12-7-2019 Seventh Day BAPTIST Edgewater Pastor Keith “Were You Born in a Barn?” Luke 2:7, Matthew 20:20-28

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12-7-2019 Seventh Day BAPTIST Edgewater Pastor Keith “Were You Born in a Barn?” Luke 2:7, Matthew 20:20-28

 

 

Jesus was born God in the flesh in little Bethlehem. Bethlehem was a small village with maybe 1,000 people. Jesus was born in a little backwater town and he was born in a barn. A barn is not the cleanest place to be, with all the cobwebs and it being so smelly. Jesus was born in a barn and then placed in a feeding trough with the farm animals all around Him. In our text today, Jesus was saying that all leaders are to serve others. Jesus came to be our servant and wants us to be a servant too.

 

1)    We Must Be Willing to Get a Little Dirty:

This is because a barn is a dirty place to give birth to a child. Then later on Jesus got dirty on the cross with all of our sins.

 

2)    Jesus Spent His Time With Dirty People:

These dirty people were the ones that others didn’t want to be seen with: the sick, the lame, the lepers, the prostitutes and the publicans. Jesus calls us to touch and serve the dirty people in our community.

 

3)    Jesus Came to Be Hated:

We must expect to get hated like Jesus was. Jesus came to His own (the Jews) and they received Him not. Jesus faced ridicule and insults from people of prominence. Pilate asked the crowd and they said they wanted Jesus crucified instead of Barabbas, a murderer. Jesus’ final statement on the cross was for God the Father to forgive the people that had killed Him.

We should remember that this world will hate us and we should not think it strange. We should know we are blessed by God when we are reproached and hated for being followers of Jesus Christ the Son of God. We are soldiers of Jesus in God’s Army so expect the enemy (Satan, the Devil) to hate us.

 

4)    Be Willing to Love People Anyway:

We want to get people interested in Jesus Christ who died for their sins. We need to let them see Jesus in us. We need to reflect Jesus in us. God decided to reveal Himself to us. He sent Jesus in human flesh to reflect the love God has for all mankind. The people brought their children to Jesus for Him to touch them. All the people went to Jesus because they knew He was open to everybody. Jesus built bridges between Man and God, Our Heavenly Father.

 

AMEN