Immanuel Baptist Church

Happy New Year to the Saints of God!

A new year is always a great time to start something new. This past Sunday I suggested the following as a new year’s resolution: Resolved this year to walk with God, to follow Christ, to deny myself and abandon fleshly pursuits, trusting Christ enough to take up my cross and follow him, giving my life as a living sacrifice for my Lord.

In addition to this you might make it your goal to read through the Bible in 2009. There are many excellent guides that will help you keep track of reading the Bible in a year. I want to recommend that we commit to reading the Bible together using The Discipleship Journal Reading Plan. Copies of this plan can be picked up from the church office or from the table in the Welcome Center. The plan has twenty-five readings a month, giving time to catch up if you fall behind. It will guide you through four passages a day and it can be cut into bookmarks to keep in your Bible. Let’s join together and read through the Bible in 2009.

Internet users, the reading plan is also available online.

The bookmark format for this reading plan was put together by Bethlehem Baptist Church.

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

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This sermon was preached by Rev. Chris Roberts during the evening service on December 28, 2008. The last of the sermons on the Christian Life, this message focuses on good Christian stewardship.

Matthew 16:24-28

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This sermon was preached by Rev. Chris Roberts during the morning service on December 28, 2008. As we get closer to 2009 believers are encouraged to resolve to deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow Christ.

As we approach a new year we are reminded of one of the great new year traditions: the practice of setting new year’s resolutions. I don’t know if anyone even makes these anymore. It may be the practice of another generation. But if you were to make a resolution, what would it most likely look like? What are the sorts of resolutions we usually make? Generally they are along the lines of resolving to lose weight, save money, read a certain number of books this year, learn a new language, so on.

The common thread is that most resolutions are self-serving. Inward focused. They are not bad things to do, especially when you consider that things like losing weight might help you better serve others (something I should remind myself). But the kind of things we resolve to do are usually somewhat self-serving and, to some degree, shallow.

But what should a Christian resolution look like? Especially going into 2009, a new year holding the possibility of promise and peril. Let’s think about the state of the world going into 2009 and see what the world might need from Christians. It could be because I’m something of a pessimist, or it could say something about the state of the world that it was easier to come up with bad things about the world than good things. These are troubled times.

First, the good. Going into 2009, Christianity is still exploding in third-world countries. Places that were once deep pits of darkness, places where many missionaries have been sent, are now becoming new centers of Christianity.

Another piece of good news going into 2009 is that God continues to rule over the universe. He continues to be sovereign, in control. We do not know what the new year holds but we do know who holds the new year. And he is good.

Now for some of the bad that we see going into 2009.

In America and Europe Christianity is stagnant and dying with many Christians settling for complacency and closing their eyes to lost people around them and problems in the world. In Europe churches are becoming increasingly scarce and empty. Once the seat of Christianity, Europe is almost thoroughly secularized. You and I might lament this fact but many are celebrating it.

Like many individuals, many churches have become self-serving organizations, more concerned about institutional survival and prosperity than biblical faithfulness.

Again on the religious front, in America some 70% of people believe everyone, regardless of religion or belief, will go to Heaven. Among those who call themselves Christian that number is around 50%. 50% of all professing Christians believe Buddhists, atheists, Muslims and Jews will be saved without ever calling on Jesus Christ. Meanwhile people’s knowledge and understanding of the Bible continues to fall.

Economic collapse has brought ruin to many and no one is quite sure what tomorrow will bring.

Despite many political and military efforts to bring peace, the risk of conflict around the world seems as dangerous as ever.

In the U.S. an estimated 1.4 million babies are aborted each year. Worldwide the number is an astounding 43 million.

Sin is as common as ever but it has grown even more acceptable. Things once thought shameful are now practiced in the streets. The sexual revolution of the 70’s continues to grow so that today teenagers are more likely than not to have sexual relations, to “hook up” – an expression referring to performing sexual activity – rather than date. Homosexuality is on the rise. Greed and avarice are on display all around us.

