Parkland First Baptist Church
December 5, 2021

      • Ezekiel 13–15ESV

      • Ezekiel 16–17ESV

      • Ezekiel 18–19ESV

      • Ezekiel 20–21ESV

      • Ezekiel 22–23ESV

  • Mighty God

    We are in a series entitled “Hope of Christmas”
    Our key verse for the series is Isaiah 9:6
    Isaiah 9:6 CSB
    6 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
    We are taking this verse that best describes the deity and humanity of Christ.
    There are about 250 titles given to Jesus
    Isaiah summarizes them all in just these 4 titles.
    Today’s title is Mighty God
    Translate the Hebrew El Gibbor
    El is the name for God
    Gibbor means warrior, hero, captain.
    So the babe is a Warrior God, hero God, Captain God
    We need a warrior, hero, captain today.
    Would you agree that our world is in desperate need of hope this Christmas season?
    We need a word or a touch from God.
    We live in the most stressful metro region in the country
    Do you think we might just a little bit of hope?
    A. W. Tozer said, “The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the Church is famishing for want of His Presence.”
    Does that sound true?
    People want to know “Who is God?”
    We have a deep down desire to know God and be in His presence.
    That’s how God wired us.
    A friend of mine said the cure for pitiful religion is that God’s presence is in us and we are in His presence.
    There is a lot of depression during this season
    People have worries, difficulties, hardships, unanswered prayers.
    Yet, we should be happy at this time of year, but we are weighted down.
    Hard to understand what it means to have God in your life.
    That’s what we will try to answer today.
    Zephaniah 3:17 CSB
    17 The Lord your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will be quiet in his love. He will delight in you with singing.”

    The Lord Is In Your Midst

    The reason we celebrate is that God came into our world to be in our midst.
    Get that Mighty God in the form of a baby came to be in our midst.
    That should be a comforting thought for us.
    God is in our lives.
    Emmanuel = God with us!
    You see from Isaiah that a baby was prophesied
    Then the Baby was born
    The world was wanting to know who the Messiah is
    He was Jesus our Emmanuel.

    We Celebrate The Fact That God Is With Us!

    Leviticus 26:11–12 CSB
    11 I will place my residence among you, and I will not reject you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.
    Look at what this says,
    I will make my dwelling among you
    I will be your God
    And You/we will by My people
    Did you get that?
    God wants to be present with us and walk with us daily.
    God designed the world to experience Eden daily
    Where everybody would experience God and walk and talk with Him daily
    But sin created a gap between us and God
    No longer could we walk with Him
    God saw our problem and sent or gave us His Son as a baby, the Mighty God, to bridge that gap sin created.
    By believing in Jesus and placing our faith in Him we can walk with God.
    God pursues you!
    He pursues you more that you pursue Him.
    He wants to be with you!
    Reason we can find God is because God wants to be found.
    He didn’t just create everything and then left it.
    He is active and wants us to know Him.
    Jeremiah tells us, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.”
    God wants to dwell with us, to make His home among us.
    For that to happen He needed to restore what was lost to sin.
    He did with Jesus
    We must admit we are sinners for us to be restored in that right relationship with Him.
    Zechariah 2:10, “Daughter Zion, shout for joy and be glad, for I am coming to dwell among you”—this is the LORD’s declaration.”

    Proximity Matters To God

    God wants to be near you.
    He’s right here in our midst.
    Now I know some of you say, “Well, I don’t feel Him. God seems so far away.”
    If there was a time when you were close to God, and God seems far away, somebody’s moved—and it wasn’t God.
    It was you, because “the Lord God is in our midst.”
    He wants to be found by you.
    You not feel His presence, but He is not hiding from you.
    Just look and you will find Him.
    Acts 17:28 CSB
    28 For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’
    I love this verse.
    I am able to live and move and have purpose is because I am in Him
    In Him or In Christ is most repeated words in the NT.
    Only way to know your purpose is in Him
    Without Him you have no direction, no hope.
    We need to reconcile, repent, confess to God our sins and seek Him
    Will God go away? NO

    I Cannot Go Where God Is Not

    His presence is in our midst.
    We have constant communication with Him through Christ.
    If we have God and nothing else, we have everything.
    Have you ever talked to someone about Christ and they ask, “If I become a Christian what do I have to give up?”
    That’s what most think - give up cussing, drinking, dancing, and chewing.
    They want to know what I am going to give up.
    But coming to Christ doesn’t mean giving up anything, but gaining the blessings of God.
    That’s what it means to have a Warrior, Hero, Captain God.
    That is the the God part of the title.

