WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.500 A reading from Micah chapter 5 verses 1 to 4. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:40.659 Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:48.120 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:54.079 And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:01:01.899 Good morning, church family. I'm Abby Bryant, and I will be reading from Matthew 2 verses 1 through 12. 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:26.379 He asked them where the Christ was to be born. 00:01:27.379 --> 00:01:31.079 In Bethlehem and Judea they replied, for this is what the prophet had written. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:36.519 But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. 00:01:37.019 --> 00:01:40.439 For out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people, Israel. 00:01:41.659 --> 00:01:46.079 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:50.140 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and make a careful search for the child. 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:54.460 As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him. 00:01:55.359 --> 00:02:02.500 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 00:02:03.180 --> 00:02:05.180 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:10.280 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. 00:02:11.180 --> 00:02:15.360 Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:20.440 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. 00:02:21.020 --> 00:02:21.640 Let's pray. 00:02:23.420 --> 00:02:29.680 Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us this time this morning to gather as a church body from all over the world. 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:35.280 God, we recognize that even in these unprecedented times, you are sovereign over us. 00:02:36.060 --> 00:02:39.680 You're a loving Father who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:44.960 God, I pray that you would soften our hearts this morning, that we would hear your word and be convicted. 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:53.460 Bless Pastor Graham Scheer from Musselboro Baptist as he leads us through the passage this morning, and let his words be yours, not his own. 00:02:54.260 --> 00:02:59.879 Continue to sanctify us and transform us into the likeness of your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:03:00.580 --> 00:03:04.020 It is in his name and his alone that we pray these things. Amen. 00:03:05.020 --> 00:03:06.159 Good morning to all of you. 00:03:06.480 --> 00:03:09.580 Isn't it great we've got a chance now to turn our thoughts to the Word of God? 00:03:09.580 --> 00:03:14.000 Let's go back to that passage that's just been read to us in Matthew's Gospel in Chapter 2. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:25.300 It might seem odd to us because we're not even anywhere near the season that we normally would give our thoughts and minds to these things. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:28.100 It's at the end of the year, and we're still in the middle of this year. 00:03:28.160 --> 00:03:29.740 But let's look at it. 00:03:30.140 --> 00:03:36.860 We're doing that down the road in our church, and what's good for them is hopefully going to be good for us here too. 00:03:36.860 --> 00:03:40.500 So let's just turn our thoughts to this for a short time. 00:03:41.740 --> 00:03:48.500 I can't really remember the first time that I heard the words, we three kings of Orient are. 00:03:48.600 --> 00:03:52.180 It's one of the classics, isn't it, that's rolled out each year. 00:03:52.680 --> 00:04:00.400 But we didn't really sing it in our church, so I can't remember the first time that I actually heard these words. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:06.620 But I do remember walking out of school one day, and one of my friends was singing this song. 00:04:06.659 --> 00:04:12.340 He'd switched the lyrics, and I just tuned in to hear what it was that he was trying to say. 00:04:12.340 --> 00:04:27.500 We three kings, he said, of Orient are, one in a taxi, and one in a car, and one on a scooter, tooting his hooter, and eating a milky bar. 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:31.439 He was trying to be funny, but I thought, who do you think that he is? 00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:36.639 He's trying to defame my faith and make fun of Jesus and so on. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:51.259 But here's the thing, the truth is that that version that he rolled out that day in our school is no less accurate than the version that millions of Christians have been singing over the years in the midst of carol services. 00:04:53.539 --> 00:04:59.219 We three kings, for instance, we've assumed, haven't we, they were kings. 00:04:59.220 --> 00:05:07.140 But we've just heard the reading, we can look at our Bibles, there's no mention anywhere there that any of these men were kings. 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:11.580 Nor is there any mention that their number was three. 00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:13.960 We three kings. 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:20.720 The number three obviously comes to us because Matthew tells us there were three different presents, 00:05:21.020 --> 00:05:26.780 but then who's to say that one of the entourage wasn't really generous and he just brought all of these gifts? 00:05:26.779 --> 00:05:35.939 We wouldn't say if my wife Sarah got three different presents that she has three different husbands. 