Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Welcome to the Crema Chaj podcast.
[00:00:06] Great. Good afternoon. Hopefully you're starting to feel a little Christmassy.
[00:00:14] Ready to enjoy this incredible story, possibly the greatest story ever told. The promise of the ages that God would come and walk amongst us, and not only that, would call us to himself, invite us to come to him and see our lives totally changed. Isaiah writes this. He says, 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, of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness. From that time on and forever, the zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
[00:01:19] Amen.
[00:01:21] So there is the promise of the ages and the invitation to come and behold. And that's what we are calling entitling our Christmas celebrations this year. Come and behold, come and encounter God. Come and meet the Lord Jesus, and a child is born. And in this child that we're celebrating, all of the promises of the ages are fulfilled.
[00:01:49] In this child, all the stories of the Bible are completed. That somehow, through the birth of this child, the scattered nations of the world, the warring tribes, the multitudes of languages, the device, philosophies, will be drawn together.
[00:02:09] In fact, he will heal the nations by the leaves of the tree that he died on his cross and he was born into a family. And I want to say to you this morning, God ordained family.
[00:02:29] Do you know often there's a bit of an attack on the family, and whether you are in one or not, you are part of this Cromer family.
[00:02:39] Fathers, mothers, aunties and uncles, pastors, leaders, and the spirit and the bride invite us to behold him.
[00:02:49] And Jesus was born, by all accounts, into a typical family.
[00:02:57] You say, well, how do you know that? Well, Joseph, the husband, had forgotten to book ahead, and so his pregnant wife, Mary, ends up giving birth in the stable and not in the hotel.
[00:03:11] I was out with Tim this week and we were heading London way and we just stopped for a cup of coffee. And just as the coffees came, he went, oh, no.
[00:03:23] And what's wrong? He says, I've got the car keys and Jess needs to take the kids to school and they're in. Ah. And they're in my pocket.
[00:03:36] Thankfully, Jess is a saint. Because actually, I was going to say I heard the conversation on the phone. The truth is, I didn't hear the conversation on the Phone. Which meant it went reasonably well.
[00:03:48] But, ladies, can I just say to you, if you are going to marry us for our looks, there will be a few defects along the road, okay?
[00:03:59] And giving birth in a stable, by all accounts, is not a good start in life.
[00:04:07] But just as God has ordained family, I want to say to you this morning, it doesn't matter how you start life, it matters how you finish life. That's the story of the Bible.
[00:04:20] You see, if God can get a star in the sky, he can have a good plan for your life and my life.
[00:04:30] You see, the birth of Jesus draws everyone in. We heard in the production, the. The shepherds, working people, good, normal working people who have an encounter with an angel and are invited to come and behold God.
[00:04:46] The innkeeper, the business guy who do anything to make a buck and will rent out his stable to a pregnant lady. Don't you ever wonder what happened to his business?
[00:04:58] You know, having the son of God stay? You know, maybe it became Hilton or Marriott or something like, I don't know. But the whole thing of the King of Kings coming, God coming to earth, and there is no room for him.
[00:05:13] But the miracle of the gospel, the story of Jesus, is that whenever people come to him, he makes room for them. There is always room.
[00:05:25] The wise kings who follow a star, who bring gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. And I understand all the imagery in those gifts, but when you're a family and when you're broke and when you're staying in a stable, what they bought was the resource of heaven to start their lives together. And if you're going to raise your family in this world, you need the resources of heaven.
[00:05:55] You need heaven to break into your family. And then even the powerful Herod, he wants to come and see him or kill him, because he knows a kingdom is coming, a new kingdom that will see no end.
[00:06:13] You see, until this point, God has been distant and mysterious.
[00:06:18] You know, we see him in a cloud of glory, a pillar of fire, a burning bush. But now he comes to walk amongst us. Born a man, yet fully God living among us, shall showing his ways, not telling us, but demonstrating what he's like.
[00:06:39] The Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the end. And he says this, he says, I stand at the door of your hearts and I knock, and anybody who lets me in.
[00:06:55] And there is a lovely sense, a lovely picture here. You know, all the other religions, man is trying to find God, the story of Jesus, God comes to find us. And in fact, he goes a whole nother level he says, I'm knocking at the door of your heart.
[00:07:18] Anyone who opens the door of their heart who says, yes, come in. He says, we'll come and clean house, will come and forgive your sin and renew your life. And we will bring relationship with heaven to Earth.
[00:07:37] You see, the wonder of God is breaking into the world and into the lives of men and women. Think about it. In the darkness of that night sky, God placed a star for the wise to follow.
[00:07:52] Now, I don't know what he did. What was the light in the sky? Was it an angel shining really brightly? Or was it before the creation of the world that God set the sun and the stars and the planets in motion so that on that night over Bethlehem there would be a light shining for the wise to follow?
