Good Morning, Mission Grove Church. Who, how are you doing this morning? Great. Wow. I'll take that as something. Hey, it's been three months that I've been with you. Can you believe it? Only one person? Can? I know? I know. I know. II, I have that kind of effect on people. Oh, man, it has been a huge blessing to be a part of Mission Grove. Uh John's really put my feet to the fire. I've gotten to, to learn every week what it looks like to uh open up a school to, to set up the pipe and drape to make this not feel like a school and it feels like a church, doesn't it? It's so good. They do such a good job of setting up. And then I've learned also that to set up. You have to tear down. So we watch that and are part of that every Sunday as well. John's giving me the opportunity to preach once a month just to stay sharp and, and to kind of fine tune that as well. And then II, I feel like today is kind of the last test for me uh uh last week. Uh Mike thick pen opened up the Christmas uh series for us. And why I say it's the last test for me is because, you know, Mike thick pen has, has a heavy weight that he carries with his scholarly academics and he's known uh his gifting that God has blessed him with. He's been able to do that through many different venues. One being that he is currently my old testament professor. So following in those footsteps, uh I feel like is John's way of saying yeah, let's see what you got. But then just to top it off, just to top it off. He comes up here and plays the box drum. All right, I I can't compete. I can't compete. Uh If that happened, we would, we would not be successful. So uh John has many giftings and I'm gra grateful to be a part of this experience. So thank you guys for your support and prayers as well. Before we jump into our opening prayer here as we get into Matthew chapter two, I just kind of want a visual for you guys because this is a story and this is the advent season for me. I love the advent season. This story never gets old for me. This story of, of God with us, heaven meeting earth in this moment of history is an amazing story and I'm always fascinated by it, but I wanna try and get us to really focus on this light that was that was seen off into the distance by these men who have, who have no history of faith with God. They're just really brilliant scholarly men who discover this light, often the distance and curiosity and intrigue leads them to trying to discover what that is. And I just kinda wanna set that tone for you guys this morning about this bright light that's off into the distance that brings curiosity and intrigue in these men's life. Would you pray with me, God this morning as we open up your word? Would you encourage us in a new way? This story never gets old and I pray for those of us who've heard this story uh over and over again that you will show them something new today, an encouragement, a challenge, whatever it may be. Would you meet them where they're at? God? We ask for, for those who aren't feeling well for those who uh are, are struggling with COVID or the flu or other sicknesses and ailments. God, would you be with them this morning? Heal their bodies, uh bring them back to, to church. We miss them and, and we hope that they're doing well. We, we love you and we give this morning to you. Amen. So in Matthew chapter two is where we're gonna be out and we're setting the tone, we're setting the mood. There's this light in the distance that is happening. Now, for anybody in this room, if you love star gazing. Phoenix is not the place to do that. When you look up in the skies, you really don't know what you're looking at most of the time. It's airplanes or satellites or pollution bubbles and, and you, you can't really get a good glimpse of that night sky. It's not until you travel up north a couple of hours in Flagstaff or Prescott and, and you actually get to see these beautiful brilliant stars in the sky. It's not until you get deep into the forest, into the woods, camping and you look up and you're just totally awestruck by this canvas of stars that are appearing. And it's amazing that as we look up there and we're struck by awe and wonder of it. This is what the wise men, this is what the magi, this is what the people of this time got to see. Every single night. They got to study the stars, they got to be a part of it. And every night they kind of saw how it moved and how it went and they got to write about it and, and theorize about it and contemplate about it. And so it was very odd that all of a sudden out of nowhere shoots this star, this bright brilliant shining star that captures their intrigue. And it just so happens that as the wise men, as they are studying and they're doing their scholarly work and they're out in the night and they see the star shining off into the distance that they see that it's over by Jerusalem. And so something unique is happening with this star, with this light that has captured their attention. And so what do they do? Well, they can't do what Britney and I did a few months ago as we were out looking at the sunset. And I mean, Phoenix has the best sunsets, right? And so we're out there looking at it and all of a sudden we're, we're taking up over the, the