and put some skin in the game, so to speak. It's one thing to say that God is for us and that he has a plan that deals with pain. It's another thing completely to know that God sent his Son into the middle of this mess in order to experience everything that we do. Imagine God moving into Chatham or Springfield. Imagine him eating, drinking, worshiping, healing, rebuking, teaching, and comforting among us.

When Jesus moved into the neighborhood, he turned the place upside down. He was notorious for associating with sinners. He himself actually said he didn't come for the healthy, but for the sick. In today's culture, this statement would be correctly interpreted as sarcasm. We all need saving from ourselves and from the power of Satan and death. Jesus loves messed up people. This is a good thing, because we're all messed up in one way or the other. He came to turn sinners into saints.

This Christmas we have two options. We can pretend we're not sick like the religious people of Jesus' day, or we can take comfort and joy in the news that God moved into our neighborhood. We can decide to worship and adore him.

Dr. Jon Morrissette, Preaching Minister

We've been singing some incredible truths this morning. This Christmas, our world is crying out for redemption. There is violence and bloodshed, extensive corruption, and incalculable pain. It's man against man, neighbor against neighbor, young against old, child against parent, parent against child, husband against wife, rich against poor, and poor against rich.

We're surrounded by economic devastation. Justice and righteousness have been driven away. We do not know how to heal our souls, our land, this nation, or this world. There is little encouragement for the oppressed. People's eyes have become closed, their ears deaf, and their hearts calloused to the things of God. We wonder if God is for us or against us. It feels like God has been hiding his face from us.

But then, in the fullness of time, despite our rebellion and sin, God showed his face to us. He fulfilled his ancient promise. He answered our prayers. On a dark night, the desired of all nations, God, came near. He was born of a virgin.

He came to break the power of sin, darkness, and Satan, even when we'd gone astray. The light that gives light to every man came into our world, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the one who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. The Son is the radiance of God's glory, and the exact representation of his being. He is the image of the invisible God. He is the word become flesh.

But then the unexpected happened. Satan reared his head. As his mother wept, the enemies of God circled. And the Son of God suffered our violence. We hurled our insults at him. He was the target of our anger and our deeply seated rage. We beat him with clubs, we led him out to his death like a sheep led to the slaughter, we stripped him of all dignity, we pierced his flesh, we shed his blood, and we mocked his righteous cause.

God continued to love us in that instant. God prayed, "Father, forgive them." But after Christ died on that cross, the unexpected happened yet again. God had come into the world. God had suffered at the hands of men. And then this same God rose from the grave on the third day, to redeem us from the curse of the law, defeat death once and for all, and offer us eternal life and a new birth, into his everlasting kingdom.

Romans 6:1-11 (NIV) says, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

"If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin."

"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." This is why we sing at Christmas.

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings. Ris'n with healing in His wings.

Mild He lays His glory by, born that men no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give them second birth.

Hark! The herald angels sing. "Glory to the newborn King!"

Brad Owen, Student Minister

"Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her king!

Isaiah 61:10 (NIV) says, "I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."

Christ has come and God has prepared us to be with him again. He has given us salvation and righteousness through Christ. He has prepared us as a bride and groom prepare for one another. I've never met a man who didn't see the most beautiful bride in the world walking down the aisle toward him on their wedding day. If one has ever existed, he didn't live to tell about it.

In the same way, Jesus is making us most presentable and perfect in the eye of our beholder, our Father God.

There is more to the song. "Let every heart prepare him room."

There is more to it than Christ preparing us. We must first prepare room in our hearts for him. You see, all heaven and nature will sing of the glory of God. But to be prepared, first we must give room in our hearts. The first step you can take is to accept Christ into your heart through baptism. This morning, Teagan Impson has come to do that.

"Joy, unspeakable joy! An overflowing well, no tongue can tell. Joy, unspeakable joy! It rises in my soul and never lets me go!"

When we are in Christ, and we are prepared to be reunited with the coming groom, the coming King... well, there is no greater joy on this earth.