Wesley Chapel Podcast

In the book of Acts we see the power of God working through men. This was a transition period for the disciples where they had to examine themselves. Examine your own heart to see what your aim is and what you want out of life. God wants us to place Him in our decisions and plans for the new year. Jesus tells the disciples to take what they saw while He was on the earth and move forward knowing the purposes and cause of His will. He wants us to press further into a life of purpose in order to carry on the mission that Christ started on earth. He calls us out of nostalgia and idleness and into the will of God. The disciples thought that when the Holy Spirit comes, He would restore the Kingdom quickly. But like them, we must align our hearts with what the will of God is. Jesus tells the disciples that the kingdom that is going to be restored is against the power of sin. We are given the authority to be witnesses--to testify to the validity of Christ and His Kingdom because we have experienced Him ourselves. Our place in the church is to bear witness of Christ. God gives us this power and authority. He promises to furnish us with the power we need to be witnesses in this world. Submit yourself to serve wherever God has placed you. Go in the power that is given to you. Commit yourself to God’s call and purpose.

The Christmas story is the story of the Gospel--that Christ came born in a manger to die on the cross. When Christ came as a baby there was a lot of political and spiritual oppression. The people claimed to be free but were in bondage to the Roman government. Today also, many people claim to have freedom, but live in bondage to sin. Jesus says that everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The reason Christ came as a baby on Christmas was to set us free from sin. When people are confronted with sin, they will either deny it, or will try to fight it in their own strength. The message of the Gospel tells us that we are unable to save ourselves from sin, and that Christ is the only way to be free. Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph during a frustrating and inconvenient situation. Having to travel for the census and then having no room at any inn, it was a stressful time. But the whole story was in the hands of God just as our lives are in the hands of God for His purposes and plans. God reveals Himself and the redemption story to those who are poor and needy. The angels came to the shepherds because they were the ones who realized their need for a Savior. The good news that they told was that salvation has come for all people. Peace and reconciliation with God are offered through repentance and faith. How will you respond to the grace of God? Christ, who was born in Bethlehem, must be born in your heart. Will you go and see the Christ like the shepherds did that Christ might be made known to you? Will you make this good news known to others? Will you treasure up these truths in your heart? Will you glorify and praise God for all you’ve heard and seen?

What do you find contentment in? Do you look to be satisfied or fulfilled in relationships, success, or financial security? We can create pressure on others trying to achieve these things in our own lives. Advent is a time of expectation. Christ doesn’t always meet our expectations as we may desire though. Zechariah and Elizabeth’s desire to have children would be fulfilled in John, but it wouldn’t be as they desired because John would be set apart for the Lord’s purpose. He would belong to God and Zechariah and Elizabeth would have to surrender and trust God that He would provide contentment beyond what they could see. They were challenged to let go of ambition and to surrender their expectations in order to receive what God had for them. We can’t encounter God at an arm’s length, or be bystanders. We must submit to the life God is calling us to. This becomes our witness and testimony of Christ to this world. What expectations do you have that prevent you from submitting to God’s plan for you? God keeps His promises so we can trust Him. Learn to find contentment in Christ alone. God is able to save and He has raised Christ up for us to save us because we are unable to save ourselves. Do you realize how often you need Christ to satisfy your needs, and to save you from your enemies? We have received mercy from God so that we might show mercy to others. In Christ, the wait is over. The Light of the world, the Dayspring from on high, has come.

Mary believed what the angel had spoken to her and she surrendered her will to the Lord. The angel told her that Elizabeth was pregnant, so Mary went with haste to visit Elizabeth. When she visited, Elizabeth was temporarily filled with the Holy Spirit. This was a sign of what was to come after Pentecost where the Holy Spirit would reside in people continually. Mary believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises--what about you? We need consistent Christian fellowship for confirmation that God’s promises are true. We need to hold fast the confession of our faith throughout the week, and then when we see each other again, we need to stir up each other and encourage one another. Mary revealed her faith by her actions. Will you receive the gift of faith as Mary did? The focus of Mary was in God alone, not in herself. She acknowledges that she didn’t do the work and that she is humble and lowly. She knows that God is holy, and also merciful. The proud rely on their own strength but the message of the Gospel is complete dependence upon the power of God. Mary acknowledges the faithfulness of God. Christmas is proof that God is a covenant-keeping God. The coming of Christ was promised thousands of years earlier and finally is fulfilled here. Will you doubt the promises of God or will you humble yourself before the Lord and receive the good news?

