Christmas Gifts
• What gifts did you receive yesterday/this Christmas?
• I love gifts. As I grow older, I love giving them perhaps as much or mor than receiving them.
• Xbox
Jesus is the perfect gift of Christmas.
We think we give gifts following the example of the Magi who brought Jesus gifts… No, they were following the example of a God who gave—he gave life, order, and eventually his Son to set all things right. So we, like the Magi, give gifts because of the example set for us by God himself.
I also love wrapping gifts… art & science
• Wrap rage, sorry!
• Imagine wrapping a gift and never opening it… Clark Griswold… how sad.
Jesus, the gift of Christmas, his arrival was foretold and promised, and his mission was clear. He came to save the lost. He came, ultimately, to die. That was his mission on earth, and he saw it through. But what happened next? He rose from the dead.
Just as Jesus is the gift of Christmas, the resurrection is the gift of Christmas unwrapped.
Kids in worship
Shelley Kuchar children’s minister… a few friends form Lakeside Kids… welcome to stage
Going to talk about the resurrection and why it matters… not just for kids; adults will learn some things too…
1. What was the ultimate purpose of Jesus coming to earth? Hint, God tells us to remember it every time we come together with communion.
a. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that we have all sinned. The people of the Old Testament had to make sacrifices of animals for their sins often. Jesus came and led a sinless life to be the perfect sacrifice.
2. Satan did not like the hope Jesus was spreading on earth. The leaders wanted to stop him. They put him on the cross and killed him.
a. To make sure there was no hope of Jesus’ return:
i. They put him in burial clothes
ii. They put him in a tomb
iii. They rolled a rock in front of the tomb
iv. They put guards in front of the tomb
3. On the 3rd day:
i. The guards had run away
ii. The stone was rolled away
iii. The tomb had the burial clothes
iv. The burial clothes were empty
4. Jesus’ resurrection is proof that he won the fight against sin and death. He is alive! I Cor 15:17 tells us that Jesus death on the cross is useless if He did not rise again. Jesus did not stay dead. That is the resurrection.
5. Why is the resurrection so important? It is our hope and promise for life.
a. He took our sins to the cross and rose again. He is the winner!
b. When we sin, sometimes we cannot understand why we did what we did. The Bible tells us we can be slaves to sin. When we make Jesus Lord of our lives, we are baptized. We go under the water (dead to sin) and we come out of the water (new creation) . Jesus freed us from sin and he has given us an inheritance with God.
c. Jesus promises us he is preparing a place for us in his father’s house. And he promises he will be with us always.
6. Jesus was born to bring us hope ultimately through his resurrection.
3 nativity sets
• Precious Moments
• Ceramic
• Glass… Couldn’t find Jesus… Where is Jesus? Panicked, searched everywhere.
• we found Jesus… flip over the manger and there he was all along. Phew!
Shelley just talked about the resurrection and why that’s so important… “But wait, there’s more!” The story goes on further… After Jesus rose from the dead, what did he do next, and why does that matter? We have to ask the question, Where is Jesus now?
Where is Jesus now?
Before we answer that, just some observations we need to
• Jesus rose physically… the same body he lived in, was crucified, and was buried… also rose and ascended.
• Same body, but made incorruptible… for 40 days… Wounds did not decay… he ate & drank… he was touched… he disguised his appearance… he appeared out of nowhere… he vanished from sight… he floated off into the heavens…
• Christ was born fully human and fully God: incarnation; and he still is fully human and fully God. His incarnation is ongoing. I know that’s a mind-blowing concept, and we might struggle a little with it, but think about it…
• His new life is eternal. If Jesus’ new life had not continued, if he rose fully human alone, he would have died again (i.e. Lazarus). The resurrection would’ve been in vain.
• He left to send the Holy Spirit. If Jesus had not ascended, if he rose fully divine alone, he could’ve stayed here on earth forever, we would still be looking for him in physical form, but he could not have sent the Holy Spirit, and therefore the Church would not have begun.
o John 14:26
o John 15:26
o John 16:7
So… Where is Jesus now?
3 icons (cloud/King, heart/Priest, church/Prophet)
At the right hand of the Father—King
• Col 3:1
• Heb 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2
• Ep 1:20
• Ro 8:34
He is the reigning and returning King.
Dwells in your heart—Priest
Ep 3:16-17a
On the cross Jesus accomplished atonement for sin.
Jesus now intercedes for us.
My Heart, Christ’s Home by Robert Munger, 1954
Christ gradually looks into each room in our home and begins to make changes, if we are willing… by the end of the story, sign over the title of the home to Christ entirely.
