Southside Baptist Church JC
2025_12_21
  • Joy to the World!

      • 1 John 4:9–11ESV

  • Angels from the Realms of Glory
  • The Arrival of Love
    The long awaited arrival of Jesus changed the course of human history forever. Using the birth stories of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1 and Luke 2 we learn that Jesus’ arrival was no accident. He is the fulfillment of promise, prophecy, and prayer to a weary world in desperate need of a savior.
    Prayer: “Jesus, may we welcome you this Christmas just like you have welcomed us. You meet us, no matter where we are or what shape we’re in with mercy, grace, and love. Let us be a people overwhelmed by Christmas morning and the miracle of your redemptive love.” 
    Scripture: Deuteronomy 7:6-9, Matthew 1, Luke 2

    Introduction

    Over the past several weeks churches all around the world have been celebrating the season of Advent, including ours. Traditionally, this is a time of hopeful expectation as we remember the birth of Christ on Christmas morning. As you may remember, the word Advent means arrival. And today is the day we’ve been so eagerly waiting for… The culmination of the Advent season. Today is the day we remember and rejoice that Jesus did in fact arrive, just as promised.
    Chances are good here today that many of you have heard a sermon about the arrival of Christ at some point. In fact, you’ve probably heard a sermon from some of the same passages we’re going to look at together. However, I’d also bet that many of you have had a long year since last Christmas. You’re ready to put this one behind you and move on from the pain, suffering, and disappointment you’ve felt over the past twelve months.
    Chances are good today that for one reason or another, all of us need to hear the Christmas story, again. We need to hear how God kept his promise and how all the prophecies about a coming savior are true. We need to know that God is a God who answers the prayers of His people and that the birth of Jesus wasn’t just some blip on the proverbial radar screen.
    We need to remember, again, “God SO LOVED the world that He gave his one and only son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” We need the Christmas story, don't we? We need it over and over again, year after year. Lucky for us, today is the day we’ve been so eagerly waiting for. Today is the day we remember and rejoice that Jesus did in fact arrive, just as promised.
    How many of you here have ever made a promise? And conversely, how many of you have ever broken a promise? Depending on who you’re talking to, promises are a big deal.
    Let me share a story with you.
    One stormy night an elderly couple entered the lobby of a small hotel and asked for a room. The clerk said they were full and they would probably find so were all the hotels in town. "But I can’t send a fine couple like you out in the rain. Would you be willing to sleep in my room?" The couple hesitated, but the clerk insisted.
    The next morning when the man paid his bill, he said, "You’re the kind of man who should be managing the best hotel in the United States. Someday I’ll build you one." The clerk smiled politely.
    A few years later the clerk received a letter containing and an aeroplane ticket; the letter invited him to visit New York. When the clerk arrived, his host took him to the corner of 5th Avenue and 34th Street, where stood a magnificent new building. "That," explained the man, "is the hotel I have built for you to manage."
    The man was William Waldorf Astor, and the hotel was the original Waldorf-Astoria.
    For as broken as our culture is in some areas, we still seem to understand the gravity of making and keeping promises. We know, on some level, that it’s important to keep your word, to do what you said you were going to do, and to come through. As much as we expect this from one another, we really expect God — The creator and sustainer of the universe — to be a trustworthy promise maker and keeper. Christmas is a time we collectively remember that God did in fact come through on one of the greatest promises ever when He gave His Son to us.
    Promise
    The promise of Jesus begins all the way back in the Old Testament where we learn that God is in fact faithful to His people and His word.
    Read Deuteronomy 7:6-8
    Deuteronomy 7:6–8 ESV
    “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
    Here we read that God has chosen His people because He loves them AND because He made an oath (promise) to their forefathers. It was because of this promise that He brought the Israelites out of Egypt and “redeemed them from the land of slavery.” This is all a beautiful foreshadowing of how Jesus will come to our rescue later, as the savior of all mankind.
    Read Deuteronomy 7:9
    Deuteronomy 7:9 ESV
    Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
    In this verse we see that God will keep His “covenant of love to a thousand generations.” He will be faithful to His promise, and He will see it through to the very end… which is what’s implied by the idea of a thousand generations. That’s a really long time to keep a promise! But we now know that God did in fact keep His promise, Jesus did come, and He has set us free from the curse of sin and death. It’s all because of Jesus, or as the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through Him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” Christmas is a day when we remember the promise of God as foretold throughout the scripture and the prophets, and we proclaim Yes! Amen!
