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We continue now with the fourth Sunday in Advent, the fourth Sunday in our sermon series

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Kingly Gifts. For those that did not see what S.J. brought up, and I believe we all can

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see now his sister really wants to be on the praise team, so that's exciting, so let's

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raise her up in that. He brought a heart, because today, though the last three weeks,

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we looked at tangible things, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Like I said, on Christmas we're

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going to kind of review all of that in light of Christmas Day. What we're going to talk

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about today is something that we all have to give, and that is the heart. That the heart,

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both in scripture and in practical kind of understanding, really is the center of all

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of our being. And the heart, we see God's heart written out throughout the 66 books

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of our Bible, that we see God's heart for you and for me, for humanity, like I said,

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all the way in the beginning in Genesis chapter 3, when God's heart was broken. When we broke

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that with sin entering the world, that he knew the way to save the world, that first

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gospel, that proto-evangelion, if you will, in Genesis chapter 3, is the person of Jesus

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Christ. And so now we fast forward through all of the prophets, through all of the kings,

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all that history book of the Old Testament, pointing to what we will celebrate on December

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25th. So as we have kind of one of our final reflections of this Advent sermon series,

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we're going to start with the bad heart. That in this story, one that we don't really like

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to talk about, because if we were to actually make it a movie, it probably would not be

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suitable for children, is what Christmas could look or would have looked like if King Herod

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would have gotten his way. Because as we reflect today, we're going to talk about King Herod

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and the role he had to play in the scriptures. That what we see is Herod clinging to himself,

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his heart clinging to the things of the earth, earthly powers. Yet our call is to surrender

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ourselves for not only God's glory, first and foremost, but to do good for others. That

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is a heart thing. That is a quest of the heart. Because we see this in church all the time.

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We can know all the right things. We could have grown up in church. We could sing all

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the songs, probably without any music. We know all these things. We have these experiences.

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But until that heart change, until that regeneration, what we talk about in reform circles, when

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the Holy Spirit comes in and starts that process of sanctification, which leads to profession

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of faith, that heart forever changed. But what we're going to see is Herod hardened

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his heart. And hard hearts are actually something common in the scriptures. We see that all

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the way back, Pharaoh in Egypt, that his heart was hardened. And I don't want this to sting

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so early on in the message that for a lot of us, we can have a hard heart to people,

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to situations, to maybe even the church or authority in general. And how this baby king,

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this Jesus, calls for a surrender of the heart. So we're going to be in the book of Matthew.

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We're going to be in the book of Philippians this morning. And we're going to start with

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the very beginning of the book of Matthew, chapter 2, the first eight verses. Now, after

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Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod, the king, behold, wise men

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from the east came to Jerusalem saying, where is he who has been born king of the Jews?

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Now pause there. There's a lot of verses here that we're going to get to, but I want to

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pause. It's interesting that Herod recognizes him as this. This is what has been foretold

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to him by the scribes because of kind of what was being talked about in the Jewish and Israel

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understanding of the Messiah, that the Messiah was going to be born. That was not lost on

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people. That would have been passed down from generation to generation to generation that

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the Messiah would be born. Most of the minor prophets toward the end of the Old Testament

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have one or two verses that point to the who, what, when, where, why, how of the birth of

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the Messiah, that Bethlehem was going to be the place. So we continue, for we saw his

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star when it rose and have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was

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troubled and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people,

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he inquired of them where the Christ child was to be born. They told him in Bethlehem

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of Judea, for so it is written in the prophets. And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

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are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. For from you shall come a ruler who

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will shepherd my people Israel. Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained

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from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem saying, Go and

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search diligently for the child. And when you have found him, bring me word that I too

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may come and worship him. Can we go back one slide, so the third slide? Right there. Then

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Herod summoned the wise men secretly. I think that's key. So one of the things we see here,

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you can leave that up Claire, is that the Magi are coming and it's not a secret. That

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they are being drawn to this king of the Jews. They're drawn to this baby being born. Now,

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wise men, we assume there's three and the main reason why we assume that is what? Why

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do we assume that there's three? Because there's three gifts, right? We try to keep it that

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simple. There could have been 70. We have no idea. We know at least three because of

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three gifts. Again, that's not salvatic. Don't worry about that when you get to the gates.

