Posts

Posted on

2011-12-04: Learning From the Songs of Christmas – O Come O Come Emmanuel

Sermon: O Come O Come Emmanuel
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 11:1-12
Duration: 25:21
Size: 11.6 MB

Learning From the Songs of Christmas
O Come O Come Emmanuel
Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6; Isaiah 11:1-12

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

This popular song dates back to the year 800 and represents an important and ancient series of services celebrated by the Church.

Christmas is nothing short of the most historic day in human history. God became flesh and dwelt among us.

Indeed, our Christmas carol begins where any discussion on the central figure of Christmas must begin, by declaring Christ to be nothing less than redeemer God.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Throughout Scripture wisdom is closely linked to God. Genuine wisdom finds its roots in God and His Word.

Jesus Christ is fully the “Wisdom of God” and is worthy to be celebrated in song.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

The “Rod of Jesse” refers to Isaiah 11:1. Isaiah’s writings predict a time when things will look hopeless.

It may, in fact, look bleak and hopeless but you dare not give up hope for he who said it will be faithful.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

A more literal translation suggests that “God has visited us as a sun rise from heaven.”

Light changes everything! The world looks different and is easier to navigate when there is light.

Jesus Christ is indeed the “Light of the world” and is worthy to be celebrated in song.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

The “power of the keys” was a significant role in a monarchy. It is none-the-less true in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus Christ is qualified to rule God’s Kingdom and is worthy to be celebrated in song.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

He has conquered the hostile enemy that has held a grip on the human soul for millenia.

He deserves to be called “Mighty God” and is worthy to be celebrated in song.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

We speak of “peace on earth and goodwill toward men.”

Isaiah longed for world peace too. And he knew when and where it would be fulfilled – in the Messiah – in the reign of God.

Jesus Christ is indeed the “Prince of Peace” and is worthy to be celebrated in song.

Jesus is:

  • Completely God
  • Your source of Wisdom
  • Your trustworthy Hope
  • The Light of salvation
  • The ruler of God’s eternal kingdom
  • The conqueror of evil
  • Your source for peace.
Posted on

2011-11-27: Learning From the Songs of Christmas – O Little Town of Bethlehem

Sermon: O Little Town of Bethlehem
Speaker: Pastor John Pettigrew
Scripture Text: Micah 5:1-5
Duration: 23:50
Size: 10.9 MB

Learning From the Songs of Christmas
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Micah 5:1-5

1. Christ’s birth was according to a divine plan. (Micah 5:1-3a)

A. The Savior would be born in an unassuming way. (Micah 5:1-2a)

O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. (Matthew 2:1-6)

It may be that our part in life’s work may be very small… on note… but even that is important.

The problem with too many of us, as Vance Havner observed, is “So many of us are not big enough to become little enough to be used of God.”

B. The Second part of God’s plan: The Savior would be born in an unusual way. (Micah 5:2b-3)

For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love
O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the King
And Peace to men on earth

When Christ became a man through the incarnation, he voluntarily limited what to him was the most precious thing in the world; unhampered, unhindered communion with the Father.

2. The second great thing about Christ’s birth is: Christ’s birth makes possible a new person. (Micah 5:3-5a)

A. First, we can become a new person individually.

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may his His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

The prophet speaks of the benefits that come to the life of one who has received Christ into their life.

  • He will benefit from God’s guidance. (Micah 5:4a, Psalm 23)
  • He will benefit from God’s greatness. (Micah 5:4b, Romans 8:35…39)
  • He will benefit from God’s goodness. (Micah 5:5a)
  • He enjoys peace with God (Romans 5:1), He enjoys the peace of God (Philippians 4:6-7), He enjoys the God of peace (Micah 5:5a).

Perhaps the very best place for those dreams was on the rubbish pile, for God may have better plans for you after all. He will bring them to pass through His own Son, who gives you, in your entirely new life, dreams and plans fashioned in a much better way than you could do for yourself.

B. We can become a new person collectively. (Micah 5:3-5a)

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel

There are many porcupine Christians running around. They have their good points, but you can’t get near them because their bad point prick too hard.

The devil never fears a congregation that is not seeking to become the new person collectively that God calls them to be, because they are no threat to his operation! Let’s put the fear of God into the devil, by committing today to growing in unity and love as the people of God!