This passage takes place during a season of expectation for the people of Israel. It was a dark and hopeless time but they were holding on to the promise of a coming King. Nazareth was a place of mixed people, and filled with corruption and poverty. Mary was a typical Jewish person of the time, living under the Roman Empire with the shame of her people. But God had chosen her as a recipient of His divine favor. Mary realized she was in need. This is what God looks for--people who know their need. God tells Mary that He will take away their shame by bringing salvation to her people. Christ’s coming is an end to our slavery and fears. Like Mary’s people preparing for the first coming of Christ, we are to prepare for the second coming of Christ. The purpose of Christ’s coming is to destroy the works of the devil and the hold of sin in our lives. He came to give a future hope of a coming Kingdom without end. God is mindful of us. If we will receive Christ and believe in the Gospel, we can have peace with God. In seasons of expectation, we can become indifferent and doubt. If this happens, turn to God in prayer. Ask Him to help you to trust Him. Advent reminds us that God answers His promises. Mary resigned herself to the will of God. She was submissive and obedient to His will and committed herself to it. Will you do the same? See the promise of God and what it means to you specifically, and then commit yourself to that.

The text for this sermon takes place during a time of oppression and darkness for the people of Israel. They were under the dominion of the Roman Empire, and it had been 400 years since God had spoken to them through the prophet Malachi. Zechariah and Elizabeth were both blameless before God but Elizabeth was barren. This was the result of God’s providence. Her trials revealed that when we are weak, God is shown strong. Seasons of trial refine our faith and draw us to God. During 400 years of silence from God, there were probably many Israelites who had lost hope. But the windows of revelation were opened when the angel appeared to Zechariah declaring the birth of John the Baptist. Zechariah had become accustomed to the silence and barrenness so when he saw the angel, he became agitated and doubted him. This is a lesson to us to not become weary. We do this by abiding in Christ and knowing that you can do nothing without Him. We are to persevere in prayer and trust in God. There is no point in your Christian life when you have arrived. We always have further to go. Zechariah wanted a sign and didn’t want to go by faith. But the work of God will go on whether you believe Him or not. Faith is a gift that must be received. The work of God will be fulfilled in its time. Endurance will produce character, and character brings hope. Elizabeth looked to God and what He could do. This Christmas season, celebrate the hope of the Gospel. Don’t become weary, and hope in the promises of God to be fulfilled in their time.

God means for His people to do good while we are here on earth. We will be tempted to grow weary in doing good. Doing good involves being intentional and looking for opportunities. We must know why and how to do good so that we don’t become bitter. Connect your reason with a greater purpose than just out of mere obligation to Jesus’ command. God is calling us above traditions and duties. We are called to love unconditionally and unnaturally. This love is not based on merit, but a choice against your comforts and what the culture says. We don’t have the ability to love like this in ourselves. If you only love those who love you, there is no proof of grace in you. In ourselves, we want to be congratulated for doing what we’re told. We want faith and love on our own terms where we are recognized and our Christianity is all about us. But Jesus wants to show us that there is a greater reality and purpose to loving our enemies and doing good. He wants us to long for Himself and His Kingdom, not selfish desires. So consider your reward for doing good. This isn’t winning the affection of others, but an eternal inheritance. Christ is our reward and our reason for loving others. Long for heaven and remind yourself that we are living for a glory yet to come. Consider your calling in the right perspective. God is to be your central affection. Know that you are a son or daughter of God, and live like one. When we were unworthy, Christ gave us worth. When we were unkind and evil, God had mercy on us. We too can have mercy on those who we deem to not deserve it. This power to love is not found in ourselves but God has given us His Spirit in order to fulfill our calling.

