Sermon Archive - December 21st, 2008

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=3 height=130 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="12ba6e903.jpg"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="11fcbc320.jpg" border=0 width="700" height="50" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>OFC:  713-526-5731      5315 MAIN STREET, HOUSTON TEXAS 77004      FAX: 713-524-1709</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Lutheran Church Houston, Te"><U><B>HOME</B></U></A><B>  ~   </B><A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Worship Schedule"><U><B>WORSHIP</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Map Directions"><U><B>LOCATION</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id362.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="URL Calendar Home Link"><U><B>CALENDAR</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="mailto:info@stmatthewhouston.org?subject=Website Inquiry" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@stmatthewhouston.org?subject"><U><B>EMAIL US</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id452.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Site Map"><U><B>SITE MAP</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=155 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="123030970.jpg" border=0 width="48" height="151" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="id464.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome"><U>Welcome</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id465.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lutheran Beliefs"><U>Lutheran Beliefs</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id466.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="How to Join"><U>How to Join</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id467.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Local Missions"><U>Local Missions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id468.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Global Missions"><U>Global Missions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id508.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Parish Education"><U>Parish Education</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=280 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> Sermon Archive - December 21st, 2008</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="568" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#990000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#FFCC99" FRAME="VOID" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER BGCOLOR=#FFCC99 HEIGHT= 18 WIDTH="134"><div> <A HREF="id563.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Sermon Archives"><U><IMG SRC="157a270e0.png" border=0 width="39" height="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#990000 WIDTH="421"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="421" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>“Nothing will be Impossible with God”</B></div> <div> Luke 1:26-38</div> <div>  Fourth Sunday in Advent: December 21, 2008</div> <div> Pastor Mark Wiesenborn</div> <div> St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Houston, Texas</div> <div>       </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#800000" FACE="Franklin Gothic Book" >    </FONT> Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Our text for this morning's message is taken from the Gospel reading, where God sends the angel Gabriel to a young virgin named Mary with the message of a MIRACLE.  She will be with child and give birth to a son, and the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God:</div> <div>      “For nothing will be impossible with God.”</div> <bR> <div>      Dear friends in Christ, this morning I would like to talk about the MIRACLE of Christmas that is so often overlooked this time of year.  Our hearts and minds become filled with visions of sugarplums: sentimental stories and lovely Christmas carols and wonderful images of chestnuts roasting on the open fire that are pleasant and heart-warming.  And somewhere along the way, we find movies like MIRACLE on 34th Street that come so very close to the truth, but still seem to miss the point, that it makes me wish for a special Director's Edition DVD that places Jesus in the center of the story!  So please bear with me while we examine a story that I think Christians might actually use to point unchurched people towards our Savior.</div> <bR> <div>      In this story by Valentine Davies (first published in 1947, and made into several movies), a white-bearded gentleman who appears at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade ends up filling in for an unfit Santa Claus - and makes such a strong impression that he is later asked to become the store's resident Santa.  This Kris Kringle believes he IS Santa, as do children from all over the city, and also reindeer at the zoo nearby.  As the days are checked off the December calendar a few skeptical souls try to have him declared insane - but miraculously, the State of New York (with the help of the U.S. Postal Service) comes to the man's rescue by declaring that he is indeed Santa Claus, and does so just in time for Christmas Eve!</div> <bR> <div>      But that is only the first of several “miracles”.  Large crowds of cynical New Yorkers, who have been hungering for something meaningful to believe in, find what they have been looking for.  A little girl who has wondered what is real, and what is pretend, receives the hope that she has been waiting for.  And for several of the adults in the story, strained relationships are salvaged in a lasting reconciliation.</div> <bR> <div>      What this story needs is JESUS!  The Messiah born at Bethlehem offers himself as someone and something meaningful to believe in.  He is the hope that we have been waiting for.  And for our sake, He is both willing and able to salvage strained relationships and bring us to a lasting reconciliation with our heavenly Father - and also with one another!</div> <bR> <div>      The MIRACLE of Christmas comes to US, and His name is Jesus.  So as we gather here just a few days before the annual celebration of our Savior's birth, I have three important questions for each of us to be pondering in our hearts.</div> <bR> <div>      FIRST: In a world that overwhelms our senses with eggnog and gingerbread, with red poinsettias and fragrant evergreen wreaths, with colored lights and reindeer yard decorations and a jolly old fellow in a red suit who laughs with a big Ho-ho-ho, what do you really and truly and finally BELIEVE in this time of year?  When all the packages have been unwrapped and the out-of-town relatives have packed up and headed home, and it is time to think about putting away the decorations and going back to work or school - will you be relieved that it is finished, or will you still be rejoicing in the gift of faith that brightens your lives and warms your hearts?</div> <bR> <div>      Somewhere within all of the sounds there is a peacefulness that can be found, but you have to be willing to “turn down the volume” in your head in order for your heart to reconnect with the MIRACLE.  It breaks into the quiet solitude of shepherds abiding in the fields at night; it intrudes on the bedtime prayers of weary travelers who have found a welcome place to rest in a dark and smelly stable, of all places.  