Going into this sort of world, what should we resolve to be as Christians?

In a world filled with so many frustrations, dangers, and heartaches – and our list only scratched the surface – our common desire is to isolate ourselves from the pain, to do what we can to be cut off from tragedy and suffering. For the last forty years America has largely succeeded in that goal but more and more we will not be able to hide. And we shouldn’t hide from it. As Christians we should be in the middle of it, sharing the love and peace of Jesus Christ.

This year, then, let’s not be afraid to make resolutions that are outward focused and God exalting, even if it calls for us to live sacrificially. No more wimpy Christianity. No more gutless expressions of grace. Let’s resolve to be committed followers of Christ, willing to follow him anywhere, all the while bearing our cross. Many will hate you, many will want to kill you, this is only what Jesus promised would happen. But many will turn to faith in Christ and regardless of human response God will be glorified by your faithfulness.

The new year’s resolution for Christians should be summarized from Matthew 16:24-28 with the details of our resolution filled in from all of Scripture. Let’s read the text, reading it as a Christian call to action and resolution.

In this passage Jesus calls on his followers to carry out three actions, he also gives three arguments that puts our actions in perspective, and he ends with the promise that his power and authority would be demonstrated before some of them.

Jesus first calls for us to deny ourselves. To humble ourselves. From time to time God grants me a vision of the world as he sees it. No, this is no mystical experience but a moment of clarity of what the ways of the world are really like. I had one such moment when reading about the growing Israeli-Gaza conflict. In this moment the world looks like one big ant bed with people nothing more than ants scrambling over one another. Trampling on each other, crushing one another into the mud, fighting and killing and destroying and pillaging in the attempt to elevate themselves, gaining power and position and recognition. In the end they are still just ants, all mediocre, all ultimately powerless. Meanwhile God is sovereign over the universe. The only way those ants could know anything of true glory would be to turn to God and experience the glory of the Lord. But they refuse to see this, refuse to worship anything other than themselves. And so the killing and violence and hate continues. Though usually less violent, the same things can take place in our schools, in our homes, our neighborhoods, our churches. We are ants scrambling for greatness but we will never be anything more than ants.

Jesus calls for us to recognize true majesty and turn to God. Deny yourself. No more scrambling for personal greatness but turn from yourself to God in service to others. Deny yourself! The gospel of peace is not spread when you seek to build your personal kingdom, your private domain. God is not glorified when Christians are ambitious for their own gain. Be ambitious for God’s kingdom. Do what you do to advance his work in the world. Deny yourself. Live for Christ.

Have the attitude of Paul in Acts 20:24 who believed he was facing death but was concerned only to do what God called him to do: But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

The second action Jesus calls us to is to take up your cross. In case anyone is not clear on what Jesus is asking us to do, Paul adds a detail in Romans 12:1: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Jesus’ command would have absolutely shocked his hearers. There was no more painful, more cruel, more disgraceful way to die than on a Roman cross. Deuteronomy 21:23 says that anyone hung on a tree is cursed, and Galatians 3:13 says this is exactly what happened to Christ: he became a curse for us when he was hung on the cross. And he calls for us to risk the same sort of pain and humiliation and suffering and agony? Every day?

Take up your cross, Jesus says. Be a living sacrifice, Paul says. The point of these commands is to live life without clinging to life. While you live, live! But while you live, don’t grasp to life as though it were the most important thing. Far more precious than your life is your faithfulness to God. He may call us to face suffering or tragedy or disaster, whether it be through some illness or the mission fields of Africa, Asia, or your own back yard.

I have told the story before of early missionaries to Africa who would carry their belongings in a coffin. They knew it was a one-way trip, and they went prepared to die, ready to give their lives for Christ. They were living sacrifices. Will you be a living sacrifice, take up your cross, here in Panama City?

In Luke 14:25-33 Jesus gives some additional startling instructions: Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

If you want to be a follower of Christ you should know what you are getting yourself into. Christianity is a call to salvation, to resurrection, to a banquet table in Heaven, but it is also a call to a cross, to sacrifice, to risk suffering and humiliation on earth for the sake of Christ. Count the cost. If you claim to be his, you will take up your cross.

