Chief passionary officer.
Remember those times you went to the zoo. The first time with family and kids. You're so excited.
Its so amazing to see the panda for the first time. But after an hour.. We lose the wonder.
Christmas is one of the hardest things to preach about. Year after year...
"what i hear I forget, what I see I remember, what I do becomes a part of me"
The geology of jesus.
Matthew 1
The messy world of Matthew. Political oppression. Great social divide. 50% or the worlds wealth is owned by 8% of the people. Religious hipocracy. Laws but no spirit to it. Revolting terrorism. Simon the zealot was a terrorist. Unbridled corruption. Corruption is the number one problem in the whole world. This is the world that jesus came to.
That's what a shepard does. He sleeps where the sheep sleep, eat where they eat, go where they go.
A sign that God is accessible.
The God that owns everything..
There is no social system..
Jesus was a servant,
He got down on this knees and washed feet.
Why was he in a messy place?
Because he was in a messy plan.
Without it, what a mess we'll be in.
I look at my life. The mess I'm in.
Where is he?
Jesus: the Absent-Present King.
Where is He? In Sembulan, in the malls...
The story of Christmas has been drowned. In the malls, like a broken record.
Information overload.
1.9 bil YouTube views per day.
80 languages..
74% log into Facebook. 34
mins per day.
Twittet 134 active users out of..
Social media is the digital tsunami of our time. Communication overload is real.
Tragedy is that we miss out the wonder of Christmas.
Lesson 1: love the unloveable
In the genealogy there were 4 people
Tamar, rahab, Ruth, bathsheba
Not jews..
Cannanites, moabite. Hittite..
He didn't include famous motherd:
Sarah, rebekah...
Unmale, unroyal, unjewish, unconventional.
"nine moths of awkward scandal .. The lingering sense of..." - Phillip yancy.
We are God's original plan,
He is the universal king.
You are God's original blueprint.
It all our brokenness.. Etc..
Matthew included them because he was a recipient of God's love.
Matthew was a tax-collector, despised by his fellow Jews, understood the salvation plan.
We feel unloved..
In Singapore, suicide is the leading cause of death.. 18-25.
Cause: self esteem on social media. We post something, if no one likes it.. We take it down. Then we post something else.
The unlovable are those who are closest to us! Who are the unloveables in our lives?
Love your enemies.. Who?
Its already hard to love our friends..
"do you see anything good in your husband/wife?"
Nothing.. Haha, how did they get married in the first place.
Before marriage, she talks loud. Wow that's great. But after marriage..
The person I love the most is the one I hate the most. My wife.
When I drive she tells me how to drive..
Love your enemies.. Because you have to learn to love yourself.
Lesson #2: hope for the hopeless
Learn to love...
Where is the love. First John.
God is love. Where does God live?
In our lives. We have the power to love.
But where is the darkness? Its also in us.
But its how we nurture it.
We have the capacity to love.
But love does not come from us.
It comes from God.
-lesson 2
Hopeless woman.
Tamar seduced her father in law into incestuous relationship.
Ruth was a widow & refugee
Rahab was a prostitute
Bathsheba was the result of King David's Lust & never exposed evil scheme against Uriah.
These are like people you'd never want in your church. Refugee, like the Sembulan families coming to church?
A prostitute coming to your cell group meeting.. An adultress?
Maybe we are facing the same thing.
Sexually dysfunction. Or overworked? Ask Singaporeans.. How are you? "very busy"... Very tired, exhausted..
Tired of church.. Feel like giving up.
Rising divorce, parent-teen breakup, anxiety attack, disturbing depression. Unforgivable past hurts.. Deep loneliness
Jesus was born into a very dark years.
King herod killed all the 2 years old.
Massacre... Killed two brother in laws.. Anyone that would threaten his throne.. Everyday..
Executed citizens on the day he died.. So that people would mourn...
"thank God we are not Herod"...
We are...
We are herod.
We think.. "this guy, I'm going to kill him"...
Jesus died for Herod..
God saw it differently..
Jesus is the author of hope.
Who is the hopeless?
I am..
I am the hopeless...
In marriage, business, relationship...
Conclusion :
Jesus came into your messy world.
Love the Unloveable
Hope for the Hopeless.
The wounded healers - Henry nauman.
We don't have to be perfect.
But because we have experienced God's love... We can go out and help others.. Heal.
Cinderella in Disney land.
She comes out, so perfect and all..
All the children rush to touch her.
Except two brothers, James and Daniel.
James is badly deformed, and shy.
Cindrella saw this deformed boy, pushed her way through the crowds, and planted a kiss on their cheeks.
Cinderella gave only a kiss,
Jesus gave His life.
Cinderella's encounter was temporary,
Jesus can be a permanent part of our lives.
Cinderella's beauty remained with her and his deformed features remained with him.
Jesus became like us, so that we can become like him.
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