Sermon Central
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Birthing A Miracle Series
Contributed by David Rumley on Jan 4, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: On the Road to Bethlehem is a series leading up to Christmas day. Based on a series by Jim Bradford this is a historical look at Bethlehem that helps us bury our past, build our future, and birth a miracle in our lives.
Part 3 of 3 - On the Road to Bethlehem
Birthing a Miracle
3 part series… on the way to Bethlehem…
Mark spiritual encounter points as we prepare out hearts for the entrance of Jesus in powerful ways into our lives as we approach this Christmas!
1 Marshal your troops, O city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek with a rod. 2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." 3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. 4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. 5 And he will be their peace.
Visiting Bethlehem again for the third time…
Our journey so far has been to find that first it is a place of burial… Genesis 35 where Rachel with a broken past and bitter sweet life was buried … representing how coming to Christ our old must die…
Then we found next week, a few 100 years later, 1000 years before Jesus is born… a young girl makes a commitment to her mother in law … and Ruth follows Naomi back to her home town, Bethlehem… and there her future is made… a love story, a royal story, an eternal story of God’s provision as Ruth meets Boaz, who’s line is king david, who’s line is Jesus the Christ… the messiah…
We serve a God who not only buries pasts but builds our future.
Now 300 years later, still 700 years before Christ… the next great mention of Bethlehem… 3rd great reference to this place, a place where miracles are birthed.
In Micah 5 we talk about the birthing miracle of the Christ. This would have been the passage herod’s wisemen would have come when talking to him about the WIsemen going to visit the messiah.
Telling him we believe the great champion and King of the Jews would come from Bethlehem…
700 years before the event Micah says, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in a little insignificant town called Bethlehem, the one who will be the champion of Israel, and a champion of peace would come from here…
A bold declaration of the birthing of a miracle… God birthing a miracle for the sake of His people… a miracle always requires a problem, a crisis, an impossibility, and the miracle is a solution beyond man’s ability to make. This is what Micah Chapter 5 is all about…
Micah chapter 5 is about the siege and the shepherd…
Siege = problem, impossibility Jerusalem is facing
Shepherd = the miraculous solution
The Siege:
The siege is laid against us… the threat of the Asyrian army is coming down… just like many of us we feel like a siege is layed against us…
Siege: The groundwork for the need of a miracle.
Many of us come into the Christmas season, and anxiety, concern, family members, loved ones, friends, is on our hearts… and we feel a siege is laid against us…
5 Great people problems in America [Bill Hybels]
1. Relationships are not working
2. Consumption is not satisfying
3. Therapy is expensive
4. Heartbreak is universal
5. Escapism is the law of the land
We have never as a culture seen more addictions to escapism behavior… people are so under siege that the only thing that seems to help is escapism, selfish ,drown our sorrows or inability to cope, drug use, alcohol, excessive entertainment… to not have to think about the siege in our lives.
Maybe you don’t find yourself addicted to drugs this morning but maybe there are other things you need a miracle for… bad attitudes, bad choices, pushing away of people around you, anxiety, inability to manage your own time…
This is the context of a miracle… a crisis has occurred and a miracle is necessary…
The story of 2 guys…
Whose wives were going Christmas shopping…
So the two guys decide to go sailing… as they go out it gets colder and windy… and things get out of control… waves start coming into the boat… they struggle to get the boat back to shore… and have to both jump out on the sand bar… freezing cold… knee deep in mud, one guy turns to the other… “Sure beats shopping doesn’t it!”
One way to avoid the siege… change perspective___