The third action Christ tells us to carry out is to follow Him. Where would he lead you? Where would you be willing to follow? Jesus led his disciples to his Golgotha, his cross, his crucifixion and beyond that he led many of his followers to their own crosses. They were faithful unto death. Will you have such faithfulness?

We are not aimless wanderers, and we are not the masters of our own destinies. We will follow Christ and go wherever he leads, following wherever he thinks is best.

This requires trust, this requires faith. Trust that wherever he leads you, his will is good. Faith that his plan will be accomplished. God will have the victory! Trust him and follow him wherever he leads.

Jesus gives his disciples three arguments that put his three commands into perspective. Why should you deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Christ? Because of what we find in verses 25-27:

In scrambling to preserve ourselves we instead lose ourselves. (v25)
The treasures of the world do not equal the value of one’s soul. (v26)
God will repay people for their deeds. (v27)

These three verses all say essentially the same thing: you do not control your fate, God does. You cannot preserve your life, only God can. Are you self-serving, motivated with the interest of preserving your life? You might live to be 100 but in the end you will be lost. Are you a servant of Christ, seeking to do his will no matter what the cost to yourself? Then for all eternity your life will be safe, preserved in Christ. He who seeks to save his life will lose it, he who gives his life for Christ will find true life. You give your life every day by being a living sacrifice.

Of what value are all the things of the world if at the end you forfeit your life, your soul? Of what value is worldly opulence in the face of eternal judgment? If you want safety and security then turn to Christ. Serve him. Honor him. Follow him. Take up your cross. Deny yourself. Be fully his and in him find true security.

During his first time on earth Jesus came as savior, the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for the sins of the world. When he comes again it will be as the righteous judge, the conquering king. With an army of angels and the glory of his Father he will judge people for what they have done.

Be careful not to confuse how this works. Salvation is by faith, not by works. No one on the planet will be saved because they have been good enough to merit salvation. No one merits salvation. No one is good enough. We are saved when, by our faith, we are covered with the righteousness of Christ, made worthy to stand before God because of what Jesus has done, not because of what we have done. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

When you enter into Heaven it will be because of the work of Christ on your behalf. You stand innocent because of his righteous deeds.

Nonetheless, to be saved means something. To be born again means an actual change has taken place. There will be evidence of saving faith. You will produce fruit. You will show good works. Christians will be saved not because of their work but because of Christ’s work, but in your salvation you will demonstrate good works, and your reward in Heaven is in part determined by what you do.

Those who show only selfish clinging and grasping, nothing of faith and trust in Christ, will receive judgment.

Those who have true faith, saving faith in Christ – faith demonstrated by trusting Christ completely with their lives by denying themselves, taking up their crosses, and following him – will receive the reward of eternal life and to the degree that they were faithful, will receive even richer rewards in Heaven.

After hearing all of this, some in Jesus’ audience were likely perplexed and ready to challenge him. Who in the world is this person Jesus to claim such authority? How could he demand such allegiance, calling people to follow him and trust him with their eternity? Could anyone really trust the words of this man?

Jesus’ demands always came with demonstrations. In this case he promises that some of his disciples would see his kingdom before they died. There have been a host of explanations as to what Jesus meant by this but the most natural explanation is found in what takes place a few verses later in Matthew 17.

For the majority of believers seeing the Son of Man come in his kingdom will not take place until they go to be with him in Heaven or perhaps are still living when he returns a second time. Jesus did not mean some of his disciples would live for a really long time. I once read a story in which one of the disciples was said to still be alive today, hiding in a cave somewhere in the middle east.

