First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sunday Sermon Notes (February 16, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor 
 
Daniel 1:1-17; 1 Peter 2:9-12
 
Daniel 1:8 is the heart of the Book of Daniel.  In fact, it is impossible to understand the message of the Book of Daniel if we overlook Daniel 1:8. It’s a key verse and should be looked at as the foundation upon which the events of this Book are built.  Daniel 1:8, says, “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.”  The King James Version says, “But Daniel purposed in his heart…”  Another translation says, “But Daniel made up his mind...”  Everything else in the Book of Daniel flows from this.
 
Life is a series of choices.  As mighty oaks from small acorns grow, we make our decisions and guess what, our decisions turn around and make us.  You and I know that we are who we are today, because of decisions and choices we made years ago.  Most of the time we don’t realize how important our choices can be.  Where will I go to college?  What will I major in?  Who will be my best friends?  What career will I choose?  What music will I listen to? 
 
And sooner or later, we will face the most important decision of all: Will I decide to follow Jesus?  In Luke 27:22 Pontius Pilate had to face the same question: “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.  We are the product of our decisions.
 
Choices and Decisions ~ Which way to go?  As we come to our Old Testament Scripture this morning, we find Daniel, the teenager, facing a crisis in Babylon.  The decision he is about to make will radically change his whole life.  And when you read about it, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. But it turns out to be very big indeed.
 
Some Historical Background
Just to give you a short background: Daniel and his friends are in Babylon, having been torn away from their families in Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar and the mighty Babylonian army.  Because these young men come from noble backgrounds, the king orders them special training to enter his service.  Remember, these are God-fearing Jewish teenagers, ripped out of everything they have known, now being trained to work for a pagan king.
 
The training aimed to assimilate the boys into their new society.  The king makes sure they get the best education Babylon can offer. For three years they will be immersed in Babylonian knowledge, culture, history, language, and religion.  Their Jewish names are changed in favor of new Babylonian names.  At the end of that time they will enter the king’s service and be assured of high-level government positions.  It was a sophisticated form of brainwashing aimed at making them forget their past and form a new allegiance to the king and his pagan way of life.
 
Everything appears to be going smoothly until one teenager decides he is not going to go along with the program.  “But Daniel resolved (purposed in his heart) not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.”  In other words, Daniel fixed his eyes on His God in the land of captivity.  This is the crucial event of his life.  Although we might not see it today as a big deal, but what Daniel did, shaped the next 60 years of his life.
 
First: Daniel Knew No Excuses
Daniel could’ve come with many good excuses to go with the current, yet, the more we look at Daniel’s life, the more we see a man who knew no excuses.  We can always find an excuse when you don’t want to do right.  But Daniel didn’t need an excuse.  He had already decided to do the right thing no matter what happened.  Though exiled and powerless, He purposed in his heart to live for the Lord.  He couldn’t decide for anyone else, but he decided for himself what he would and would not do.  And that changed everything.  I don’t know if he tried to convince anyone else or not.  Daniel made up his mind, and his three closest friends decided to join him. 
 
I want you to notice this: The Babylonians could change everything—his diet, his location, his education, his language, even his name—but they couldn’t change his heart.  Why?  Because his heart belonged to God.  When your heart truly belongs to God, you can go anywhere and face any situation and you’ll be okay.  You can even live in Babylon and do just fine because your body is in Babylon but your heart is in heaven.  So the question for all of us is, Where is your heart?  Does it truly belong to God? Or is your heart fixed on the things of this earth?
 
Second: Daniel’s Faithfulness is Rewarded
This episode of Daniel’s story comes to an end on a very positive note.  In Daniel 1:18-19 we read, “At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar.  The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service.”  We discover in these verses that God always honors those who honor Him.  In this case, the reward came very quickly.  Often times it takes much longer than that.  And sometimes, our reward doesn’t come until we get to heaven.
 
I know God is faithful and he will reward our faith and faithfulness.  However, this doesn’t mean that every time we stand up for our convictions, we will be immediately rewarded.  This passage proves that sometimes it does happen that way, but other times, we won’t see our reward until we see Jesus face to face.  We ought to remember that God’s timing and ours are often quite different. 
 
Friends, as I conclude, and before we leave this marvelous story, let me leave with you two short things to ponder this week.  First: remember that the world continually tries to reprogram us into a different way of thinking.  It happened to Daniel and his three friends through a course of systematic brainwashing aimed at separating these young men from their past.  It involved a new location, a new education, a new diet, a new culture, a new language, and ultimately, new names.  Twenty-six centuries have come and gone and nothing has changed.  The world still attempts to separate us from our spiritual heritage.
 
Second: any renewal, any spiritual awakening, is born in our lives when you purpose, when you resolve in your heart to follow Jesus no matter what.  Hebrews 11:33 reminds us to glance at the example of people like Daniel.  But we must not stop there.  We must fix our eyes on Jesus who, though righteous, experienced the ultimate exile on the cross. He was forsaken to bring us in, and abandoned so God might welcome us.  Only by trusting and treasuring Him can we be holy in our times of suffering and exile.  Only through Him can we conduct ourselves honorably in this world that cares less about Jesus.  At the end of the day, we either resolved or reluctant.  Amen.

​First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sunday Sermon Notes (February 09, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor 
 
“The Lord of the Harvest!”
1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Mathew 9:35-38
 
As you may know, every year, on the second Sunday in February, our congregation gets together for our Annual Meeting.  This is a time for us as a congregation to reflect on God’s work in us and through us.  The various Church boards and committees submit their Annual Reports as we give thanks to God for the opportunity to serve God and our community.  It’s our harvest time.
 