Conclusion

Having trusted the Savior, we have been set free from sins’ awful condemnation. Now by His Spirit we have the power to turn from our sin and live for Him. That’s the only way to honor Christ – our Great Emancipator.

I’m glad my Savior didn’t hesitate to leave His throne in glory! Christ did not hesitate to die for me; may I not hesitate to live for Him!

Posted on

2011-11-20: Are You Truly Thankful?

Sermon: Are You Truly Thankful?
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 17:11-19
Duration: 23:43
Size: 10.8 MB

Are You Truly Thankful?
Luke 17:11-19

Three aspects of thankfulness that we can to glean from this Scripture:

1: There are no good excuses for unthankfulness.

We as Americans love to make excuses.

In our story of the ten lepers, the nine that were not thankful probably had excuses that they thought were good for not coming back to thank Jesus.

Jesus expected every one of them to be thankful, and he expects that of Christians today.

2: Everyone has something to be thankful for.

God wants us to be thankful in all circumstances because we all have something to be thankful for.

We are a blessed people with much to be thankful for. We must be a more thankful people.

If you can attend church meetings without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than three billion in the world.

3: We as Christians need to set the bar for thankfulness.

Christians are called to be set apart from the world, yet only 10% of the population is acting that way.

When the church should have been setting the bar of thankfulness, the world was actually leading the way.

This week, I encourage you to make a list of everything you can think of that you can thank God for – and then do it.

Posted on

2011-11-13: Games People Play – Angry Birds

Sermon: Games People Play – Angry Birds
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Genesis 8:6-19
Duration: 34:29
Size: 15.7 MB

Games People Play
Angry Birds
Genesis 8:6-19

Noah was in a way the earliest angry birds player in all of history.

We live in a world full of people like Noah, hesitant to get off of the boat.

We give signals to those on the boat, and the research tells us that Christians have been angry birds.

Put simply, the word “Christian” has very high negatives right now–especially with the generations that represent America’s religious future.

What do the hesitant people, the people just dying to get out of the boat, the people ready to set their feet on living ground wither they know it or not, what do they see in the church birds?

Can you imagine how things might change if people knew that church was fun.

Five good reasons why the church is fun.

  1. We can turn up the music as loud as we like.
  2. Church is fun because you can wear what you want.
  3. Church is fun because you get to keep your lunch money.
  4. Church is fun because we DAT (do awesome things).
  5. Church is fun because there is always something to eat.

Noah opens the covering of the ark, and when he does he hears God speak.

We live in a hesitant world and we have hesitant hearts.

If we fly like this my guess is that we will see coverings coming off of arks all over the place.

Posted on

2011-11-06: Games People Play – Twister

Sermon: Games People Play – Twister
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Hebrews 12:1b-2a
Duration: 25:46
Size: 11.7 MB

Games People Play
Twister
Hebrews 12:1b-2a

Getting pulled in 100 different directions on a Twister mat is fine. But it’s not so fine when life feels like one big game of Twister.

I. The first thing I want to share with you in winning the Twister game in your life, is to be flexible.

If you’re tangled up, then you can’t be flexible to reach the color.
Proverbs 29:1

Each time you decide to try one of those “it won’t hurt” adventures, you’re mind becomes more confident, while your heart becomes more callous.

To keep your flexibility, you need to follow the last part of verse 1, “throw off,” lay aside every weight.

II. The second thing I want to share with you in winning the Twister game in your life, is to keep your balance.

This phrase, “fix your eyes on Jesus,” is really a call for us to turn the knob on our lives to bring things back into focus.

Maybe the person you know who is focused on the wrong things is you.

Whenever you’re facing an option or a choice in your life, there are four questions you can ask that will help you decide where this choice belongs.

The first question is “Does this choice meet God’s approval?”
Psalm 86:12

A second question to ask is “Does this choice strengthen my family ties?” – Because you are irreplaceable in your family.

The third question to ask is “Does this choice help others?”
I Peter 4:10

The fourth question to ask is “Does this choice make my life better?”
Proverbs 28:25

If we have a choice that doesn’t match up with one of these questions, then our passage from Hebrews says “throw it off.”
II Peter 3:17

Our focus has to be on our relationship with Jesus and that has to be reflected in our life’s priorities.

Next Week
Angry Birds