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But understand that these are wise men coming a long distance following a star. And our

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2024 Mindsmates, absolutely no sense. That you have these wise men coming to bring worship

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to a king being born. That sentence in of itself doesn't make sense. Because kings aren't

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necessarily born and exalted as kings right away. Some, they're princes because dad's

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the king. When dad dies, we go on. We have that even in our life today with maybe family

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businesses. The hope is that it stays in the family and generation after generation it

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goes. This is something completely new that is completely elevated at the very beginning.

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That this king will come and shepherd the people of Israel. So we see shepherd king.

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I don't know about you, but if I'm just an everyday Israelite, if I'm just an everyday

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Roman, Gentile, when a king comes, I'm not going to look for them to be a shepherd. Shepherd

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was a lowly estate. That was a lowly job. At no time when people talked royalty and

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kings, were they talking about shepherds. But these wise men knew something in their

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heart and Herod recognized that. So notice that Herod summons them secretly. Everything

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in the dark gets brought to the light, but the world's work is done in the dark. And

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they arrive seeking the king of the Jews. And we see Herod in all of his crazy. And

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Herod is not a crazy, he's a part of Herod's story. If you read King Herod or read any

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studies on him, he is a unhinged leader. And Herod deceptively tells the Magi to report

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back after finding so why. So not only is there secrets, there's also deception because

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he wants to worship the king, which is a total farce, we know this. Because there's going

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to be a hit put out on all of the newborn male babies. Now we should not be surprised

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by that because that was done a long time ago. Where? Egypt. That there was a fear set

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in by someone in power that this Jesus was going to usurp their power, their authority.

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So what do they do? They try to snuff them out. That is something that we see throughout

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the generations. That the only way to stop a king from ruling or starting to rule is

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to what? Silence them, to kill them. But it's done in secret and it's done with lies and

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deception. So one of the things we're picking up on earthly kings is to get their way more

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times than not. Deception, lying is a part of it. He is using his authority but his authority

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already tainted. Why? Because he has his own heart in mind, his own kind of royalty, his

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own advancement in his heart. He saw this king of the Jews as a threat, which is very

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interesting because was Herod Jewish? Don't whisper it, say it out loud. No. Yet the king

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of the Jews, Rome had the rule. As long as the Jews kept to themselves, they did their

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festivals, they did their feasts, they did their Hanukahs, they did all of these things,

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Rome didn't care as long as the trade and the money and the power and authority was

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going back to Rome. They didn't care. They could say, okay, do whatever you want. We

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just don't want to know about it. You don't need to make any kind of fuss and if you make

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a fuss, we're going to end your life. Jesus was just born and look at the fuss that baby

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Jesus is making for a Herod. Talk about authority and insecurity going hand in hand. Yet there's

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something there for Herod. There's something that is agonizing him, something that is wanting

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him to plan secretly to harm this baby. We jump then to verse 13. Now, when they had

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departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, rise, take

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your child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you. For Herod

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is about to search for the child to destroy him and he rose up and took the child and

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his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod.

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This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophets. Out of Egypt, I called my

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son. Leave that up there. There's a lot going on here. So an angel goes to Joseph, not the

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first time, and says, hey, you got to go. You need to go somewhere. They go to Egypt.

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Why? The prophecy is being fulfilled. Now, I've actually had conversations with some

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of you this month that are having trouble with the understanding that the who, what,

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when, where, why of Jesus was foretold. I was asked the question, well, what if Jesus

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wanted to do it a different way? Nope. That's not a thing. That the way of God is the way.

