Born Champion： Isaiah's Prophecy of the King Tribe 2025-12-15 Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record. ---- Back there in the VIP. Let's stand up together. Ready for some Christmas songs, Clay? Let me pray for us. Lord Jesus, we invite your presence in this place. Come and have your way. Speak to us today. As we share your word, as we dig in, let us just learn about you today. Draw close in Jesus' name. Amen. And go telling on the mountain over the hills and everywhere. I love love it. You know, these songs are so rich when you really think about the words, John. They're so that's like the great commission, go tell on the mountain. It's like now go into the earth and and make disciples. And I think sometimes we don't really stop and think about how, I don't know, relevant and how potent some of these songs are. And I love we're gonna sing, oh, come all ye faithful, and let's just adore him this morning. Can we? Let's fix our eyes on the Lord today. Oh, come all ye faithful, joyful and yes lord we adore you this morning we greet thee Just invite him today into every space in your life. Jesus, we just declare today that we believe these are not just words to songs. These are not just lyrics that are tradition to sing this time of year, but really, truly, you alone are worthy. Come, let us adore you. We behold you today. We behold you in your presence. We behold you in your word. Thank you that you sent your Holy Spirit to be with us so that we wouldn't have to wait without your spirit burning in us, burning in us. And Lord, for all of us in this room, let us grab a hold of the fact that hope is already here, that you already came once. You left your spirit, that there's so much hope in you that even death, hell, and the grave has lost its sting. Amen? And yet there's more hope even beyond that. There's hope of eternal life with you, and it doesn't even stop there. There's a hope to see you return as you come back to rule and reign and restore all things. There's so much, so much to look forward to. Lord, we ask that you would calibrate our hearts to the return, the great return of the king, that we're not just living to die and be in this ethereal place, floating on a cloud, maybe playing a harp, but lord, you're actually coming back and it says that you're going to bring us with you. That those went the We're midst We're or we're here on this earth and you come back as the cloud rider, victorious king. There is so much hope in you, Jesus. There's no sickness. There's no depression. None of that in your presence. So we long for that day that we are not of this world. Thank you that we are not of this world. We endure the things around us for this vapor called life. But, Lord, one day, we will rule and reign with you forever, serving you, worshiping you. Oh, we can't wait. King of kings, Lord of lords. Come, Lord Jesus. Come. Just telling me long for him, more of him. In Luke chapter two, it says, at that time, there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him, and he had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah. That day, the spirit led him to the temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. Lord, will you align our hearts so that there would be an intersection of to to We're going do that. That. Be We long for you. Speak to us today. Thank you that you are here today by your spirit, that we can meet you in this place today, that you made a way. Come, speak to us today. Change us by your presence. We tell you we love you. In Jesus' name and everybody said, amen. Merry Christmas. Even though there's no snow, where's the snow? Turn around and say good morning. Except for Gretchen, if you're praying away the snow, you're going to be a big joke. Alright. Hope is here. Hope is here. Good morning. You know what? If we have to if we have to, fine. So be it. We'll put the entire town of Jackson on our backs and single handedly haul us into the Christmas spirit if this weather is not gonna cooperate with us. It felt very Christmassy in here this morning. Oh, how awful. How awful. Well, it's hard for us that's used to the snow for the Christmas spirit. Yeah. We're we're we're very spoiled. Selah FaceTimed me this morning with palm trees in the background and her shorts on, and she needed some some help from her daddy to get some air in the tires. So I'm like, yes. I'm still useful. I would have delayed coming up here if she had me on FaceTime so that I could take advantage of that. Remember last time when it was this delayed with the snow coming here, and we got walloped rest of the winter. It's walloped. That's an official meteorological term. Walloped. We got we got walloped. So there's gonna be snow by Christmas y'all, and it probably won't stop snowing. I am at an age I'm at a point in my life where like it I I love the snow above like 7,000 feet. Can we just do that? So there's also as we are in the Christmas season and gonna be celebrating Christmas on December 24 with our Christmas Eve service, We have invites printed, and so make sure that you take just a couple and then hand deliver them. And Amanda will tell you more about that as she comes to do offering and announcements later this, almost said this evening, to talk about the evening of Christmas Eve service, but be mindful of that. The invites are now here. And while we are in the Christmas season, today marks the first day of our friends who are celebrating Hanukkah, and I don't