south side of our house, we're looking up into the sky and we see this silvery shiny object in the sky and it was, it was high enough that it looked like a star. It looked like it was up there enough. And sure enough as we're sitting there, just staring at this figure, all sorts of things start overcoming you with. What is this thing? What is it a star? What is it? And it was fascinating. It never moved. So it wasn't moving, it wasn't doing anything like that. It just stayed right there and it was extremely bright. And so we hopped on Google, we hopped on Facebook community. What is this in the air? Right. And, and come to find out it was nothing exciting. It was a weather balloon. Uh More research is coming out about how to accurately predict weather. They have this really cool system. Now that is, it's a massive balloon that goes up into space and it can give you a more accurate reading on the weather, you know, blah, blah, blah, that's boring. But as you're down on earth and you're looking up at it, you're totally like, taken away with your imagination. I can only imagine that just for a second, these wise men, these scholarly men, as they have observed the planet, as they have observed the stars in the sky for years that this absolutely captured them, this bright, brilliant shining light. They can't hop on Google unfortunately, or Facebook community to try and figure out what it is. So they had to hit the books. And so they're going through all sorts of uh books on it. And here's what I'm saying and this is where they come across passages in the Bible like in numbers versus 20 chapter 24 verse 17 that says I see him but not now I behold him but not near a star shall come out of Jacob or this passage found in Micah 52. But you o Bethlehem Ephrata, who are you too little to be among the clans of Judah? From you shall come forth for me. One who's to be ruler in Israel, who's coming forth is from of old from ancient days, intrigued by this bright light. They hit the books and they discover something special is happening. The star is over Jerusalem. And so they're starting to wonder is this the next king is this the next Jewish King that is to come. And so they pack up and they pack up for a long time. This is not a, a quick trip. This is not an overnight trip. They were gonna have to put some time finances and go on on this uh faith journey really to try and discover who this person is. You see light is for me than just this illuminary object that, that shines for us. The Bible has symbolism behind what a light represents. A light represents in the Bible all throughout this idea of good or, or purity. And it's always in contrast with the darkness which is bad or evil. And so in revelation, Jesus says that he's the bright morning star. And so there's uh some intrigue into that as well. What does that mean? How was he calling himself this star? And this light represents something more than just this illuminary thing. It represents freedom because when we embrace the gospel into our lives, it, it is said that we have the light of life that we have the light of Christ that dwells in us. And it's interesting that the Israelites coming out of Egypt, out of slavery being delivered by God. They are now following at night time light, it's fire, but it's still light and that is leading the people to freedom. Now, fast forward, it makes total sense while there's this brilliant shining light now that is hovering above the birthplace of Jesus. So men from the East, scholars have argued whether that's men from Babylon or Syria. But here's the key thing, these were gentile people, people not yet wrapped up into the promise of the coming Messiah. And they take this risky long journey to travel across miles of land, to come to Jerusalem to figure out what's going on. I love that story of how God is in the most mysterious ways, works out his doings, how he sees fit through these magi. So this leads them to Jerusalem where they encounter King Herod. So if you're following along with me, Matthew chapter two, we're gonna start off in verse one. And it says this now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod, the king, behold wise men from the east, came to Jerusalem saying, where is he? Who has been born king of the Jews? For? We saw his star when it rose and we've come to worship him now, King Herod. Uh just uh we've known we've heard the story every year. He, he was an evil, evil king. In fact, darkness actually is a very good word to describe what was going on in his inner being. He was full of evil and anger and rage. In fact, he killed his sons, he killed one of his wives, he had a trust issue like you wouldn't believe and he was hungry for power. And so when men are traveling from afar and they come and you start to hear words spread. Of course, intrigue is also captivating Herod's mind, but not in the way that the magi were captivated by it. The magi were excited and, and, and overwhelmed with curiosity and Herod on the other side was wanting to figure out who this person is. And so when, when Herod caught word of this in verse three, he was troubled and all the people of Jerusalem with him. And so Herod, he assembles together with himself, chief priests and