Podcasts about messiah you

Record for Future Generations Jonathan Parnell Download Psalm 102,“Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you! 2 Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress! Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call! 3 For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. 4 My heart is struck down like grass and has withered; I forget to eat my bread. 5 Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my flesh. 6 I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places; 7 I lie awake; I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop. 8 All the day my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse. 9 For I eat ashes like bread and mingle tears with my drink, 10 because of your indignation and anger; for you have taken me up and thrown me down. 11 My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass. 12 But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; you are remembered throughout all generations. 13 You will arise and have pity on Zion; it is the time to favor her; the appointed time has come. 14 For your servants hold her stones dear and have pity on her dust. 15 Nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory. 16 For the Lord builds up Zion; he appears in his glory; 17 he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer. 18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord: 19 that he looked down from his holy height; from heaven the Lord looked at the earth, 20 to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die, 21 that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord, and in Jerusalem his praise, 22 when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord. 23 He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days. 24 “O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days— you whose years endure throughout all generations!” 25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, 27 but you are the same, and your years have no end. 28 The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.”Throughout human history, many philosophers and theologians have agreed that the one great and most fundamental fear of all humans is the fear of death.That's the fear beneath every other fear. They claim our mortality is like a shadow that hangs over our entire lives and affects everything we do. And this way of thinking is in the Bible. The Book of Hebrews even uses the image of imprisonment and slavery — Hebrews 2:15 says that “through the fear of death we are subject to lifelong slavery.” We have been held in bondage by the fact of our impending doom. Death is a tyrant like that. But, this morning, I have really good news! The Lord has looked down from his holy height — the Lord in heaven has looked down on this earth — and he has acted to set us free.He knows our need and he has come to rescue us!And he has done it for a purpose! The purpose is so that we would praise him! So that we would declare his name! So that peoples from all over the world would worship him!And today, because we believe this, and because we are actually gathered here to worship God, we are fulfilling Psalm 102. According to verse 18, this psalm was written for us. Y'all look at verse 18 for a minute. The psalmist says, verse 18: “Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord …”He's saying: I'm about to write something for future generations, for a people God will create in the future — and I'm recording it so that one day they will read it and praise him …What exactly is he recording? What does he want us to know?Verse 19: “that [God] looked down from his holy height; from heaven the Lord looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die.”The psalmist, from a long time ago, from an ancient generation, he recorded these words with us in mind — we are the generation to come, we are the people yet to be created, we are the spiritual children of verse 28 …And he wants us to know that God has done what nobody else can do — God has rescued us from eternal death and everlasting judgment! And he has done this through his Messiah!So, believe in Jesus Christ and praise God! If we do that, we have righty applied Psalm 102. That's the psalm! … And, this psalm makes me wonder … if a past saint recorded this for future generations, what are we recording for future generations? If we think about our children and their children and generations yet to be created, what do we want them to know about God? What would we record for them?A lot of truths probably come to mind, but looking at Psalm 102, there are three truths that stand out. So this morning, here's what I'd like to do: Looking at Psalm 102, I want to show you three truths about God we should record for future generations …1. Record this: God will hear our prayers for help (verses 1–2, 17)We see this right away in verse 1:“Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you!”Notice the psalmist is asking God to hear him because he knows that God hears him. That's the only way this make sense. The psalmist is confident that God will hear himask to be heard. But it's about more than being heard, he wants to be helped. Verse 2:“Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress! Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call!”He wants God's attention and answer. He wants God to eagerly move toward him and make a way — and more like now than later. There's an urgency here. The psalmist is at the fork in the road. And we get this. We've been here before.We've all been in moments where we feel stuck or overwhelmed and we don't know what to do. We've come to the end of ourselves and our own resources, and we don't have the answer. We call this being in a troubled-heart situation.And often, if we're honest, being there makes us either angry or sad. Because it's just so uncomfortable. Our default as humans is to either harden our hearts and shake our fists … or harden our hearts and give up. We either wanna fight … or quit. But, it's in those moments, like the psalmist, when we should pray and cry out to God. Because in those moments God is especially attuned to us.Especially AttunedThis is verse 17:“he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.”Now, we know that God always regards the prayers of his children, no matter their circumstances, but when I say that