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The way of God's plan being kind of unfolded from Genesis 3 till now is the way. And what

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I had that individual do is go back and listen to the book of Revelation, right, to our sermon

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series, because God has his way in those chapters. The way of God is the way, and I say this

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first to me and then to the rest of you, whether we like it or not. God's way isn't always

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easy. God's way isn't always fun. But God's way is the way our lives should go, the way

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we should walk our life out. That out of Egypt, I called my son, echoing back to what God

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did in Egypt, not foreign to the generational understanding of the Israelites being freed

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from slavery. So they flee to Egypt because the prophecy called for this. So a tension

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that I want to point out is there was tension even in the prophecy about Jesus' life. Even

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early on, and we're going to see, you have this potential hit bringing out on Jesus as

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a baby, and then where's the next time we see this hit on Jesus? Anybody? For lunch

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in the New Year and a conversation with Pastor Jim, where is the second hit or attempt on

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Jesus' life? Nope. Okay, you've got to give me a little more. You're buying at this point.

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Someone want to rebound it? He does something very specific, then they do something or try

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to do something specific, and then he does that. The scroll from Isaiah, absolutely.

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So he reads in Luke chapter 4, I believe, he reads in the temple, the prophet Isaiah,

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and says this prophecy, this scripture is being fulfilled in your hearing. They get

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all kinds of mad, and they go and try to throw him off a cliff. And then he passes through

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you. He gets the lunch, you're leaving the tip. And understand that then you see the

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cross. Now, to Randy's point, I do want to give an honorary mention to Randy's point.

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He was talking about Jesus' temptation by Satan. That was a temptation, not an attempt.

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So the reason why Randy's buying his own lunch is because this was to show that Jesus' authority

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was over Satan already. He didn't need the cross to do that. So understand that the attempt

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on Jesus' life, this is a regular occurrence at least three times, the third one being

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the cross of his death. So the thing we see here, we see this prophecy being laid out,

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and I know for some of you there's tension because God has prophecy that means the end

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of his son's life. And some of us may want to go, what in the world? Why in the world

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would a dad do that? Because that was the sacrificial plan to save you and I, our heart,

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from the death of sin. So let's round out the book of Matthew in verse 16 and 17. We

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have the escape to Egypt, and then we see in verse 16, then Herod, when he saw that

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he had been tricked by the wise men, so then the wise men in a dream, they go another way,

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became furious. He sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and all that region

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who were two years old or younger or under, according to the time that he had ascertained

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from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. A voice

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was heard in Ramah, weeping in loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children. She refused

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to be comforted because they had no more. So we see now in his authority, in Herod's

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heart, we now see death of innocence. That King Herod so wound up in his crazy, so wound

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up in his defensiveness, so wound up in his lust for authority and power, now, which I

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find interesting, two years and younger. Why in the world would we have to kill even a

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six month old at this time? Yet two years and younger, because there was doubt, there

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was chaos, there was, he was looking for a reason. This is what happens when worldly

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authority and power get lusted for in our hearts. When we lust for the things of the

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earth, when we desire and yearn for them, we will throw a character and integrity out

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the window. That Herod and earthly kings rule in a very, very hard way. So Claire, you know

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how we were working on slides and we had those three points toward the end? They're actually

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coming now, so get ready for those. Because Herod and earthly kings, and what I'm going

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to say is Herod and us are earthly powers. When we desire that in your business, in your

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schooling, in your status online, whatever it is, three things come out if we follow

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earthly realms. That earthly kings rule selfishly. That selfishness comes out when it's about

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what we can protect, what we can own. Well, Pastor, what does this look like? What happens

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when your bank account starts to dip and dip and dip? That all of a sudden that water heater

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goes out. All of a sudden this thing breaks. All of a sudden that thing breaks and payday

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hasn't come yet and you just see that go down and down. Do we not get tempted then to go,

