Sunnyside First Baptist Church
Are you changed???
  • God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
  • What Child Is This (Greensleeves)
  • O Come O Come

  • Advent Reading/Candle Lighting

    Hello I am Mary At Christmas time, you hear a lot about me and Joseph We didn’t plan to be special at Christmas It just happened Or perhaps I should say God had better plans than ours God’s plans and vision for us was far bigger than what we thought was possible Like many other people Joseph and I had plans to be married Our parents had arranged it We were in love We had planned to raise children And for Joseph to go about building houses and other things But then it happened, our plans were changed An angel appeared to me and said I was going to have a baby But not just any old baby I was going to give birth to the Son of God And His name would be called Jesus And I discovered that Joseph wouldn’t be the father Now for a moment I thought how could this be? I am going to get married to Joseph But then I remembered the teachings from my father and his father that with God anything is possible And I mean anything!!!! I was worried Joseph would not want anything to do with me or the baby But he stuck around He helped when things were tough He loved both of us But God’s surprises didn’t stop there Even today he surprises us He surprises us a lot with His love As you open up your presents this Christmas Remember that God brings you surprises And this can be clearly seen when I look at the life, death and then life again of Jesus Jesus showed people that God was loving Jesus was a special child He really loved people He wanted everyone to receive the benefits of heaven He dearly wanted many people to love God and love others as they loved themselves And no matter what people did He still kept on loving them, not only saying it but also showing it He would still talk to them, help them, heal them and respect them Jesus is a wonderful gift that God gave not only me But also you, and you and you Because as I discovered sometime later The reason Jesus came to the world as a little baby was to show that God is love And as he grew up God’s love could be seen in many different ways You can still see this love as you read the pages of scripture, Like the Gospel of Luke, why not plan to do this over the next year?? And as you do you will discover that Jesus came to do something very special To pay the price so we could be free to be with Him and other Christians in heaven This is how much God loves you Over the last three weeks we have discovered that Christmas is about God bringing us hope God bringing us peace God bringing us joy And this week we have discovered that God bring us true love… So along with the candles of hope, peace and joy let’s light the candle of love.

    Last Week...

