Cross Church Winnipeg Sermon Podcast

The grapevine is the source of life and fruitfulness. Jesus says that He is the Vine and that every true Christian is a branch connected to Jesus. Jesus tells us that we branches must produce fruit or we will be cut off. The only way that we can be fruit-producing branches is by remaining in Christ. Abiding in Christ is another way of saying the same thing. To remain in Christ means we are careful about being nourished by Christ. How easy it is to go to church your whole life, seeming to be connected to the Vine, while all the while, we are utterly disconnected to Christ. The lack of fruit in our lives is the giveaway. Jesus promises to remain in us if we remain in Him. As long as we are connected to Jesus we will be produce much fruit. Jesus says, “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” Are you joyful?

The Holy Spirit is the most enigmatic member of the Trinity. Jesus gives the gift of His Spirit to all Believers when they are Born Again and is therefore called “the paraklete,” which is Greek for helper or comforter. “Paraklete means “the one who is alongside.” The Holy Spirit is definitely a person in that we can grieve Him and we can delight Him. He points everyone to Christ and reminds us of everything Jesus taught. His main role is to glorify Christ by helping us live out the life that Christ calls us to live. We know He is at work within us by the fruit that we produce. Romans calls us to “walk in the Spirit” and not give into our natural, sinful, instincts. The Holy Spirit prompts us not only to avoid evil, but He guides us to do God’s will, making us agents of God.

The Lord Jesus Christ is God. He is co-equal with the Father. He was not created, but He created all things. Jesus said and did some shocking things when He came to earth. He received the worship of His followers. He forgave sins. He said things like this, “I and the Father are one” and “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father,” and “Before Abraham was, “I am.” The religious leaders of His day tried to kill him repeatedly because they believed He was blaspheming God. He was beyond a shadow of a doubt declaring that He is God, and yet He humbled Himself, submitting to His Father’s will. He taught us to follow His example and to obey Him even as we would obey the Father.

Jesus reveals the Father to us as the One who’s will we are called to do on earth, as it is in heaven. As our Father, He tells us what to do and what not to do and then disciplines us when we fall short of His will. Hebrews reminds us that God disciplines those He loves. Before the Fall of Humanity, God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, as a Father who lovingly fellowships with His children. After The Fall, fellowship with God was cut off and men only knew God from a distance. Humanity’s new-found love of self made it impossible for fellowship with God. The Bible is the story of man’s journey back to God the Father and His dwelling place.

At the start of each new year, Pastors and pundits give advice about how to have a successful and productive new year. The usual theme is simple, set goals for yourself and then come up with a strategy to meet those goals. As Christians, however, we are called to fulfill one goal: “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be given to you. –Matthew 6:33. What wants and wishes fill your thoughts? Jesus warns us, “These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.” It takes great faith to make the will of God your primary goal.

The author of Hebrews understands the Christian life. He says, “…shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?… No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.” (Hebrews 12:9-11) The right way to begin the new year is to submit to the will of the Father, who is—right now—training us in right living. Good habits in the life of the believer always flow out of a good relationship with the Father.

The first day and month of a new year often marks newness and a fresh start. Some believe that Jesus was actually born on the first day and month of the Jewish religious calendar (Nisan 1 or Aviv 1) which by the way marks the first day of creation. Being a Christian means living in the newness that Jesus the Messiah brings to all who believe in Him. Paul the Apostle puts it like this: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” Our prayer is that 2019 will be a fresh start and full of newness.

Its widely accepted that the real birth of Christ our Messiah is not December 25, 0 AD. His real birthday will surprise you. We look at the significance of His birth and see that the day of His birth represents a real, new beginning and the birth of real hope. This is an exciting study that includes the latest scholarship on the subject. Jesus was not born by chance or by the choice of a man and a woman. He was born according to God’s will through the Virgin Mary in fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah (7:14, 8:8, 10). The birth of Jesus is a celebration of all things becoming new. And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” –Rev. 21:5  Jesus is called Emmanuel, God with us. His birth signalled a new day; the day He came to dwell among us.

Hanukkah is not the Jewish Christmas as some suppose. Its true that their celebration includes candles, gift giving and that it happens at around the same time as Christmas, but that’s where the similarity ends. However, it has been said that without Hanukkah, there would be no Christmas. It will surprise you that the celebration of Hanukah is prophesied in the Book of Daniel but there is no record of it being celebrated in the Old Testament. It was celebrated though—in the New Testament—by our Lord Jesus, our Messiah. Hanukah helps shed light on the hope that Jesus brings to all who put their faith in Him. The birth of Jesus was the beginning of the end of Satan’s tyrannical rule of planet earth. Hanukkah celebrates the hope that is ours in God alone.