Just when you least expect it, there are angels praising God and singing: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth!”  Maybe it is only a dream, but it seems real enough if you just take time to listen.</div> <bR> <div>      Do you hear it, or are you distracted listening to the little drummer boy going rumpa-pum-pum?  The Savior of mankind first comes to us as a helpless infant, accompanied with this powerful promise through God's messenger Gabriel:</div> <div>      “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”</div> <bR> <div>      Here is the SECOND question: What is the hope that you have been waiting for throughout these passing weeks of Advent?  There are many answers to this question, some easily shared and some that are intensely private and personal.  But you know what keeps you awake at night, what causes your stress or anger or heartaches; your bitterness or loneliness.  It might even seem like the solution is right there anytime God decides to answer your prayers: a little more money; a miraculous medical cure; a more satisfying and secure job; a new beginning somehow.  Perhaps you have called out: “Here I am Lord!  The Pastor says that you know my name, and that you know my every need.  Come soon, Lord Jesus!”</div> <bR> <div>      YES, God is there right beside you and He certainly knows each of our needs.  But He also works through our circumstances to draw us closer to Him, teaching us to trust in His will.  One year he surprises us with several inches of newly fallen snow on the Galveston beachfront on Christmas morning; another year He challenges us with new beginnings that we might never have asked for, like a new job and a new place to live because of a hurricane named Ike. Our Lord blesses us with the MIRACLE of newly created faith, as he did in the lives of the five children who were baptized here at St. Matthew these past two months - and also comforts us with the promise of eternal life as He receives people whom we have dearly and deeply loved to spend their “First Christmas” in paradise with Him this year.</div> <bR> <div>      From the manger to the cross to the grave to the sky, Christ is our leader and we are invited to follow Him.  When we talk about new life in Christ, we should pay attention to the words of Moses as he was preparing the people to finally receive the blessings that had been promised to their forefathers:</div> <div> “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life.” [Deuteronomy 30:19-20]</div> <bR> <div>      Listen again to the virgin Mary after she receives an incredible message from God through an angel, and then replies with this profession of faith:</div> <div>      “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”</div> <bR> <div>      This brings me to the THIRD question to ponder for the next few days: Where have you experienced strained relationships, and how important is it to you to salvage them in a lasting reconciliation?  Because of stubbornness and pride and hurt feelings and strong emotions that become tangled up like so many strings of Christmas lights, this may be one of the greatest spiritual dangers we will ever face.</div> <bR> <div>      How can you forgive someone who has caused you pain or embarrassment, or ask them for their forgiveness?  How can you face someone once the respect and trust have been undermined?  Do you protect yourself behind an impenetrable fortress, or do you hunger for peace that will stand forever on the solid foundation of faith in Jesus Christ?  More than at any other time of the year, Christmas is the time for reconciliation:</div> <div> “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”  [Isaiah 9:6-7]</div> <bR> <div>      None of us are perfect; we all stand in need of God's mercy and grace.  In the fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer we speak these words together: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” As your fellow member of the Body of Christ, if I have ever offended you then I ask for your forgiveness.  As your Pastor, I encourage and even urge you to recognize and share the love of God that is offered to each of us through Jesus Christ, freely received so that we might freely give.  [Matthew 10:8]</div> <bR> <div>      This is a week to actively and intentionally seek reconciliation, in a spirit of true humility and a desire for peace.  The first step is often the hardest, but nothing will be impossible with God.  This is the MIRACLE of Christmas, that God sent His Son into the world with His message:</div> <div> “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you… Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”  [Luke 6:27-28, 36]</div> <bR> <div>      To the only wise God be glory forever, through Jesus Christ!  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>GOSPEL READING</B><B> - Luke 1:26-38 [ESV]</B></div> <bR> <div>      26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.</div> <bR> <div>      28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”  29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.  30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.  32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”</div> <bR> <div>      34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy -  the Son of God.  36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.  37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”  38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=155 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="122e30960.jpg" border=0 width="48" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="id499.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Meet Our Leaders"><U>Meet Our Leaders</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id114.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tour Our Church"><U>Tour Our Church</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id493.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Read Our History"><U>Read Our History</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id626.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Arts and Music"><U>Arts and Music</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id136.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Special Events"><U>Special Events</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id515.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photo Gallery"><U>Photo Gallery</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=70 BGCOLOR="#660000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="id423.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Search"><U><B>BIBLE SEARCH</B></U></A><B>  </B><B>~  </B><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LCMS Links"><U><B>LUTHERAN</B></U></A><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LCMS Links"><U><B> LINKS</B></U></A><B>  </B><B>~  </B><A HREF="id100.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Online Devotionals"><U><B>DEVOTIONALS</B></U></A><B>  ~  </B><A HREF="id563.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="St. Matthew Sermon Archives"><U><B>SERMON ARCHIVES</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> © 2008  St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Houston, TX - All Rights Reserved</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>