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well, I don't need to give to that any, I don't need to give to that this month, I don't

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need to give to that this month, I'm just going to keep it for myself. When all of a

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sudden there's practical selfishness that takes over our finances, that takes over our

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mind, our thoughts and our minds, when you're sitting there at night and can't sleep, is

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it because you are thinking about all the goodness of God and all the ways that He has

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blessed your life? No. When that anxiety comes right as your head hits the pillow, it's because

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of our fears, it's because of the temptations, it's because of the mistakes or whatever that

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were replaying, the sports that are not top ten in our head, that's what's keeping us

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from sleep. The roots of that is selfishness. Herod the Great was known for his ruthless

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quest for power. We see this. All of a sudden everything in the world around Herod and us,

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when we get like this, everything becomes a threat. Sit with that for a minute. When

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we get in our selfishness, when we grasp for that power, when we grasp to make our name

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great or whatever, everything becomes a threat. Now, kings, they can do something about that.

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Us non-royalty, we don't. And if we do, it's never anything good. But when we perceive

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that everything is a threat, what are we robbing ourselves of? Sitting in the peace and comfort

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of God. I am prone to start going through my Rolodex, and if you're under the age of

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20, ask someone over the age of 20 what that is later. But I go through that Rolodex of

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the things that keep me up at night, mistakes I've made in the past, anxiety, finances,

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all these things. And I remember Mike Murphy, he was a counselor-pastor I worked with two

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churches ago, and he gave me what he calls mind of Christ exercises. And he's the one,

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and I know I've said this to you before, this is a little bit of a rabbit trail, but he

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said, Jim, do you ever want to know why this was called the double-edged sword? And I was

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like, no, he goes, because you don't have to be a master swordsman to use it, you just

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have to shake it around and it will do damage. And when the flaming arrows of the evil one

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come, he says we need to go back to scripture, you need to have a set of verses in your head

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that when those lies, those arrows, that anxiety, the selfishness, the authority, all of those

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things come, and the saint doesn't fight fair, he doesn't give you one thing, let's see how

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he handles this, then he gets another. No, it could come as 30 at one time, you just

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have to start using it. You just have to start using God's word. And so that's where Colossians

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3, 1, and 2, that's my go-to, that's my sword in those moments. If then Christ is seated

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at the right hand of God, set my mind on things above, not on the things of earth, that those

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things help center me on the goodness of God amidst my selfishness. Because that selfishness

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when it's realized is the second thing, is that earthly kings, they grasp for power.

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When we are selfish, when we are scared, when we feel our backs against the wall, that's

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when the easy way looks a lot better. That's when we start to grasp at power and authority

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because the world is ready to give it. The world's going to oversell and under-deliver

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all of that. And we can find ourselves in a lot more trouble. Herod represents the pattern

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of worldly kings and power who exploit their position for self-gain, self-wealth, and self,

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and the lack of self-control. Earthly kings grasp for power. And all the while, God's

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plan is being unfolded in a helpless baby in a manger. That though I do believe babies

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when they're born, they do have a lot of power. And those cute little eyes, they don't realize

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the power they have. Right? That a newborn baby, I see you nodding along, you know this,

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you have a little one, you know, they have power over the Gochmans, right? Your baby

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does. What kind of power does the baby have? We have not practiced this. I have no idea

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what they're going to say. What kind of power does your baby have over you? Our schedules.

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Our life. I saw Kyle Hahn, right? Kyle's here, right? What power does your baby have over

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you right now? Sleep. Absolutely. Yeah. As much as there's part of us that when that

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baby monitor goes off, we want to throw it out the window, we don't because we get it

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up even though they're like, they have to learn to cry through it. Then we become grown

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parents or grown men and women and I guarantee you just don't cry through it. I don't have

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people that come to my office in their 40s, 50s, 60s crying and I go, you got to cry through

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it, get out of my office. That's bad pastoring. Though some of you that might be what you

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need to hear. That's bad pastoring. But babies do have that kind of power. But that power

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is built with something underneath it. What is it? Love? Maybe. Maybe. Innocence. That

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baby is completely dependent on mom and dad. They're completely dependent for everything.