    Prophecy
    Christmas is also a day we remember Jesus is not just a promise fulfilled, which would be enough, but He is also the fulfillment of all the law and prophets. Jesus himself says this in Matthew 5:17…
    Read Matthew 5:17
    Matthew 5:17 ESV
    “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
    We can see, through the birth accounts in both the Gospel of Matthew and Luke, that the birth of Jesus fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies about the promised Messiah. Here are a few that stand out;
    1. Christ would be born of a virgin AND He would be called Immanuel.
    This prophecy comes from Isaiah 7:14 (read Isaiah 7:14) and we see these words specifically fulfilled in Matthew 1:22-23 (read Matthew 1:22-23) The name Immanuel means God with us, which is precisely what Jesus came to do and be. He lived WITH US, died WITH US, rose again WITH US, and He’s building His church to this very day, WITH US. He truly is…Immanuel.
    2. Christ was born in Bethlehem
    This prophecy comes from Micah 5:2 (read Micah 5:2) and we see these words fulfilled in Matthew 2:10 and Luke 2:4 (read Matthew 2:10, Luke 2:4) This is where things get exciting. This Luke passage mentions that Joseph, who ends up being Jesus’ earthly Father, was part of King David’s line. And if you turn back to the birth account in Matthew chapter 1 you’ll find a detailed genealogy of Christ, leading all the way back to Abraham that goes specifically through King David. (cf. Matthew 1:1-16) This genealogy helps tie in these words we read from Micah 5:2 who says, “(Jesus’) origins are from of old, from ancient times.” And this is why the prophet Zecharaiah sings these words in Luke 1:68-70… (read Luke 1:68-70) It all comes together in Christ!  
    I know this is a lot of information, and it’s not meant to overwhelm you. It’s meant to inspire and captivate you this Christmas. Today we remember that God has a plan of unfailing covenantal love for His people. It was never a haphazard or patchwork plan, it was always an intentional one. Which brings me to one of my favorite prophecies…
    3. He is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace
    From Isaiah 9:6-7 we read that through the child born on Christmas day there will come an everlasting government of justice, righteousness, and peace. That sounds pretty good right about now doesn’t it?
    Read Isaiah 9:6-7
    Christ wasn’t the kind of conquering King that many were hoping for, but He was and is the savior we needed. He wasn’t only the prophetic promise fulfilled, He’s also a divine answer to prayer. Not just for the Israelites two thousand years ago, but for us today as well.
    Prayer
    Have you ever prayed for something for a really long time? Have you ever prayed for something specific, and the answer you got was opposite or different than the thing you asked for? Can you imagine praying for the same thing your entire life, only to pass that prayer onto your children in hopes that they may see it fulfilled in their lifetimes? I know that these hypotheticals are reality for some of you here today… This was also the reality that the Israelites lived in for hundreds of years, as they waited for their coming King. A promised messiah, foretold of by the prophets, who would establish an everlasting kingdom of peace and power. (cf. Isaiah 9:6-7) 
    Christmas is a reminder that God does in fact answer prayer.
    Celebrating the arrival of Jesus two-thousand years ago is our annual reminder that God hears our prayers and that He does respond. It might take awhile, but He’s listening, and He loves you. To a thousand generations, as we read earlier, does He love His people. Jesus is the fulfillment of promise, prophecy, and prayer to a weary world in desperate need of a savior.

    Conclusion

    As we wrap up our time today and get onto whatever else may be planned (Christmas Eve or Christmas Day), I want to leave you with this…
    After learning that she would be giving birth to the Messiah, Mary went to visit her relative, Elizabeth. The two women had a brief exchange and Elizabeth proclaimed, “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Overcome in the moment, Mary then sang a song of praise and gratitude;
    Read Luke 1:46-55 (If you can, show this passage on a slide so others can follow along)
    Luke 1:46–55 ESV
    And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
    The arrival of Jesus is a reminder that God keeps His promises. He hears our prayers. This reality overwhelmed Mary two thousand years ago and I pray it would overwhelm us today as well. No matter what you’ve been praying for, hoping for, or waiting for… God hears and sees. He knows what you need this Christmas and He knows that more than anything else what we all need most is Jesus.
    God gave His son so that we might live.
    Jesus has arrived.
    Let’s pray together.  

      • Deuteronomy 7:6–8ESV

      • Deuteronomy 7:9ESV

      • Matthew 5:17ESV

      • Luke 1:46–55ESV

  • Silent Night! Holy Night!
Southside Baptist Church JC
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