When Meredith and I were engaged I came up with a rule for when we were registering for things. I got to hold the registration gun. You know, the electronic scanner that puts stuff on your digital registry? I felt like it was attempting to maintain some sort of influence over all of the rather unexciting things that are part of showers and getting married.

In short, I felt the need to be in control of something.

Jesus talks about a lot of things. But there are a few things that come up more than others. And at the top of the list is money. He calls it treasures, possessions, wealth..etc, but we are talking about money.

But is it really about money, or is there something deeper going on?

I'll let you read our scripture for the message and let you make that decision.

As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus asked. "Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments: 'You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.'"

"Teacher," the man replied, "I've obeyed all these commandments since I was young."

Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. "There is still one thing you haven't done," he told him. "Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

At this the man's face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!" This amazed them. But Jesus said again, "Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!"

The disciples were astounded. "Then who in the world can be saved?" they asked.

Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God."

Then Peter began to speak up. "We've given up everything to follow you," he said.

"Yes," Jesus replied, "and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then."

CALLS TO ACTION

1. What drives you?
2. What do you need right now that you can't provide for yourself?

This, then, is how you should pray:

"'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'

Matthew 6:7-9

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, "See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help."Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly."

Jesus said to him, "Shall I come and heal him?"

The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that moment.

When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.

Matthew 8:1-16

Ever got into one of those situations where a pack of kids just experienced something and are all attempting to explain it to you at the same time? If you know the bunch, you typically learn to listen to each one of them with a different ear. You've got the funny kid, the kid bad things always happen to, the kid that exaggerates everything…and the kid that is pretty true to the actual event.

Any time something happens to multiple people, there are different views and different experiences. We all come from different places and that changes the way we encounter things. We enter in with presuppositions, assumptions about what is actually going on, and a different take on what we feel like we need to communicate.

And the books we call the "gospels" aren't that different. We have four different people, with different experiences and assumptions, all trying to communicate the truth of who Jesus is. And they are all different. And they are also all completely true.

"Gospel" means good news. Each of these writers are telling the story of what good news is to a specific group of people in a particular place and time. As the church developed and rapidly spread, they began sifting through and identifying written works as authoritative and worthy of being called scripture, thereby putting them into the same tradition as the ancient Hebrew writings we now call the Old Testament.

So this Sunday will be a little different. We are going to take a quick lap through all four gospels, and look at them each as to why they are written and why they still matter.

This year we are spending our time each Sunday on a different passage from one of the four gospels.

Why?

Well, if we are claiming to follow Jesus, couldn't we all benefit from a clearer picture of what He told us? In a day where even religion is becoming polarized, let us fix our eyes on the author and perfector of our faith.

So about this first sermon. Well, it's the one the writer of Luke placed first. It's his introduction of Jesus and His ministry of teaching. Jesus gets baptized, makes a lap through Galilee and then goes home. Straight hometown hero welcome. He goes to the place that raised Him and then volunteers to give a reading and thought one day at church.

And after that nothing really stays the same.

Jesus' first sermon.

Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit's power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the Lord's favor has come." 20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. "The Scripture you've just heard has been fulfilled this very day!"

22 Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. "How can this be?" they asked. "Isn't this Joseph's son?"

23 Then he said, "You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: 'Physician, heal yourself'—meaning, 'Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.' 24 But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.

25 "Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian."

28 When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. 29 Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, 30 but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way. LUKE 4:14-30 NLT

Jesus certainly has shaken a few things up. It happens because he realizes those folks who knew Him as a child assumed a few things about Him. And Jesus wanted them to know that this wasn't going to be easy.

Easy Doesn't Fix Eternity

We like things to be easy. So let's talk about how this first message from Jesus can still challenge us today. Because we have our own ways and our own things we assume about Jesus.

What does it mean for Jesus to call us to specific ministry, especially with those we encounter in our community and neighborhoods?

Chad shares this passage from John 1 with us.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.' 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." 32 And John bore witness: "I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, "What are you seeking?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39 He said to them, "Come and you will see." So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."46 Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!" 48 Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." 49 Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" 50 Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe? You will see greater things than these." 51 And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

For Foundry, much of our vision comes from John 1:14.

So the word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness, and we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son. John 1:14 NLT

Since the beginning, we've looked to this to understand not only how Jesus is in our world, but how He calls us to be in our world. Eugene Peterson, in his translation began this verse say "The Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.,,". God is with us, it's a common conversation in churches right after the Christmas season.

So we live in this reality of what it means for Jesus to be in our world. But what did it look like when He finally decided to actually start acting like Jesus? Kinda weird to think about…huh?

Here's the story.

The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration. 3 The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus' mother told him, "They have no more wine."

4 "Dear woman, that's not our problem," Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come."

5 But his mother told the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

6 Standing nearby were six stone water jars, used for Jewish ceremonial washing. Each could hold twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus told the servants, "Fill the jars with water." When the jars had been filled, 8 he said, "Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies." So the servants followed his instructions.

9 When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. 10 "A host always serves the best wine first," he said. "Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!"