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But earthly kings, they grasp for that power when their backs are against the wall. That's

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the paradox of power, that third point that is so weird in this story because Jesus has

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got all the power in the world. He is the son of the living God. He is the word made

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flesh sermon for two weeks when we start our new sermon series. That he does it in that

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innocent way. While earthly rules cling to possessions, the magi that brought gifts to

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honor Jesus as a true king who gives rather than receives. That Jesus will grow up to

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teach us that. He will grow up to point out the problems of worldly power. Power that

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doesn't care who it hurts in order to gain more. Whose jobs have to be lost in order

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for us to get more money and power. And that's the paradox of power because now as we jump

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to the book of Philippians, we see the Christmas gift of what power looks like through God's

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eyes. We saw it through Herod's eyes but now the paradox is through God's eyes. So we start

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in Philippians 2 verses 5 through 7. Have this mind amongst yourselves which is yours

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in Christ Jesus who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing

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to be grasped but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness

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of men. Hear that right off the bat. He empties himself. He is God incarnate and he empties

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himself of that. That doesn't mean he's not divine. Fully God, fully man. But he lives

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in that humanity. He lives with us. The word made flesh. Jesus though fully God does not

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exploit his divine status for selfish gain. Think about that. Jesus, all the power, all

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creative order in him does not exploit us. He does not exploit his divine status. What

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he does, he exploits sin. What I love and we're going to get to it I'm sure in the sermon

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series coming up is when he steps out of the boat at Garassoni with the demonic living

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in the tombs. Remember that story? I love how triggered the demon gets the minute Jesus

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steps on the ground. That Jesus in his divine power and love for humanity exploits the very

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things that we can live out if we're going to go Herod's side but his divine glory and

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power never has never been and will never be exploited. In contrast to Herod who was

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jealousy guarded his earthly throne, Christ willingly laid aside his glory. One of the

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things you may have learned in catechism growing up or in the education you had in our Christian

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schools is that the reformed theology teaches the humiliation of Christ emphasizing his

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obedience becoming man to fulfill God's redemptive plan. Fully God, fully man. There's a paradox

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of power right there. That's a whole other sermon series but his obedience even amongst

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his humiliation, his final week of life. We see in verse 8 that that humility is on display

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and being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death

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even death on a cross. Christ's ultimate sacrifice reveals the opposite of selfishness. Where

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Herod sought to kill to maintain power, Jesus gave up his life to save sinners. That Christ's

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humility fulfills Isaiah 53, that suffering servant. Take this afternoon and read Isaiah

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53. It talks through and reflects God's sovereignty and his redemptive plan in the person of Jesus

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Christ. And then finally we see in verses 9 through 11. Therefore God has highly exalted

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him and bestowed him the name that is above every name so that the name of Jesus every

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knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that

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Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Leave that up there. Does that slide

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not give us new light since revelation? That when I saw that, when I read that, when I

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wanted that to be a slide I go man this slide means something different to me now. Therefore

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God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name and

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if you are living in that world and desiring worldly power your name means everything.

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I struggle with that. That I have a title in my name, Pastor, Reverend, Domine, which

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I hate but it is because it just sounds weird, right? But there is a name there. And if we

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are being honest we long for titles and names. We long for those positions. We live in those

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and when that name gets dinged or tarnished it is our everything gets thrown out the window.