00:05:36.219 --> 00:05:38.779 We wouldn't immediately jump to that conclusion, hopefully. 00:05:39.599 --> 00:05:45.079 More than that then, there is, when we come to this text at least, the issue of timing. 00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:55.219 I think we've assumed an awful lot when we think of the timing that these three wise men came into the scene. 00:05:55.220 --> 00:06:01.380 It does say in our Bibles at the start here, it all takes place, verse 1, after Jesus was born. 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:04.900 And yet we've assumed, haven't we, as Christians, that he has just been born. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:08.120 Here he is, little Jesus. 00:06:08.440 --> 00:06:12.240 He's lying in the hay, merely hours old in the stable. 00:06:12.320 --> 00:06:15.340 But again, I think we're making lots of assumptions. 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:19.460 For instance, Matthew tells us here they've come to a house. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:21.660 It's not the stable. 00:06:21.660 --> 00:06:31.660 So I'm really sorry to shatter all of the Christmas plays that we've been to as parents over the course of the years. 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:41.020 More than that, in the 16th verse, Herod there is killing all of the male babies under the age of two years. 00:06:41.080 --> 00:06:44.560 So it feels like he knows that Jesus is older. 00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:45.640 Is he 18 months? 00:06:45.700 --> 00:06:47.780 Is he maybe even two years? 00:06:47.779 --> 00:06:57.479 It's not really the scene, is it, that maybe we've conjured up in our minds of kings and camels, three kings and camels. 00:06:58.019 --> 00:07:02.039 Jesus is lying in the manger, hours old, and so on. 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:10.859 So all that to say, we need to watch that we don't stretch, as it were, the story of Jesus first coming into our world. 00:07:10.860 --> 00:07:21.819 But what we do know, there's lots that we don't know, but what we do know as we set all of those thoughts off to the side, what we know are the following four things. 00:07:22.960 --> 00:07:26.560 I want to give them to your church this morning first. 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:47.220 I want you to notice, as we think of the journey that these wise men have been on, that first, no trouble should ever be too great in our search for truth. 00:07:47.220 --> 00:07:57.720 Although where it was that these wise men have come from is hard to say, given all that we get from St. Matthew, is the East. 00:07:58.420 --> 00:08:01.080 So there's lots of different theories at this point. 00:08:01.520 --> 00:08:12.000 Babylon is in the running, not least, of course, because the same word for the Magi is mentioned, if you remember, in the second chapter of Daniel. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:26.720 So maybe there, maybe Iraq, in that region, if that was the case, then I would walk 500 miles, might be one of the songs that they sang, 00:08:26.779 --> 00:08:30.560 because it's roughly 500 miles between these two fixed points. 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:47.299 So weeks and weeks and weeks on the road, journeying undoubtedly over deserts, hot in the day, cold at night, traveling in these days was full of dangers, wild beasts, muggers, brigands, and so on. 00:08:47.700 --> 00:08:52.399 So in this story, there's a litany of inconveniences. 00:08:52.600 --> 00:08:56.379 I mean, how many reasons did they have to go back to their homes? 00:08:56.379 --> 00:09:07.759 Back to the colors and the comforts and the wisdom of the East, all the status that they had in the East. 00:09:08.620 --> 00:09:11.139 Bethlehem was not in the same league as the East. 00:09:12.939 --> 00:09:14.860 And yet still they keep traveling. 00:09:16.019 --> 00:09:17.879 So here's the question, you see. 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:20.039 Why? 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:20.120 Why? 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:35.120 Now, there's all kinds of things that we could think over at this point, different practical, helpful tips to be much more focused and disciplined when it comes to our quiet times. 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:36.879 For instance, we're so easily distracted. 00:09:38.279 --> 00:09:39.460 We close our Bibles. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:43.220 We get different messages on our phones and so on. 00:09:43.220 --> 00:09:45.399 So that's an angle that we could explore. 00:09:47.019 --> 00:09:49.759 But here's where I thought we would go with this text. 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:56.379 The wisdom of this world is so quickly dated. 00:09:59.139 --> 00:10:07.639 These upper crust and wise, learned men who would have gone to Oxford and Princeton, Harvard and Yale and so on. 00:10:08.460 --> 00:10:09.560 Here are all of them. 00:10:09.659 --> 00:10:13.480 They are hunting and searching for truth. 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:23.420 They have not found, as the song says from Bono and U2, they've not found yet what it is that they are looking for. 00:10:23.920 --> 00:10:32.159 The wisdom of the 40s and the 50s and the 60s is laughable to us all these years on in our lives. 00:10:32.220 --> 00:10:32.639 It's dated. 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:37.819 What we learned about gender when we were youngsters, it's dated. 