God is especially attuned to us in our troubled-heart situations, I'm trying to capture what the Bible tells us here: “God regards the prayer of the destitute.”Or Psalm 9:12,“[God] does not forget the cry of the afflicted.”Psalm 34:18,“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”Psalm 69:33,“The Lord hears the needy …”Jesus himself says, when you're burdened and heavy laden, Don't run from me, come to me. Our destituteness — our desperate need and spiritual poverty — does not repel God from us, but it draws him near to us when we pray. Now, look, God drawing near doesn't mean he gives us what we want right away. It doesn't mean he lifts the darkness right away. But he gives us himself — he's with us, and he is at work. We want to record this. We want our children to know: God will hear our prayers for help. 2. Record this: God will outlast our suffering (verses 3–17)This becomes clear in verse 12, but first we gotta see verses 3–11.In verses 3–11, the psalmist, as “one afflicted,” describes his affliction in 15 statements. And they are uncommonly poetic. Eight of the 15 statements are metaphors that use the word “like.” Listen to these images:My days pass away like smokeMy bones burn like a furnaceMy heart is struck down like grass that has witheredI am like a desert owlI am like a lonely sparrow on a roofI eat ashes like breadMy days are like an evening shadowI wither away like grassThe theme here is that the psalmist feels like his life is fleeting and isolated. It's fleeting like smoke, fleeting like an evening shadow, fleeting like grass that was sprayed with Round-Up before it bakes 12 hours under the blazing sun.We've seen withered grass before (or maybe weeds). It goes from ‘green and lush' to ‘yellow and dry' … and soon they're dead and gone. The psalmist says that's his life. Fleeting.Then for isolated, in verse 6, he's like a desert owl. And I don't know much about desert owls … translators are actually not sure what kind of bird this is. The King James Version translated this word as a pelican. But whatever the taxonomy of the bird is, the idea here is that it's a loner bird. It's a bird that is by itself in the waste places. If you can imagine it: there's a landfill of ruins, and nothing is living except this one bird all alone. That's what it's like for the psalmist. These are powerful images of suffering. The psalmist is naming his situation well. … which is really helpful … I think the only thing worse than suffering like this is to suffer like this and not know what to call it. Suffering with awareness is at least a step in the right direction. Because that's what sets up verse 12.Remembering GodNotice the psalmist has described where he's at through verse 11 — he's looked at himself — but then in verse 12 he says:“But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;You are remembered throughout all generations.”And here in verse 12 through verse 16 he sets his mind on who God is, on what God is doing, and on what God will do. There's a combination of present reality and future hope, but it starts here with verse 12 where the psalmist declares something foundational. He says: God is enthroned forever and God is remembered throughout all generations.This means first that God is eternal. When psalmist says “God is remembered throughout all generations” he's talking about generations past, present, and future. Long before we were ever here, and long after we're gone, God is God, and he has been, and will be, remembered. In the long train of human history, we're just a tiny part, but God is eternal.And it gets better. It's not just that God exists eternally, but God is enthroned eternally. That means he reigns. He's in control. And if the God who is in control is also eternal, that means that God will outlast our suffering. God is bigger and he's gonna live longer! So suffering does not have the final say, but instead he's at work in it. He's doing something through it. He's building something through it — verse 16.What He's BuildingAnd sometimes we can see it, other times we can't, but we can rest assured it's happening. That is the hope of the psalmist! God, enthroned forever, in his mercy and kindness, is building now what is gonna result one day in all nations fearing the Lord and all kings of the earth bowing before him. That's the hope of the Old Testament — Habakkuk 3:19 — “… the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”And that's the hope of the New Testament — Revelation 7:9 — “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages … [are] crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”We want to record this! We want our children to know … God will outlast our suffering, and that means his redemptive purposes are guaranteed. He will accomplish every good thing that he intends. Even when we feel like a desert owl, he is building something glorious.3. Record this: God will comfort us with truth of Jesus (verses 23–28)In Psalm 102 there's a change that comes in verse 25, and it makes the whole psalm.I want to show it to you, but we need to start in verse 23. In verse 23, the psalmist picks back up on his lament from verses 2–11. He says, verse 23: “He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.”And he's talking about God doing this. It's just like in verse 10 when he says his suffering is because of God's indignation and anger. The psalmist is bearing God's wrath. The superscript already told us this is “The prayer of one afflicted.” And in the context of the Psalms as whole, this is the voice of the Messiah. Psalm 102 is like Psalm 22 — ultimately we're reading the prayer of the Messiah in his suffering. And so the psalmist, the Messiah, says to God in verse 24: “O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days — you whose years endure throughout all generations!”And you'll notice in your Bible that the quotation ends there with verse 24. This is what the suffering Messiah says to God. Then in verse 25 we read:Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.Now get this: starting in verse 25, we are reading God's answer back to the Messiah. The Messiah cries out to God in verses 23–24, and God answers the Messiah in verses 25–28. And we know this for sure because this is what the writer of Hebrews tells us in the New Testament, in Hebrews Chapter 1.You don't have to turn there, but in Hebrews Chapter 1, the writer has been describing the divine glory of Jesus, and to make his case, he quotes several verses from the Old Testament where God speaks about the Messiah. The writer of Hebrews says that “of the Son”, or “about the Son”, God says this — and in verse 10 he quotes from Psalm 102:25.So, according to the New Testament, God the Father says to God the Son, the Messiah: “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands. …”I want to make sure you get what's happening here! In Psalm 102, verse 25, in response to the Messiah's suffering, God the Father comforts him with the truth of who he is. The Messiah feels like a desert owl. His strength has been broken, his days are shortened. But God says to him: Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.Church, this is the truth of Jesus! Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever — and this was God's comfort to Jesus himself in his suffering, and it's God's comfort to us today. Remember the truth of Jesus! Remember who he is, and that because we're united to him by faith, our future is as secure as he is.Our hope is as alive as he is. It's living hope. Record that! That is what we want our children to know! The truth of Jesus changes everything.And I pray that's something our kids are learning from us, especially in these days. I mean, we are teaching something. We are modeling something. …Earlier this week, Melissa and I had dinner with Rob and Becca Ketterling. Rob is the lead pastor of River Valley Church here in the south metro. He planted River Valley back in 1995, so he's been a pastor a little longer than I have, and in recent months Rob has been a friend to me — I'm so thankful for him. He and his wife took us to dinner, and for an hour and half, they just poured into us. We were sharing with them our burdens, and especially for the children of our church and our own children. And Pastor Rob said to me, obviously, it is right to protect our families and children. But then he said to me: I know you want to make your children safe, but what if God wants to make them heroic?What if God wants to give them heroic faith? What if God is raising up in your church right now future Daniels and Deborahs who will seek the good of these Twin Cities for his glory?This challenged me. And I just wanna say: I'm in! Sign me up! Would that God do that!I mean, what do we really want for our children? What do we want them to know? What are we recording for future generations?I'll tell you three truths from Psalm 102:God will hear our prayers for help. God will outlast our suffering. God will comfort us with the truth of Jesus. And that's what brings us to the Table. The TableAt this Table is when the truth of Jesus takes center stage. The bread and cup represent his body and blood that he sacrificed for us at the cross, and so when we eat and drink, we remember what he did, and we remember our union with him. By his grace, we are united to him by faith, and all of his blessings become ours. This is why this table is only for Christians. If you trust in Jesus Christ, we welcome you to eat and drink, and give him thanks!

Welcome to Day 2584 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Day 2584– Prophecy, Idolatry, the Day of the Lord, Loyalty, Messiah – Jeremiah 23:5 Putnam Church Message – 03/09/2025 Sermon Series: Old Testament Orientation Message 9: Prophecy, Idolatry, the Day of the Lord, Loyalty, and Messiah Last week, we continued our Old Testament Orientation series and reviewed Prophetic Literature – God's Call to Repentance and Restoration. We also explored how it impacted the Ancient Israelites and our lives today. This week, we will expand our review of Prophetic Literature and focus on  Prophecy, Idolatry, the Day of the Lord, Loyalty, and Messiah. We will touch on some of the same themes as last week but from a slightly different aspect. Opening Prayer Heavenly Father, From the very beginning, You have called Your people to follow You with wholehearted devotion. You have spoken through Your prophets to call Your people back to You. You have warned against idolatry, declared the coming Day of the Lord, and promised restoration through Your Messiah. Today, as we open Your Word, give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts ready to respond. May we understand the urgency of loyalty to You and recognize that our ultimate hope is in the Messiah You have sent. Teach us through the voices of the prophets and guide us in faithfulness. Teach us what it means to be truly loyal to You and help us understand the depth of Your promises. May we not fall into the same mistakes as those who came before us, but instead, may we stand firmly on Your truth. In Jesus' name, Amen. Introduction Let's climb back into our imagination station again this week. Picture yourself standing in the streets of Jerusalem during the reign of King Josiah. The temple has been cleaned of its idols, and a great revival has begun. The Book of the Law, long forgotten, has been rediscovered. The priests read its words aloud, and the people tremble before Yahweh for the first time in generations. But as you walk through the city, something troubles you. Not everyone is truly repentant. Some still carry small household idols hidden beneath their robes. Some mutter against the reforms, longing for the old days of the worship of idols that represented their false gods. The prophets continue to warn the people: “The Day of the Lord is coming! Do not return to idolatry! Be faithful to Yahweh, for He alone is God!” People stop. Some scoff. Some listen. “You have turned away from Yahweh! You bow before idols, chase after the gods of other nations, and forsake the covenant of your fathers! The Day of the Lord is coming—a day of judgment for the wicked and restoration for the faithful! But do not fear, for the Lord has promised a righteous King from David's line, one who will reign forever in justice and truth!” And yet, many ignore the warnings. Centuries later, we find ourselves in a similar situation. Many claim to follow God, yet their hearts are divided. Some chase after material wealth, some place their trust in human power, and some simply ignore the call of the Gospel. The message of the prophets is still relevant today. Today, we will explore five key prophetic themes: The Role of...

