CHRISTMAS WITH ABRAHAM

[1]WELCOME: Good morning Church and Merry Christmas! It is so good to be with you this morning. Whether you are joining us online or on campus, we are really glad to be able to share this morning together. If you’re new with us, my name is Nic Cook and I’m one of the pastors here at Cornerstone Community Church. We’re kicking off our Christmas series called…

SERIES: B.C. A CHRISTMAS PREQUEL. In the last 20 years we have seen a lot of prequal movies made. [2]For example, if you are a Lord of the rings fan, 20 years ago the first movie was released on December 19, 2001. Then on December 6, 2012, [3]the first hobbit movie was released. The hobbit actually takes place before the events in the Lord of the Rings movies. Before Frodo and the destruction of the ring, there was Bilbo and the finding of the ring. If you are a Star Wars fan, there’s prequals. If you’re a harry potter fan, there’s prequals. The point of prequals is to tell the stories of the people and events that led up to the main story that most people know. [4]The prequel stories make our understanding of the main story even richer and more powerful. Well, the Christmas story is known all over the world. It’s one of the most famous stories in all of human history. But before the virgin mary, or the trip to Bethlehem, or baby Jesus lying in a manger, there were people and events that all led up to that story. There were promises made and whispers of what would come all throughout humanity’s story that gave us hints about what was to come. Whenever we open up the…

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW: We are given a glimpse of where to look for these prequel stories. An early follower of Jesus named Matthew wanted to point the Jewish people back to the origin stories that told us about Jesus. He points out a number of places and says, go back and look at what God did and promised here. Look at how that all leads to Jesus. Look at where this whole thing started! Look at how God planned this all thing out. And when you look at the stories that lead up to Christmas, it makes the actual Christmas story that much more amazing. So, over the next 4 weeks we’re going to be looking at Christmas prequal stories. If you’ll turn to [5][Matt. 1:1-17]. We’re going to start by reading the family tree of Jesus. But before we do, let’s pray. I need God’s help to say all these names in a minute as well as inviting the Holy Spirit to help us see with fresh eyes the wonder of what he has done for us through Jesus at Christmas time. Let’s pray. [6-13][READ PASSAGE]

(TEACH/APP) ABRAHAM: OUTSIDER/DOUBTER/FAILURE

BACKGROUND: In Jewish culture, your family name was of incredible importance. Most of us define ourselves by our own jobs or personal accomplishments. We introduce ourselves and one of the most natural first questions is, “so what do you do?” [14]Well in Jewish culture, they would have asked “so where do you come from, and to what family do you belong to?” Much like today if you have the last name Bezos, Gates, Rockefeller, or Kennedy, you wonder if they’re part of a powerful family, Matthew starts out and he throws out 2 incredibly well known and respected names that made up the family that Jesus came from. He says, before we look at Jesus, let’s look at the family he comes from. Matthew mentions David and then mentions Abraham. He says, if you want to understand the Christmas story, let’s go back to…

ABRAHAM: If you grew up Jewish, your mind would have immediately gone back to the first book in our bibles called Genesis in chapter 12. [15]It says, Now the Lord said[a] to Abram, “Go from your country[b] and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” [Gen. 12:1-3] If you were Jewish, Abraham was a very special person to you. He was the man that God chose out of the entire human race to become the father of a family that would grow and grow until it became the Hebrew people. If you could trace your family history back to Abraham, you could say “I’m one of God’s chosen people. I’m part of God’s family.” For those of us who have grown up in the church, I think we have taken this for granted. We talk a lot about being part of God’s family. We are comforted by hearing that we are called sons and daughters of God and that we can call him Father. But just like the ancient Jews, we need to remember that has not always been the case. We weren’t always in this amazing position. We need to be reminded at Christmas that… [16]GOD LOVES TO MAKE OUTSIDERS, DOUBTERS, AND FAILURES INTO FAMILY! First of all…[17]