00:10:38.899 --> 00:10:45.179 What we learned from Freud as students at uni is so dated. 00:10:45.340 --> 00:10:46.419 We look at it now. 00:10:46.620 --> 00:10:47.620 It's like fashion. 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:55.080 It's like finding a shirt you find in a wardrobe that your grandfather used to wear. 00:10:55.080 --> 00:10:59.360 It's not the cutting edge thing that we thought that it would be. 00:10:59.580 --> 00:11:07.000 And 50 years on from this point, our children and grandchildren will read of the wisdom of this age. 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:12.100 They will say of all of us, you're dated. 00:11:12.100 --> 00:11:18.899 Look at the things you were learning in school, they will say. 00:11:19.560 --> 00:11:22.600 How out of date are all of your thinkers? 00:11:23.259 --> 00:11:25.139 Look at the way that they thought about gender. 00:11:26.620 --> 00:11:32.000 Look at the way that they thought about different issues like moral and ethical sexual issues. 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:34.740 It's like the famous quote from C.S. Lewis. 00:11:34.740 --> 00:11:42.080 He once said, all that is not eternal is eternally out of date. 00:11:42.759 --> 00:11:43.680 A great quote. 00:11:44.019 --> 00:11:48.920 And here are men who are, as it were, trying to scratch that itch in their lives. 00:11:49.060 --> 00:11:50.360 They've gone to the best schools. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:51.940 They've sat under the greatest teachers. 00:11:52.420 --> 00:11:55.720 And all of them have money and status and wisdom. 00:11:56.500 --> 00:11:58.840 But something within them is whispering to them. 00:11:59.500 --> 00:12:01.259 What you're missing is the truth. 00:12:03.920 --> 00:12:06.840 You've still not found what it is that you are looking for. 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:13.080 And so they pack their bags. 00:12:13.180 --> 00:12:14.040 Did they have camels? 00:12:14.220 --> 00:12:14.820 We don't know. 00:12:14.920 --> 00:12:15.660 Off they set. 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:20.160 Maybe it's days and weeks and maybe even months on the road. 00:12:20.259 --> 00:12:23.980 It was a journey that was laced with lots of obstacles. 00:12:23.980 --> 00:12:28.280 They had every reason, as it were, to be really easy on themselves. 00:12:28.500 --> 00:12:30.460 But onwards they travel. 00:12:30.680 --> 00:12:32.400 Onwards they go. 00:12:32.780 --> 00:12:35.800 Some of us won't even come down the stairs for the truth. 00:12:37.800 --> 00:12:41.680 We won't deal with addictions for the truth. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:45.419 We won't turn off our TVs for the truth. 00:12:46.779 --> 00:12:50.419 We won't set our phones to the side for the truth. 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:53.779 Some of us won't leave our beds for the truth in the morning. 00:12:54.199 --> 00:12:56.839 Set everything else off to the side. 00:12:56.839 --> 00:12:57.339 Listen. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:08.139 Every other thinker and wise sage and teacher is destined over time to completely pass away. 00:13:08.139 --> 00:13:11.639 The 40s was dated in the 1980s. 00:13:11.860 --> 00:13:15.319 The 1980s is dated in the 2020s. 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:20.019 And our thinking will be last season in 2055. 00:13:20.439 --> 00:13:25.240 But these wise men found as they went to this house that they had found eternal truth. 00:13:26.980 --> 00:13:28.580 They would never pass away. 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:31.899 They would have walked 10,000 miles. 00:13:31.899 --> 00:13:36.139 They just wanted truth. 00:13:37.079 --> 00:13:38.220 It was real. 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:42.480 Second. 00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:48.399 No trouble is too great in our search for the truth. 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:48.819 Second. 00:13:49.819 --> 00:13:55.319 No one is too distant that they can't find the truth. 00:13:55.320 --> 00:14:05.720 And what's interesting when you come to the fourth gospel, John's gospel, is the statement that he puts right at the end of that book. 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:13.620 Where he says he didn't have the time to record all of the events, all of the stories, all of the days that he spent with Jesus. 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:15.540 There were loads of things he's saying. 00:14:15.640 --> 00:14:16.520 Loads of miracles. 00:14:17.100 --> 00:14:21.280 And so every story is chosen with reason. 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:24.640 Now why choose this story? 00:14:25.320 --> 00:14:34.360 There was a reason, for instance, for giving to us a story, say in Mark chapter 4, when he told the wind and the waves to stop it. 00:14:34.420 --> 00:14:36.000 It was his authority over nature. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:44.460 A reason for giving to us that story in Mark 5, when he raises the wee girl, gives her back to her parents. 00:14:44.500 --> 00:14:46.580 It was his authority over death. 00:14:47.780 --> 00:14:48.900 And so why this story? 00:14:51.180 --> 00:14:52.560 What is he saying to us? 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:58.859 Matthew, you'll see he builds the whole story of the birth of Jesus. 00:14:58.979 --> 00:15:02.239 He keeps the magi right in the very center. 00:15:02.379 --> 00:15:03.099 And what is he saying? 