scribes of people and he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So Herod gets his own clan together his own scholarly men. And they are people who study astronomy as well. And he's trying to figure out exact location of where this person is, who's called the Christ. And then we have two people entering into a situation on two different circumstances. One wants to glorify and magnify this baby and the other one wants to take him out. And so Herod is, is doing everything that he can do to discover who it was. And this is kind of the findings that they come up with. It's Micah chapter five verse two in verse five, it says they told him in Bethlehem of Judea for so it is written by the prophet and you o Bethlehem in the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah for from you shall come, a ruler who will be shepherd, who will shepherd my people. Israel verse seven, then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them. What time the star had appeared? So now he's trying to back date Harrod is, is, is he's smart. I mean, he's, he's evil, but he's smart and so he's trying to backtrack how long it took the wise man to travel. Ok. So, you know, spoiler alert, the the wise men don't enter the stable with the shepherds at the birth of Jesus. Jesus is now a two years old toddler age baby and so Herod in his mind, he's backtracking this how long it took them to travel and now where, where to go from here. And so he is is putting together a plan and this is what he does. He kind of tricks the the wise man and he says this in verse eight, he sent them to Bethlehem saying go and search diligently for the child. And when you have found him, bring me back, the word that I too may come and worship him. Now, all of that sounds good. All of that sounds nice. And maybe that's what the mag I took word with, but it's really hard to take word from a king who has had a history of not so nice things. And so you know, you can never really give like a, an evil guy, a good smile. So I'm just assuming that as he delivered that message, they were like, ok. Right. As they're leaving to go uh find the messiah in Bethlehem. But either way he's saying, find them, tell me about it. I would love to go meet this person. So after they listened to the king in verse nine, they went their own way and behold the star that had been seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. Now, every morning I get to uh, drive my son uh to school and uh, I live in North Phoenix and I get to come out over uh into the 101 area and I get to watch the sun rise every morning and it's beautiful. First of all, Phoenix has like the best sunrises and sunsets. It is a hidden gem. It's not some flat deserty cactus thing. Yes, we have. That is beautiful. I mean, it is breathtaking and so I, I can never get enough of that. I love watching it and, and just the cherry on top. Hot air balloons are there in our area every single day. So every single day I get to watch these magnificent inventions fly into the sky come over us and it doesn't help that both of my boys in the back are screaming like there's a balloon and like every, every day it feels like it's like, you know, Christmas, it's so fun. And uh this particular day was two days ago. Of course, I'm like running through my head like, ok magi the star light. And for some reason that just kind of kept coming to me was like this bright, brilliant light and how it just takes your, your, your direction off of what you're used to seeing and putting it on something new. And as I'm coming through this cloud, it was heavy dark and all of a sudden these massive rays of sun were beaming down through it and you can see every individual ray bursting through this cloud and it took my breath away. It was beautiful. It was totally beautiful and it totally captured uh captured me at that moment. And so here, here are the uh wise men now in Jerusalem. And here's the thing like that star isn't there anymore because it just told us in scripture that the star that appeared to them before has now appeared again. So there's a, there's time here where it wasn't just this hovering light the whole time shining down on Joseph and Mary's house and a question I would love to ask Joseph and Mary one day in heaven is, did you ever go outside and look up and be like, yeah, yeah, it's still here. It's still like right on us shining. Should we be concerned? I would be very concerned because there weren't like street lights back in the day. You guys get that right? Wasn't like a bulb was out and the new bulb was in, it was like a light on there. A lot of side notes, but let's get back on track. Ok. A light reappears and this is the response of the wise men when they saw the star in verse 10, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. So they're in Jerusalem. They're, they're trying to figure out what the star is. They're talking to a lot of people, they even get to enter into Herod's courts, which I'm I'm assuming would have been just super intimidating. And uh at the same time, they have a conversation with him, which is impressive as well. And as they figure out a direction to go, they start to head into Bethlehem's direction and then all of a sudden as they're