[00:08:19] I remember a few years back, I was talking to a guy. It was a warm summer's night, a clear sky, and it was in Leicester.
[00:08:31] And we were looking up at the stars and we'd just been talking about God and faith. And I remember him saying to me, steve, I just can't do it. I can't believe. I can't believe that there is a God that created all of this, all of this expanse, everything. And then he came to Earth for us. I can't believe it. I just can't believe it. And we were just chatting and discussing. I said to him, but what if there was?
[00:09:10] What if there was a God? And what if he did?
[00:09:14] What if there was a God that created all this? And what if he did leave all the glory of heaven and come to Earth? What would he be like? And I remember, I'll never forget it because we'd been gazing up and he just looked down and he said, he'd be wonderful.
[00:09:32] He'd be amazing.
[00:09:36] The God who walks among us. This Jesus has a plan of redemption for each of us. He's inviting us into his story. He is wonderful. In fact, the prophet describes him as wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end.
[00:10:06] This Jesus, this is the Jesus that's drawn us all in this place together today.
[00:10:13] You see, there is still darkness in the world, but his light shines brightly. It is His Holy Spirit who's drawn each one of us from many nations to be under one roof celebrating Him. How has he done this? Paul explains it in Philippians 2. 5, who, being the very nature, God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very Nature of a servant. He's talking about Jesus being made in human likeness and being found in the appearance of a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name at that, the name of Jesus. Every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So these Christmas celebrations, we're celebrating what he has done not only by coming to earth, but what he's doing amongst us in this family. He's made us a family of people who love his presence, who love to enjoy him. You know, a few weeks ago, if you were here a few weeks ago, we went to do the first worship song and none of the speakers worked. It didn't work. You didn't even miss a beat. You just started singing holy, Holy. I love that because we're a people who love his presence. We're a people who love to worship Him. We don't need we like this, but we don't need it because our hearts have been won for him.
[00:12:07] And as we come into his presence, our families are strengthened. I know families that wanted to give up this year, but they now have new hope. Why? Because he has come into their lives.
[00:12:20] Your salvation. Do you know we've had this year?
[00:12:26] I don't know if it's almost or actually yet, but 500 people have walked forward to give their lives to Jesus. How cool is that?
[00:12:39] Men and women and young people beholding Jesus healing.
[00:12:46] We've seen him heal. Backs, eyes, cancer, bones, brain tumors.
[00:12:53] As his presence has come amongst us.
[00:12:57] When we talk about Jesus coming to undo the works of the devil, Sickness never comes from God. And there's this. If you've ever been sick for a long period of time, you know the weight you carry. You know what it's like. And just having that load lifted off. As his presence comes into the room, a young are thriving in the safety of his presence, telling the story of God. The poor are being fed. Many of you serving the poor every single week. Why? Because he's got your heart.
[00:13:30] He's captured you and you're becoming like Him.
[00:13:35] You know, as I watched the production this morning, my heart was just glad.
[00:13:45] There's a sense sometimes when you lead a church, how do you know if you're winning? How do you know what's good? And when you just see the young telling the story of Jesus, having fun, enjoying themselves you see, that's what a healthy church looks like. You see, when you behold his presence, it's health, it's family, it's joy and celebration for all Jesus has done in our lives.
[00:14:19] And you see, the Christmas story is the start of the fulfillment of the redemption of God.
[00:14:27] And he is here now.
[00:14:30] He's inviting you into his story.
[00:14:36] You know, the day I came to Jesus is still as fresh in my mind. 47 years ago, I came to Jesus and I am so thankful for the adventure.
[00:14:51] As a young person, he grabbed my life and he took me on the adventure of my life. He has walked with me through the good times, the difficult times. And Julia and I will often just wonder at the Lord's goodness upon our life and upon our children's life.
[00:15:12] And our hearts are warm.
[00:15:16] If you wanted me to describe, you know, 47 years later of walking with Jesus, my heart is warm.
[00:15:26] I love his presence.
[00:15:28] I treasure walking with him.
[00:15:35] You see, as we come and behold him, we are not only filled, but we are fulfilled because we take on his journey. I'm going to say that again. We don't only receive a filling of the Holy Spirit, we receive fulfillment because we walk in his will, in his path, and he is with us.
[00:16:04] You see, Jesus placed himself under the will of the Father so that we, every single person here, could come and behold.
[00:16:15] For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.
[00:16:23] And the invitation is come and know Jesus. Come and walk with Jesus.
[00:16:31] Come and learn his ways and enjoy his kingdom and see all of the victory that he has won.
[00:16:40] He is over every throne and he is over every power. And he says, come, walk with me in my family, in my kingdom.
[00:16:53] Thanks for listening to the Chroma Charge podcast. If you enjoyed this message, you can like and subscribe. You can also join us in person or online every Sunday at Kremachurch. For more information about us, including our ministries, events, worship, and how to donate, visit our website at Chroma Church.