know, admittedly, there's a lot about Hanukkah that I don't know. But I do know that while we are enjoying like the Yule log and the laughter and joy of Kith and Ken around the fire this time of year. I'm gonna I I I have to I have to I have to have a sobering moment, and then Lord help me bring it back up. But we put that picture up, Joe. This is rabbi Eli Schleenschander. He he is in near Sydney, Australia. He is a Chabad rabbi, and his family is grieving his loss of life today because at a Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony in Australia, which was last night, but today for us, there was a terrorist attack killing 11 Jews, including a Chabad rabbi losing his life. And so while we celebrate and are excited about the return of the hostages, the living hostages hostages that came home that had been held in captivity for over two years in dark underground Hamas tunnels, and how several of the remains of Jewish hostages are slowly being returned back to their family and loved ones. Antisemitism has not calmed down. Antisemitism has not gone back to sleep. Antisemitism is not in our rearview mirror. And this is the largest loss of life of Jews since October 7, and it happened in, I'm just gonna say it, Liberal woke Australia. And where there is woke liberal ideology that is allowed to go un checked, the result is violence. Now while you may try to jump to some type of political statement that I'm making about the difference between, let's say, Republicans and Democrats. I'm not specifically saying that at all. But I am calling out the danger, the danger of unchecked by reality, Woke liberal ideology that villainizes people groups and blames and because of a lot of woke rhetoric that spins people up to bring them to a place where they would commit violence like this. Murder. And so so this happened in Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, far, far, far away from us. But we have a Chabad rabbi that is right here in town. And for those of you who have been to the town square vigils during the captivity of Israeli citizens, I see many of your faces, and I know that many of you were there as often as you could be. You know rabbi Zelman and Rezi and his family, and you know many of other folks in the Jewish community. And so please be praying for them and be be mindful that Zelman's children are waking up this morning. He has ten ten kids, and they're all seeing on the news what happened and for their little hearts to inevitably make connections between what happened to this rabbi and what could happen to their daddy. And I'll tell you what, for a very red state, we live in a very blue city, and that does sound political, and I guess it kind of is. I'm not saying that if you are blue in your political bent, that you are being pulled towards violence. Goodness, I'm not saying that. I'm certainly not saying that. I am saying that at Tribe, as we've had tickets on our website in lots of different places, all are welcome. All flavors and types welcome here, but what will not be tolerated in any shape, form, or fashion is antisemitism or hate and a reminder that this is our community. This is our town. And we take responsibility for the cohesion of all different flavors of opinions and ideas here in this town. And we take responsibility for the peace, the shalom peace in this town. And we call upon the prince of peace to rule and to reign and to be the sheriff of this town, and that is none other than the prince of peace, king Jesus. It is our responsibility to as true and as right as it is, it's also very southern to pray the blood of Jesus over this town. And I can see all of the southern people nodding their heads. Us Intermountain folks, we're like, pray the blood of Jesus. Like, okay. Theologically, I'm with you, but, like, culturally, like, I don't I don't get it. It's a southern thing, and it works. And so how about we join in a moment of prayer for for rabbi challenger and for the Jews in in this community. Lord Jesus, we pray for this family that is grieving the loss of their daddy today, that have hurt and and trauma in their hearts as a result of losing their father who was not doing anything illegal or immoral or illicit or or anything other than just being a Jew and celebrating the religious holiday of Hanukkah. Will you be with that family? And Hashem, which is a a word that they would refer to the lord as Hashem, would you speak mercy and tenderness to their hearts? Hashem, would you reveal to them, lead them, and guide them in the Old Testament to have a New Testament encounter with their Messiah, Jesus? We pray for all of the Jews in our community here, that you would keep them safe and that each and every one of them would follow the scarlet thread that is woven through the Old Testament into the New Testament that they would open their hearts to their messiah whose birth in this season we celebrate. Jesus. Protect rabbi Zelman, Rezi, and his kids, and all of our Jewish friends here in this valley and around the world. We pray these things in Jesus' name, and everybody said, alright. Hope is here. We wanna have any conversation about that? We can. Let's do. Yeah. How about in this yeah. Dialogue is good. In this moment, thoughts or questions about that? It's okay. I'll give you a second. We have a mic in the room so that we can hear you in all of our livestream families that are watching the livestream get to participate as well. My understanding