This recording is from Christ Kingdom Church in Avalon Park, Orlando. Visit us online at ChristKingdom.org for our calendar, driving directions, and more audio recordings. Morning, everybody. Do I stand down here still, Scott? I never know how things change since we left about 18 months ago or so. It's sure it's good to be back with you here at Christ Kingdom and just want to give greetings from our family to yours. It's been a blast serving the Lord over in Southeast Asia Pacific. I work with teams from India, Bangladesh, South, all the way through Mainland, Southeast Asia, with Vietnam and Cambodia, the Laos, Thailand, that area, then heading down to what we call island, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Brunei, then further over east of there into the Pacific with Papua New Guinea. So that's all I work with, and we have a lot of fun. I think there's around 400 missionaries roughly in that area, but a region in which many things are happening, in which a lot of people are asking, where is the hope? What is it that is going to bring hope to us in this generation? How can we possibly find hope when you think of the way terrorism has intensified, the whole Mumbai situation has taken it to a new level? A lot of people are asking questions, a lot of people in the Muslim world are asking questions, but they aren't the only ones. Hindus, this will, radical Hinduism is on their eyes in India. A lot of people don't realize that a lot of the martyrdoms, probably the majority of martyrdoms actually is taking place at the hands of Hindus now of Christians. They're in the India area, down in Indonesia, things are also intensifying. More and more, the islamia of Indonesia who have killed tens of thousands of people are trying to continue to wreak havoc among the believers there. And of course, we know in the West, with the economic meltdown in our day, there's a lot of people saying, where is the hope? Where can we find it? Where is that which will bring us hope in the midst of what we are facing? So we drove through the neighborhoods this morning, I was looking out, remembering all the articles I've read, even as I'm in Asia, of how many are underwater because of mortgage problems, etc. And I just pray that this morning we will see King Jesus for who he really is, because he alone is the hope that we have in the midst of our generation to face whatever it is, either at the personal level, the national level, or at the global level in terms of the challenges we are facing. And that's why I love the story that we're getting into this morning out of Luke chapter 2. My father went to be with the Lord in February. He was a great man of God who loved the Lord deeply. And he also loved God's word, and he was a walking King James Bible. So I don't memorize a lot of King James, but I did in Luke 2. Let's look at it together from verse 1 on through that verse 20 that we talked about. And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world would be taxed. And this taxing was first made when Carineus was governor of Syria, and all went to be taxed, everyone unto his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth, unto Judea, into the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. Why? Because he was of the house and lineage of David to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, who was great with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered, and she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. And there were also shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, and the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord sewn round about them, and they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them, fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day, and the city of David, a savior which is Christ the Lord. And there was suddenly with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising and crying out to God saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace good will toward men. And it came to pass after the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even into Bethlehem, and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us, and they came with haste, and they found Mary, Joseph, and the babe, line in a manger. And when they had seen it, they had made known abroad the things that were told them concerning this child, and all they that heard it wondered that the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart, and the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had seen and heard, even as it was told unto them. Now that baby is hope, okay? That's the hope we're looking for, a hope that is found in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, a hope that is so profound that it can actually alter history. Do you know the greatest truths in military history? They most believe that it was on December the 25th in 1914, which was the first year of World War I. Currently, the Germans and Brits were lined up against one another on the front lines when it was the German troops they believed that started at first. The centuries who were up in their parapids took candles and put up in a small Christmas tree so the Brits could see it, and the Brits were pretty impressed with that. So what did they do? They lit bonfires, and then they started shooting all for rockets, and the men, so fell in love with this idea of having Christmas together that they crossed the lines and started hanging out together. Can you imagine that? They said that the men actually traded