Author: Tim

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Sermon Audio: The Journey He Made
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: John 1:1-5, John 1:9-14, Philippians 2:5-11
Duration: 25:47
Size: 15.0 MB

Empty the Jar at Christmas
The Journey He Made
John 1:1-5, John 1:9-14, Philippians 2:5-11

Today, I want to focus on the journey that Jesus made because that’s what Christmas is all about.

John begins by presenting three truths to show that the Word is God in John 1:1. In the beginning was the Word–the Word existed eternally.

John is proclaiming this to be true for the Word–from the beginning of time, light has always overcome darkness.

Even worse though–His own people, the Jews, not only didn’t receive Him, they even rejected Him.

He came to this earth, lived without sin, taught people how to live for God, healed the sick and raised the dead, then gave up His own life out of love for humanity.

We’re told that Jesus was obedient to the will of God–even to the point of death on a cross.

Jesus is the light that shines on all, the creator of all, the man who died and raised for all. He made this journey out of love for all.

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Sermon Audio: What Journey Shall We Make
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Matthew 2:9-12
Duration: 13:43
Size: 8.57 MB

Empty the Jar at Christmas
What Journey Shall We Make
Matthew 2:9-12

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Sermon Audio: The Gifts We Bring
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Matthew 2:9-11
Duration: 19:59
Size: 11.2 MB

Empty the Jar at Christmas
The Gifts We Bring
Matthew 2:9-11

I suspect that each of those gifts was more like wrapping paper. Beautiful on the outside, but inside–there was something valuable hidden!

So hidden within that gift of Gold, was a proclamation: Jesus is King.

So, Frankincense was an offering (or a gift) to God. And hidden within that gift (to Jesus)…was this message: Jesus was God in the flesh.

So, the gift Myrrh the Wise-men brought declared Jesus had come to be our Priest.

The question today is this: What can I bring to Jesus? What kind of gifts can I bring to a God–a King–a Savior…who has everything?

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Sermon Audio: The Opportunities We Miss
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Matthew 2:1-11
Duration: 23:48
Size: 13.5 MB

Empty the Jar at Christmas
The Opportunities We Miss
Matthew 2:1-11

It was a star of wonder, a star of night, a star with royal beauty bright–and when the Wise-men saw that star from the East they went…and they stopped at Jerusalem to ask for directions.

And the reaction from the King–and everyone else was–they were disturbed.

Why didn’t somebody just go to Bethlehem after the angels appeared to the Shepherds?

They got to the point where they weren’t looking for Jesus anymore.

They didn’t think the Messiah was coming–so they didn’t go looking for Him. So they missed their opportunity.

The point is, nobody seemed to want this child to upset their lives so they missed their opportunity to find Jesus along with all He promised.

God wanted to put this great city on notice that a mighty prophecy was about to be fulfilled, because the promised Messiah had come.