Behold The King, Nov. 27
Did anyone else tear up when the two young White girls sang, "Blessing" alongside their dad? I am always moved when I see these younger generations leaning in to what God has for them.
We're calling this Christmas series, Behold the King. If you've been following along, you've likely heard me talk about the Kingship of Jesus. It's not too difficult to imagine Him seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. It may be, however, harder to imagine the fullness of Him as king just as present as when He was born, dirty in a manger, in need of Mary's mothering. But none of that takes away Jesus being the one, true King. It only amplifies His humility on our behalf, which is part of what we'll read and see in the Advent daily readings (make sure you're on the app or following our social media for daily postings).
Lead Pastor, Nate Levering preached through Psalm 2 on Sunday, ushering us into the first of our "Behold The King" services.
"Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
'Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.'
The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
'I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.'
I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:
He said to me, 'You are my son;
today I have become your father.
Ask me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
You will break them with a rod of iron;
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.'
Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling.
Kiss his son, or he will be angry
and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him."
It's believed that King David wrote this Psalm. He's attributed to writing most of the book of Psalms and I know that God's voice comes through even present day, but it's just so obvious to me here that it really is God proclaiming His kingship and the call to obedience in Him.
Let's play a little game. True or false. Seems easy enough, right? Ok, here we go.
True or false: We have a true King?
True or false: We hate the King?
True or false: We need the King?
True or false: We need rescuing.
True or false: Obedience is a word slandered with negative stigmas.
True or false: We are still called to obedience.
True or false: We get to expect great things from living in obedience to a great God.
Ok. So how'd you do? Well, you might notice that I'm not giving you the answers. No cheating here, folks. You're going to hear a lot about Jesus as King this season so I hope you're not allergic to any of those words. The promise of His kingship was promised thousands of years ago through valleys of slavery, judges, division and silence. The Old Testament is chalked full of those valleys. Your life, perhaps, resembles similar valleys that seem 400 years long as well.
What is the promise? Well, we like to think that the promise of this King is freedom because believe it or not we need rescuing. Oh! I gave you an answer. Oops. Freedom, as Pastor Nate mentioned, isn't as it is like a goldfish (reference: Tim Keller's, "The Reason for God") who may think a better, freer life exists beyond the tank. The idea of freedom is often sabotaged by sin, choking the life out of us, leaving us for dead. That doesn't sound like the freedom I need. It's definitely not the freedom I want. So who is able to set us free from the chains that bind us? The ultimate King, Jesus himself.
Behold Him.
Behold truth.
Behold promise.
Behold Christ.
Behold Advent.
Behold the King.
We're calling this Christmas series, Behold the King. If you've been following along, you've likely heard me talk about the Kingship of Jesus. It's not too difficult to imagine Him seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. It may be, however, harder to imagine the fullness of Him as king just as present as when He was born, dirty in a manger, in need of Mary's mothering. But none of that takes away Jesus being the one, true King. It only amplifies His humility on our behalf, which is part of what we'll read and see in the Advent daily readings (make sure you're on the app or following our social media for daily postings).
Lead Pastor, Nate Levering preached through Psalm 2 on Sunday, ushering us into the first of our "Behold The King" services.
"Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
'Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.'
The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
'I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.'
I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:
He said to me, 'You are my son;
today I have become your father.
Ask me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
You will break them with a rod of iron;
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.'
Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling.
Kiss his son, or he will be angry
and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him."
It's believed that King David wrote this Psalm. He's attributed to writing most of the book of Psalms and I know that God's voice comes through even present day, but it's just so obvious to me here that it really is God proclaiming His kingship and the call to obedience in Him.
Let's play a little game. True or false. Seems easy enough, right? Ok, here we go.
True or false: We have a true King?
True or false: We hate the King?
True or false: We need the King?
True or false: We need rescuing.
True or false: Obedience is a word slandered with negative stigmas.
True or false: We are still called to obedience.
True or false: We get to expect great things from living in obedience to a great God.
Ok. So how'd you do? Well, you might notice that I'm not giving you the answers. No cheating here, folks. You're going to hear a lot about Jesus as King this season so I hope you're not allergic to any of those words. The promise of His kingship was promised thousands of years ago through valleys of slavery, judges, division and silence. The Old Testament is chalked full of those valleys. Your life, perhaps, resembles similar valleys that seem 400 years long as well.
What is the promise? Well, we like to think that the promise of this King is freedom because believe it or not we need rescuing. Oh! I gave you an answer. Oops. Freedom, as Pastor Nate mentioned, isn't as it is like a goldfish (reference: Tim Keller's, "The Reason for God") who may think a better, freer life exists beyond the tank. The idea of freedom is often sabotaged by sin, choking the life out of us, leaving us for dead. That doesn't sound like the freedom I need. It's definitely not the freedom I want. So who is able to set us free from the chains that bind us? The ultimate King, Jesus himself.
Behold Him.
Behold truth.
Behold promise.
Behold Christ.
Behold Advent.
Behold the King.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- Dec. 1 is the LAST DAY to sign someone special up for the Cookie Delivery (or the GREATEST COOKIE DELIVERY OF ALL TIME ... as some might call it). Sign up here. Delivery is Dec. 3!
- Are you new to Sierra Bible? Have you been attending for a while but have yet to meet people? Join us! Dec. 4, after the 10:30 service, lunch is on us! Come to the Music Room and let us introduce ourselves to you. Email: emilyt@sierrabible.com to RSVP.
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