Will R2-D2 and C-3PO be able to get off the planet? Will the Rebel Alliance be able to defeat the Galactic Empire? Will Jesus be the one to kick out the Roman Empire? Join us for the message “This Isn't the Messiah You're Looking For.” This is a recording of the sermon portion of our service on 8/22/21

Will R2-D2 and C-3PO be able to get off the planet? Will the Rebel Alliance be able to defeat the Galactic Empire? Will Jesus be the one to kick out the Roman Empire? Join us for the message “This Isn't the Messiah You're Looking For.” This is a recording of the our complete service on 8/22/21

Not the Messiah You're Looking For preached by Steve Cavallaro from Mark 8:31–33.

Not the Messiah You're Looking For preached by Steve Cavallaro from Mark 8:31–33.

Not the Messiah You're Looking For preached by Steve Cavallaro from Mark 8:31–33.

9 February 2020 The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Matthew 5:13-16 + Homily 14 Minutes 11 Seconds Link to the Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/020920.cfm (New American Bible, Revised Edition) From the parish bulletin:    Luke the Evangelist is the patron saint of artists because he paints pictures with words. In describing the scene of old Simeon in the Temple encountering Jesus, Luke wrote that he “took him up in his arms” (Luke 2:28).    That word picture of an old man holding a forty-day-old baby, reminds one of the 1490 painting by the master Domenico Ghirlandaio, of a grandfather and his grandson embracing. The old man is anything but beautiful, save for his smile as he gazes at the angelic boy. The grandfather’s problematic nose is “warts and all,” as the bleak Oliver Cromwell instructed his own portraitist, Samuel Cooper. For noses, it competes with that of the vaudevillian Jimmy Durante who, incidentally, was married in 1921 in our sister parish of Holy Innocents.    That juxtaposition of old age and youth bonded by love is the “leitmotif” of the encounter in the Temple. But by what power of perception did Simeon recognize the infant Messiah? You might ask the same of the seventeen-year-old Saint Joan of Arc when she entered the Chateau of Chinon in 1429 and recognized the disguised future King Charles VII.    Good teachers discern potential in the classroom, like Saint Albert the Great seeing in his student Thomas Aquinas, mocked as a “Dumb Ox,” a future Doctor of the Church. But to discern the Messiah in diapers requires heavenly help, since prodigy is not greater than divinity.    God comes to us often in obscurity, through unexpected events and persons, rather than through celebrities. Famous people come and go, often through the passing of fashion. In the second century, Plutarch compared the celebrities of his Roman days with the heroes of classical Greece; but who today remembers Cleomenes, whom he matched with Camillus, or Philopoemen compared with Poplicola?    There are natural intuitions, such as Saint Albert recognizing in the clumsy young Thomas Aquinas the future Doctor of the Church. But Simeon and his accompanying prophetess Anna, like Joan of Arc, had their eyes opened by the Holy Spirit.    Albert Schweitzer was a hero of my youth and one of the most revered figures of the day. Now he is as remote in present consciousness as Jimmy Durante. He left us an image of the Messiah that Simeon would have understood: “He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside, He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same words: ‘Follow thou me!’ and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is.”