This promise of Jesus’ was fulfilled in Matthew 17:1-8 when Peter, James and John were allowed to see Jesus transfigured, shown in his glory and power. For a brief time they were able to see the Son of Man in his kingdom. And as at his baptism, here we hear the voice of God declare, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased…

How is it that Jesus is able to call for obedient followers? How can he claim that he will judge the world? Because he is very God, the Son of God. Throughout the gospels we see his authority demonstrated. In his transfiguration some of his disciples were able to see him in his kingdom and heard the approval of his Father. Jesus has authority over all the earth. Trust in his goodness, trust also in his power to do what he says he will do.

When he was nineteen years old, Jonathan Edwards put together a set of seventy resolutions to guide his life. These resolutions were focused on helping Edwards be a more faithful, better equipped servant of God. It would be worth our while to study his resolutions and seek to apply them in our own lives but this morning I want to leave you with one resolution for the new year:

Resolved this year to walk with God, to follow Christ, to deny myself and abandon fleshly pursuits, trusting Christ enough to take up my cross and follow him, giving my life as a living sacrifice for my Lord.

The choir of Immanuel Baptist Church performed our Christmas Cantata on Sunday, December 21, 2008 during the evening service.

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Luke 4:16-21; Isaiah 61:1-3, 10-11

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This sermon was preached by Rev. Chris Roberts during the morning service on December 21, 2008. The final Sunday of Advent, Pastor Chris urges believers to rejoice in the Lord.

Welcome to the fourth Sunday of Advent. Today we are recognizing Gaudette Sunday, the Sunday of rejoicing. We rejoice because our wait is almost over, our King will soon be here! We rejoice knowing what it is he came to do for us.

I want to look at a couple of different texts that would stir us to rejoicing. First let’s look at a call to rejoice found in Isaiah 61:10-11.

What we have in this passage is not a public call to rejoicing but an individual calling himself to rejoice because of what God has done. For us this is an example that the people of God who have experienced the good things of God are called to rejoice in God.

The reason for rejoicing is not generic, isolated from life events, but is rooted in the real, historic acts that God has done for the believer. We will look specifically at some of these acts in a few moments, but the point here is that praise and rejoicing are not vague or general but spring from specific demonstrations of God’s character and might. A greater being might demand worship from a lesser being simply because the greater one is greater. God could do that but he does not. The praise and rejoicing we are called to show is in response to specific demonstrations of God’s goodness and faithfulness and power.

The way we rejoice should employ all aspects of ourselves – the emotions of the body, the thoughts of the mind, and the worship of the soul. Rejoicing is not just an intellectual act, or an emotional act, or a physical act.

Intellectual rejoicing could be done by reasoning out and contemplating the good things done for us that merit rejoicing. Do this! Do not neglect intellectual rejoicing. The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 77:12: I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. Intellectual rejoicing also comes by reflecting on and knowing the one we rejoice in. Know the object of your rejoicing – know God! – so that your rejoicing will be properly rooted and you will pursue God rather than an emotional high.

Emotional rejoicing is when our feelings are stirred, when our excitement grows and we feel joy and happiness. Emotional rejoicing should stir the body. This is what should prompt our lips to sing, our eyes to close, our hands to raise to God. We display and express these emotions through our bodies. We let others know our rejoicing through our words and actions. Do this! But do not let it grow out of control. Two warnings here.

First, we know of many Christians who have been taken over by emotionalism. They are driven by emotions and feelings and largely ignore intellectual rejoicing. They can be led astray by being made to follow their feelings rather than truth. This is one reason why intellect is so important. Know what you worship! Know why you worship Him! Far too many Christian events accomplish much emotional manipulation and little true worship. Rejoice in God, not in an emotional high. If your emotion is rooted in what you know – in your pondering and meditating on God’s work – you will be less likely to fall into manipulation.