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We hate it. That is the weight of title Elder, Deacon, Pastor in the church. But outside

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it is all about raising your name. Having your name be raised high by others. But any

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worldly power or success pales in compared to a God highly exalting Jesus. That God's

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highly exalting is the greatest thing. That we want God's name highly exalted in our life

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so in the end he will exalt us with him in glory. That is the only authority and power

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we should desire. But it is through obedience. It is through humility. Jesus' selflessness

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resulted in exultation showing God's reversal of earthly values. We see that in Jesus'

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life all throughout the gospels. Earthly kings seek their own glory but Christ's glory comes

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through humility and a word we all hate. Obedience. So one of my final questions this morning

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is where are you being obedient in your life as a believer if you are a believer. If you

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are here this morning and you are not a believer I have to think that those gears are kind

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of churning on you because if we are not following Christ then you are following the world. It

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is a this or that. I am sorry it just is. But the things of Christ is humility and obedience.

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So where are you being obedient but the more important question today may be where are

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you being disobedient in your walk with the Lord. We want our lives to be emphasized by

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Christ's being exalted securing our salvation and demonstrating for us the rightful kingship

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he has over us. Guess what if Jesus is king of your life guess who is not. You and me.

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And that is an okay good place to be. So how do we reject the selfishness of the world.

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First we need to start in our own lives. Here its actions reveal a warning to us. Are we

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grasping for power for possessions for recognition instead of surrendering to Christ. I will

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just be vulnerable for a moment. Christmas day or Christmas Eve depending on the church.

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I sit down with pastors especially younger pastors that go how can I just I want to give

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the best Christmas day message or Christmas Eve message about Christmas day if that was

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the case. Just do Christmas day. Anyway how do I give the best. Just read the story. That

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pastors try to zhizh up their messages. Just read the story. Pastors get so caught up in

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wanting to put the greatest gift wrapping which I can't stand by the way gift wrapping

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I am not very good at it. But understand they want to put this greatest bow ever on the

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story of the gospel when the story of the gospel is the greatest story ever told. The

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story of Jesus and then I lamented then come a couple months they are doing the same thing

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with Easter. There is nothing greater that you can say as a pastor is that in three days

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Jesus rose from the dead. Keep it to the text. And how dare the congregations that expect

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the pastor to zhizh up a sermon. Read the story be faithful to the text. And so we try

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to do that in our own lives as well. Where in your life are you tempted to put yourself

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first. Your time your talents your resources your gifts. Because if we are following and

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being obedient to Christ then we need to follow his example of humility. Have this mind amongst

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yourselves Paul writes. The church of Philippi needed to hear that. Have this mind of Christ

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for yourself. Do you sacrificially give your time to serve others and worship God. Are

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you using your gifts to build up the church and not just your own success. And do we steward

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our resources generously as individuals families and even as a church remembering that all

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we have belongs to the king of kings and the Lord of lords. And finally what Philippians

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2 draws for us as I land the plane this morning. Philippians 2 shows us that the humility leads

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to God exalting in his kingdom economy. That God's kingdom is about exalting the obedient.

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He does it with Christ and on the last day we will be raised up those with him. That

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the kingdom values is not that of what Herod brought. It's not that of what Pharaoh brought.

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It's not that of what Caesar brought. It's not that of anything that the temple was bringing

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in Jesus' day because that was perverted and that was cynical. As followers of Christ we

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must adopt a servant hearted posture reflecting Jesus' kingship in our life. So where do

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we go from here with a gospel focus this morning. That Herod's kingdom reminds us of humanity's

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sinful self-centeredness but Christ's humility points us to the gospel. That Herod's kingdom

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is about sin. That Christ's kingdom is about salvation. That Jesus leaves his throne to

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save selfish sinners like me. Through his death and resurrection we are called to die

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to self and live for his glory. And the gospel transforms us with humility, generosity and

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kingdom purpose. So here's your challenge this fourth Sunday in Advent. Will you cling

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to power and possessions like Herod or will you follow the true king who gave everything

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for you? And here's your encouragement as we leave this place. Let the humility of Christ

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shape your heart. Give your time, talents and treasures as a gift of worship in and

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to him. Let's pray.