tobacco in jam and other things that they had received from home. They started playing soccer between all the pop marks where the missiles had hit previous in the day. One of the, one of the privates, his name was, I think it was Oswald Tilly from the London Rifle Regiment, wrote back to his parents this. He said, he said, while you were at home eating your turkey, etc. He said, I was actually getting to know the men that I had just tried to kill a few hours earlier. They said it was the leaders in the battle, the generals who were the most concerned that things started firing everywhere as they said, how in the world are these men going to fight with peace breaking out everywhere? You see, I think the men on the battle lines that day in 1914, and unfortunately that peace did not hold at all. In fact, it led then to the terrible atrocities from 19, later in the year 1915 on through the rest of the world, which of course claimed 10 million lives. But I believe that those men had it right. They saw something which was much more profound than even the great movements of history, if you will. I think that we have to start there when it comes to understanding where hope comes from in our generation. You see, I feel as I have looked through this passage over and over in recent months, that truly hope is found in the sovereign God alone. You know, he moves in power in these verses in a way that is almost uncanny. It's a wonderful story. But there's power behind this story. I mean, he first begins by moving the heart of an emperor. He takes the emperor of the entire Roman Empire, sees her Augustus, and he moves him in such a way as to issue a decree which would bring about the fulfillment of his prophecies for his son, the Messiah, to be born in Bethlehem at a specific time. I think that is way cool. What is it, Proverbs 21-1, that goes something like this, that the heart of the king is in the hands of the Lord, as the rivers of water, he turns it withers so ever he will. Yes, God is the one who is behind all things that take place in history, and that has brought me great comfort at a time when things happen in the countries that I'm responsible for and working with other leaders on that just confound us to the very core. How can we see teams going to some of these areas and truly live incarnationally, live as Christ lived amongst the people there? When things are so incredibly hard, we must pray for the missionary teams that find themselves in Afghanistan now. I've just talked to my nephew who's a brand new Marine Putun commander, and he's going over, of course, with a different objective when it comes to security issues in Afghanistan. I fear for his life, but I also fear for the people I know in Afghanistan. Kabul is under siege, and you could replicate that throughout the earth. The things that are going on our generation that we can hardly talk about, and I know we don't want to scare kids or anything like that today, but my brothers and sisters, the wonderful thing that we can hold on to is that the God who moved the heart of Caesar Augustus is a God who is moving in power now. None of this is by accident. He will have his way in the Muslim world. He will have his way in the Hindu world. He will have his way even in the United States of America. I know some people are asking questions. Are we sure he will? Yes, he will, particularly if we will return to him in everything. So I see his sovereign hand movie, but it's not just in the big things. It's also in the smaller parts of this story that are so beautiful. I love the way he comes to the shepherds. When we look at that, we often tell this story every Christmas and we think about it. We sometimes forget who those shepherds were. Ederson, who was a scholar from a long time ago, he writes that he really believes that the sheep that were used under or were under the care of these shepherds at night were the sheep that were used in the sacrifices in the temple at the time, which means that it was pointing forward to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ that he would make on the cross about 30 to 32 years later. The point is that even in this story is this vivid imagery that points us to the real reason Christ came. My father used to give an illustration in the sermon and we can't prove it biblically, of course, but he wondered if maybe even when the star sent its light down, as it hit the stable, it wasn't just Christ in the manger, but perhaps it cast a shadow of a cross over the baby even as he lay there. Because that's what his destiny was. That's what he was here for, was to die someday for your sins in mine so that we could come to know God for who he really is. But the interesting thing about those shepherds is that they were really nice guys just hanging around. They had a real reputation. I didn't realize that I started studying this. Apparently, wherever the shepherds were, you put your hand on your wallet. Wherever the shepherds were, you made sure your stuff was inside, not outside, because they were known for picking up a few things here and moving on. Since they were moving through, sort of like the gypsies in certain parts of the world, then it was easy for them to develop a reputation for thevery. Who was it that God came to? Who did He bring this glorious message to? The thieves of that day. He wanted them to know Him. He wanted to bring hope even to them. And of course the main characters of this story, you've heard many sermons on it. I'm sure Scott has preached many far better than I