The second warning is for those on the opposite end. There are those who would avoid any display of emotion and would sternly look down on any who show their emotions. But how can rejoicing be divorced from emotion? In his book on religious affections – that is, religious emotions – Jonathan Edwards goes so far as to say, “true religion consists so much in the affections that there can be no true religion without them…” and later: “If the great things of religion are rightly understood, they will affect the heart. The reason why men are not affected by such infinitely great, important, glorious and wonderful things, as they often hear and read of in the Word of God, is undoubtedly because they are blind…”

God created our emotions. God made us to respond to certain things with great depth of feeling. Emotions can be abused and misled, so we must use discernment, but we cannot ignore this part of us that God created. Edwards’ point builds on countless Scripture passages that call on believers to respond with their emotions: hate wickedness; despise sin; love God; love your neighbor; weep over your sin; rejoice over Christ’s redemption; long for the day of the Lord’s return. Over and over again Scripture calls for a stirring of the emotions of the believer. Do not fall into emotionalism, but do not be an emotionless zombie.

The third part of rejoicing is rejoicing in the soul. This engages the deepest part of a person to worship and glorify in the goodness and majesty of God. It is really in the soul that intellectual and emotional rejoicing come together and are offered to God. Time and again through the Psalms we find the Psalmist offering his very soul in worship to God, such as in Psalm 35:9: Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord, exulting in his salvation. This is also how Mary began her prayer of rejoicing to God in Luke 1:46-47: And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…

The rejoicing displayed for us in Isaiah 61:10-11 is great, not an insignificant thing. Insignificant rejoicing is often all we do. We pass over too quickly the kinds of worship and rejoicing we should offer to God. Wake up, say a prayer of praise, go on with our day. But we should offer God our lives, not just a few moments. Every moment is his and every moment you live should be an act of worship to God. Offer him a lifelong demonstration of joy, not demonstrations limited to morning devotions or Sunday services. Believer, rejoice! How great are the things he has done for you! How great his love for his people! As Philippians 4:4 tells us, Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say, rejoice!

Now if all of that says something about how to rejoice, we should spend some time talking about why to rejoice. I have already said that rejoicing should be rooted in the historic acts of God for man. What acts, exactly, should stir up our rejoicing?

Let’s read Luke 4:16-20.

Prior to this passage Jesus has just begun his public ministry. This event took place in a synagogue in Nazareth, the town where Jesus was raised. It was customary to have someone read from the Hebrew Scriptures while standing before the group of worshipers. When teaching, however, the teacher would customarily sit down. So Jesus stands to read then sits to teach. The reading came from Isaiah 61:1-2 and after reading it Jesus tells the people that it has now been fulfilled. They understand his meaning perfectly: he is the one who has been anointed with the Spirit of the Lord to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Looking at Jesus’ own proclamation we see several reasons to rejoice. Let’s read Isaiah 61:1-3 to get the broader context of what Christ came to do. There are numerous prophecies in Isaiah about the coming servant of the Lord and the work that he will do. In the few verses we are tackling we will only see a portion of that work.

In these few verses we are given six reasons for rejoicing. Had we kept reading we would see several more. If we included the verses we read earlier, Isaiah 61:10-11, we could add two or three more. But we will focus on what we have just read.

The first reason to rejoice is because we learn about Jesus that The Spirit of the Lord God is upon him… As part of the Trinity Jesus is God. Within the Trinity Jesus is the Son of God. Through the incarnation Jesus is God made man. Being triune God he is already one with the Holy Spirit. Being the Son he is also distinct from the Holy Spirit. Being in the flesh he is also able to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Confused yet? Welcome to the mystery of the triune God. Someday we will take a closer look at the nature of the trinity. For this morning it is enough to say that Jesus, though God and the Son of God, was able to be filled with the Holy Spirit once he became fully man. You might remember that he received the Spirit at his baptism: Luke 3:21-22: Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Rejoice that the one who came lived and worked among us not through human initiative or strength but by the very power of God! If it were not enough to know that Jesus was God in the flesh, know that the Holy Spirit dwelt with him as he performed his work on the earth.