00:15:03.179 --> 00:15:08.779 It's to signal to you that even the most unlikely can come to this truth. 00:15:08.779 --> 00:15:15.240 I want to remind you this morning, it's not a criticism to say this. 00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:23.480 I want to remind you that virtually all the world's faiths have a direct link to ethnicity in this world. 00:15:24.039 --> 00:15:28.220 Hinduism in India, mainly, broadly speaking. 00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:32.559 Like Buddhism is in China and other Asian countries. 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:38.019 The Jews have their faith, of course, Islam on the whole, among Arab peoples. 00:15:38.439 --> 00:15:42.279 But Christianity in Matthew, it's not built in these terms. 00:15:43.419 --> 00:15:49.039 He starts his gospel with souls saved in the East. 00:15:50.939 --> 00:15:56.139 The magi, he says, from which we get our word in English, magic. 00:15:56.139 --> 00:16:01.819 He ends his gospel, Matthew 28, sending the church into the whole of the world. 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:06.799 We know this morning that the church is growing in China and Africa and South Korea. 00:16:06.980 --> 00:16:10.319 We know that heaven will be laced with all of these cultures. 00:16:10.539 --> 00:16:13.679 We know that Jesus will meet Paul in Acts. 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:15.699 And then think of this. 00:16:15.700 --> 00:16:30.720 Isn't that strange to you? 00:16:32.860 --> 00:16:36.180 Isn't it unusual to you? 00:16:36.780 --> 00:16:39.480 No signs he was regal. 00:16:39.640 --> 00:16:42.360 There's no miracles here in sermons. 00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:47.639 Most of the people who were saved in these times were saved when there were miracles and sermons. 00:16:47.820 --> 00:16:50.659 But no sermons and miracles from Jesus in this text. 00:16:50.740 --> 00:16:52.519 There's no crowds in his wake. 00:16:52.620 --> 00:16:53.659 No music. 00:16:53.820 --> 00:16:55.539 Just Joseph, Mary, little Jesus. 00:16:55.700 --> 00:17:00.100 And yet, somehow, because of faith, you see, the gift of faith, 00:17:01.460 --> 00:17:03.100 they look at this child they believe. 00:17:06.059 --> 00:17:08.720 A reminder, is it not, to all of us this morning, 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:14.180 that if the Spirit of God can implant faith into the hearts of pagans 00:17:14.180 --> 00:17:17.600 as they stare at a toddler in a house in Bethlehem, 00:17:17.660 --> 00:17:19.400 what might he do with our friends? 00:17:19.779 --> 00:17:22.660 What might he do with our mums and dads? 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:23.960 What might he do with you? 00:17:26.759 --> 00:17:28.880 No one too distant. 00:17:29.860 --> 00:17:32.860 No one from God is too estranged. 00:17:32.859 --> 00:17:39.799 One of our members has just given her own story to our church 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:44.379 of how she came to faith, ruined with drugs, all kinds of drugs. 00:17:44.459 --> 00:17:45.819 She turns on the X Factor. 00:17:46.299 --> 00:17:48.599 One night, girl was singing Amazing Grace, 00:17:48.819 --> 00:17:50.139 and God suddenly came to her. 00:17:50.199 --> 00:17:50.679 She saved. 00:17:52.199 --> 00:17:53.039 No one. 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:55.059 Too distant. 00:17:55.059 --> 00:18:03.059 So, no trouble is too great in our search for the truth. 00:18:04.059 --> 00:18:05.079 Hope that's you. 00:18:05.819 --> 00:18:09.919 No one is too distant that they can't find the truth. 00:18:10.159 --> 00:18:16.799 Third, no offering is too costly once we have found the truth. 00:18:18.460 --> 00:18:21.940 Which brings us, of course, to the gold and the frankincense 00:18:21.940 --> 00:18:23.819 and the myrrh and so on. 00:18:23.819 --> 00:18:29.179 Now, Herod, at this point, is the ultimate contrast. 00:18:30.919 --> 00:18:35.099 And I don't know if Matthew has set things up in this way 00:18:35.099 --> 00:18:37.419 so we can see it as clearly as this in this text, 00:18:37.539 --> 00:18:43.059 but here, he says, are these worshippers who are bowing in awe 00:18:43.059 --> 00:18:44.039 and wonder at Jesus. 00:18:44.159 --> 00:18:47.559 They can hardly even take it in that they've met the Lord Jesus. 00:18:47.740 --> 00:18:50.799 And then here is this king who hates King Jesus. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:55.619 As I say, whether Matthew has done that, 00:18:55.700 --> 00:18:58.599 whether he's set it up in that way is hard to say. 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:02.960 Herod himself was actually not a real Jew. 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:04.299 His father was an Edomite. 00:19:05.299 --> 00:19:08.740 His mother, a princess, out-of-state princess. 00:19:08.740 --> 00:19:11.900 And so he was always, as it were, looking over his shoulder 00:19:11.900 --> 00:19:16.420 for a rival real Jew who might take back his throne. 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:19.700 So he murdered his wife. 00:19:20.180 --> 00:19:22.380 He killed three of his sons. 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:25.839 He killed numerous uncles and cousins and others. 00:19:25.900 --> 00:19:31.400 He was always concerned about plots and plans and threats. 00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:34.400 Others who might, as it were, step into his shoes. 00:19:35.820 --> 00:19:38.720 The emperor once said, this is quite funny, 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:41.780 it's safer to be Herod's pig than his son. 00:19:43.640 --> 00:19:46.519 He is feeling threatened. 