Happy Messiah Season Happy Messiah Season! Let's do more than keep the word “Christ” in Christmas. Let's make messiah the focus of everything! https://youtu.be/gLgySR6IfY4 Let’s sing a song… We three kings of orient are, Bearing gifts we traverse afar Field and fountain, moor and mountain, Following yonder star. Frankincense to offer have I, Incense owns a Deity nigh Prayer and praising, all men raising, Worship Him, God most high Oh, star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright. Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide with thy perfect light. This is the final week of the Messiah Season series. Keeping Christ in Christmas is more than just a word choice. If we go through this season without understanding or focusing on the promise of Messiah… then it does matter if we say the words Merry Christmas or happy holidays. Let's make Messiah the focus of the season. The 3 gifts of the Magi We have been studying the 3 gifts the Magi brought to the Christ child. The gifts of Gold, Frankincense, & Myrrh reveal the 3 fold prophetic promise of Messiah. The gift of Gold revealed that Messiah is a Conquering King. Daniel 7 describes messiah as a king and then describes how he will show up and save the day. The gift of Myrrh revealed that Messiah is the suffering Servant Isaiah 52 & 53 calls Messiah servant and then describe his suffering. In a moment we will talk about the gift of frankincense but first we have to ask… How many Messiahs are there? Isaiah 53 and Daniel 7 describe vastly different Messiahs? Are they describing the same messiah? What do you think? There are large segments within Judaism who have interpreted the suffering servant and the conquering king as 2 separate messiahs. It's understandable to us why some would do this…. How can the king be punished alongside thieves? How can the servant be on the throne? How could the king be born in a manger? How can the one with the power and authority to heal and forgive sins die on the cross? For this reason, some in Judaism believe in 2 messiahs, Ben Yosef & Ben David. Ben Yosef & Ben David The teaching is growing in popularity and goes a little like this… The 1st Messiah, the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 who they call Ben Yosef, will come and through his service and death will prepare a way for the 2nd messiah… The 2nd messiah, the conquering king of Daniel 7 who they call Ben David, will come and rule and reign a Kingdom that will not end. I find this really interesting.. because to me it is obvious that because they reject Jesus as messiah they have to reinterpret scripture to represent 2 messiahs. Because they reject the 1 true messiah they now are searching and hoping for 2 messiahs… and according to them, neither Ben Yosef or Ben David have come yet. Jesus is the 1 true messiah Every prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus. Every promise is received through Jesus. Jesus is the suffering servant! He is the Ben Yosef they are looking for. He was born in a manger in a lower class family. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He was often found with the poor and the outcast. He healed and fed multitudes. He was falsely accused and bore the weight of the cross. He died for the sins of mankind and was buried in a borrowed tomb. 3 days later he rose again. He ascended to heaven. But that isn't all… Jesus is returning! Messiah will come back to the earth as the Ben David they are looking for! He will return as the conquering king Daniel foretold. He will come on the clouds and every eye will see Him! Jesus will defeat the devil and make everything right! Jesus will bring His kingdom to earth. His Kingdom will be filled with righteousness & peace and will never come to an end. If you reject Jesus… It seems you would need 2 messiahs. If you receive Jesus… you don't need anything else! Jesus is the 1 true messiah! Jesus fulfills all of the over 300 prophecies of Messiah. To deny Him is to deny God's Word and to deny hope. I want to quickly share with you one of the more amazing prophecies about Messiah. It is found in Daniel 9 and it gives a timeline for when Messiah would come. So if you are scoring at home… We have shown prophecy that predicts the family lineage, the Nation and city of birth. Now Daniel gives a window of time that Messiah would come. Daniel is in exile in Babylon. Jerusalem is left in ruins… the walls and the temple had been destroyed by Babylon. As Daniel writes this prophecy Jerusalem, its temple, and walls lie in ruin. Daniel 9:25-26 “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven `sevens,’ and sixty-two `sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two `sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary… Don't be confused by the sevens… The sevens refer to years. Seven sevens is 49 years. Sixty-two sevens is 434 years. Daniel 9 Prophecy Daniel prophesies 4 events, places them in order and even timestamps them in years! 1 Daniel prophesies that a decree to rebuild the city of Jerusalem will come. (Daniel 9:25) 2 The City rebuild will be completed in seven sevens, 49 years. 3 The Anointed One/Messiah will come by the time of sixty-two sevens, 434 years. After this Messiah will be cut off. Daniel prophesies the death of Jesus. 