11 This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him. John 2:1-11

There are so many different things going on in this story. Chad preached another message on this passage during our series on Signs (you can catch it here). But what we are focusing on in this passage is how Jesus is pretty much unloading His moving truck on everyone. He is showing the coolest of what he owns and all the toys that show off what he does. He is outlining what the whole "full of unfailing love and faithfulness" actually looks like.

And it's a little different from what we would all expect.

So let's sneak a peak at that truck.

Remember that awkward conversation you've had with someone? You know…the one where you are trying to figure out what the relationship is actually like? When I was in high school, in the mid-90's we called it the DTR. As in "define the relationship". It could be good or it could be not so good. There were always based off of how one person interpreted the interaction with the other. Sometimes it was a guessing game…and other times it wasn't.

They are so pervasive, we even find them in scripture.

Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great."

2 But Abram replied, "O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Since you've given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir."

4 Then the Lord said to him, "No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir." 5 Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, "Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That's how many descendants you will have!"

6 And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

7 Then the Lord told him, "I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession."

8 But Abram replied, "O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?"

9 The Lord told him, "Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half.11 Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.

12 As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, "You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth. 15 (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) 16 After four generations your descendants will return here to this land, for the sins of the Amorites do not yet warrant their destruction."

17 After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. 18 So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, "I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt[a] to the great Euphrates River—19 the land now occupied by the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites." Genesis 15 NLT

So where is this relationship going?

The big issue Abram (soon to be Abraham) had was his worry that the relationship wasn't going the way he was hoping or expecting. He needed to have a big conversation with God. He needed to know that this hoped for future, which was 10x better than the one he could come up with, was actually going to happen. The fact he had moved his family hundreds of miles away, and incurred loss and hardship, was actually for something distinct, not just on a whim.

So in the weirdest way possible (come on, the whole splitting animals thing is normal to you?), God makes a promise with Abraham. Abram needed to find new footing to understand how God's vision for the world was bigger than his vision for his world.

So this Sunday we are going to talk about how we define our relationship with God, especially at the beginning of a new year. We will use one of the oldest prayers in our own tradition to make these promises together as a church, and bring them home with us to use in our own daily life all year long.

Do you ever feel like you just don't want to do Christmas?

It's alright. It happens from time to time. I created a video a few years ago on my own bah-humbugness. We all have these different factors at play during the holidays.

But if we are honest with ourselves, that doesn't come close to grinch levels. I don't think any of us have ever plotted to wipe Christmas from the face of the earth. We can joke, make fun of each other…but when the Christmas Cookie crumbles, we all have a little bit of fun.

Not Herod. He makes the grinch look like Clark Griswold.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men[a] from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking,2 "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose,[b] and we have come to worship him."

3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?"

5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they said, "for this is what the prophet wrote:

6 'And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities[c] of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.'[d]" 7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!"

9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

The Escape to Egypt 13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother," the angel said. "Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."

14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod's death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "I called my Son out of Egypt."[e]

16 Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men's report of the star's first appearance.17 Herod's brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

18 "A cry was heard in Ramah— weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead."[f] The Return to Nazareth 19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.20 "Get up!" the angel said. "Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead."

21 So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother.22 But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod's son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. 23 So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: "He will be called a Nazarene." Matthew 2 (NLT)

To say Herod was a little…., let's just be nice and say extra. He had it out from Jesus from the very beginning. And in this story we learn about our own motivations and the way we have our own ideas of things. So let's talk about not being a grinch, not wanting to bring others down, and not letting our eyes miss what God is doing around us this season.

This week, Rev. Alan Johnson, the director of the ULM Wesley Foundation and Foundry board member is sharing the message. Alan always brings a great conversation to Foundry (check out this one about a demon-possessed man).

Back in the 90's when I was in college and really beginning to step into my faith, Max Lucado was writing a lot of books. One of the first books I read during those times was God Came Near. I searched my shelves this week but couldn't put my hand on it. I was hoping to take a walk down memory lane and find some underlined stuff from the days when I had hair. I don't really remember a lot of that book, but the premise was built on the concept of Immanuel (God with us). Like Jesus coming to the earth and it being humanity's chance to rub shoulders with the divine. From Mary's angelic visit bearing the news of her coming son all the way to Mary's tragic visit at the cross of her baby boy, God is in the flesh, among us, super-close.

That's sort of what I feel Christmas movies do – they come close to the real thing. Clark Griswold, Buddy the Elf and even George Bailer all get really close to the truth that many of us are dying to discover. In about 90ish minutes we are stirred with emotion to catch the Christmas Spirit and we pledge to make this the most meaningful one yet. And sometimes that lasts through the 25th only to eventually fizzle out like a dying Yule log and get lost among the noise of resolutions and bowl games. When God came near, it wasn't just for a TV special or the hang 250 strands of twinkling lights for the last 4 weeks of every year. God came to stay, to stir us into action, and through us, to light up the world.

So we will do this by talking about just a few of the characters of the Christmas Story.