of the Jewish community is that, like, the Chabad, I don't even know the right word. They're all connected. Right? They're very But they also, like, all know each other's rabbis. Like, it's a a big community, but across around the world, everybody knows each other. Right? And then pinch them, Nancy. And then so we have the two primary Jewish communities here in this area. So, obviously, obviously, rabbi rabbi Zelman is really connected with this. But then how does this do you know how the other Jewish community views this? Does this feel like a personal hit as well, or is there some sort of, I don't know, difference? Do you know? So I'll I'll I'll give you a quick little background to the best of my understanding and then lead into the direct answer of your question. So in the same way that the Protestant church has a variety of flavors or denominations, we call them, and even some denominations include being nondenominational, which is what tribe is. We're not affiliated with any external network or governing other churches. We are an internally governed, self governed, independent nondenominational church. But we're all familiar with other denominations and perhaps your church background is denominational. Presbyterian or Baptist or and each one of those denominations has their particular flavor. In a similar way, across the Jewish faith, there is a spectrum of of beliefs and emphasis is and doctrines that they hold on to that they kinda rally around no different than than what we have on the Protestant side of the family tree. And they can usually be determined whether they rely on more orthodox theology, conservative theology, or more modern progressive liberal. And for so that you know, tribe would on our Protestant branch of the family tree, we land on the more conservative theologically theologically conservative side of of things. By by example, PC USA, Presbyterian Church USA, or the Episcopal, they would be a little more liberal theologically. Okay? Now you can draw political connections among those, but that's not my intent right now. So similarly, in the Jewish faith, Chabad would be more orthodox or conservative, and our other Jewish community here in Jack Jackson is called the Jackson Old Jewish Community, and they would be a little more on the progressive or or or liberal side. You are right. Chabad is a particular flavor of Orthodox Judaism, and their specific their mission is evangelism. Now how many of you have ever had a Jew come up to your door and say, let me tell you about a future coming messiah. That doesn't happen. Jews don't don't proselytize. They don't they don't evangelize because they're like either you're a Jew or you're not. And you're born into it, and so like why do we need to evangelize people to our faith? However, Chabad has an emphasis on reintroducing people who are non observant Jews back into the rich and beautiful faith tradition that they have come from. So Chabad Jews love to evangelize other Jews that are nonobservant. Are you with me so far? Yeah. That's a Chabad. So they're very evangelistic. And if you know rabbi Zelman, I mean, you don't need to spend more than about five minutes with him before he invites you over to his house for a Chabad dinner. Have any of you guys been? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so so while to answer specifically, why rabbi Zelman may not, like, have this guy's cell phone number and they trade text, although they could. You are correct. It is a smaller community among global Jewry, and I am sure that this is impacting him quite personally. Now for Josh Clayman, who is what's known as the spiritual leader of the Jackson Hole Jewish community, he's working on becoming a rabbi, but but you have to have a certain amount of training in order to be considered a rabbi. And so right now, he is working towards that. He's the spiritual leader. This deeply impacts Josh Klayman and the Jewish community as well because of the the ties of just being a Jew. Thank you. Ella? Yeah. I'll because Judaism is a religion but also an ethnicity, it can get a little tricky, but I'm every Jew is feeling this right now regardless of whether they're observant in the religion or not. And just as an example, our good friend got married this summer, Jewish, had a Jewish wedding. Josh thank you. I was, like, presided. I don't know. Officiated, and it was Oh, here. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Alright. I'm with you. It was Josh claimed. Okay. Yep. It was at the wedding was the entire wedding was at a private home, not on a main road, and she still felt the need to have security and cops there. So people are scared before this, so everyone's feeling it. For now. As Christians, we know nothing about that for now. Unless you're in Nigeria that has experienced horrible violence and bloodshed and persecutions from Muslims who are systematically wiping out hundreds, and now the death toll may be in the thousands of Christians. When we read about the death of Christians in the bible, we think about what a horrible time of Christian persecution. Did you know that we are living as a global Christian community in a time of unprecedented persecution against Christians. There are more martyrs now for the Christian faith in the world than there has been putting all two thousand years of history together. That is why we sang Maranatha, come lord Jesus. The word Maranatha is an Aramaic. It's a poetic Aramaic word that has a double meaning depending on what how you place the emphasis on what determines the meaning. Maranatha either means he has come or he will come again. One word, two meanings. