Sermon Central
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"Jesus - The One And Only"
Contributed by Rick Finitzer on Dec 19, 2011 (message contributor)
Summary: As each year passes The LORD Jesus Christ is marginalized more and more and takes a backseat role to lesser things and lesser priorities. Crowded out by: * Materialism * Decorations * Santa * Expanding influence of false religions in our world *
Cornerstone Church December 18, 2011
“JESUS – THE ONE AND ONLY”
INTRODUCTION:
The following happened one Sunday morning on a subway in New York:
“People were sitting quietly -- some reading newspapers, some lost in thought, some resting with their eyes closed. It was a calm peaceful scene.
Then suddenly, a man and his children entered the subway car. The children were so loud and rambunctious that instantly the whole climate changed.
The man sat down next to me and closed his eyes, apparently oblivious to the situation. The children were yelling back and forth, throwing things, even grabbing people’s papers. It was very disturbing. And yet, the man sitting next to me did nothing.
It was difficult to not feel irritated. I could not believe that he could be so insensitive as to let his children run wild like that and do nothing about it, taking no responsibility at all. It was easy to see that everyone else on the subway felt irritated, too. So finally, with what I felt was unusual patience and restraint, I turned to him and said, ‘Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people. I wonder if you couldn’t control them a little more?’
The man lifted his gaze as if to come to a consciousness of the situation for the first time and said softly, ‘Oh, you’re right. I guess I should do something about it. We just came from the hospital where their mother died about an hour ago. I don’t know what to think, and I guess they don’t know how to handle it either.’”
pg. 30-31, Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
The man in the story experienced a paradigm shift. The new facts changed his outlook on what he was experiencing.
“Suddenly [he] saw things differently, and because [he] saw differently, [he] thought differently, [he] felt differently, [he] behaved differently.”
Christmas is about to be celebrated globally!
Since Halloween the focus for many has been shopping, decorating and more shopping.
Yet the real focus of Christmas should be on The LORD Jesus Christ.
For over two Millennia the world has sought to celebrate the Birth of the LORD Jesus Christ.
* Celebrating God becoming man!
* Celebrating the first Advent of Christ and looking forward to His Second Advent.
Our world needs a paradigm shift!
The Body of Christ in America needs a wake up call!
As each year passes The LORD Jesus Christ is marginalized more and more and takes a backseat role to lesser things and lesser priorities.
Crowded out by:
* Materialism
* Decorations
* Santa
* Expanding influence of false religions in our world
* Improper views of Jesus Himself left as a babe in the manger
Who is Jesus?
Why did He come to Earth?
Is the God of the Bible the One True God?
If all we see at Christmas is a baby in a manger we will miss the Real Jesus!
Jesus is either God the SON – the One True God come in the flesh or He is not.
The Author of each of the four Gospels in the New Testament all wrote about Jesus, His Life and Ministry but also wrote specific themes to different groups of people living at the time all for the purpose of proving that Jesus is the Messiah – The Christ!
The Apostle John wrote his Gospel record last. By that time more and more attacks were coming against the early church and Jesus.
Here is the goal of his message:
John 20:31 NIV But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
“…that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,”
“…by believing you may have life in his name.”
Throughout the Gospel of John the Apostle John seeks to prove this to all through the miracles and information he included such as the Seven “I AM” Statements of Jesus:
I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE
I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
I AM THE DOOR
I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD
I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE
I AM THE TRUE VINE
“…that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,”
“…by believing you may have life in his name.”
This message is so important to John that he doesn’t want anyone to miss it. So he stated near the end of the Gospel for those who like to skip to the ending to find out what is going to happen and places it clearly at the beginning of the book.
The Prologue found in John 1:1-18 is what we have been studying for the past several weeks.