Satan knows that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and that Jesus has come to destroy him, and so Satan attempts to assassinate Jesus. This is the one very distasteful part of the Christmas narrative that no one wants to talk about. However, if we are to be truly open to all that our God wants us to know and understand, we need to lean into this scripture to understand what is at stake. There is a cosmic battle raging in the spiritual realm to which most of us are oblivious. It's a battle between God’s will and the will of the Prince of Darkness. For a moment, this battle in the spiritual realm bleeds into the our realm and thus we see the attempted assassination on baby Jesus’ life. Satan’s failure here is a glorious signal of the future victory that is ahead, though Christ, our Messiah.

800 Years before our Lord Jesus was born, the Prophet Isaiah prophesied his coming. Isaiah chapter 9:1-7 tells us of the coming of the Messiah. No one knew it at the time—not even the devil—that this would be the first coming of the Messiah. 200 years later, the prophet Daniel would prophecy the second coming of the Messiah. The King that would eventually rule forever came first to rule in men’s hearts. The Lord Jesus accepted the title “King of the Jews,” but many Jews did not! All who trust in the Lord Jesus to wash away their sin will worship Jesus as their King. In fact we get a taste of this when the Jews worshipped him at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Incidentally, this happened a week before He was crucified. Make no mistake about it, Jesus was crucified for our sin so that He could become King of our hearts and lives.

The essential truth of Christianity is that the Eternal God was born among us. It's the only truth that can save us from being eternally lost. The Christmas message as recorded by in the Gospel of John is that God was born. While John deals with the supernatural aspect of Christmas, Matthew and Luke speak of all the natural elements of the birth of Christ—the shepherds, the manger, the star, the Magi, Mary and Joseph, and the list goes on. It is critical that we read the Gospel of John to understand exactly just how essential it was that Jesus was born 2,000 years ago. While Matthew and Luke tell us the “what” and the “how” of Jesus’ birth, John tells us clearly the “why” of His birth. Were is not for His birth we would have no hope of eternal life and no idea how to live this life.

Opinions about the end of time are too numerous to track. This does not diminish in any way the truth about Christ’s second coming and the end of our era. What we need to do is focus on what we know for sure. Jesus tells us clearly what we need to do to be ready for His coming. We are to keep busy serving Him—advancing His Kingdom—and we are to keep watching for His return. Some have grown weary of watching and some even say, “He’s not coming!” Or, “I’ve been hearing this stuff for years! Jesus still hasn’t returned!” This kind of cynicism is typical of those who are apostate. We are warned to keep our hearts burning brightly for Christ as we wait for His return. Jesus want’s us to be ready, even if His return is not in your lifetime.

Israel is the major player in end-times discussions. The budding and sprouting of the leaves of the fig tree is Israel as a nation coming back to life. For over 1,900 years Israel didn't exist, but contrary to all anthropological and sociological logic, the Jewish people retained their Jewishness in every part of the world, refusing to be assimilated. At the appointed hour and in fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy, Israel became a nation again on May 14, 1948. This is a miracle and it is a wake-up call to the church and to every believer to be prepared for Christ’s return. The End really is near. We will look deeper into this and ask what does it have to do with us?

Wikipedia has a page called, “List of Messiah Claimants” of which there are at least 66 individuals over the centuries. In recent years there have been hundreds more. People are desperate for a strong leader, and so people are being misled all the time, and Jesus warns us about this. Something even more troubling is the way we have re-created the Messiah in our own image and according to our own ideas and philosophies. We are rebellious by nature and we don’t want to submit to the authority of God or the scripture. So when the Anti-Christ appears, he will be a perfect match for what people want in their messiah. They will follow him and they will happily consume the teachings of the False Prophet who will act like a John the Baptist, preparing the way for the Antichrist. We must know Christ and His teaching so that we are not deceived. And many will be deceived! Pray it's not you.

Jesus said, “Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware, like a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth. Keep alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to escape these coming horrors and stand before the Son of Man.” The signs around us of His coming increase almost by the week. Jesus is coming again and He has given us the signs in advance. The problem with so many of us is that we have been watching for such a long time that we have grown a little cynical and have lost interest. We must not allow our hearts to be dulled. We must stay attentive. And so we review the signs of His coming once again.

We need the Thanksgiving season. It jolts us out of our self-absorption which comes in many forms: guilt, entitlement, manipulating others, never being able to say you’re sorry, inability to let go of anger, brooding, fears, anxiety, greed. When it’s “all about me,” I can’t be grateful. Gratitude requires an open heart focused on God and His kindnesses. It is, therefore, possibly the most spiritual celebration of the year. Let’s open our hearts to the Father who continues to prove His love for us.

An old Rabbinic teaching says: "In the coming Messianic age all sacrifices will cease, but the thanksgiving offering [todah in Hebrew] will never cease." What is it about this sacrifice that makes it stand alone in such a way that it would outlast all other sacrifices after the redemption of the Messiah? A todah sacrifice would be offered by someone whose life had been greatly blessed or helped by God. What does the word "todah" mean? It is Hebrew for "thanksgiving," although it also connotes a confession of praise in addition to gratitude. For example, Leah gave thanks to God when she bore her fourth son, and so she named him yehudah—or Judah—which is the verbal form of todah—to give thanks. Today we are going to offer our thanks to God by giving to those in need.