·  ABRAHAM WAS AN OUTSIDER: When we read the bible, we need to make sure that we don’t separate sections from their context. For example, what chapter comes before Genesis chapter 12? It’s not a trick question. Genesis chapter 11 comes before what we just read. And chapter 11 tells us the story of the Tower of Babel. It’s the story of how humanity in its arrogance has tried to get to heaven on their own and are essentially trying to become Gods. And God steps in and introduces brand new languages so that they can’t understand or work together. We have a picture of people who are far away from God and not really seeking him. And at the end of chapter 11 we hear about a man named Abram living in the land of Ur. Ur was located in what would later become Babylon, which is in modern day Iraq. All throughout the Bible, when Babylon was talked about, it was never good. They had been enemies of God’s people. Later on, the name Babylon was used as a word to describe the powers of this world that are opposed to God. Abraham was probably also a worshipper of a fake God associated with the moon. [18]And yet God chooses a person who was from the wrong place, worshipped the wrong thing, and invited him to become part of his plan and turn him into family! Abraham didn’t deserve any of that. Yet God says, I want you. All you must do is trust me! Are you willing to give up everything and follow my plan? If so, then I’m going to make you into a family beyond your wildest dreams! So, God is starting his family with an outsider, but…[19]

·  ABRAHAM WAS ALSO A DOUBTER: Throughout the bible, Abraham is lifted up as an example of faith. Faith is belief in action. Yes, Abraham believed God’s promise to make him into a nation, so he left Ur. But we also see where he wasn’t sure that God was going to come through on his promises. Can God really give me the kids he’s promised? I’m old and I still don’t have any kids. Will God really give me the land of Canaan like he promised? Yes, I’m living in this land right now, but it’s not mine. I’m surrounded by people who aren’t going to just give it up. In his doubts, he makes a plan with his wife to have a child through another woman. When a famine hits, instead of trusting the God who brought him there, he goes down to Egypt and gets into a mess. Abraham was a man of faith, but there were times where his doubts got the better of him. Abraham was an outsider, had his doubts, and…[20]

·  ABRAHAM HAD HIS SHARE OF FAILURES: His family was a mess. He gave into pressure and married more than one woman and his house was full of fighting and bickering. His family is dysfunctional and divided. Later, his son Isaac takes on a lot of his dad’s characteristics and when things get hard, lies in the same way that his dad did. So, as we look at Abraham, we don’t want to fall into the same trap that the early Jews did. They honored Abraham. They were proud of him. They held him up as an example. But they had a tendency to try to sweep under the rug the less than stellar moments in his life. Yet the beauty of God’s love is that [21]INSPITE OF ABRAHAM BEING AN OUTSIDER WHO HAD HIS DOUBTS AND FAILURES, GOD SAID I CHOOSE YOU TO BE PART OF MY FAMILY! Matthew starts out his Christmas story by pointing us to the God who loves to take the outsiders, the doubters, and the failures, and make them part of his family. And if God’s love for Abraham wasn’t enough to convince us of his great love for us, he says then look at…

THE REST OF THE FAMILY: in the rest of the list you have liars, cheaters, neglectors of family, you have Tamar dressing like a prostitute, then you have Rahab, an actual prostitute. You have outsiders like Ruth. You have David who was a murderer and an adulterer. Now, tell me, if you were writing your family history, tell me there wouldn’t be some branches you’d cut off and out of the story! Yet Matthew, as he’s writing about the story of Christmas says, “pay attention to what God promised Abraham.” God’s plan at Christmas is to take outsiders, doubters, and failures and make them his family.

Now, if you were Jewish, this would have been sobering to remember how messed up the family of Abraham was, yet you could still take comfort knowing that you could now be an insider, because Jesus came from Abraham’s family. A Jewish Savior who came to save Jews. One of the major problems that the Jewish people had was that they were so proud of the fact that they were God’s people, is that they forgot that they were supposed to be “a blessing to the all the families of the earth.” They looked at the world around them and thought, someday God’s going to send his messiah and bless his family and punish the outsiders. Additionally, their leaders started even making the circle smaller for who could be considered an insider. Unless you’re a good Jew, you might not actually be blessed. To be blessed and make sure you are part of God’s family, you have to follow all these rules and traditions.

