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December 21-22, 2002 JUST WHAT YOU NEED AT CHRISTMAS! Isaiah 9:6, Selected SOMEBODY
WHO CAN
MAKE ME LIVE FOREVER! *** 2 Cor. 9:15 “Thanks
be to God for his indescribable gift!” [New International Version] *** Isaiah 9:6 “For
a child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on
his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
[New Living Translation] $ JESUS IS THE “FATHER” OF OUR
ETERNAL DESTINY! HOW
CAN I UNWRAP THE HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE THIS CHRISTMAS? By understanding that it is: 1. AN ETERNAL HOPE BASED ON TRUTH! $ TIME/DATE STAMP! - Luke 2:1-3 “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that
a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was
governor of Syria.) And everyone went
to his own town to register.” [NIV] $ LOCATION/IDENTITY STAMP! - Luke 2:4 “So Joseph also went up from the
town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because
he belonged to the house and line of David.” [NIV] $ PROPHETIC STAMP! - Acts 17:3 “Paul was explaining and proving the prophecies about
the…Messiah and his rising from the dead. He said, "This Jesus I'm telling
you about is the Messiah."
[NLT] $ HISTORICAL STAMP! - Acts 26:26 “I speak frankly for I am sure these events are all
familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner!” [Living Bible] *** John 17:3 “And
this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, the one you sent to earth.”
[NLT] 2. AN ETERNAL HOPE BASED ON TESTIMONY! *** John 11:21-27 “Martha
said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Yet even now I know that God will do
anything you ask." Jesus told her,
"Your brother will live again!"
Martha answered, "I know that he will be raised to life on the last
day, when all the dead are raised."
Jesus then said, "I am the one who raises the dead to life!
Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die. And everyone who
lives because of faith in me will never really die. Do you believe
this?" "Yes, Lord!" she
replied. "I believe that you are Christ, the Son of God. You are the one
we hoped would come into the world."
[Contemporary English Version] 3. AN ETERNAL HOPE BASED ON TRUST! *** John 3:16 “For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” [NIV] “WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO COME FOR ME TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE?” SIN! *** Isaiah 59:2 “But
there is a problem—your sins have cut you off from God. Because of your sin, he
has turned away….” [NLT] *** Romans 6:23 “For
the wages of sin is death….” [NLT] *** Romans 3:23 “For
all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard.” *** John 5:24 “I
tell you the truth, whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent
me has eternal life. That person will not be judged guilty but has already left
death and entered life.” [New Century
Version] *** Matthew 1:21 “You
are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their
sins." [NIV] $ JESUS = JOSHUA = GOD SAVES! *** 1 John 5:11
“And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son.” [NLT] GET ON B.A.S.E. WITH GOD! o
BELIEVE! o
ADMIT! o
SURRENDER! o
EXPRESS! “My purpose in writing is simply this: that you
who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have
eternal life, the reality and not the illusion.” 1 John
5:13 [Message] |