FMC Tulsa

There was a time when no one talked about the gifts of the Holy Spirit (except maybe the Pentecostals). And then the "gifts" became a hot topic within the church. The Charismatic Movement was rolling through the mainline churches and everyone wanted to identify their "gift" and learn to do ministry within their gift and passions. I wonder if we are not now in the post-Charismatic movement era? The "gifts of the Spirit" no longer seem strange to us. But neither does the idea of spiritual gifts sound exciting and empowering. Paul obviously believed the "gifts of the Spirit" were important-he writes about these gifts at least three times (I Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4). Peter seems to have some idea of the gifts in his letter (I Peter 4:10-11). The early church seems to have thought that individual Christians not only received God's Spirit but were empowered through the Spirit for ministry and service. The idea that God wants to work through us and in us is amazing! Of course, like any good and God-given thing, spiritual gifts could be abused and misused. Gifts were never meant to be signs of status or personal achievement- but that didn't prevent Christians from seeing their gifts in just that way. The Corinthians were definitely gifted in the Spirit-but the gifts seemed to have divided them because of their jealousy and arrogance. Having a spiritual gift does not automatically make us spiritually mature. But the wonderful thing is that God continues to gift us and empower us through the Holy Spirit to do the work of the kingdom.

I wonder what Jesus thought as he walked up the hill to Golgotha to die? Did he think about the people who had betrayed him? Was he looking for a friendly face in the crowd? Was he reflecting on all that he had been through? Was his life flashing before his eyes? Was he in so much pain that he couldn't think about anything? Was he thinking about you? Was he thinking about me? During this season of Lent we have been preaching the sermon series, "From Here to There." We have been studying together the journey of Jesus from his baptism to his resurrection. As with any journey, there are always hills to climb and mountains to overcome. For Jesus, the biggest obstacle on his journey to redeeming the world was the cross. But Jesus did it. He climbed the hill, and he willingly died. If you were walking to your death, what would you think about?

God is for you! You may not believe it. Life can be pretty cruel, and often it feels like no one is for you. You may be struggling in a sea of debt or burdened by multiple health crises. Maybe you are experiencing a deep sorrow of loneliness or even just the day-to-day pace of life has worn you ragged. So, I can imagine how believing that God is for you is tough, and that's why we celebrate Christmas. We celebrate because we remember that God came to a people crying out on the verge of hopelessness, and that God came for us. In our passage this week the prophet Isaiah says, "See the Lord God comes with might... He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather in the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep." Isaiah 40:10-11.

Many times we think of prophecy as predicting the future. Prophets do talk about the future, but never like a fortune-teller. Rather, the prophet speaks to the present generation about the word and will of God. To the proud and arrogant, the prophet speaks words of warning. And to the hurting, the prophet speaks words of hope. In much of the book of Isaiah we see the former. People have become adept at looking religious while acting just the opposite. Isaiah warns them again and again not to think that giving God lip service or an occasional sacrifice will save them from judgment. If people persist in disobedience, judgment is coming. But Isaiah also gives Israel words of hope. If they do experience judgment, God will still not abandon them. Eventually they will move darkness to light-God will send a Son to bring peace and hope. Advent celebrates the fulfillment of God's promises in Jesus Christ. The people were judged for their sins-they looked for someone to come and lead them out of the darkness into light. And God did send, not just someone, but His Son.

People in the days of Jesus expected a messiah-but what kind of messiah did they expect?

That is not an easy question to answer. Although it is clear from the gospel accounts people were expecting and hoping for God to send someone to make things right-it is not nearly as clear who they thought that "someone" would be. In fact, the reason many struggled with Jesus was precisely because he did not fit their ideas of what the "Christ" would be like.

Even today scholars argue over what Jews expected in the days of Jesus-and what Jesus claimed for himself. Why did Jesus use the term "Son of Man" instead of Messiah?

Books upon books have been written on this topic (and more books written about those books)-but we are going to look at one key passage in Daniel. This passage, I believe, was key for Jesus in defining who he believed he was.

We believe God did send his promised agent for salvation-and the Christ was much more than people expected. He was "the Son of Man."