00:19:48.080 --> 00:19:49.780 He's sensing a rival. 00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:52.340 The rumors had been rife for years and years 00:19:52.340 --> 00:19:54.960 that a king was coming born in this area. 00:19:55.060 --> 00:19:58.240 So it seems that Herod was now fearing the worst. 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:00.920 He's not prepared to be sharing his throne. 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:04.779 But the camera quickly shifts to this scene in the home 00:20:04.779 --> 00:20:07.019 where the Magi worship him. 00:20:09.339 --> 00:20:11.079 It's a contrast, you see. 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:15.559 So here's the thing. 00:20:15.740 --> 00:20:16.579 Here's the deal. 00:20:17.940 --> 00:20:19.480 Jesus is king. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:22.299 It's not that we make him king. 00:20:23.079 --> 00:20:26.200 The issue is, can he be king in me? 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:32.359 In my private life. 00:20:33.460 --> 00:20:35.680 In my life when no one's around me 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:37.539 and able to see me. 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:38.859 In my thought life. 00:20:38.900 --> 00:20:41.480 All of the things that are there in my mind. 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:42.720 When it comes to honesty. 00:20:43.180 --> 00:20:44.120 When it comes to everything. 00:20:45.819 --> 00:20:50.339 When it comes to our Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays. 00:20:50.339 --> 00:20:53.259 It's not just that Jesus is king on Wednesday nights 00:20:53.259 --> 00:20:54.140 and Sunday mornings. 00:20:54.140 --> 00:20:57.660 But Jesus is king on all of our mornings. 00:20:58.040 --> 00:20:59.560 These gifts were costly. 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:04.920 Gold and frankincense and also myrrh. 00:21:06.520 --> 00:21:07.840 What can I give him? 00:21:10.680 --> 00:21:12.380 Poor as I am. 00:21:12.380 --> 00:21:15.540 If I were a shepherd. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:18.520 I would bring a lamb. 00:21:19.860 --> 00:21:21.780 And if I were a wise man. 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:23.960 I would do my part. 00:21:24.460 --> 00:21:26.380 But yet what I can. 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:27.800 I give him. 00:21:29.780 --> 00:21:31.060 I give my heart. 00:21:33.520 --> 00:21:34.040 Everything. 00:21:36.600 --> 00:21:37.940 Wasn't it Lord Melbourne? 00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:44.160 One of the former leaders that we've had in this nation of ours. 00:21:44.259 --> 00:21:45.700 Well known friend of Queen Victoria. 00:21:45.799 --> 00:21:47.440 Wasn't it him that said in a speech once. 00:21:48.860 --> 00:21:51.200 What a state of affairs it would be in Britain. 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:51.779 He said. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:56.059 If religion was allowed to invade a man's private life. 00:21:57.640 --> 00:21:59.380 But that's the whole point of this text. 00:21:59.380 --> 00:21:59.840 Isn't it? 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:00.920 It does. 00:22:02.380 --> 00:22:03.120 He's the king. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:09.659 It's having Jesus as king as we sit before the TV. 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:15.119 It's Jesus as king when it comes to our time. 00:22:15.159 --> 00:22:17.279 I wonder who it is you're most like in this text. 00:22:18.879 --> 00:22:20.500 Is it Herod? 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:23.339 Viewing Jesus as a threat? 00:22:23.459 --> 00:22:24.639 An inconvenience? 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:26.739 A rival? 00:22:27.899 --> 00:22:30.500 Or is it these men who we find on their knees? 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:37.259 Bowing in awe and sheer wonder. 00:22:40.239 --> 00:22:43.419 No trouble is too great in our search for the truth. 00:22:43.500 --> 00:22:46.779 No one's too distant that they can't find the truth. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:48.699 No offering's too costly. 00:22:49.500 --> 00:22:51.759 When we have found this truth. 00:22:52.339 --> 00:22:52.679 Lastly. 00:22:53.779 --> 00:22:58.339 No one's future is too predictable when we follow the truth. 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:00.819 So what's this? 00:23:00.899 --> 00:23:01.779 What's this about? 00:23:01.779 --> 00:23:03.660 And what does it mean to you and me? 00:23:05.740 --> 00:23:07.339 Do you know there are times. 00:23:07.379 --> 00:23:08.980 I can think of times in my own life. 00:23:09.319 --> 00:23:15.059 When I've been almost absolutely sure I could predict the future. 00:23:15.139 --> 00:23:16.220 It's just so clear. 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:19.960 Everything's been moving this way. 00:23:20.359 --> 00:23:22.240 It's going to pan out in this way. 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:22.899 But it doesn't. 00:23:22.900 --> 00:23:29.140 And all of a sudden there's a fork in the road. 00:23:29.280 --> 00:23:36.240 And it just didn't seem to fit with the leading of God as he brought us in our lives all the way up to this point. 00:23:36.460 --> 00:23:38.240 This is often the case when it comes to guidance. 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:42.080 God has been bringing you down this road. 