could, but Joseph and Mary and some of the others who were part of this story, they were poor. At the very least we know this, that as they came into Bethlehem that night, they were tired, they were hungry, they were impoverished. And here is the baby Jesus. He who had vowed to leave the portals of heaven. He who stood in the presence of the king of kings and lord of lords had now become a babe in the midst of a manger. Yes, there's disagreement as to what that manger really was. Was it in the cave? Was it in the house? Was it in a true stable as we think of it in the west in our day? All of those are possible options. But this we know, Christ left the greatest cultural divide of anyone in history by far and He became a babe because He wanted to bring hope in the midst of a fallen world. And so here is the sovereign God moving in power to bring His Son into the world at a time like this. And these angels proclaim that message was such clarity that there was no way of missing it. Of all the biblical passages, if I could go back in a time machine, I would love to be there on the hillside and see the angels filling this guy as a multitude of the heavenly hosts. Praise God and said, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men. That whole concept sees the heart of a man named James Montgomery. He's born into an interesting family. Have you ever heard of the Moravians? I'm sure some of you have. Perhaps all of you have. The Moravians were incredible missionaries. They were out of Count Zinsendorf, actually lived in Germany. The reason they were so incredible is because they didn't just send out a handful of missionaries out of a church about 600. I think they sent out 70 or 90. I forget what it was. Some huge percentage of their own people went. The main thing about the Moravians is that when they sent their first missionaries, there were 26 who went out in the first time. The night that they sent them, they sang 100 Helms. They were very passionate about worship and knowing God. The Moravians, though, a lot of people forget what happened next. Two years later, so two Christmases later, as they, you would think they would celebrate together and be back together, they weren't left to celebrate together. Out of the 26 who went, 22 were already dead. Two were in prison and only two were still laboring on the field, actually down in the Caribbean area. They went into a very dark and dangerous and difficult world. But the Moravians just would not give up. You know, I have pictures of a grave of Moravian missionaries way up in the hinterlands of the HP district. I think that's called Haktar Pradesh, if I'm not mistaken. Forgive me if I murdered that pronunciation for those who know the right pronunciation, but it's up in the mountains that would be getting up towards, of course, the regions of Pakistan, etc. But there in those mountains on a hillside are pictures of these Moravian missionaries who died about 100 years ago. James Montgomery was born into one of those families. He was either second or third generation Moravian. Unfortunately, his parents had to leave him at age six because of, there's only way you can do it in those days. Left him there in the London area and it would have been okay had they come back but unfortunately as other Moravians they died. And so he didn't see his parents again. They said that when he went into high school years, he of course was having difficulty finding himself figuring out why he's coming from. But he never left his hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. He felt that no matter how dark it became, Christ would be enough and so he held on to him. The saying is early 20s he started writing editorials that went into the Sheffield paper. I think it was called the Sheffield Iris of Sheffield, England. Those editorials were very explosive, apparently, politically. And so they threw him into prison and he had to pay 20 pounds or so, which was a princely sum in those days in order to get out. But cause he had been an editorialist and was thrown into prison for that and was able to eventually pay his way out. He became almost a local celebrity. And so he was very popular and people really like to hear what he said and he dealt with that well. He lived for Christ. He lived out his life just like you're doing here in Easter Lando. And he wanted to see God glorified in all things and they said by age 45 he was a respected leader known throughout and one night on Christmas Eve. I believe it was 1816, Christmas Eve of 1816. He started reflecting on Luke 2, 13, the verse we just quoted concerning the angels filling the skies and he started writing down the verse of a poem. And as he wrote those verses out, the verse started with angels from the realms of glory. Five years later, of course, that was put to music and sung for the first time in 1821 in one of those the Moravian churches. And now it is the Christmas Carol that we know today as he meditated on what it meant for the unseen realm to be seen for what it is. You see every now and then this sovereign God that we talk about from the unseen realm breaks into the natural realm so that we can see a glimpse of him and his glory. I believe that we in our generation, particularly in the West, need to develop an imagination, not an imagination based on empty knowledge or thinking of within our own creativity alone, but an imagination based on the text of Scripture in which we truly imagine who this God is in the unseen realm, who breaks into the natural realm for his glory. You'll