This increasing indwelling by faith allows us to see & understand more and more the love of Christ… established in love, comprehend Christ’s love, and fully filled with God. Ep 3:17b-19
Jesus is King; he reigns and is returning.
Jesus is Priest; he dwells in your heart by faith.
Jesus is Prophet; he is embodied in the Church.
Embodied in the Church–Prophet
Jesus ascended on the 40th day after his resurrection… and sent the Holy Spirit on the 50th day
Paul’s prayer in Ep 3 begins that we would be empowered by the Spirit, strengthening our faith in Christ who dwells in our hearts.
Paul gets into what this empowerment looks like… Personal responsibilities with Corporate ramifications… Ep 4:25-32 (“We are members of one another” v. 25b)… riddled with “one anothers”
• Stop lying and tell the truth (4:25a)
• Don’t let anger fester and lead to sin (4:26)
• Don’t let the Devil have footholds on your life (4:27)
• Don’t steal, but work so you can share with others (4:28)
• Avoid foul language and build up others with graceful speech (4:29)
• Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit (4:30a)
• Get rid of bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting, slander, malice (4:31)
• Be kind, compassionate, forgiving (4:32)
• Imitate God in how Christ loved (5:1)
• Abstain from sexual immorality, impurities, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, crude joking (5:3-4a)
• Give thanks (5:4b)
• Don’t partner with empty arguments (5:6-7)
• Walk in the light—goodness, righteousness & truth (5:8-9)
• Expose darkness (5:11)
• Be wise (5:15)
• Make good use of your time (5:16)
• Don’t be foolish (5:17)
• Don’t be a drunk, but be filled by the Spirit (5:18)
• Sing praise to the Lord (5:19)
• Give thanks to God (5:20)
• Submit to one another (5:21)
Next, we find a passage often trotted out at weddings, and we might be tempted to think that Paul is merely teaching on marriage. But he’s actually continuing in his admonition to the Church…
5:31-32
Christ is one with the Church
The classic Christian rock song by Whiteheart: We Are His Hands, We are His Feet
“You are the only Jesus some people may ever see.”
We don’t just love one another, but we also continue the mission that Christ started on the earth, empowered by the Holy Spirit… We sometimes can start to think we have our mission to carry out and we need God’s help.
Leonard Sweet, scholar & author, says this… “The church does not have a mission… It is God who has a mission, and the missionary of God is the Holy Spirit. The question is whether the mission of God has a church.”
We are the body of Christ on the earth to continue to do what he did before he left. And that mission: The very words Jesus spoke to his disciples before he ascended before their very eyes…
Mat 28:18b-20
All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
No small task.
Go… disciple all people… baptize… teach toward obedience… remember.
This wasn’t the first time Jesus told us to remember… He left behind a beautiful symbol for us… His Table meal. The meal is his body… to remind us that we are his body on the earth.
Today we’ll veer from how we’ve been practicing communion since the beginning of our in-person gatherings during Covid… To emphasize the communal aspect of the meal—that we are together, not just personally, but corporately, the body of Christ—we will make our way toward tables situated around the room. Each table has the double-cupped elements.
In a moment, we’ll begin a song… While we’re singing, or maybe just meditating on the words, at some point make your way to one of the tables. While at the table, pause, eat the bread, drink the cup; you can dispose of the empty cup in the trash containers at each table and then return to your seats.
While you’re returning to your seats, and this is important as we think about how we are the body of Christ, there is an opportunity to be ministered to in prayer… You can stop by one of the 4 prayer leaders located at the corners of the room. Rick, Jay, Akindele & Shelley are there ready to pray over you, with you or as a family. Stop by either one of them, and form lines if needed.
We’ll continue to sing in worship during all of this, so there is no hurry. No need to pop up quickly or rush one of the tables. We have plenty of communion elements, the Lord is bountiful. And we will pray with you all day if necessary.
For those online, please join us in celebrating the Table during this time. And also, share your prayer concerns. This would be an excellent time to go to trylakeside.com and leave a prayer request there. Allow us to minister over you through prayer.
Let’s take this time to recognize the ongoing reign of Christ our King, the interceding and indwelling of Christ in our hearts, and the Spirit-filled embodiment of Christ in us as His Church.
So we pass on the tradition that has been given to us: On the same night the Lord Jesus was betrayed, He took the bread in His hands; and after giving thanks to God, He broke it and said, “This is My body, broken for you. Keep doing this so that you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me.” After they had finished dinner, He took the cup and in the same way said, “This cup is the new covenant, executed in My blood. Keep doing this; and whenever you drink it, you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me.” Every time we taste this bread and every time we place the cup to our mouths and drink, we are declaring the Lord’s death, which is the ultimate expression of His faithfulness and love, until He comes again.
Let us worship him in this way.