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:44.980 To you it's been clear this is his will. 00:23:45.120 --> 00:23:45.720 But it isn't. 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:46.720 Strange. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:47.720 It's strange. 00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:47.860 Strange. 00:23:48.860 --> 00:23:51.600 He is leading me this way. 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:54.059 He is taking me this way. 00:23:54.200 --> 00:23:54.779 But he isn't. 00:23:54.860 --> 00:23:56.160 It's so unsettling. 00:23:57.759 --> 00:24:01.000 Certainly as a bolt from the blue it comes. 00:24:01.259 --> 00:24:02.660 God is taking me here. 00:24:02.660 --> 00:24:07.560 Maybe for you like some of us in our church. 00:24:07.840 --> 00:24:09.480 Having to put off your wedding date. 00:24:10.100 --> 00:24:11.040 Due to this virus. 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:12.640 Losing your job. 00:24:13.140 --> 00:24:16.500 Some great disappointment in life. 00:24:16.580 --> 00:24:17.860 A cancer diagnosis. 00:24:19.820 --> 00:24:24.200 Now you see here it's the same as Matthew gives to us. 00:24:24.759 --> 00:24:25.620 This scene. 00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:27.580 It's this phrase in the 12th verse. 00:24:27.580 --> 00:24:31.200 He says buy another root. 00:24:32.660 --> 00:24:34.060 The sequence is key here. 00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:38.700 The wise men are with Herod in verse 7. 00:24:38.840 --> 00:24:40.820 He sends them off to find Jesus in 8. 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:43.360 He tells them to bring them their news and so on. 00:24:43.380 --> 00:24:44.880 And so off they set. 00:24:44.980 --> 00:24:46.500 They find Jesus in that house. 00:24:46.700 --> 00:24:50.660 Surely then they'll pop back into Herod as he asked. 00:24:50.940 --> 00:24:53.440 Then it's back east and back to our homes. 00:24:53.580 --> 00:24:56.540 But suddenly here is God as he speaks in our dreams. 00:24:56.540 --> 00:24:59.200 And now we're off by another root. 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:04.200 Their plan's over. 00:25:05.980 --> 00:25:07.000 It's all changed. 00:25:07.100 --> 00:25:09.180 It's not even close to what they predicted. 00:25:09.880 --> 00:25:11.779 They thought it was this way. 00:25:11.980 --> 00:25:12.440 It wasn't. 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:18.559 So let me just mention a couple of very brief things to you. 00:25:18.660 --> 00:25:20.640 And then all of this is done. 00:25:20.680 --> 00:25:22.319 Just a couple of brief things first. 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:27.419 They were part of something that was so much bigger. 00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:29.679 And so are we. 00:25:32.339 --> 00:25:36.200 And you remember, don't you, the way this is framed in the last book in the Bible. 00:25:36.419 --> 00:25:40.439 As the devil at this time of year, Christmas, he waits. 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:44.399 He comes and he waits to eat Jesus as he comes into the world. 00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:45.279 It's an awful scene. 00:25:45.379 --> 00:25:47.480 He comes to eat the Lord Jesus. 00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:52.940 As all the forces of evil have gathered and they're pitted against this baby. 00:25:53.059 --> 00:25:54.839 And all are coming to worship his name. 00:25:54.980 --> 00:25:59.000 And it's into that battle that these wise men have come. 00:25:59.079 --> 00:26:00.339 It's hidden from view. 00:26:00.539 --> 00:26:01.200 Couldn't see it. 00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:07.480 They haven't spotted the devil sauntering down the Bethlehem streets. 00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:12.500 Their struggle was not merely against their own flesh and blood. 00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:17.980 But it was against the rulers and the authorities and the powers of this dark world. 00:26:18.059 --> 00:26:21.759 And all the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 00:26:22.019 --> 00:26:23.480 Sometimes we miss that. 00:26:23.620 --> 00:26:24.620 And maybe they miss that. 00:26:27.220 --> 00:26:33.519 All that they were was a small cog in this great and eternal wheel. 00:26:33.660 --> 00:26:35.900 As God was working his plans in the world. 00:26:35.900 --> 00:26:39.060 We often see things from our little perspective. 00:26:39.360 --> 00:26:40.300 We're blinkered. 00:26:40.519 --> 00:26:42.080 We get so frustrated. 00:26:42.460 --> 00:26:43.580 Why is this happening? 00:26:43.860 --> 00:26:48.560 And what we can't see is that God is doing things that are bigger than me. 00:26:50.120 --> 00:26:51.220 This is important. 00:26:53.860 --> 00:26:56.680 So they were part of something bigger. 00:26:58.180 --> 00:26:59.220 And so are we. 00:26:59.300 --> 00:27:01.300 Second, they knew that God was sovereign. 00:27:01.500 --> 00:27:02.960 And so can we. 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:06.640 Because isn't it striking here. 00:27:07.700 --> 00:27:09.819 Prior to the schemes of Herod. 00:27:10.059 --> 00:27:11.980 Prior to the changes. 00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:18.100 Prior to all of the different movements that they had to make as they headed back to their home. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:21.259 Prior to all of that, he spoke in their dreams. 00:27:23.480 --> 00:27:26.100 God not caught off his guard, is he? 00:27:26.099 --> 00:27:30.419 Not wondering what it is that Herod's doing. 