recall when we were home on furlough, I described my own healing from cancer and it's something I don't mind talking about and I don't mind being open about it because I believe that God out of the supernatural realm broke into the natural realm very briefly to give me a glimpse of himself and his glory. By the way, when I just got checked up a couple of months ago, they said nothing there still don't you have to come in for another year, praise God. And that's all we can say is praise God because we know from those stories that it is only God and God alone. In my brothers and sisters, I feel like I'm not saying this stuff real good this morning, but I can just hear my heart today. It really is only God and God alone. He alone is our hope. He's the one who can get us through. It doesn't matter what you're facing at this time. Perhaps you're seeing illness within your own family. Perhaps you're seeing financial calamity like you never thought you would see who could have ever foreseen what was going to take place in this year. In this year, in terms of what happened financially, all over the world, wherever I go, everybody says, how could we have ever seen this happen? And yet here it is. And God is behind it all. And he's the one who accomplishes purposes and our lives in the midst of those kind of challenges are living realities in terms of who he is. Are we living as though that unseen realm is more real than the realm in which we find ourselves? I hope so. Because you see, I believe that that's why this Christ child came. Remember Isaiah 9, 6 and 7, also in the King James, for unto us the child is born. And unto us the Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Man, it's making my hair stand up. Do you realize who that Christ is? He is everything. He's the King of kings and Lord of lords. He stands above all these circumstances that we find ourselves in. And if your life stinks right now, then please, fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, for the joy set before him endured the cross despising the shame until he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God on high. And that's where he's ruling and reigning even now. Wow. That changes my life. It puts all of my problems in right perspective. Do I live it out consistently? Of course not. John Boy is depraved. I wrestle with these truths all the time. How can we really live it out right? But I'll tell you what, whether I live it out right or not, it's true. And that's what we have to do is hang on to what is true. Yes? He is wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, of the increase of his government and peace. There shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with justice and with judgment from henceforth even forever. And how do we know that this is going to come about? How do we know that that unseen realm is more real than what we find here? I'll tell you why because it says that he who is going to accomplish this someday we will see it with our own eyes. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform it or accomplish it. It's based on the character of God himself that this kingdom is going to be here and it's going to be real. And the hope will be there all because of the Lord Jesus Christ and who he is and he's the one who has promised it. Perhaps some of you are wondering, well, does it really make a difference? Yeah it does. It made a difference for the Boracobas from Czechoslovakia back in 1910. You see diphtheria came through their village in eastern Czechoslovakia and it ravaged the area. Diphtheria is a terrible disease. I'm not a medical person but I've read a little bit and apparently it strangles people. As it came through they would have to put an X on the houses because you know all they could do is quarantine all things like that and apparently that little village became full of homes with X's on them. Jana or Jana and Susanna Boracobas had three children at the time, a five-year-old daughter and two little boys. It was the five-year-old daughter who died first. And as her father was out literally pounding in the nails for that little coffin, the two boys were in choking to death. They said that the mother and sobs saw her two sons die and just like the little girl. So that literally within just a few days they went from having three children to being childless. It was a terrible time of year. Foot of snow on the ground, wind blowing, bitter cold and they had to take those bodies and wrap them in cloths and lie them and not a manger this time but in a casket. Then they took those little wooden caskets and they put them on the back of their horse-drawn cart and went out and as they made their way towards a graveyard they say that as they looked out almost every house had an X on it. There was no one to comfort them, no one to come and help because every family was dealing with this terrible tragedy. As they went out they buried their children and they came back home and even as they came in the house they described the way there were little shoes lined up of their children and they could remember. And it just broke their hearts but it was worse than that. You see as the afternoon hours hit, all of a sudden Ghana started having trouble breathing as well. By dinner time he too was choking. He couldn't even eat his supper. And he told his wife that he didn't think he'd see another Christmas. In fact he didn't think he would see the new year. As he went to bed that night his wife put an extra log or two on the fire in order to keep the