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus. Reveal yourself as the Messiah of Israel. Reveal yourself as the Messiah of the world. In January, maybe not immediately in January, I'm still compiling notes and things, but I would like to do a big slow roll introduction to Israel and all things Israel. And if you're like, don't you talk about Israel all the time? If it were my church, I'd talk about ski lines in the Tetons and being a good person. It's not my church. It's the Lord's church, and he picks where we go and what we talk about. And there are so many other things that could be talked about and certainly more things that would fill the pews, but I really just could care less responsibility to lead and feed you well. Remember when you had kids and they got to pick what whatever whatever you want for the okay. Maybe while Alyssa was gone. What do you want for dinner, Kai? And it was always a bowl of whipped cream. I did that once. But but as a good parent, have a responsibility to feed you proper nutrition. Okay? And so so we it's gonna be it's gonna be a great it's gonna be a great time. Yes? Chris? I got the heart beating thing. I wasn't gonna say anything. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. I know what you mean. When when you brought the the whole January series up about Israel, I kinda had a thought earlier about when you were kinda opened up on the sobering note and started to gently tiptoe across the ice politics. And I I know you were trying to say, don't hear what I'm not saying. And having been here for years and heard you talk about the politics of the kingdom of god, I think there's a a handful of us that haven't heard a a succinct understanding of what god, the lord's governance is, and that there is a governance that isn't just a red conservative governance governance that is Western Christianity, that it it sits outside of human space and time. And and that, of of course, the enemy loves to hear when when our minds get twisted against each other with the the red and the blue and and whatever whatever other political colors flavor the world. So I just wanted to add that as as a in addition to maybe to add a couple of weeks to the what Israel and the Lord have in store for when Jesus comes back. That's great. I appreciate you saying that. A couple things. I appreciate you saying that, number one. Number two, I appreciate you saying add a couple of weeks to I like that. And And then I'm gonna have Gretchen read the very last point in bold of the conclusion of our conversation today. Read it out just read it out loud. Have you come under the governing rule of Jesus, born champion? So government structures. So that so now you know where we're going. If you have your bible, you can turn to Isaiah chapter nine. We we're gonna are spending these few weeks before Christmas talking about how Jesus, the Messiah, beautifully and wonderfully fulfilled Old Testament prophecies about what to them was his future future coming. They looked towards the future. We looked to the past. The effect and impact is the same whether you have perspective of looking backwards in time or looking forwards in time. And last week, we looked at how Jesus beautifully fulfilled what I would suggest to you as the feast of Sukkot and last week at the 9AM service, we didn't have the chart. This week, we have the chart that we pull out a few times a year, and this is familiar to most of you. But if you look at the feast of Sukkot all the way down there on the end, a feast that takes place in the month of September and October. Sorry. Oh, the Christmas card that you get in the mail from grandma with snow on the ground and the beautiful manger scene and, like, the Christmas card that even has a Christmas tree in the manger scene, which is so silly. And the feast of Sukkot, there are a lot of things that are celebrated and recognized and honored among the Jewish community about the feast of Sukkot, but two main highlights that come out of the feast of Sukkot is remembering that God is our source provision and that after the fall feast, we get to rest from all of our work and from all of our labor. And last week, we saw how the arrival of Jesus beautifully fulfilled the feast of Sukkot by being our provision. He is our source of everything that we need when we look to him. And that because of his finished work on the cross, we can rest in him. And that's where we were last week looking at the feast of Sukkot, and his arrival the first time was a beautiful partial fulfillment. And when he comes again, we'll be able to put a check-in that box down there waiting, and he will be the actual literal ultimate fulfillment of that feast and the longing as the Bible says, the desire of the nations. And so this week, we are going to look at another prophecy that is specifically about a future coming messiah that Jesus beautifully and wonderly wonderfully fulfilled. And if you're taking notes, at the top of your notes, you can write the title of the conversation we're gonna have. This is hope is here week two, the The old copy and paste without editing that slide. Got me. Got me. This is week two. The title of the conversation that we're going to have is called born champion. Hope is here week two, born champion. Where did I tell you to turn? Isaiah. Let's look at Isaiah chapter nine, and would somebody please read for us Isaiah chapter nine verses one through seven. We hear this at Christmas all the time. Jews read this and they think something else completely. Alright. One through seven, who wants to read? Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulon and Naphtali will be humbled, land but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. Janet, your voice is so lovely. Would you just read all the way through chapter seven for us? We love to hear your voice. We love to hear your voice as you read scripture, and we love to have your voice of matriarchal leadership to the women and to the rest of us in this church. Well, thank you. Merry Christmas. Kind words. I hope I can do that. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. You will enlarge the nation of Israel and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest. And like warriors dividing the ir shoulders. You will break the oppressor's rod just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. There it is, Chris Bates. The government will rest on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty god, everlasting father, prince of peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the lord of heaven's armies will make this happen. Amen. I'd like us to look for a moment at just verses one through five. Don't let your eyes wander past verse five. Constrain your eyes to verse one through five, and I would like to hear from you. What picture comes into your mind as you read these verses? What do these verses make you think of? Hope is one thing. And you can just shout it out unless you have something, like, you know, really pissy to say, and then we'll give you the mic. What do you think of? Look at the verses. What? Battle. Yes. That comes into my mind. Yes. That was a good dude answer. I see that all over these verses. Okay. What else do you see besides battle? Oh, the contrast between dark and light. Oh, I wanna see that too. People who walk in darkness will see a great light. And then where else do you see contrast between dark and light? Yeah. There's death and battle. There's blood. There's fire. Oh, there is rejoicing. The what? What? Verse three, enlarge. The people oh, there it is. Rejoice at the harvest. So harvest Sukkot. Okay. Mhmm. Mhmm. Warriors. It literally says warriors dividing plunder, breaking of things, breaking of yoke, emancipation, freedom freedom coming. Coming. Yeah. Yeah. You'll You'll break break the the oppressor's oppressor's rod. Rod. There's bloodshed. Oh, yes. Okay. Galilee will be filled with glory. Yes. The filling the the the outbreaking of the glory of this champion. I see I see a hero, a hero of the ages. I see a warrior. I see a combat veteran. I see a champion arising that breaks the oppressor's rod, that, like Chris said, emancipation, that the glory breaking out in Galilee. And so when we look at verse one through five, there is turmoil. There is the wheels getting really wobbly and even a few of them falling off. There is there is conflict, but in verse one through five, a mighty hero champion arises that is a liberator and a total bat awesome in battle. Now are you ready for the record scratching plot twist? Now you may restrain your eyes and allow them to sally forth and venture into verse six and seven. And somebody please tell me the dramatic irony that is revealed. Oh, baby? This and the reason why we're doing it like this is so that I mean, we read these verses, agnosium, and we just jump right to Jesus. Can we read these verses for a moment to the nation that as with the eyes of the nation that is reading these verses verses today. A a a champion, a hero, a warrior, a conqueror, a liberator, and then you get to verse six and seven and the record scratches and they don't know what to do with it. And today, the world doesn't know what to do with it. The world today is looking for a hero, a champion, a redeemer, a liberator, a man of war, not necessarily of violence against the innocent, but violence against unjustice. Violence against the persecuted. Violence against the institutions that marginalize and create unfair systems. We all want that. But are we prepared? Do we have the bandwidth? Is there room on our hard drive to even consider how God answered that prayer with a baby. A baby? Bethany? Yes. So I guess as I'm reading this, like, I'm wondering the the Jewish community that does not believe the Messiah has come yet. Would they I mean, it it's like, we say it's surprising that it would that the Messiah would come as a baby. But if we believe the Messiah is coming as a human, which, like, I don't know whether that's what the Jewish community believes, like, wouldn't he have to come as a baby initially? I I guess that's I'm, like, thinking about it because I'm reading it, and I'm like, yes. Like, comes as a baby, but then it immediately goes into the government will be on his shoulders. So, like, it doesn't in this verse, it doesn't really sound I feel like this verse doesn't capture the amount of humility that Jesus actually came with. Right? Like, fact that he came from, like, like, the parents were, like, not, like, wealthy or of major influence, and he was born in a major. Like, all of those things, like, are kind of, like, dripping with humility. But here, I guess I'm not really catching that. Like, in order to be born, you have to be a child. But