    Well maybe y’all can fill me in what happened last week. I have to tell you that I don’t have many quick memories of the last week. About every three years or so I get really sick like this.
    It was not CoVid. I tested and I was negative.
    There was one advantage to us being locked down for the better parts of 2 years. There was not much opportunity for cold and flu viruses to attack.
    I have reviewed the message last week and I don’t think that I lead anyone astray.
    I was really struck as I re-read the message.
    Waiting...
    You know we wait and wait our lives are very involved in WAITING!
    From the practical side we wait for
    the mail
    our computers
    our children or our parents
    we wait for UPS, Fed-EX, Amazon.
    For the light to turn green
    To get paid..
    Al of these things while there are happening can be irritating, frustrating, happy or sad.
    We wait because of this thing that we never have enough of… Time!
    From a scriptural point-of-view...
    The Jews in some form or the other had waited for redemption, waited for salvation as a nation for 4000+ years.
    They waited for a King… They couldn’t accept a baby in a manger, a carpenter, a Servant Savior.
    And in most cases they continue to “wait” failing to recognize the gift that is in front of them. The Messiah, The Christ.
    Let me ask a question… I don’t know your circumstances but here is the question.
    Are you still waiting expectantly for Jesus?
    Luke 12:35–36 ESV
    35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.
    Do you hear Him calling? Is He gently tapping on the shoulder asking you to commit your life to growth and service.
    I have no doubt if you have committed your life to Christ that you have a place in Heaven. That is guaranteed!
    What I am waiting for, what He is waiting for is this
    John 3:29 ESV
    29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.
    IF you are a believer you are a “friend” of Christ and your Joy is complete!
    Are we waiting and listening carefully for his voice? Are we acting on that voice when we hear it?
    Do we live our lives in service and think that’s enough?
    Do we cover the real meaning of the Birth of Christ with Christmas gifts and celebrations to the extent that we forget that this season is about Him.
    From Romans 8.
    Romans 8:25 ESV
    25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
    As we wait patiently for what is ahead and do not focus for what is behind...
    But if we HOPE. In this waiting that He will refine us.
    He will make us purer than gold or silver.
    He will make us, mold us, and change us.
    This time of waiting should NOT be wasted.
    When is the last time you picked up your bible, opened and read it?
    When is that last time that your took it upon yourself to study, to ask God to show you a truth from scripture.
    When was the last time you prayed… paused, waited and listened and not just shot-gunned a prayer.
    For reasons only known to the Father we are WAITING...
    From Titus 2.
    Titus 2:12–14 ESV
    12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
    That’s the BIG WAIT… Jesus is COMING BACK!
    Jude 21 ESV
    21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
    4th Sunday of Advent
    This is the last Sunday of Advent for 2021.
    I want us to pause for minute… Yes I am asking you to wait again.
    Here is our BIG QUESTION for today… How has God changed you this Advent?
    What has he done this year that He has not done in past Advents?
    What makes this season different than any of the other 15 or 30 or 80 Advents that you have seen?
    Are you more peaceful, do you have more hope, do you love more?
    I don’t have to tell you that Advent and Christmas should be all about these things and not about gifts, celebrations, and parties.
    Do you know what I am most thankful for this Advent Season? This Christmas?
    There are a couple of you that have said… This is my church, I’m called to minister here, I’m using First Baptist as a platform to do ministry in my home, in my community and in the world. PRAISE GOD FOR YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!
    There are about 100 more or less spots open for the rest of us to step it up!
    We are here to help you, advise you, share our resources with you as you follow Christ’s Great Commission to reach the world, one person at a time with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
    One of the best predictors of our future is what has happened in the past..
    Open your Bibles or apps or however you engage scripture to the book of Micah. Micah is one of that last books in the Old Testament.
    As we talked about last week at this time in history there are more than a couple of prophets who are SCREAMING to Israel.
    STOP… Don’t you see what you are doing? All of your festivals, all of your sacrifices mean nothing to God. Because he is NOT after sacrifice… but obedience!
    Here is what people of Israel are saying...
    Psalm 80:1–3 ESV
    1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. 2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your might and come to save us! 3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!
    They are begging for God to come… What they have failed to hear is that God wants change.
    He wants obedience, He wants to be worshipped alone ahead of all other small ‘g’ gods, he wants their undivided attention.
    He does not want much different today! Just let that sink in…
    So let me wander back to Micah 5.
    This is part prophecy, this is part reality for these first “hear-ers”of Micah, it speaks to us and it speaks to the future.
    Micah 5:1 ESV
    1 Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.
    Come alive army of Jerusalem… Babylon is going to attack, they are going to come and take what they want from you.
    Babylon will lay siege of you and literally starve you out… And they did.
    Here is the prophecy part of this verse, “[W]ith a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.
    Jesus is the ultimate judge of Israel. They do strike Jesus at His cruxifixction.
    Honest I’m not doing this detail for all of these verses otherwise will be here until Christmas Eve.
    Micah 5:2 ESV
    2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
    Bethlehem… you are so little you do not even deserve mention, Your nothing.
    Because you are small and insignificant, because everyone passes you by… God says I CHOOSE YOU!!
    From you shall come the one who is to be the ruler in Israel. I promise, God says that a “David” will always be on the throne in Israel.
    Have you noticed among all of the “kingdoms” in the middle east.
    Israel does not have a sitting King?
    They are waiting for the Messiah.
    Jesus has already come… And He is coming back!
    Micah 5:3 ESV
    3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.
    You know the language… The “birth pangs” of the return of Christ. That’s what we are waiting for, that’s what most be prepared for.
    There is a time when a King will sit again on the throne is Jerusalem. That King is Jesus.
    Micah 5:4 ESV
    4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.
    Christ is coming to rule, to stand.
    To be our Shepherd… And we His flock shall stand in strength.
    That’s us… the battle has been fought, we win the war and we shall dwell securely and as long as He rules the earth at His second coming… Literally 1000 years. And then the earth with be gone!
    Replaced by a new Heaven and earth.
    Final verse… Listen carefully to verse 5 in part
    Micah 5:5 (ESV)
    5 And he shall be their peace...
    From this nothing place in the middle nowhere middle east came the Savior of all Mankind… Jesus!
    What’s the message to us???
    Here is our BIG QUESTION for today… How has God changed you this Advent?
    After preparing for the message… I cannot be anything but different this Advent Season.
    If you are feeling unconnected with God, if you think that He has left you behind, if you think that you have committed an unpardonable sin.
    YOU HAVEN’T… God wants you change you...
    God wants you to be redeemed...
    he wants you be to changed THIS ADVENT SEASON!!!
    ​

      • John 3:29NLT

      • Romans 8:25NLT

      • Titus 2:12–14NLT

      • Jude 21NLT

      • Psalm 80:1–3NLT

      • Micah 5:1NLT

      • Micah 5:2NLT

      • Micah 5:3NLT

      • Micah 5:4NLT

  • Angels We Have Heard On High (Gloria)
Sunnyside First Baptist Church
sunnysidefbc@gmail.com
509-837-3084
https://sunnysidefbc.faithlifesites.com
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