During impossible situations in your life, where do you turn to for confidence? The Lord’s command to Moses to bring the Israelites into the Promised Land was impossible. So Moses went face-to-face with the Lord in his time of impossibility. Do you look to yourself or to the Lord during impossible situations? You must realize that you can’t find the resources or strength within yourself, and then go to the Lord. Do impossibilities bring you to meekness or prideful self-sufficiency? Where I am not sufficient, God is sufficient. Go to the Lord as you speak to a friend. As a Christian, you have access to the throne of grace. Moses’s desperation led him to pray confidently. Do you pray with this assurance? Christ has opened the way for us to God, so we can pray boldly. Have confidence that the Lord will bring to completion the work He calls you to. Unite rest with faith. The Lord’s presence promises future victory. We must take the promise of God by faith. This is the assurance of things hoped for. The Lord is sovereign and all-powerful and we are utterly dependent upon Him. God provided Moses a cleft in the Rock so that he could stand before Him. He also provides us with the same type of covering when we stand before Him--Jesus Christ. He is our Rock and covers us when the wrath and punishment of God passes by. Are you in Christ? In the cleft of the Rock?

We need to embrace the reality that we can live in the promises of God. Dig into the end results of your beliefs. Don’t be fooled into looking to this life for joy and satisfaction. We are only jars of clay. We are of little worth, frail, and weak. These jars of clay do not become powerful, but instead grow in weakness. Don’t be ashamed or afraid of this. God calls us and welcomes us in our weaknesses. This is so that the surpassing power of God is known. It is only by the power of God that we are not crushed when we are afflicted. My personal theology must acknowledge that I am weak. This is the only way to see God’s love and sufficiency. Submit yourself to your frailty and weakness. See that there is an eternal weight of glory prepared for you. This will empower you to live how Christ calls you. You need a confidence and hope of the future in order to live how you’re called to in the present. Paul knew of the resurrection of Christ and in the end, our resurrection. This was his confidence so he was able to die daily. Does the resurrection only seem like a distant fuzzy event unrelated to your life? Let the doctrine of the resurrection shape your daily life. Our hope is in our transformation beyond this life. If your future hope is embedded in the truths of the resurrection, your life will look very different than if you only live for today. Paul saw grace to endure because he knew what God was preparing and purposing for him. We know our future end, so let this inform your present. The culture will try to define you, but be defined by God and His promises for you. Look forward to the coming glory. You can face today because Christ is preparing you for a future hope.

Martin Luther rediscovered the Gospel through these verses. Today, we too need to be reminded that the Gospel is the only hope for the world and the basis of our salvation. There are many things in this world that people look to for confidence, hope and strength. For Paul, the Gospel gave him freedom from being ashamed, but it also was the source of his being shamed. How do you react to the shame of the Gospel? Do you hate those who shame it? If so, you will be of no use for the message of the Gospel. No matter how others saw him, Paul still felt under obligation to preach the Gospel. We too must continue to preach even to those who shame the Gospel. We cannot love this world in our own strength though; it is only possible through the love of Christ being poured out to us by the Holy Spirit. The Gospel provides all the power we need our weakness. We do not have the strength for salvation; it is only the Gospel that can provide this power. The Gospel transforms from the inside out. Sin is so deep that it is only the Gospel that can deliver us. The Gospel reveals the righteousness of God through the cross and through faith. Because of sin, we deserve the wrath and punishment of God. But through the redemption that is in the cross of Christ, we are set free and delivered. Righteousness is given as a gift through faith. We don’t work for this gift, only receive it. Paul encourages us not to turn to works or religious efforts for righteousness but that our works will be the fruit of our righteousness. The righteous continuously walk by faith. So where do you place your confidence? Your hope? Be reminded that the message of the Gospel alone is the source of our salvation.