INTRODUCTION
Last week we spent some time talking about “TRUST.” We learned that trust is the “basic dependence on someone or something, Belief that something will happen or someone will act is a prescribed way” (Webster’s).
And as we looked at Psalm 77 we discovered three reasons why we should TRUST IN GOD:
1) God has a proven track record
2) God has a rock solid character
3) God has an amazing love for us
We also learned that trust takes years to build, but only moments to break.
Now I think it is pretty amazing to TRUST IN GOD!
But what really “blows my mind” is that God has placed trust in us … in people!
You see, the story we read about the servants is really a story about TRUST!
This master “trusted” his servants to be faithful and increase the funds!!!
The 1st servant:
• Increased 10 times.
• Became governor 10 cities.
The 2nd servant:
• Increased 5 times.
• Became governor of 5 cities.
The 3rd servant:
• No increase
• Lost his gift and the trust of the Master
Two of these servants passed the TRUST TEST … the other failed … he not only lost his reward, but he lost the TRUST of the master!
Wow … this is a weird Christmas message … hold on … we will get there!!!
I never truly understood TRUST until Malachi came into mine and Mary’s life. Malachi TRUSTS us to feed him, to change him, to wash him, to care for him … basically, he is in our hands! He trusts me to catch him when I toss him in the air – he laughs and smiles BELIEVING that Daddy is going to catch him!
We must trust in Christ like that!
But God’s trust in us is very different! He gives us the benefit of the doubt … hoping we will do what is “right” at all times!
God has trusted us with three precious things.
1. God has trusted us with life.
Life … it is sometimes miserable … sometimes difficult … and other times it is amazing!
God gave us life!
Usually it is in the tough times of life that we questions God’s intentions!
God has trusted us with life!
Even in the middle of temptation God trusts us!
1 Corinthians 10:13: “No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it” (MSG).
Hey, if you think, “I can’t handle this anymore.”
STOP … you can handle it! God trusts you!
The more difficult your life is the more trust God has placed in you!!!
2. God has trusted us with a relationship with His Son, Jesus.
This is the most important thing we could ever have – a relationship with Jesus Christ!
Most of you are in a relationship with Jesus – God trusted you with that!
Relationships are built on TRUST!
God has placed His Trust in us – that we would live our lives to honor the name of His Son!
Psalm 20:7: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God” (NIV).
God trusts you! God believes in you!
He gave you the most precious thing in the world – JESUS – His Son – He trusts you with His Son!!!
3. God has trusted us with sharing the love of Christ.
Galatians 2:7: “… I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews” (NIV).
Paul was trusted with sharing the love of Christ to the Gentiles.
Peter was trusted with sharing the love of Christ to the Jews.
Which group of people has God trusted you to share His love with?
You see, Christmas is not about Santa Claus, reindeer, lights, and candy canes!
It is about sharing the love of Christ with the Lord!
Jesus is the Light of the world (John 9:5).
We have a responsibility this season to make sure that JESUS IS THE FOCUS!
This is an opportunity for us to share Christ’s love – with family members and friends!
But this is not something that should only happen one time per year! It should be the ongoing event of our lives!
God could have sent angels down … he could do more miracles … he could actually have shown up to share His message of love, but he chose us!
GOD TRUSTS US WITH SHARING THE LOVE OF CHRIST!!!
CONCLUSION
Listen to the last verse that we read at the beginning in Luke.
Luke 19:26: “…’but to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given …” (NLT).
God trusts you with life – use it well – and God will give you more of it!
God trusts you with a relationship with Jesus – use it well – and God will cause that relationship to continue to grow!
God trusts you with sharing the love of Christ – use it well – and God will give you more opportunities to share!
Scott Higgins shares his family tradition – let me read it to you. “One of my family’s favorite activities each Christmas is driving around the streets where we live looking at the Christmas lights. For our kids it’s the burning of those Christmas lights is the first sign that Christmas Day is approaching. Our favorite spot is a pocket of houses down the road where every house has made a special effort to create a Christmas lights spectacular.
As we turned into the housing estate this year the kids were really excited, with that excitement that’s unique to 4 and 5 year olds. They’ve remembered the lights from last Christmas and they’re just itching to see Santa and Frosty and Rudolph. But most of all they want to see "baby Jesus".
First we come to the Frosty the Snowman house. And Frosty is very impressive – a bulbous white snowman with that "I’ve just swallowed uranium" glow softly emanating from his white body and his green nose. Frosty’s good, but we know it’s not gonna be a patch on the baby Jesus house.
We continue driving and come to the Christmas star house. This housing estate is set down low in a valley, so the TV aerials on the roofs extend 10 meters or so into the sky. The people at the Christmas star house have managed to scale their TV aerial and put a vibrant, bright star right up the top. There it sits, an impressive beacon summoning all to come and see. But we know it’s not gonna be a patch on the baby Jesus house.
We head to the end of the cul-de-sac and start heading back down the street, down toward the baby Jesus house. The house sits on a corner, so it’s decorated on both the sides that face the street. We come to the Santa side. Glowing in the dark is a three-dimensional sleigh and a three-dimensional reindeer lit up by hundreds of fairy lights. It’s the most tasteful display we’ve seen, but we know it’s not gonna be a patch on baby Jesus.
We turn the corner, the sense of anticipation grows, the kids strain forward to see the baby Jesus display. We look up into the garden to where Mary, Joseph and a beautifully lit manger scene appear every year...but baby Jesus isn’t there! Mary’s not there. Joseph’s not there. The manger’s not there. They’ve been replaced by a plywood cutout of Christmas carollers, carollers that look like they’ve stepped off the pages of a Dickens novel.
And then we hear the kids puzzled question: "where’s baby Jesus?"
I don’t know why baby Jesus wasn’t there this year. Maybe the person who owns the house wanted a change, maybe the display got broken, maybe they decided not to have any religious themes. I don’t know why but baby Jesus was replaced.
It seems to me that what’s happening here is symptomatic of what’s happening across our society. More and more baby Jesus displays are not simply being supplemented by Frosty and Santa and reindeer and tinsel, but the baby Jesus displays are being replaced by them. It’s a sign of a shift in our worldview. Christmas is one of the few shared cultural rituals we have, and like all cultural rituals it expresses the values that lie at the heart of our society. It takes the hopes and dreams and myths we share as a culture and gives them celebration in a special day.
For our society Christmas has become a celebration of the values and myths it holds dear – family and consumerism. And Jesus has been pushed to the margins. The challenge for believers is to make sure that Jesus has not been pushed to the margins of their lives, but remains at the centre.”
INVITATIONAL SONG: “O Come Let Us Adore Him”