it also says, the government is on his shoulders. You're kind of picturing just a really beefy child. Any question that you would ask me, like, what do Jews think about? Like, sometimes I'll say Jews and then I answer for the Jews. Sure. That's fair. I I I wanna be very careful with this recording and for all of posterity to to say that I would first and foremost encourage you and invite you to ask a Jew, an observant. A non observant Jew would be, Arnold, you know, they'd be like asking one of your lost lost friends a a bible question. An observant, which means like a a religiously observant Jew that question. And and ask them just open heartedly, open handedly, help me to understand what is your perspective on the coming messiah? Like, do you think that he will be human? Do you think that he will be divine? Do you think that he will be some sort of hybrid? Like, I would love to no. And and the reason why I would invite you to do that, Bethany, is because I do that all the time with my friend, rabbi Zelman. And I text him and I say, bible question time to to hear his perspective on things, and I have a a few other friends. Mark Schiller is another great guy. And if you're like, I I don't know an observant Jew. Well, I can hook you up. And so so I think that's a that's a beautiful question to ask. In the Old Testament, the the picture of a future coming messiah that is predominantly spoken of in the Old Testament is a larger than life figure that would lend itself to more divine properties than human. There's a place in the bible, it could even be Isaiah, where it talks about rays of light shooting forth from his hands. And if you're thinking of iron man, you're exactly right. He rises with healing in his wings. He he he comes as the the this divine warrior that breaks the oppressor's rods and can shatter the nations. I mean, how does one human shatter an entire nation and especially one that comes as a baby? And so and so if I had to answer for the Jewish faith, which I do with humility and please give me grace, I would say that they would lean more towards a divine coming messiah than one that has bad breath and dirt between his toes and, you know, sometimes takes a nap in the afternoon. I think what Bethany is saying is maybe not necessarily what does the Jewish community think, but I think Bethany was more saying that makes sense that if he was gonna come in flesh and blood, he would need to be born is what she's saying. But then I think maybe what you're also saying is after what that lead up is, you will break the oppressor's rod just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. Then the line, the record scratches, for a child is born to us. It would make more sense if that next line said, for a great king has been born to us. Like, that's the record scratch is that the story starts as a child as opposed to knowing at birth that he was the king of kings and the lord. Like, didn't come, ah, and had a great huge ceremony at his birth. Does that make sense? Yes. He so so they think of his divinity as as a person like figure so that as humans, our brains can be like beep beep beep beep beep. Okay. That's the messiah. But he comes, like, you know, like, he comes with a beard and not a diaper. Question. No. It's okay. Okay. So Jews don't believe that Jesus was the son of God. Right? Correct. Aren't we as Christians supposed to always be trying to lead people to a relationship with Jesus? Correct. So how do we do that with them? The holy spirit guides you. So how so you you heard the question. Right? That is a beautiful, beautiful, poignant question. And some people have more of a heart for I I dare say evangelizing, but I would be more Right. Right. Right. Some people have a bent where they really care about the rights of the unborn. And they and and and, like, I mean, that's, like, what which should be every Christian. But, like, they are, oh, you know, that's the banner that they run with. Some people have they run with the banner of, like, social justice for, like, the marginalized and the out cast. Like, great. Wonderful. Some people, the the lord maybe touches them for a heart for evangelism of Jews. And by evangelism, what I mean specifically is helping them to see that Jesus is their messiah. Not you come over to our team and give your heart to our Jesus. And so how a person does that, evangelize Jews, is needs to be led by the Holy Spirit, like Gretchen just said. And and let's grab coffee to talk more about that. Must be led by the Holy Spirit. So as a person who has let the wrong influences lead him into some stupidity, I feel like today, where I am and what I would encourage men especially would be to and I think this is one of the reasons that ignorance prevails is because we don't know god's word. We're not submerging ourselves daily with god's word and putting it and scripting it on our hearts and letting it lead our lives with that. I I just I I'm it it upsets me that I'm where I am even though I'm trying to take steps forward to be a better person and not when I say better person, be a a better encourager and a a person of knowledge of god's word. I I mean, that's look, for me, to look at the person in the mirror every morning and and see what I see, you know, that's that's that's a big step. I hear you. Getting your word. Let's look really quick at how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecy. Isaiah chapter nine verse six, for unto us a child is