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The Joy of Jesus and the New Covenant!Date: December 13, 2020Text: John 3:22-30IntroductionJohn 3:22-30Attention turns from John to Jesus as Jesus’ ministry unfolds.John’s disciples thought it was a competition and they were losing… “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” (3:26)Numbers 11:26-30 “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” – Moses One of Jesus’ highest values was unity… John 17 “He must INCREASE and I must DECREASE. John keeps pointing to Jesus because as the star of the show!John illustrates this with the beautiful picture of the wedding. John’s entire life, literally from womb to tomb, is wrapped up in the joy of the coming of the Messiah.“When the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for Joy! - ElizabethJoy is the overarching emotion that accompanies the coming of Christ. It’s the overarching emotion proclaimed in the prophecy of Isaiah 9. Jesus is the star of the show because his coming is the point of the story! A New Covenant.The season of Advent is the season of being reminded that the Messiah has come and in his appearing he brings in a new and better covenant! He is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that God made to Abram nearly two millennia previously…we read about that covenant in Genesis 12:1-3… The season of Advent is the season of being reminded that the Messiah has come and He has ushered in a New and Better covenant promised through Jeremiah the prophet when the people were in Exile in Babylon! Jeremiah 31:31-34“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32?Hebrews 8:8-12… The beauty of the new covenant is that it’s NOT based in what WE do… but rather in what GOD does!! The old covenant is a bilateral covenant based on humans striving to keep the law in order to win the approval and be declared righteous by God. Under this new and better covenant… striving ceases… it’s a unilateral covenant. Our role as actors in this play is to keep pointing to the star of the show.“The scandal of the American Church is while a higher percentage of people who live in America claim to be Christians than any other nation… the church has lost its influence.”-Os Guiness“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.” - John 12:32 “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” -St FrancisI want to challenge us in this season to let our lives speak… “How can I proclaim Christ in this season by giving what I have away in the name of Jesus?Find a family to help… maybe as a life group find a family who needs help and HELP.Are their kids in your neighborhood you can reach out to.Is there someone who simply needs encouragement? A card, a letter… a phone call. Could you have someone who is lonely into your home for a meal?How can you turn the energy of your family to serving? Proclaim Christ as a family… service project… take a meal… bring some gifts… go carol in front of someone’s home… ................
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