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:33.279 He's just calmly reigning. 00:27:35.319 --> 00:27:36.839 In every crisis. 00:27:37.339 --> 00:27:38.419 In this crisis. 00:27:38.939 --> 00:27:40.019 In every story. 00:27:41.019 --> 00:27:41.959 In every test. 00:27:44.159 --> 00:27:46.179 They were part of something bigger. 00:27:46.719 --> 00:27:47.359 So are we. 00:27:47.779 --> 00:27:49.579 They knew that God was sovereign. 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:51.240 So can we. 00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:51.920 Lest. 00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:56.599 They were being conformed to the image of Jesus. 00:27:56.920 --> 00:27:59.339 And in all of our sufferings. 00:28:00.279 --> 00:28:01.120 So are we. 00:28:03.120 --> 00:28:07.240 And I wonder what it is that we're suffering this morning. 00:28:09.640 --> 00:28:11.059 Now what are our storms? 00:28:11.480 --> 00:28:13.019 Why our tears? 00:28:13.319 --> 00:28:16.200 What is it that we're passing through in these days? 00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:18.279 What to you has been painful? 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:21.380 Look at this. 00:28:23.259 --> 00:28:27.080 Dangers to the wise men as they flee in the 12th verse. 00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:27.819 But look. 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:31.880 Dangers to Jesus and his family. 00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:33.240 Verse 13. 00:28:34.940 --> 00:28:36.720 It's like Matthew is saying to us. 00:28:37.580 --> 00:28:40.279 Same for the master as it is for his servants. 00:28:42.440 --> 00:28:44.080 He also is fleeing. 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:46.419 He also is suffering. 00:28:46.779 --> 00:28:47.839 And so here's this hint. 00:28:47.919 --> 00:28:48.779 It's only a hint. 00:28:49.740 --> 00:28:51.079 That in all of my sufferings. 00:28:51.859 --> 00:28:56.480 My God is bringing me down the same path as Jesus. 00:28:56.859 --> 00:29:00.939 And conforming me into the image of his son. 00:29:02.879 --> 00:29:04.799 Just to make me like him. 00:29:06.139 --> 00:29:07.839 To make me mimic him. 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:11.619 This was his purpose in the wise men from the east. 00:29:11.619 --> 00:29:14.279 And this is still his purpose. 00:29:15.979 --> 00:29:17.059 And every tear. 00:29:17.239 --> 00:29:17.819 Every sorrow. 00:29:17.959 --> 00:29:18.839 Every setback. 00:29:19.679 --> 00:29:20.639 Every fear. 00:29:21.579 --> 00:29:23.559 This is still his purpose. 00:29:24.119 --> 00:29:24.879 In you. 00:29:26.159 --> 00:29:27.099 And in me. 00:29:29.199 --> 00:29:30.500 Let me just pray for you. 00:29:31.479 --> 00:29:32.339 Father God. 00:29:32.439 --> 00:29:36.099 We praise you this morning for your word. 00:29:36.099 --> 00:29:38.879 And we thank you for our Lord Jesus. 00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:41.719 The truth. 00:29:42.439 --> 00:29:43.039 The way. 00:29:43.779 --> 00:29:44.419 And the truth. 00:29:45.319 --> 00:29:47.939 We worship him today as our savior. 00:29:48.759 --> 00:29:49.859 And as our Lord. 00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:51.459 We thank you that. 00:30:06.099 --> 00:30:06.779 Sometimes. 00:30:06.779 --> 00:30:07.779 It's okay. 00:30:07.779 --> 00:30:10.859 を就審しることが多くのに気を入れる인지知らないになっていますね. 00:30:12.959 --> 00:30:17.480 早くvel Grace oweごたきère 00:30:17.480 --> 00:30:23.159 お前提ireのごróa 00:30:23.659 --> 00:30:24.199 やりとうんと直致ですそうですね 00:30:24.579 --> 00:30:25.559 氏 00:30:25.559 --> 00:30:28.899 日 00:30:28.899 --> 00:30:30.299 pol horn 00:30:30.759 --> 00:30:32.379 洋 00:30:32.379 --> 00:30:32.480 それ 00:30:32.659 --> 00:30:33.639 トー 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:34.839 ね 00:30:34.839 --> 00:31:04.819 Thank you. 00:31:04.839 --> 00:31:34.819 Thank you. 00:31:34.839 --> 00:32:04.819 Thank you. 00:32:04.839 --> 00:32:34.819 Thank you. 00:32:34.839 --> 00:33:04.819 Thank you. 00:33:04.839 --> 00:33:34.819 Thank you. 00:33:34.819 --> 00:33:36.240 Thank you very much, Graham. 00:33:36.839 --> 00:33:49.419 One of the things we've been doing over the last few weeks is showing you testimonies, stories of how members here at Brunsfield became Christians, how they came to know Jesus. 00:33:49.420 --> 00:34:04.100 And what we thought we'd do this morning is give you a story, a testimony from one of our members, Emma, as to talk about how she has been learning about God over this time of lockdown. 00:34:04.099 --> 00:34:10.599 So I'll hand over to Emma and then we're going to sing our final song, Mighty to Save. 00:34:10.599 --> 00:34:18.940 Hi, my name's Emma and I'm one of the members of Brunsfield and I'm just going to talk about what God has been teaching me during this time of lockdown. 00:34:18.940 --> 00:34:28.059 I'm just going to start a couple of days before lockdown started when I was already actually stuck in the house with some mild COVID symptoms at the time. 00:34:28.059 --> 00:34:42.500 And during that time, I'm just going to say, you know, leaving behind two boys and that was a big shock. 00:34:42.500 --> 00:34:48.360 And then, of course, we were sort of plummeted into lockdown and all the restrictions because of that. 00:34:48.719 --> 00:34:56.860 And I think that just those circumstances just made it very clear to me very early on that just how little control we have over our lives. 