born. Our tendency is to just jump and race. Like, yes, we all know Jesus born in a manger on Christmas Eve and but he actually beautifully fulfilled this Old Testament prophecy written hundreds of years before his birth. Just really quickly, turn over to Matthew chapter two. I'm gonna read just a few verses there, and then let's land the plane. Matthew chapter two verse one. Jesus was born. Okay. Well, there it is, and he fulfilled it. There it is, but we'll keep reading. In Bethlehem, in Judea, during the reign of king Herod, about the time some wise men from Eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem asking, where is this newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him. And then we see king Herod who was a crooked politician and saw how tried to devise a plot to discover the actual arrival and the location of this, quote, king of Israel so that he could kill him. But it says this, verse nine. After the interview, the wise men went their way, and the star they had seen in the East guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy. Many biblical scholars believe that the wise men arrive not like your grandmother's nativity scene portrays with the baby in a little basket, and then the wise men are there, but up to two years later after the birth of Jesus. It says they entered the house wait. I thought he was in a manger, like, in a in a in a cave where he was born. Nope. Now he's in a house, and it says the child, not a baby, time had lapsed with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chest and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. So we see Jesus arriving as a baby to fulfill the prophecy in Isaiah chapter nine verse six. If we go back to Isaiah nine just really quickly, we see all of these things Messiah is promised that he does. Well, how does a baby fulfill all of these things. Look see at some of of these things that he breaks the oppressor's rod. How does a baby do that? The only thing a baby can break is wind in their diaper. Thank you, Ella. How does a baby how does a baby be a a champion? So just his presence. So I wrote this I don't think it's on the screen, but I wrote this down in my notes. As a baby, Jesus is born with the intrinsic qualities that enable him to develop these attributes. Is that in there? Okay. I'll say it one more time. Jesus is born with the intrinsic qualities. They're just built in that enable him to develop as he develops and and grows. The qualities are fully present and fully mature in baby Jesus, but he's still gotta learn how to walk. So how does he fulfill these things? Just because of his birth, it's hard for us to grab a hold of with our minds, but when when I said it in the notes like this, it made a lot of sense. He was born with the intrinsic ability, not the capacity. So the capacity means that, like, you can kind of, like, grow into it and and get better. They were fully the the qualities that fulfill these things are fully present in him as a baby. His body had to catch up with his ability. His language ability had to catch up. Yeah. Yeah. Connections making it through adolescence had to go through there. His vocabulary had to develop, but those qualities were all there as a baby. That's why Simeon held the baby and was like, there's something special about this. That's why Anna, the prophetess, in Luke chapter two was like, I've seen him. That's why Elizabeth's baby, John the Baptist, leapt in the womb when he heard Elizabeth's cousin Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, come into the room because baby in Vedro John the Baptist recognized the glory of in Vedro Jesus in Mary. That's why this baby is so special and unique. Did the mic go around here? And when you consider that the the creator of space time wove together the the human physiology of his son, the holy trinity, Jesus, like, that's I mean, when you create the universe with just a word, it's what is it a matter of? Yeah. For him, it's easy. It's easy to do. It says this about Jesus, that he will be called wonderful counselor. I looked up that word wonderful counselor, and the best way in English to describe wonderful counselor is how you feel when you first see vibrant northern lights. Like, what? Wow. Remember the disciples' remark or the crowd's remark? Everything he does is wonderful, they say about him. Mighty God, everlasting father. How can you be born everlasting and a father? Those qualities were intrinsically intrinsically built into baby Jesus. Well, let's lay in the plane there then. Stop there. That's why we sing silent night, holy night, son of god loves pure light. Radiant beams from thy holy face with dawn of redeeming grace. And then what are what's the last line that's repeated of that Christmas carol? Say it, Jen Green. Lord, at thy birth. We sing it. Amen. Over and over and over. For how long? But have has the theology and the reality of those words sunk in? Jesus, Lord, at thy birth. And the line was so good, the writer was like, let's say that again. Jesus, Lord, at thy birth. He was born champion. So, today, in this moment, Jesus, we praise you, we worship you, and we adore you. Because you were born champion. You are born champion. I and the father are one. He didn't grow into becoming one with the father. He was born that way. Baby steps. See? Jesus, help us. Thank you, Lord. Jesus. In the same way that Simeon and Anna beheld the baby, in the same way that the wise men came and