going into that direction, this confirmation comes up, this bright star appears and it gives them exceedingly great joy. They're overwhelmed with joy. Isn't that so cool? That's what Mike was talking about last week, the shepherds after hearing this news, once the angels broke through the veil of earth and screamed glory to God and the place shined with light. I mean, first of all, they were scared, right? But then they were overwhelmed with joy and they had to go see this baby. So they're traveling the star reappears and they are overwhelmed with joy verse 11 and going into the house. All right. So Mary and Joseph have a home now, this isn't the stable. This is where some of that stuff comes in that, that Jesus had to have been a little bit older here going into their home, they saw this child with Mary his mother and they fell down and worshiped him. I mean, is that not like the sweetest story of men, old scholarly, incredibly smart wise men from a foreign nation, traveling gentile heathen, whatever their background was, we know that they weren't Jewish scholars who were anticipating Christ to come. These are total strangers that now enter into Bethlehem. The star reappears. They're overly excited, joy and anticipation. They come to the house that this light is shining down upon it. They open the door and what do they find? Do they find a young man with a throne and this cool gold scepter and this crown upon his head and they bow down and worship him as I would have expected anyone to do a king. No, they open the door. They see Mary with this tiny baby, one years old, two years old, whatever the age is still, it is humbling to know that grown men fall on their knees in total absolute worship of this baby. The reaction of the magi is incredible. This is him. This is the one that we've been reading about. So after they worship him, this is, this is kind of funny to me because Joseph and Mary were not wealthy at all. They're incredibly poor and they bust out these gold, these gifts of gold, Franken and me. I mean, could you imagine gold being exchanged to Joseph and Mary? I, I mean, I'd be totally blown away. Like what? Oh, gold. What? Wow, that's ok. What do we do this? Right. And these gifts were fit for a king and I'm sure Mary and Joseph are still taking it all in. Right. Just trying to comprehend. This is Jesus and you're virgin. like I mean that whole process had have taken years of therapy, right? To just try and process all of that. And now you're given this big gift of, of gold, of gold, frankincense and my gifts fit for a king. That's who you and I today 2021 years later, we get to worship and serve this king as gentiles ourselves. We have been saved by this Messiah and John 14 through five says in Him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it to where there's light, where there's Christ's light, where there's truth in His gospel, in his word, there is freedom and where God was delivering the people out of slavery, he was delivering them into freedom. And where Jesus presented this amazing star that hung above him, where he was born to bring heathen gentile people to come and worship him. He offered them at two years old freedom. And today that gift is still offered to you and me freedom. When we embrace this life, when we embrace Christ, crucified, resurrected, we are given the gift of life, you and I have the privilege to embrace this season in absolute joy that the King Jesus whose light is with us and will always lead us. You can trust that His light will lead you. Would you pray with me, God? This advent season for many of us in here can uh become repetitive. We can get into caught up into the spirit of of Christmas. And then when we go to church, we get caught up into the kind of the routine of hearing this story. But I am amazed every year that there are these small little truths that inspire me, encourage me and make me fall deeper in love with you. You came from heaven to earth to be with us for a small season. Yet you impacted the world forever. You came as a brilliant, pure spotless light and you show and everybody who interacted with you, everybody who touched you, everybody who was impacted by you. You could just see the darkness fleeing and light overcoming. That's us today. We've embraced your gospel, your truth. We are so thankful God that you saved us and that we have the gift of light. We have this light that shines and we should be no different. We should be telling people about you. We should be going around our community, our work environment, our families and we should be shedding light. We should be offering this gift of light to those around us. Light is so contagious. It is full of joy, hope, love, compassion. Oh God. Thank you that you saved me at a very young age and that you gave me that gift of light. Thank you that in your scripture in the advent season that we await your birth, that we know that your light brings freedom, freedom from slavery, freedom from self, freedom from darkness, you reign victoriously. And we get to now at this moment with a closing song, we get to lift up our voices. We get to worship you as king. Thank you for this time. Thank you for this church and thank you for this season. Amen.