The "I'm Not Sure I Like It" Gift.

Sermon Sentence: The value of some gifts are not appreciated until they have been experienced. 


Memory Verse:
'And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. '

Galatians 6:9

Day 1

Read Isaiah 7:10-14; 9:1-7
Ahaz had a bit of a problem.  His problem was that he didn’t have much faith in God.  He had paid off Assyria to maneuver some political chess moves to accommodate his worry that God wasn’t going to do what He said.  Isaiah is confronting him in chapter 7 on this idea.  According to Isaiah’s prophecy, Ahaz should have trusted God.  He even makes a deal with him and tells him to ask for a sign that God would take care of the situation.  Ahaz, probably a bit hypocritically, says he would never ask God for such a thing!  That is when the famous prophecy is given by God of the virgin conceiving and bearing a son whose name shall be called “Immanuel.”  It means, God with us.  The struggle of the moment was that all the politics to get Israel out of the desperate situation they were in, were seen as only solvable with political moves and strategy.  Remember, God has already promised that he would handle all of that through David’s lineage.  Ahaz, who was from David’s lineage, was struggling to get it all.  But one day, God would be here to take care of it all, if we just keep trusting Him…that was Isaiah’s message.

It should not be lost on us that these prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus, were declared 600 years before.  Consider that context.  America is 248 years old.  So that would be like us always knowing that there was a king coming that would save America from all of its struggles, and as we were knowing that in 2024, we were still not going to experience it for another 300 years or so!  

How is Jesus a “Wonderful counselor” to you?

How is Jesus “Mighty God” to you?

How has Jesus shown himself as “Everlasting Father?”

How has Jesus revealed Himself as “Prince of Peace?”

How does this become part of your prayer?

Day 2

Read Luke 1:5-25
Jesus once said that John the Baptist was one of the greatest men to ever have lived (Matthew 11:11).  That is pretty high compliments coming from your cousin.  But even more than that is the story that leads up to his birth.  I wonder how much Elizabeth and Zechariah understood and processed and how much was just information overload.  Luke is the only gospel that presents this story beside the birth of Jesus story.  The other gospels tell the stories of John the Baptist, but not this one.  The fact that we read here that Elizabeth was a bit more inclined to keep things hidden (verse 24), I wonder if this story wasn’t later researched out by Luke, but was not commonly known among everyone at the time.  

Take some time to really pay attention to the angel’s announcement of his birth. If you were a parent, consider that announcement from three different perspectives: pre-birth, then consider it post-birth in light of how John lived, and then post death. 

What would you have assumed about the angel’s announcement before the birth of John if you were a parent?

What would you have thought about John as he was an adult and his ministry had started, living the strange life he was living?

How would you have processed this announcement after John the Baptist was killed in prison because of his ministry, as a parent?

How does this become part of your prayer today?

Day 3

Read Isaiah 11:1-10
I have this house plant that was given to me recently, and for the life of me, I can’t remember what it is called.  So you may just have to trust me on this one.  But everytime a limb breaks or a leaf falls, if it is sitting in or on top of good soil, it will eventually start shooting out roots that instantly look for the ground and become a plant.  It is a pretty resilient little dude.  This prophecy makes me think about that plant.  A stump is counted as dead and done, but there have been times I have seen a stump that also has a small shoot coming up out or off of it.  That is the image here.  Jesse was David’s father.  David’s lineage is where the promise was given that there would always be a king on the throne.  The idea of it being cut down portrays that this seems like a helpless reality in light of what has happened.  The prophecy is that the stump is not dead and done. 

We just finished the Ephesians series so there should be some verses here that instantly provoke the ideas from the Armor of God section in Ephesians 6.  Maybe it is even safe to assume that Paul was drawing from this image to develop his image there.  The point is the peace that is all around the armor mentioned.  Usually the armor stays in the closet until the battle is apparent, then the armor is taken up. But in the kingdom promises given here, notice that the armor seems to be the reason for the peace and tranquility of the scene.  

How do you assume a kingdom full of “wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, a Spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord” would be different from what you have experienced?

Explain the logic of verse 9 and how the knowledge of the Lord is equal to the lack of hurt and destruction.

How does this fit into your prayers for today?

Day 4

Read Isaiah 35:1-10
The wilderness and the desert are two themes in the Bible that are meant to show disorder and lifelessness.  They are similar in theme, even though they are very different in our views.  When the children of Israel were homeless and without a land, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.  My family went to Tucson, AZ a few years ago and spent time in the desert.  I was flying a drone and it dropped out of the sky, provoking me and my son to a rescue mission.  The next 1 and a half hours we tracked through the desert doing nothing more than avoiding every sort of plant that looked like it wanted to harm us and keep us away.  

So when the prophecy talks about the wilderness and the desert being glad, it is the idea that the least glad thing you could have is a wilderness of desert. Why would they be glad?  Because soon they would be experiencing the reverse of what they had always experienced.  Soon there would be life and water and all the good things coming to them.  It is a metaphor, obviously, of the life and all good things the Messiah would be bringing to the barrenness of our wilderness-like and desert-like lives. 

How have you experienced the themes of verse 4 and how has the truth about Jesus helped you with those?

Think through the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and draw out from your memory the stories that these verses fulfill directly. How many can you recall?

How does this become part of your prayer today?


Day 5

Read Isaiah 40:1-11
I watched the Wizard of Oz again the other day.  It was not my first time to see it, but I also have not made a great habit of watching it over and over again.  Can I say something that has controversy?  It is a terrible movie.  It’s also not a very good story.  I know, the technology is weak and you have to understand it from that perspective and also the symbolism is strong…but I don’t get it. Even with consideration of those things.  

This chapter, however, is also chalked full of symbolism and I get it.  In fact, I love it.  Many of you may feel the same way about this kind of Bible reading that I do about the Wizard of Oz, but  just give it a chance.  Imagine the fired up preacher with passion and excitement bathing the message he is declaring.  Imagine the excitement that it drums up in someone that is genuinely believing and hoping in this message.  Picture the animation that the message drums up in the speaker's style as he tries to get the message to land in your heart and you to feel every emotion that is worth the message.  

What do you think the images in verse 4 are supposed to invoke inside of us?

How does the eternality of God’s words help you and give you comfort specifically, right now?

What does verse 11 make you think of for you personally?

How does this become your prayer today?

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