The second reason for rejoicing is that the Lord has anointed [Jesus] to bring good news to the poor; he has sent [Jesus] to bind up the brokenhearted,… Read the gospels and see the sort of people Christ ministered to. It was not the well, the whole, the righteous; it was the weak, the sick, the sinful and cast out. It was not the rich and well-connected but the poor and oppressed. Rejoice that the God-man came to those who were weak and despised. He demonstrated clearly that he did not come for those who had the power to save themselves. His good news was for the poor. His comfort was for the brokenhearted. It continues to be that way today. And what we learn throughout Scripture is that this is the true condition of each and every one of us. Spiritually, we are all as dead and sinful before God as the tax collector or the gentile prostitute or any other sinful sort you care to name. We are all in the same condition before God. God came to bring to you good news and to comfort you in your sorrow. Rejoice in the God who loves even those who can do nothing for themselves! Rejoice that God loves the weak and despised and rejected, the very dregs of society.

The third reason is because Jesus came to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;… Setting the captive free. At this point Isaiah’s prophecy really begins to move in a spiritual direction, though Isaiah may not have known it. Throughout the gospels we do not find Jesus setting captives free. The closest we get is when he protects the woman caught in adultery. The promise we have here is of freedom from spiritual bondage. In John 8:34 Jesus tells us, “…everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” And who commits sin? Everyone. Without Jesus we are all enslaved to sin. Without God working in our lives we are unable to escape the power of sin. In Romans 8:2 Paul tells us: For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. You were a captive. Chained to sin. Hopeless for release. Free only to sin more. It is Christ that set you free! Rejoice! God has given liberty to the captives! Lost sinner, he has the key to the chains that bind you. Believer, it is he who set you free! Rejoice in Christ! And turn to him alone for freedom.

The fourth reason is because Jesus also came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God;… Two things here that should cause believers to rejoice and enemies of God to despair. Those who are his will enter into his rest. They will receive his favor and grace and every good thing. Those who are not his will be crushed and enter into judgment. God has not yet brought to an end his work on earth so we are still waiting the final fulfillment of this prophecy. But we have received the one who will fulfill it. Christ has come and he will return! When he does he will bring all of his children into the year of the Lord’s favor. He will bring all of his enemies the day of vengeance. Be careful not to think of these things as temporally limited. The reward of Heaven is eternal. The punishment of Hell is also eternal. But the durations given here – year of favor, day of vengeance – are to show the continuing focus of God on his people. Those cast in Hell will no longer receive God’s attention and work. They will not be forgotten, for then they would cease to exist. But for them there is only one continuous reality for the rest of eternity and God will do nothing more with them once he places them under his judgment. But for those who are his, for his children, for those clothed in Christ’s righteousness, there is continuing favor and newness and life. He delights in them and they in him. The believer in Heaven will know every day the promise of Lamentation 3:22-23: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Rejoice! For all eternity you will be in the Lord’s favor and every day will be as new. For those under judgment there will be never-ending, unchanging misery. For those in the love of Christ there will be new experiences of love and mercy throughout eternity.

The fifth reason for rejoicing is rooted in another work of Jesus: he came to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion – to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit… Later in Isaiah God offers this promise: Isaiah 66:13 As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you… Your comfort does not come from the hand of man but from the hand of your Creator. Rather than the ashes mourners used to pile on their heads, God will give you a beautiful headdress. Oil of gladness and not oil of mourning. Praise rather than a faint spirit. All these will be given you by God. There are a few promises contained in this. One is that your mourning would come to an end. The world offers nothing but helplessness. With sin there is no future. In your rebellion there is nothing you can do but despair for you have no hope. But from God comes hope! He will turn despair into gladness. A second promise is that God himself will make this change in you. You do not have to try and find your own way to be happy, fulfilled – God will give these things to you. And he gives them through himself. He is the happiness we seek. He is the oil of gladness. He is the one worthy of our praise and only by praising him can we truly be happy. Rejoice! God has wiped away our tears and he has done so by giving us himself!