    Mighty To Save

    Psalm 147:5 CSB
    5 Our Lord is great, vast in power; his understanding is infinite.
    We can’t fully understand God, but we can have moments when we see how great He and His abundant power.
    Like Wonderful from last week meaning incomprehensible, unknown, or miraculous
    We may not fully comprehend our God, but there are those moment when you need a word or and answer to prayer and you get it.
    You know that was a God Moment
    Do you know what the main difference between a Christian and non-Christian is?
    It’s Christ, the presence of God in our lives
    You see both have bills to pay, kids to raise, homework, jobs, relationships, hardships, emotions and etc.
    The main difference is that we as Christians have His might and power on our side.
    And He acts on our behalf.
    Psalm 91:1–10 CSB
    1 The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say concerning the Lord, who is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust: 3 He himself will rescue you from the bird trap, from the destructive plague. 4 He will cover you with his feathers; you will take refuge under his wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield. 5 You will not fear the terror of the night, the arrow that flies by day, 6 the plague that stalks in darkness, or the pestilence that ravages at noon. 7 Though a thousand fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, the pestilence will not reach you. 8 You will only see it with your eyes and witness the punishment of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the Lord—my refuge, the Most High—your dwelling place, 10 no harm will come to you; no plague will come near your tent.
    Protection of God
    When we need Him, He’s able to step in to help.
    All we have to do is to look to Him

    Looking

    Hebrews 12:2 CSB
    2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
    Where are we to look?
    At Jesus
    He is the founder of our faith
    He is perfecting our faith
    As we keep our eyes on Him.
    The faith you have is faith given to you by God.
    We are created in the image of God.
    Realize something is missing and missing piece is God.
    Sin keeps us from Him.
    He founded our faith and will finish our faith in glory.
    What’s the key to ongoing faith
    Looking at Jesus.
    Ark had one window on top.
    Couldn’t look out sides to see rain and water
    Just up to God
    The challenge we have to keep our eyes on Jesus because He is the originator and perfecter of our faith.
    Can’t grow when eyes or not on Christ.

    His Presence Steers Our Life

    His power makes a way for us to go forward in life.
    Do you remember one of our memory verses Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.”
    Our Captain God, His presence in our lives, steers our life.
    That way I know what direction to go.
    He directs my life, guards my life.

    God Sings Over Us

    Back to Zephaniah 3:17
    He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will be quiet in his love. He will delight in you with singing.
    There are moments in our lives when we just need a hug.
    Or a pat on the back
    Like a little child, discouraged, sad, hurt, climbs in your lap and its all better.
    Your presence quieted them.
    When you need a hug, God is there.
    Romans 8:28 CSB
    28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
    It says for those who love God.
    There is no mention of sins
    No worry that God will change His mind.
    You sinned, you’re out, I’m done with you.
    When you confess, His loves comes in
    He doesn’t change His mind.
    As a result, His nature quiets our disturbed lives.
    Whatever thoughts or issues you are dealing with, they become so loud you can’t hear anything else.
    They keep you awake at night.
    They become so overwhelming you just can’t stand it.
    That’s when He steps into your life.
    It says He will rejoice over you
    He will exalt you with singing.
    Only time God is singing loudly.
    So He overpowers all the other voices in your life, so He quiets them for you.
    When was the last time you heard God singing loudly over you?

    How To Hear God Sing

    You hear God when you sing back to Him.
    As you worship and sing you will know His presence and everything else is drowned out.
    The one voice we need to look to is Jesus’ our author and perfecter of our faith.
    Have you had times when you wanted to give God the what fors?
    You don’t understand why your going thru this.
    God will remind you of the blessings
    Then we can give them back to Him.
    He loves to love us.

    The Christian life is not a funeral, but a celebration.

    A pouting pitiful life is an embarrassment to God.
    We are above and beyond blessed.
    When you are weighted down it’s hard to do life.
    It’s hard to lift your hands in praise.
    God will sing over you and then it becomes easier to sing back.
    Have you ever sat next to someone who really worships?
    As they sing it becomes easier for you to sing back.
    That’s way it is with God.

    Only a Mighty God Can Do:

    1. Turn Darkness Into Light

    He is the light that came into the world of darkness.
    Jesus said I am the light.
    Last week in Psalm 139 we saw that in God there is no darkness.
    No matter how dark it gets for you, God is light.

    2. Turn Sadness Into Joy

    3. Turn Captivity Into Liberty

    We were captive to sin living in darkness.
    Sadness overwhelms us and locks us down.
    But God comes into our life to bring light to the darkness, joy to the sadness, and liberty to the captivity.
    God Loves You
    God pursues You
    Rejoice because in God there is Hope
    Our Warrior, Hero, Captain Mighty God quiets everything to allow us to worship Him!
    You can find God today!
    Prayer

      • Isaiah 9:6CSB

      • Zephaniah 3:17CSB

      • Leviticus 26:11–12CSB

      • Acts 17:28CSB

      • Psalm 147:5CSB

      • Hebrews 12:2CSB

      • Romans 8:28CSB

Parkland First Baptist Church
office@parklandfirst.com
253-531-0121
http://www.parklandfirst.com
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