Sermons

We Have Seen His Glory

Today God invites us to truly see Jesus. John saw Him. He writes in our text, “We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John doesn’t say, “We glanced” or “We glimpsed.” John doesn’t stand in the back of the room or listen to someone else describe Jesus. No, John focuses and fixes his own eyes and John says that he got to see Jesus. He got to see the glory of Jesus.

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The Word Dwelt Among Us

A couple of weeks ago when we were recording one of our services, Mike Zehnder, was coming from the balcony, and he was visibly shaken. There were tears in his eyes. He had just sung, “Oh, Come All Ye Faithful” and he said that he had a hard time singing the last stanza, “Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing”, which says that God became man. When he thought of that great humiliation of Jesus becoming fully human, all for us and for our salvation, it was just too much to take in. “The Word became flesh!!” That’s what Christmas tells us. The fully divine became fully human. In the Nicene Creed we speak this, “Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man…”

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Complicated and Confusing

Complicated and confusing. Sometimes preaching can be described as that. A while ago one honest listener following one of my sermons said, “I couldn’t follow you today”. So, let me give you a heads up on what I’m going to say today. I’ve selected three phrases of the word the angel said to the shepherds for my main points. They are:

Fear Not
Unto You
A Savior, Who is Christ the Lord

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“Truly Impossible”

God has no limitations. None. The Bible is filled with God doing the impossible. He does miracles – things that we can’t explain, or duplicate. Jesus walks on water. You ever try that? The creation of the world is described as a work that the one who does the impossible alone can do, “By faith we understand that that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)

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“Chosen Children”

2020 has been a crummy year for lots of people. But I know one young girl – my granddaughter – who thinks 2020 was a pretty good one. In the middle of the summer – on Monday, June 22, a 10- year-old who had lived in a number of different foster homes through her young life, found a permanent home with my son and his wife and their two boys. On June 22 she was adopted and became a Larson. On that day she decided not only to get a new last name but she also changed her first and middle ones as well. Her given name was Aubree, but on June 22, 2020, she chose the name of Allie Marie. This chosen child was able to choose her own name. This was a new beginning for my granddaughter. No more foster homes. This was a forever home. This was permanent.

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A Man Named John

Jesus fights for you. He fights for your health and your family. He fights for your salvation and restoration. When everything seems to be against you, Jesus actually takes your side. You with your broken past. You with the absentee dad. You with the bad credit score, the bad break, the bad decisions. You with the sadness and struggles.

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The Grand Finale

But, tell me, why hasn’t He come? Why haven’t we had that day when He will judge the world with justice and throw the devil into the lake of fire and give to us believers our resurrected bodies? Why? Because He wants more people to know the fullness of His salvation. God has paused the return of Christ because of His heart of love for all people – especially for those whose heart is not right with God. Our reading says this, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9)

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You Have My Word

A word can do powerful things. They can harm others or they can do things that will empower and make them strong and alive. I, too often, have hurt people with my words. I regret when I say something that can just take the breath away from someone. But I’ve done it. Maybe, you too? But, at times, I’ve spoken words that make a person alive and thriving. God, also, can kill with His words and He can make us alive with them. Jesus came to bring words of life and hope to all of us. Later in this chapter, the contrast between Moses and his words, and Jesus with His, is given, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17) When Jesus says “You have my word” we can believe it because He is the Word of God, in the flesh.

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A Lament or a Hymn?

Either life can be a lament or it can be a hymn. Which one is it for you? There can be no escaping that life, at times, sometimes for long periods, can be a lament. But I know a God who allows our laments to be transformed into hymns. And these hymns are the greatest ones that have ever been sung and lived. You may remember that in the middle of the book of sorrow, the book of Lamentations, this hymn of hope is recorded, “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:19-23)

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Taken for Granted?

Taken for granted!! God is taken for granted. God’s great miracles become common. We don’t give a second thought to the air we breathe, that water we drink or the sun that shines. Yet God had to think long and hard as to how they would all work. We take for granted the places He gives us to live and the abilities He gives us to make a living and the ordinary things that make up life.

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