fire up throughout the evening hours because she figured he'd probably be up all night trying to nurse her husband. And she looked out the window at that time and she saw the hills there surrounding their little village. And she remembered Psalm 121, from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Apparently just as she finished thinking through that verse in her mind there was a knock on the door. And as she looked out there was this little lady and this lady had a beautiful patchwork quilt type dress on trying to hold back the cold. And she had a little vile of something in her hand. And as she opened the door for this little old lady she said the lady walked into the cabin, the house they were living in. And she said I'm sorry but my husband is sick and she said I know the whole village is sick. It's okay let me just come in for a minute. Close the door behind her and this little lady said this is what you've got to do. This is pure kerosene. You need to take your finger and you put it in this clean one in cloth that I brought you and you dip it in that pure kerosene and just swab the back of his throat very quickly. And then you take this table spoon of this pure kerosene and you make him drink it. Sounds lethal, doesn't it? But it was just what needed to happen because it calls to him to start coughing later in the night. And as Christmas morning came he actually coughed up the flim that was in his chest and his throat and his fever broke and he began to heal for the first time. My friends what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us. I'm sorry to get emotional but is exactly like that woman that night in that house. In the midst of the darkness when everything seemed hopeless and there was no place to look we didn't even know how to look up. Things were so dark that Susanna didn't even know where to look. She just looked out at the hills at anything and remembered that verse of scripture. You see in the midst of that kind of darkness and that kind of pain. It was King Jesus who came into our world. It was him who came because he loves each one of you so much. I don't know what your background is. I don't know what you've been through. I don't know the pain of your life. I don't know how difficult life has become. I only know that this Christmas there is hope to be found. And the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone and he brings real life eternal life. Yes, that kerosene work for that family at that time. In fact, I think it was around 13 to 14 years later they immigrated to the US with eight kids. They had one set of triplets, two sets of twins and a single kid. When you hate to be the only one that wasn't part of you know anyway. But they came here to America and they thrived and that's why we know the story of the Burak Kovas in Czechoslovakia in 1910. I always go over time but I'm not going to this morning. I just trust that you will look to Jesus this day. You will see the hope to be found in a sovereign God king of kings and Lord of lords. He who is wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father, Prince of peace. And I hope you will see that the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish his sovereign purposes and all of our lives. And I trust that you will picture eyes on him. And in closing, let me just remind you from Colossians chapter one verse 15 what has said. He Jesus is the image of the invisible God. The first born overall creation for by him all things were created things in heaven and on earth visible and invisible where their thrones or powers or rulers or authorities all things absolutely everything was created by him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together. He is our hope. We turn to you living Christ and we ask that you would have your way in the lives of each of us this Christmas season. I cry out to you on behalf of Christ kingdom church these folks that we have come to know and love who we are praying for over in Thailand and I know they are praying for us. We plead with you on their behalf we stand with them shoulder to shoulder before you're thrown at this time and we ask God that you would have your way in this church and in the lives of the families of this church and in all those who will come into the realm of blessing of this church. We pray that you would use these brothers and sisters as your glory bears I ask that you would enable them to fix their eyes on King Jesus to see him for who he really is to see him this this Christmas as the author of hope as a sustainer of hope as the only one who brings hope into the midst of this darkness. I pray for all those who are hurting economically I ask that you would meet them and that you would provide for them and that you would give them all that they need so they can continue to serve you here in this part of your vineyard or I pray for this church. I ask that you would be with Scott Jason and the other leaders of this church come and guard them in every way we pray that you would protect them that you would draw close to them that they would live holy lives as men and women before you're thrown who yearn to see you lifted up in this part of your vineyard. Father I pray that you would give us hope I ask that you would help each of us and we confess of those times that we lose perspective that you would bring us back and able us to fix our eyes on Jesus and to see him as the author of life and the sustainer of all good things. Give us hope we pray and your name we ask it the name of all names amen.