The final reason for hoping here is because we his people may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified… Rejoice! The good things done for you have a purpose greater even than yourself! The good God has done for you has served to bring him even greater glory! In your salvation God is glorified! We would think that God would be demeaned to stoop down to us, take on sin for us, be crucified on the cross, bearing sin in our place… It would tarnish God to ever have a relationship with sinful humans. Instead God is glorified through us! But he is glorified because everything good that happens to us happens from him! We are the planting of the Lord, not of ourselves. All of love, all of grace and mercy, all of salvation come to us from God and when he displays them in us he is glorified. Rejoice! God is glorified in you.

I want to close with a point about who is this Jesus we rejoice in. Back in Luke we find a peculiar situation after Jesus reads from the Isaiah scroll. We will not read the passage but I will summarize it, Luke 4:22-30. At first the people marvel in him. One of their own, fulfilling the prophecy of the Messiah? One of their own, performing such miracles? Then Jesus addressed them again and revealed to them very sharply that he was not exactly what they expected. The people wanted a Jewish Messiah to restore Jewish military and political dominance. They did not want a spiritual Lord who came to set free both Jew and gentile. When Jesus reminds them of God’s favor to the gentiles, these people who moments before had praised him suddenly decide they want him dead. Enraged, they try to throw him from a cliff but he goes away unharmed.

Many people find it easy to rejoice in a Christ of their own conception. The popular Jesus today is one who is all-inclusive, embracing people on their own terms rather than on his. They recognize that he is the friend of sinners but they forget that he called sinners to repentance. He forgave the prostitute, but he then told her to go and sin no more. He is the good shepherd who came to give life to dead sheep, setting them free from bondage to sin and decay. He came to transform people, to bring his sheep into a new way of life. He came to move us out of the world’s ways and into the way he intended us to live when he created us. There is only one way to salvation and that is through Jesus Christ – not the Jesus Christ the world wants us to believe in who forgives everything and expects nothing, but Jesus Christ as he is revealed in all of Scripture. Rejoice in Him and Him alone.

Remember Friday, December 19th, we will leave the church at 12:45 p.m. to attend “The Rader Family Christmas Show” at Arnold High School. No charge for the show or transportation.

If we changed our meeting time from the 2nd Tuesday to the 3rd Tuesday would that conflict with any of your plans? Please let me hear what you think.

Remember to be involved in all Immanuel has planned for Christmas. I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.

Martha

To the church of God that is in Panama City, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The above greeting is almost identical to what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:2-3. Do you see how personal it is? This is how all of the Bible should be for you. Scripture was written at particular times and particular places to particular people but it is not limited to those times and places and people. People often fall into error when they treat the Bible like some archaic book meant for those in the past. In the Bible God has given us the timeless revelation of himself and it is equally intended for all people. How we apply it might change – for example, Jesus Christ liberated us from the chains of the Law of Moses. But what Scripture is intended to teach never changes. (Be careful! You will hear some say other parts no longer apply – like commands against homosexuality or the establishment of men as leaders in church and home, but such instructions are timeless.) Read the Bible as God’s revelation to you, to your family, to your neighbors. Wrestle with the hard parts. Praise with the praises. Weep over the sinful destructiveness of humanity. And rejoice when the God-man sets us free from our sins. The Bible – the Word of God to the church of God that is in Panama City, Florida.

The church office will be closed Thursday, January 1st, for New Years Day. We will reopen January 2nd.

The church office will be closed Wednesday, December 24 and Thursday, December 25 for Christmas eve and Christmas day. We will reopen Friday, December 26.

There were 32, including our guests, present for our December luncheon.

Bob shared some slides of our trip to Pigeon Forge and Ashville. Many of the slides were taken at The Cove, a retreat connected to the Billy Graham Association.

Our program guests were The Sunshine Singers from the Panama City Women’s Club. They entertained us with many cute Christmas songs. They had us patting our feet and even singing along. The program was enjoyed by all.

On Friday, December 19th, we will leave the church at 12:45 p.m. to attend “The Rader Family Christmas Show” at Arnold High School. Let me know if you plan to go with us on the bus. No charge for the show or transportation.

If we changed our meeting time from the 2nd Tuesday to the 3rd Tuesday would that conflict with any of your plans? Please let me hear what you think.

Martha