4 Lastly, the same people who kill Messiah will destroy the city and the temple. God gives Daniel a specific time in which 4 important things will take place: The decree to rebuild Jerusalem, Jerusalem rebuilt, Messiah cut off, and the 2nd temple destroyed. The fulfillment of this prophecy can be found in your history books! Artaxerxes gives the decree to rebuild Jerusalem in 457BC… seven sevens or 49 years later Jerusalem would be completed in 408 BC. Sixty-two sevens or 434 years later Jesus was crucified by the Romans. Later temple & the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed in 70 AD at the Roman siege of Jerusalem. Do you believe your Bible? You can! Your Bible is trustworthy! This prophecy lays out these events in order and even timestamps them. Anyone that rejects Jesus as Messiah needs to tell us who else was born in that time period that fulfills every messianic prophecy. I am so excited to tell you that Jesus is really the messiah. We ought to be excited about this truth! Gift of Frankincense The Magi brought a gift of frankincense. We were diffusing some frankincense as you entered the sanctuary today. Frankincense is a gum or resin from Boswellia Tree. It is used for making perfumes and incense. The Hebrew word for Frankincense is lĕbownah (LE VO NAH) and it means white as in the color of the resin. Frankincense is symbolic of Holiness. It is used throughout the temple… Whenever Scripture says “incense” was used in the temple they were referring to Frankincense. Without Frankincense you couldn't come into the presence of God. When Psalms talks about worship and prayer being fragrant like perfume… that was a reference to Frankincense. Frankincense was used all throughout the Temple of God's presence except… Sin offerings. (Lev 5:11) They were ordered to never bring the incense into contact with sin. Frankincense represents Holiness and the Deity of God. When they brought Frankincense to Jesus they were declaring Jesus to be Holy and Deity. There is much prophecy that agrees with the Gift of Frankincense, that Messiah would be God himself. Isaiah 7:14 tells us Messiah would be born of a virgin. Who else could do this but God? Messiah's throne would be anointed and eternal Psalm 45:6 & Isaiah 9:7. Who else could have an eternal throne but an eternal God? Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. The child in the manger is the MIGHTY GOD!The son given is the EVERLASTING FATHER! Prophecy also tells us that Messiah would be called Immanuel… Isaiah 7:14 Immanuel means “God with us.” When Messiah is with us it isn't a smaller God with us… It's not a demi-God is with us… or one of many other Gods is with us… It is not one-half or one-third of God… When Messiah is with us it means THE ONE GOD who created the world… He is with us. The Holy presence of God that we couldn't experience… it was literally kept in the temple behind a curtain in the Holy of Holies… That presence is with us. That presence put on flesh and was born in a manger. That is the powerful message of Christmas! God is with us! God is not mad at you… God is with you! God does not want to destroy you… God is with you and has come to give you life! We told you that Jesus is both BEN YOSEF & BEN DAVID. Jesus is both the suffering servant & the conquering king. Jesus Christ is also GOD & MAN! Do you like Movies with a big reveal? “I am your Father.” “I see dead people.” There are these movie reveals that change everything about the movie. A really good movie reveal can redefine the entire movie… Your Bible has a reveal greater than anything Hollywood has been able to dream up. Here it is… The Big Reveal – Messiah is God and Man The initial prophecy of Messiah is Genesis 3:15. Genesis 3:15 (NIV2011) And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” It was known from the beginning that the human seed of Mary would be Messiah and destroy the seed of the serpent. A human messiah would come and win the victory over the serpent. Yet the greatest reveal of all time is that Messiah would be born of a woman and at the same time be God. John 1:1 (NIV2011) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:14 (NIV2011) The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only… The same God we disappointed in the garden… The same God who said we had to leave the garden and be punished because of sin… This is the same God who put on flesh, was born in a manger, and went to the cross for us. This Jesus Christ is both GOD & MAN and He is the one who crushes the head of the serpent. And like most big reveals… we should have seen it coming but didn't… Why does Jesus go to the Cross for us? Because He is God and loves us. How does He raise Himself from the dead? He is God and is the source of life. But also… How can He feel pain and hunger? He is man and knows exactly what our pain feels like. How can he be born of a woman…? He is man. How could he die and pour out his blood to save us? He is man… When that Magi opened up his gift of Frankincense He was letting us know that this child in the manger was the Holy God of Creation. Messiah is the suffering servant, the conquering king, and God with us. Messiah is everything You need! The Magi brought their treasure to the Christ Child… but the Christ Child didn't need their treasure… the Magi needed the true treasure that is Messiah. The Shepherds came and bowed in worship before the Lord… but the Lord didn't need their worship… It was the Shepherds that needed His presence. Today we came… and we worshipped Messiah together, we received His word together, and we are about to come talk to the Messiah in this altar… But our Messiah doesn't need anything we do today… It is us that need Him. Messiah – You are everything we need. Whatever you need today it is found in Jesus Christ. God loves you so much that He came Himself as your messiah. He didn't send an angel or a demi-God… He came Himself… Everything God wants for you can be found in the face of the Messiah.