knelt down and brought gifts to toddler Jesus. Today, in our hearts, we come and bow before you as a baby to recognize your lordship even in your infancy. Just let the Lord speak to you. Son of We're midst the We're able to to that. Today, but was I obedient? And so I would just encourage us, I mean, we're bringing our tithe and our offering to him. Now, this is the part of our service where we do that, but am I obedient, Lord, in what you're asking me to give? Am I obedient in stewarding this day? The relationships I have, finances, every part of my life, am I obedient? So I would just encourage us to ask that question. It's kind of a dangerous question. It's kind of a scary question because you might answer. And if it's no, then you have to course correct and let him course correct. But let's ask that this season and always. But as we bring our tithe and our offering, I'm looking around this room, I think all of us know what that is and how we give and all of that. So let's just be obedient. And, Lord, how you want us to steward our finances. We say it's all yours anyway and what an act of trust and love that we get to participate and partner in with you as we bring our tithe and offering to our local church each and every week, whatever your rhythm is. So, let's pray as a tribe family as we give today. There's ways to give. You know, there's a slide up here. If you are texting with your smartphone, you just text (833) 369-7847. The word give, the dollar sign, and then m I, I think it's 2 l's, I 0 n. K. 2 l's for a million. And that's such an old church joke. I can't believe I said that. It's like, our checks. Do we write checks anymore? I do sometimes. So, this is a way you can give. If you have cash or check, you can also put it in the box right here as you head out by the poinsettia or downstairs in that black lockbox anytime if you're driving by the TMC. That's checked regularly to be safe. So, let's pray as a family. Heavenly father, mighty god, wonderful counselor, you and you alone are worthy of all of our praise. At Christmas time, when the whole world focuses on you, whether they have a relationship or not, there's a part of you at this time of year where hearts are vulnerable. So, father, I just pray that as believers, we will not only just bring you glory in all that we do, but you'll help us to be extra sensitive to those around us who don't know you, whose hearts might be just a little bit more tender at this time of year to hear about you and what you've done and how you came as a baby. What a beautiful picture of your nature and your character. You do stuff that we don't predict usually. The upside down kingdom, it's called. So, just thank you for how you work and who you are and how you operate. Help us to be so in tune with your holy spirit that we just flow with what you're doing. We get to be your hands and your feet. I just pray over this tithe and the offering today and in this season, father. We just say it's yours. Help us to be good stewards and I pray for every single person and family represented in room that you'll just meet them where they're at and speak to their hearts, Lord. In your tender and sometimes firm way, help us to just be obedient and accept when we ask. Was I obedient today? Help us our hearts to just be prepared for the answer that you give. Lord, we wanna be shaped and molded and refined if you're the one doing it. So, thank you for that opportunity as we give and as we just live our lives. In Jesus name, amen. The only announcement today is, well, the things on the fridge, but then also take one of these. They're right by the door as you leave today. These are invite cards to your friends or people you work with. Oh, do you want me to talk about that or is that just something? Okay. These are some of the places that tribe gives to. When you bring your tithe and your offering, it does go to do the local work of the ministry and on the screens are some some places that tribe tithes to, I suppose. If you wanna know what any of those are, they're all phenomenal. You can ask any of us who has who have been up here. We can tell you all about it. Brian, would you come? 05:00 on Town Square is our Christmas Eve service for Tre. I'm taking over. Also, the Chabad is hosting a menorah lighting on Town Square on Saturday, and they might appreciate some support after what happened. This coming Saturday? Saturday on Town Square at 6PM, I believe. I I believe it's 6PM. Oh, that's great. I'll I'll find out a little bit more. And if you'd like to meet a Jew, I say that to them. If you'd like to meet a Jew, they'd love to meet you. Would you stand up and I'll pray for you? Lord Jesus, thank you for being so good to us. Thank you that so often we we just take for granted the divinity that arrived in swaddling clothes. Well, I mean, it had to be swaddled. But but as baby Jesus, we worship you. And we are so thankful that you have come into this world as our redeemer, our liberator, and our savior. Help us to be mindful that you are champion at birth. I command a blessing over each and every person here today that you would give them the ability this week to encounter and it's just a special grace to encounter your goodness as their Messiah. We pray these things in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen. I love you guys so very much. Have a Merry Christmas. We'll see you on the town square coming up really soon. Remember, you got this. Let it snow.