Scripture:
Isaiah 53:1-6, Luke 2:11, Luke 19:9 &10, John 3:17, Acts 5:38-39, Heb 7:25
Pastor Lorne started his message by saying Christmas was just over 2 we
eks
aw
ay and he hadn’t completed his shopping yet. He’d only bought one gift so far. Then he added, he was doing much better than other years! (Laugher)
He said with Christmas coming, he wants to talk abut the Lord’s coming to earth so he directed us to read Isaiah 53:1-6 with him. Pastor Lorne said he had some questions in his mind so he was going to answer them out loud so we all could here his answers. He said he wondered why this all had to happen. Wasn’t there some other way, or something else that could’ve been done?
He said when Nelson prayed during the communion, he said ‘You didn’t have to come to earth but you did’. The Bible says Jesus’ death was in God’s great plan, right from the beginning...that Jesus was going to come to redeem the world. We needed a Saviour.
In Luke 2:11, the angels came to the shepherds. This was the first announcement of the birth of Christ and the angels said, ‘
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’
Pastor Lorne said there’s a few things he found interesting there. First of all, the fact that the angels came to shepherds. He said when they were visiting in Hungary, shepherds weren’t highly respected members of society. They were generally poor, made the most minimum wage and lived in a caravan or trailer for months at a time. Once in a while, the owner would bring out groceries, necessities and wine to keep them there. Shepherds are loners. And yet, these are the ones the angels announced Jesus’
birth to – of all people. If the angels had gone into the city, they would have reached a lot more people.
And in Jesus’ time, the shepherds were so poor and they wouldn’t even have had the caravans they do now, yet the angels when to them. In all there life, this would be the greatest thing that every happened. Pastor Lorne said in his lifetime, this would be the greatest thing to happen if angels came down with music to announce such a thing.
Jesus came into this world because the world needed a Saviour...someone to deliver them from all the troubles of this world. In Luke 19:9 and 10 we find Jesus is growing and has begun his ministry. The story behind these verses is that Zacchaeus was a tax collector who was hated because he took too much taxes because he was the kind of man who took whatever he could get and he wasn’t very popular. Starting in v9, it says, 'Jesus
said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." So, Jesus came to save the lost. In another place in the Bible, Jesus said those that are well don’t need a doctor.
Pastor Lorne said to turn to John 3:17. He said he really likes this Scripture for it’s message of assurance and hope:
‘For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.’ So, Jesus didn’t come as a prosecutor to condemn us, but the Bible says he came to save the world through Him. So, Jesus didn’t come to show us how bad we were and all the awful things we’ve done, but the Bible says he came into this world to save it.
He didn’t come to bring condemnation. Jesus came to bring salvation. He came to bring hope where there was no hope. He came to bring forgiveness where people could not find it. This is a message that’s been going forward through the ages and men have tried to stop it. The devil has done everything he can to bring it to naught but still, the message Is prevalent and continues to go out
If you look back at the story of Paul and Silas, they were in prison. And yet when they went to bring them to court, Paul and Silas weren’t still in jail, they had escaped and were preaching in the temple. So they brought them in but this wise man in said - Acts 5:38-39: ‘
Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.’ Wise words we can take with us today.
So, this message that Jesus came into the world as a Saviour is so powerful, that the greatest forces in this world tried but couldn’t stamp it out. Men over the ages have tried without success.
Heb 7:25 says, ‘
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.’ So again, you find the same word – He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him. A Saviour.
Jesus came as a Saviour for anybody in this world. It doesn’t matter if they’re Jews or Gentiles. It doesn’t matter what’s happening in their lives. Anyone can come to Jesus and in his love and mercy, He can save them. Again, ‘Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’
Pastor Lorne said as we approach Christmas Day, we prepare for it. He said if we don’t and the day just arrives, we’re disappointed. He said it’s doing all those things that prepare for it. And when we come to it, we realize it’s all about a Saviour comng into the world.
He said you might think you’re doing all right, but there are people in this world, in Canada and even in this province, who really need a Saviour. People who need a touch of the Holy Spirit to lift them up and deliver them from whatever situation they’re in today. He said he thinks of children and teens who are born into homes of drugs, alcohol and abuse. They need a Saviour to deliver them...give them hope...touch their hearts...give them an understanding that they are loved. That the God of creation loves and cares for them.
The reason Jesus came to this world was to bring hope, understanding and love. And to let people know that in God’s eyes, they are special. And that he loved them enough to send his Son Jesus into this world to die for us and then rise again.
Pastor Lorne said his friends were down in California on a visit and came back to the wind and snow of our Canadian winter and the winter’s just starting. We have 2 or 3 months left. But that wasn’t even close to what Jesus had to endure. Jesus left a glorious and beautiful heaven to come into this sin-ridden world and He lived here as a man and died and rose again because we needed a Saviour.
And so this Christmas, when you consider that baby in the manger, Pastor Lorne wants us to think that He came as a Saviour because we needed a Saviour. We can rest in faith and trust in Him knowing we have a Saviour who takes away the sins of the world and can make it right so that one day we stand before Him.
If you would like to speak to Pastor Lorne about this, please
email .
Who is Jesus? Find answers at:
http://www.who-jesus-is.com/-
It started with a young girl asking her father to read the Christmas story:
Shepherds were watching over their flocks when a heavenly host of angels appeared and told them of the birth of Jesus. 
The play continued with readings as represented by a modern day teacher an her students...