00:34:56.860 --> 00:35:08.240 And, you know, my day to day life, as many people and other people have found, have been quite dramatically changed because of the restrictions and there's very little we can do about it. 00:35:09.059 --> 00:35:17.240 And more soberingly, my colleagues, family and their day to day lives have dramatically changed forever. 00:35:17.740 --> 00:35:19.960 And, you know, there's nothing they can do about it. 00:35:19.960 --> 00:35:40.079 So, yeah, I was just very aware of that lack of control and also just aware of how fragile the things are that we often depend on for security and for comfort, for satisfaction, whether it's our jobs, our finances, our freedom, our health, our family, our friends, whatever it is. 00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:42.659 And, you know, these things are fragile. 00:35:42.840 --> 00:35:50.079 And I think lockdown has showed to me clearer than anything else has before that we actually can't rely on these things. 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:56.659 And I think it's, you know, even as a Christian, we say we rely completely on God. 00:35:56.719 --> 00:35:59.840 And I think practically that's not actually always the case. 00:35:59.980 --> 00:36:07.679 And some of the things we've mentioned, we end up putting some of our self-worth and our security and our trust in these things. 00:36:07.679 --> 00:36:16.940 And I found even personally myself during lockdown that I've started to place a lot of importance in productivity. 00:36:17.319 --> 00:36:27.099 And, you know, I think productivity is a good thing, but it's not something to base my whole self-worth on or comfort or satisfaction, whatever. 00:36:27.399 --> 00:36:33.279 You know, it itself is fragile and, you know, not necessarily something that's going to last. 00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:44.460 And so, yeah, I think more than ever, I've been made aware that God is the one true source of stability, of comfort, of provision, of satisfaction. 00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:48.260 You know, he's the one thing that doesn't change him and his promises. 00:36:48.820 --> 00:36:50.120 And they remain the same forever. 00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:52.160 And that's been really reassuring. 00:36:52.159 --> 00:36:57.359 Also, I think in lockdown, many of us have had more time. 00:36:57.599 --> 00:36:58.299 Some of us have. 00:36:58.839 --> 00:37:00.139 And I've had more time. 00:37:00.319 --> 00:37:08.719 And unfortunately, I've spent some of this time on worrying and overthinking, indulging myself in worst case scenarios. 00:37:09.440 --> 00:37:15.500 And I think ultimately, what if my life doesn't turn out the way that I want it to? 00:37:15.500 --> 00:37:17.880 And that's been a big thought. 00:37:18.239 --> 00:37:25.579 And thankfully, I've also had some time to read about famous Christians' life like George Muller, Elizabeth Elliot. 00:37:26.300 --> 00:37:33.619 And I think it's fair to say that their lives have been marked with significant challenge, significant struggle and suffering at times. 00:37:33.619 --> 00:37:43.420 But I think it's also fair to say that throughout those times, God had a plan and God's grace and his presence are evident. 00:37:44.219 --> 00:37:55.579 And, you know, in certain cases, I think the people that I mentioned would be glad that these things happened to them so that God could use those circumstances in the way that he did. 00:37:55.579 --> 00:38:02.500 And also, the Bible itself talks a lot about that and the accounts of various people's lives in the Bible. 00:38:02.759 --> 00:38:04.920 That's true of them as well. 00:38:05.319 --> 00:38:13.159 Thinking of one place in Daniel 3, where Daniel's friends are faced with being thrown into a fiery furnace because of their faith in God. 00:38:13.159 --> 00:38:23.980 And I think the attitude of his friends has been very challenging, where they basically say God is able to save us from this fiery furnace. 00:38:24.359 --> 00:38:27.639 But even if he does not, we will still follow him. 00:38:27.719 --> 00:38:28.559 We'll still trust him. 00:38:28.859 --> 00:38:29.659 He's still good. 00:38:30.960 --> 00:38:32.799 Yeah, that's been a real challenge. 00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:43.539 And I think the main thing that's came through for me in lockdown is just to see that God is good regardless of my circumstances, regardless of anyone's circumstances. 00:38:44.080 --> 00:38:51.600 And at the most difficult times that we face, even if we live out our worst case scenarios, God is present. 00:38:52.240 --> 00:38:54.800 His grace and his presence are evident throughout. 00:38:55.300 --> 00:38:58.539 He has a plan for it and many blessings come out of it. 00:38:58.539 --> 00:39:06.840 And I think that's something that, you know, George Muller would have contestified towards, Elizabeth Elliot, various people in the Bible. 00:39:07.139 --> 00:39:18.440 But I have found that myself as well, that despite the challenges that lockdown has presented, it's certainly presented many blessings as well. 00:39:18.440 --> 00:39:26.139 And, you know, the interest some of my friends have had in their faith and having time to think about where they stand with God. 00:39:26.139 --> 00:39:40.139 And even just the gift of time and the time to reflect on your life and just the time to spend with the family that you maybe do live with and time to appreciate God's creation. 00:39:40.139 --> 00:39:45.000 And I just think that that is something that's so true, that God is good regardless. 00:39:45.379 --> 00:39:48.400 And he's with us throughout all the struggles as well. 00:39:49.079 --> 00:39:49.920 Thanks for listening.