http://bible.com/events/6631328
Here Comes Heaven – The Interruption

Luke 1:5-25

The Christmas story is not a story of convenience, but rather a story of interruption. 
God intervenes not always according to our plan and our timing.

Bottom Line:
Your greatest interruption may your greatest invitation

God was not just intervening into the lives of Elizabeth and Zechariah, He was setting a course of events that would ultimately lead to the Messiah. 

God intervenes and Elizabeth becomes pregnant
-this shouldn’t really be possible
-this would be laughable to many

God intervenes and Zechariah is silenced
-this is a consequence for his lack of faith, but it is also so much more
-this protected the news from Herod who would feel threatened by the news of someone preparing the way for the Messiah
-this forces Zechariah to depend fully on God

Our posture in response to interruptions is often like Zechariah’s:
I. Fear
    1. “When Zechariah saw him [the angel], he was startled and was gripped with fear.” Luke 1:12
    2. While fear is a logical response, it cannot be our default response, especially for those who are in Christ.
II. Doubt
    1. “Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” Luke 1:18
    2. Fear and Doubt are ultimately about putting my focus on ME. Instead God is intervening and inviting me to put my focus on HIM.

Our posture in response to interruptions should be: “Come Jesus”

In the midst of uncertainty, invite Him in.
He keeps His promises. He doesn’t bow to human rules and expectations. He is not limited by time and circumstance.
Even in the interruptions we can say, “Come Jesus”.

Come, Thou long expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free, 
From our fears and sins release us, 
Let us find our rest in Thee:
Israel’s strength and consolation
Hope of all the earth Thou art, 
Dear Desire of every nation
Joy of every longing heart.

Other passages to consider:

Luke 1: 67-80 NIV

Luke 1: 67-80 The Message

END

http://bible.com/events/6296809

Here Comes Heaven (The Waiting)

John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Christmas is the divine breaking into the mundane.
The ordinary interrupted by the extraordinary.
His kingdom entering into our reality.
“Here Comes Heaven”

You didnʼt have to experience the first Christmas to know that Christmas was coming.

Micah 5:2
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

The challenge is the promise of God with us came with silence.
(From the end of the Old Testament to the birth of Christ was a span of silence lasting 400 years.)

That of waiting that inspired these lyrics:
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

What are you waiting for?

“HOPE?”
You are surrounded by brokenness and feel defeated

“ANSWERS?”
You canʼt make sense of the circumstances around you

“RELIEF?”
Youʼre not sure how long you can go on like this

“WHATʼS NEXT?”
Godʼs plan seems foggy and Heʼs not showing you the next step

“I DONʼT KNOW?”
You feel stuck, like youʼre going through the motions, or like something is missing.
Youʼre waiting and youʼre not even sure on what.

We canʼt understand a God who doesnʼt speak how we want, or when we want. We believe, in the silence, that God is absent.

The bottom line:
“The presence of silence is not the absence of Presence.”

Luke 1:30-33
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

This Christmas, the challenge for us in our waiting…

1. STOP
In a world where we default to busy and where our norm is to run from silence, it is critical that we learn to stop.
More than likely, You will not worship this Christmas on accident.

2. WAIT
Yes, we continue to wait. But we donʼt wait on God, wait with Him.
The same God who sent Jesus in the midst of silence is with you in your waiting.

3. TRUST
Even when nothing is happening, something is happening.
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent Jesus” -Galatians 4:4.
The same God who kept his promise then will continue to keep His promise now.

The bottom line:
“The presence of silence is not the absence of Presence.”

Matthew 1:22
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

1 Peter 1:19-20
It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

https://bible.com/events/5923141

Praying in Jesus name ultimately means we pray like Jesus prayed, presenting our requests to God the Father but asking that His will would be done not ours. – Pastor AdrianPray Like It Matters: With His Passion
Luke 22:42-44

PRAY EARNESTLY/FERVENTLY

With passionate intensity; with sincere + intense conviction; seriously

Acts 12:1-16

PRAYING LIKE IT MATTERS IS NOT ABOUT RATIONALE AND FEELINGS, BUT RELATIONSHIP AND FAITH

Obedience always comes before freedom
IT IS ABOUT RELATIONSHIP NOT RATIONALE, FAITH NOT FEELINGS.
Matthew 7:7

PRAY LIKE IT MATTERS – KEEP KNOCKING

END

Pray like it matters: “In His name”

For many of us prayer feels like:

-a flip of a coin (maybe God answers and maybe he doesn’t)

-a good luck charm (when we need good luck on our side)

-a list of requests and demands (”help me, bless me, give me”)

We often settle into a mindset of prayer that is:

-passive 

-reactive 

-“me focused”

-convenient 

““And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Matthew 6:5-8

If God knows what I need already, why am I praying??

Because prayer is ultimately about knowing the heart of God and growing in relationship with Him.

“Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

John 14:13-14 NIV

Twice Jesus reminds us to ask “in His name” 

What is the significance of praying “in His name”? 

1. In HIS authority 

We have no standing before God and no credibility on our own. 

We don’t pray to God based on our merit, but based on the authority of what Jesus has done.   

1. As HIS representative 

As Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5) we don’t represent ourselves, but rather we represent Christ. 

As we pray in Jesus’ name, we pray as He would.   

1. For HIS glory 

Ultimately we pray for the things that will lift up the name of Jesus and give God glory. 

The power in our prayer is ultimately surrendering our will to the will of God.  

“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalms 37:4 NIV

““This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’”

Matthew 6:9-13 NIV

“Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.””

Matthew 26:39 NIV

Bottom Line: 

The power of prayer is not what God does for me, but rather what He does in me. 

http://bible.com/events/5495565
Flip the Script: When God Redeems Your Story – From Death to Life

John 11:17-35
THE FLIPPING POINT
-Mary & Martha sent word to Jesus and He doesn’t show up in time
-Their brother has been dead for days
-As they watch Jesus weep, their hope had to be crushed

What’s true in this moment?
• Lazarus was absolutely no doubt, dead. Four days dead.
•Their faith didn’t make any noticeable difference
• There was no good reason to hope

What situations have you been in that looked completely and utterly un-redeemable?

And in the midst of this desperate moment, Mary & Martha might miss a powerful truth:
Jesus weeps WITH YOU

It’s not that He weeps FOR YOU, like your situation is helpless, but rather that He weeps WITH YOU.  Jesus grieves with you in your brokenness and pain.
 John 11:36-44
Bottom Line:
“Redemption means the final word is HIS.”

This is the difference
This is the powerful truth

That through redemption, God has the final say, the ultimate authority, the final word

John 11:25-26

“I am the resurrection”
Martha speaks of the resurrection as an event in the future, but Jesus speaks of resurrection as a present reality made possible through Him.  

Through his death and resurrection, Jesus proved that there is life that does not bow to the empty threats of the grave. 

In your story, who gets the final word? 

Ephesians 2:1-5