Cascade Vineyard ChurchPastor Glenn Schroder September 15th, 2019“This is Not the Messiah You’re Looking For”Scripture references:Luke 9:18026Micah 4:3www.cascadevineyard.orgSupport the show (https://cascadevineyard.org/give)

In the summer, when the weather is hot day after day, it makes us long for a break. Our bodies grow tired of the heat. We grow tired of being hot and thirsty. Everything around us grows tired of the heat – grass yellows, flowers wither, trees droop. Everything around us needs relief. We need the summer doldrums broken up by a day of cool, rainy weather – a day of renewal. This is how our lives can be spiritually too. Sometimes we go through seasons when it seems like there’s been no relief, just doldrums of summer. Sometimes it can seem like it has been a long time since the Lord has done anything new in our lives. We need renewal, revival, refreshing, restoration. We need the Lord to move again, to lead us again, to show us something of himself afresh. This was where Israel was in Mark 1. Malachi was the last prophet sent by God to the people of Israel, to speak words of the Lord. But that was 400 years ago. The people were ready for a new word. Mark 1:1-15 v. 1 – “Son of God” – written to Roman Christians, proves that demonstrate Jesus is the Son of God, with power and authority over disease, the natural world, and the spiritual realm. vv 2-3 – Malachi had prophesied that a messenger would come ahead of God’s Messiah. Notice: Prepare the way, and make straight paths vv. 4-5 – John the Baptist was that messenger. To prepare the way for Jesus the Messiah, John preached a new word from the Lord: that people needed to confess their sin individually. He was a herald who told people ahead of the Messiah that there would be a new way to relate to God. He used baptism in a new way. Before John, people who were converted into Judaism were baptized. But John used baptism as a sign of repentance from sins. John preached you need to confess and repent of sins, you need of forgiveness. Isn’t it interesting that in God’s plan he would send a man ahead of the Messiah? You would think that Jesus on his own would be all that anyone needed. It is interesting that John is sent to prepare people for Jesus. But that is how it was in your life when you first came to Christ. Someone helped you see your sin. Someone helped you see your need for forgiveness. Someone helped you see your need for Christ. Someone made a straight path for Jesus to come into your life. Thank God for them, they were like John sent to you to prepare you to received Christ. It was all orchestrated by God, but carried out by a very common man or woman. People need someone to prepare them for Christ. Your family member, friend, classmate, neighbor, business contact, if they have not believed in Jesus, they need someone to prepare them. How can you “prepare the way?” 1. Explain their need for forgiveness. Explain how we all need to turn from sinful temptations and attitudes and from dead-end worldly pursuits. 2. Tell them how you found forgiveness in Christ. Tell them how you knew you were sinful and found forgiveness in Christ. 3. Tell them how it has changed your life. To be free from sin, shame, guilt. New meaning. People need our help to prepare them to receive Christ. In his grace, God lets us be a part of him changing lives. What about you and me? Do we need still need to be prepared to meet Christ? We do. We need to continually confess and repent. Confession of sin and repentance is not a one-time event. We need to ask the Lord to search our hearts and to help us see sinful attitudes and disobedience. Then we need to take them to Christ and ask him to cover that too and cleanse us. Are you stuck in the summer doldrums spiritually? Are you preparing your heart for Christ? Are you making a straight path for him into your life? Be ready to receive his grace by remembering your need for it. Thirst for his forgiveness, hunger for his presence. If he came to you with a new word or new direction or new revelation, would you be ready? God is ready with an endless store of refreshing, renewal, restoration, revival. But he waits until we have been obedient with what he’s already given. He won’t refill your cup until you’ve taken a drink of what he’s already given you. Mark 4:24-25 Greater obedience leads to greater revelation. Have you been obedient to what God’s already given you? Step out in faith to do or believe what He’s already said. Lord, help us prepare the way in other’s lives. Help us continually prepare the way in our lives through confession and greater obedience.