Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

Podcast (vidpod): Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Messiah Season!

Welcome to Redemption Church

We have been singing the Christmas carol “We Three Kings” throughout this series. There is one more verse, so let’s sing together one more time.

We three kings of orient are, Bearing gifts we traverse afar

Field and fountain, moor and mountain, Following yonder star.

Glorious now behold Him arise: King and God and Sacrifice!

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Earth to Heav’n replies

Oh, star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright.

Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide with thy perfect light.

MESSIAH SEASON

Welcome.

This is really our final week of our Messiah Season series.

In this series we have been seeking to do more than keep Christ in Christmas.

We have been looking at the prophecies about God’s Anointed One,
the Christ, the Messiah in the Old Testament
and seeing how they are all fulfilled in Jesus.

Jesus is the Messiah and that is what makes Christmas meaningful.

The prophecies about the Messiah can be grouped into three categories,
and those are represented by the three gifts of the Magi. Let’s review:

Gold – the Messiah is a conquering king

Myrrh – the Messiah is a suffering servant

Frankincense – the Messiah is God with us

So, we have been focusing a lot on the “Messiah” part of Messiah Season.

But if you don’t mind, I would like to spend a little time talking about the second part:

SEASON

What is a season? – a period of time

How long is a season? – it varies

I always think of the four seasons of the year: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall

ECCLESIASTES 3:1 NIV There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens

There are lots of other kinds of seasons:

“Holiday Season”

Flu Season

Sports seasons: Football season, basketball season

Political Season

Produce – what’s in season

Fashion – what’s hot this season

Season of your favorite TV show

MESSIAH SEASON

So, what is “Messiah Season”? When does it start? When does it end?

Is it the same as the “Christmas Season”?

NO. We do Christmas wrong. Turn to someone…

How long do you leave your Christmas decorations up?

How long do you feel like you should be a little nicer because it’s Christmas time?

Have you been in the stores? How long does Christmas stuff stay on the shelves?

We tend to celebrate Christmas backwards.

We have all our celebrations beforehand, and then it happens and we’re on to the next thing.

Mary and Joseph weren’t having parties up until Christmas Eve, then the next day the shepherds and the wise men showed up to pose for a photo op, and then they all went on with their lives. No!

Beforehand, was a time of worry, and preparation, and anticipation.

Then the Messiah arrived! Then it was time for celebration.

And as people encountered the Messiah, their lives were changed.
They didn’t go back to everyday life the next day.

Hopefully, throughout this series you have come to realize that Jesus is the only one who could be the Messiah. He met all the qualifications. He fulfilled all the prophecies. He is the only one who is King, servant, and God all at the same time.

If we have entered into a season of recognizing and celebrating our Messiah,
our lives shouldn’t go back to “normal” afterward.
We shouldn’t move on when something else comes along.

But we can also lose our place in this season.
Jesus was the suffering servant…
I know that He is coming back as the conquering king…

So, right now He must just be God. So I’ll pray and go to church…

No. He is all three. ALWAYS.

He is God with us. He hears you when you reach out to Him in prayer. He is with you no matter what you are going through.

But He is also the conquering king. He is the King of kings!
If he is our Messiah, then we should live like He is our King.
We should seek to build His kingdom.

Do you live like you are a member of His kingdom,
or do you live like you are part of the kingdom of this world?

And He is the suffering servant. On the cross He bore the punishment of the sins that we still commit today.

HEBREWS 6:8b NIV To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

But just as Jesus suffered and came to be a servant, He also left us an example to follow:

1 PETER 2:21 NIV To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

Do you live to serve others?
Do you follow the King’s command to love others as He loved you?

This isn’t how we should be at a certain time in the year.
This is who we are called to be all the time.
Messiah Season doesn’t squeeze in between Thanksgiving and New Years.
We should be living in Messiah Season as long as he is our Messiah.

We are about to enter a new year and a new decade.
Can this year, can this decade be a Messiah Season?

It won’t be easy. This new year is an election year…
Can we live in a way that shows we believe in a Messiah who is more important and more powerful than anyone holding political office?
And live in a way that shows we know we are called to love others even if they have different opinions and beliefs than we do? Even if they aren’t very nice to us?

MESSIAH SEASON

But here’s a question. What if Messiah Season isn’t a “when”?
What if it is a “who”? What if it is you?

MATTHEW 5:13 NIV “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

MESSIAH SEASON

You are the salt. You are Messiah’s seasoning. You are called to season the world with the knowledge of the Messiah, by living out and sharing your relationship with Him.

Salt is used to prepare things and preserve things. ***MUSICIAN***
Through your relationship with Jesus, by following his example of being a servant, you help preserve the hope and love and faith of others.
You prepare the way for our Kings return by building his kingdom in this world.

But if lose that relationship; if you choose not to live like He is the Messiah…
Then what? What are we good for?

But Jesus is God with us. He can put His Spirit within us, to remind us and to encourage us. To live out every season with Jesus as our Messiah.

This is the season to recognize and worship the true Messiah, Jesus.
Christmas is over, but the Messiah still lives and reigns!

You are the Messiah Season. You are the salt and you are the light.
The world needs you. As we prepare to enter this new year,
are you willing to live out who Jesus has called you to be?

He is with us. He is here now. Will you spend a few moments talking to Him?

Ask Him how you can better live out this season following Him as our Messiah.
Ask Him to prepare you and us as Redemption Church so seek Him and serve Him all the more in this coming year and decade.
How can we be Messiah Season in the world around us?