So, this morning, let me ask you two questions. Are we Jewish? No. Strike one. Second question. Are we good Jewish people? Strike two. Thank God, there is no strike three. Why? Because…[22]

JESUS FINISHES WHAT GOD STARTED WITH ABRAHAM[Z]

What the rest of the world needed was someone who would come and love, invite, and bless not just the Jewish people, but the rest of the world, all the families of the earth. So, God sent someone even better than Abraham to make it possible for the whole world to become part of God’s family. And just like Abraham left his earthly home…[23]

JESUS LEFT HIS HEAVENLY HOME TO COME TO US: If we think about how hard it must have been for Abraham to leave everything he’d ever known behind and head towards Canaan, can you imagine what it must have been like for Jesus to leave his home in heaven to come to earth? Honestly, I don’t think we can even fathom it. It’s one thing to leave the comfort, security, and familiarity of your family, your house, and your job and to depend on God to provide for your everyday needs. It’s another thing to step out of the glory and splendor of heaven, where you are in complete control of the universe, where you are worshipped by angels, where there is no pain or suffering, where you have been in complete and utter connection together with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for all of eternity. Then to be confined for 9 months in the womb of a young woman, completely dependent on a human being that you created for food, safety, and care. Yet Jesus chose to do just that. Jesus could have left us all on the outside, yet he left heaven and stepped into our world to bring us inside his family. Jesus is even better than Abraham because…[24]

JESUS THEN INVITED ALL THE OUTSIDERS, DOUBTERS, AND FAILURES TO FOLLOW HIM: Jesus was constantly going to the places where no respectable Jew went. He was constantly hanging out with the people no respectable Jewish man would be caught with. The untouchable and unlovable of the day were the ones he seemed to be constantly surrounded by. In fact, this was so obvious that at one point he got a reputation for being [25-26]“a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!” [Lk. 7:34] You know why this is such good news? I can’t tell you how many people I have heard say, I can’t walk into a church. The roof will fall in. If the roof of every church fell in, anytime that a big ol sinner walked through the doors, there would be no more roofs on any churches, including ours. The roof of our building would fall in when I walk in. Insurance companies would quit insuring churches. The point is the church is made up of sinners, doubters, and failures! All because Jesus said, I want you as my family. So, if you feel broken, sinful, unwanted, and hopeless today! Thanks for joining the rest of us, you’re just like us! We’re just like you! And Jesus didn’t just come for you, he didn’t just invite you, but…[27]

JESUS DIED TO MAKE YOU FAMILY: This is the blessing that is talked about in the promise made to Abraham. Every single one of us are outsiders, separated from a relationship with God, not living with freedom and peace because we try to be our own Gods. We like to think we’re in control, but we just end up breaking everything we touch when we do it our way. Yet, Jesus loved us so much to come that first Christmas, to show us what it looked like when we live life God’s way. To show us that we were loved and wanted no matter how broken we were. His simple message was, I am God, be in relationship with me, trust me, live the way I teach you to live, and we killed him for it. Then he rose three days later and proved his message was true. And instead of saying, because you killed me, you’re stuck on the outside forever, you’re my enemies. He said, my death makes it possible for you to be forgiven of every single sin. My death makes it possible for you become my family. [28-30]That’s why we’re told in [Gal. 3:6-9] 6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. 8 What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith. All you must do is believe that Jesus is who he said he was, and then surrender the rest of your life to following him and you’re welcomed in. He says, I’ll bless you because you are family.

If you’d like to know more about what it means to become part of God’s family by giving your life to Jesus and becoming a disciple of his… connection card.

If you are already a follower of Jesus, it’s my prayer that we remember that it’s only because of Jesus that we gentiles have been blessed and made part of his family. That we would remember that we’re not better than anyone else simply because we’re forgiven. It is my hope that as we ponder the amazing grace that made us family, we will be so humbled that we will see those around us the way Jesus saw us. That sinners don’t feel condemned by us, but instead feel incredibly loved and invited to become part of the family they’ve always longed for. A place where they can find healing, forgiveness, and restoration. Let’s pray!