Crazy Love...

Hey guys,
Last night we began a new message series titled, "Old School" in which we are aiming to learn more about the Christmas story by examining the Old Testament and looking at the character of God the Father. We began the series with looking at Abraham and his family. God told Abraham or Abram, that He was going to make Abram the father of many and that from his seed there will be many nations. The craziness of the story is that when God first mentioned this to Abram he was 75 years old. His wife Sarai or Sarah would have been around the age of 65 years old. Well God remained faithful to his promise to this old couple and about 25 years later, God gave Abraham and Sarah their first son and they named him Isaac.

To understand God better, we looked at the story of Abraham and Isaac and how God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son to the Lord. What I wanted students to understand from this story are two truths about our heavenly Father. The first is that He is a God that will always stay true to His word. Remember God promised Abram, at the age of 75, that he would have this family that many nations would come from...that literally Abram would be the father of the Israelite people. Well in order for that to happen Abram or Abraham would need a son. God gives him the son He promised and then asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac back to Him. I wanted the students to see that God was faithful, and even though He tested Abraham's faith, God did come through and provide the lamb to be sacrificed!

The second thing I wanted the students to walk away with last night was a clear understanding that God is crazy in love with them! This is how I connected the story of Abraham to the New Testament and the story of Christ's birth. I reminded the students what Christmas is really about, that it IS more than presents and food and time away from class. It marks the day God sent His One and Only Son to this earth to die for us ultimately so we could in turn believe in this Son and have a relationship with God because of it! This is the Christmas story. It is a story about a God that is crazy in love with His people and is so desperate to have a relationship with them he will do whatever it takes including sending His One and Only Son to die for them!

Remember in Genesis when Isaac asks his father Abraham, "Father where is the lamb for the sacrifice?" and Abraham responds boldly, "God will provide the lamb, my son."!!! Years later as Jesus was walking, another man declared something similar. John the Baptist saw Jesus walking and the Bible tells us that he said, "Behold! There is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!". See Christmas is about God providing the lamb in each of our lives to be the sacrifice on our behalf! My prayer is that the students walked away last night understanding their heavenly Father a little better also realizing the true meaning of Christmas!!

Next week WILL be the last week we meet for youth this year! WE NEED YOUR HELP!!! I HAVE CHALLENGED THE STUDENTS LAST NIGHT TO DONATE SOCKS FOR A HOMELESS MINISTRY. NEXT WEEK WE WILL COLLECT THE SOCKS. THEY MUST BE NEW SOCKS, NOT USED!! PLEASE GET INVOLVED IN THIS WITH US AND TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND GIVE A CHRISTMAS GIFT THAT WILL TRULY MEAN SOMETHING!!! PLEASE DO NOT FORGET, NEXT WEEK DECEMBER 17 WE WILL COLLECT THE SOCKS!!! Thanks guys!!!

Scripture Used...
Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:1-6; 17:1-6; 22:1-19
Jeremiah 29:11
Luke 1:26-35; 2:8-11
John 1:29
John 3:16
Romans 5:8

tom