Over the last few weeks, I thought a lot about what to preach today on our Annual Meeting Sunday.  The more I thought about it, the more I found myself drawn to some Scripture passages that address the topic of spiritual harvest; passages like Matthew 9, Galatians 6, and 1 Corinthians 3.  Two principles that I would like to share with the congregation on this Annual Meeting Sunday.  We can apply these two principles in our personal lives as well as our life together as a congregation.
 
First: Harvest Requires Patience and Persistence
I love the words of Galatians 6:9: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  Anyone who has ever farmed for a living knows exactly what this verse means.  It’s one thing to plant a few tomatoes in your back yard; it’s something else to plant 3,000 acres of wheat.  Full-time farming is a year-round task. You start early and you work late, 52 weeks a year.  There is no end of the jobs to be done.  Even during winter months, there is equipment to maintain and preparation to be made for the upcoming planting season.  You don’t get a harvest by accident and you can’t treat it as a weekend hobby.  If you want the harvest, you’ve got to work when you feel like giving up.
 
Persistence or determination is especially true in the spiritual realm.  Because we live in a fallen world and deal constantly with fallen people, it’s easy to grow weary and say, “What’s the use?”  Do you feel like quitting?  It’s always too soon to quit.  Let us keep on sowing even if through our tears and with a weary heart.  In the end we will rejoice when the harvest finally comes in.
 
Here is all God asks of us: Don’t give up!  Don’t stop!  Don’t grow weary!  Keep on going. When you get knocked down by discouragement, don’t stay down.  Get up and get back in the game for the glory of God.  Great victories await those with great endurance.
 
There will be a wonderful harvest to come.  That harvest will partly come in this life and much of it will come when we finally get to heaven.  Who knows?  Perhaps you will look down from heaven and find out that you changed someone’s life because of a simple act of kindness.
 
Second: We Must Seize the Opportunity Before It Disappears
In Galatians 6:10, Paul writes to the Galatians “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”  The word “opportunity” in Greek is “καιρὸν”.  It comes from the Greek word kairos, which is sometimes translated “time.”  However, it’s not a word that means the passing of the hours one by one.  This is chronos.  Chronos is the measurement of time.  It’s clock time.  It’s the answer to the question “What time is it?”  But kairos, is more interesting.  It refers to those moments in life when a door of opportunity opens before us and we have a choice to make. Will we go through that door or will we hesitate until it closes?
 
We all have opportunities to do good if we will take them when they come.  Every day there are moments when we can say a word of encouragement.  There are times when we can get extend a helping hand to someone in need.  Will we have the time or will our personal schedule keep us from listening and helping?  
 
But no door stays open forever.  Opportunities come and then they go. A sculptor once showed his studio to a friend who spotted a very strange statue.  It was the figure of a man with hair completely covering his face and wings on each foot. “What is the name of that statue?” he asked. The sculptor replied, “His name is Opportunity.” “Why is his face hidden?” “Because people seldom know when opportunity comes to them.” “Why are there wings on his feet?” “Because he is soon gone, and when opportunity departs, it cannot be overtaken.”
 
There are so many opportunities to the serve the Lord.  It may involve teaching Sunday School, setting up the place for an event, cleaning up after words, praying for someone, visiting the sick, sharing the Christian message with someone, giving meals to the hungry, counseling the confused, saving a failing marriage, or giving money to someone in need.  The list is endless because opportunities are endless.
 
As I conclude, let me tell you a story that captures what I am saying.  A Pastor was standing in line at a local grocery store.  In front of him was a boy about eight or nine years old.  The boy was looking over the display of candy bars.  When he picked a big Hershey bar and laid it on the counter, the cashier rang it up and told him how much it was.  The boy reached in his pocket and pulled out a bunch of pennies, nickels, and a single dime and plopped them on the counter.  The cashier gave him one of those looks and started counting.  Then he looked up and said, “You’re 12 cents short. You need another 12 cents.”  The boy’s shoulders drooped, his face dropped, and he went from grin to groan in less than a second.  “Just as the cashier started to tell the boy to put the candy bar back, the Pastor reached in his pocket and put 12 cents on the counter.  The boy’s face lit up like Christmas. He said, “Thanks, mister.”  And he took off, but then he turned around and came back. “He held up the candy bar and asked, “Hey, mister, you wanna bite?”  The Pastor said, “No thanks, you eat it.” 
 
Then the boy looked at the Pastor real careful, like he was studying him, and asked, “How come? How come you did that?”  Before he could answer, he got a look of recognition on his face. “Oh, I know you, you’re that preacher.  Jesus made you do it, didn't He?”  “Yes, He did,” the Pastor said.  Then the boy commented, “I sure like Jesus, and I’m glad Jesus makes nice people like you. Bye, mister.”  Then he was gone.
 
With God’s love and 12 cents, this Pastor was able to touch a little boy’s life and bring glory to God simply by obeying Christ’s command to love our neighbors as ourselves.  Friends, there is a world out there that needs to know that Jesus is real.  They need to know that Jesus makes people different.  They need to know Jesus in a more tangible way.  “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  And as we labor together, remember this: you are not called to be successful but to be faithful.  Amen.

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sunday Sermon Notes (February 2, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor 
 
“Stepping Forward!”
Exodus 14:5-18; Matthew 14:22-32
 
The Apostle Peter is an interesting character.   He is a man of extremes.  He is the guy Jesus says he will build the church on the solid confession of his faith, and he is the guy who will deny Jesus three times in Jesus’ greatest hour of need.  Sometimes we see Peter full of faith; other times, we see him full of doubt.  Peter was always the one willing to ask hard questions.  He was always the one exploring what it means to really be a disciple; and there’s no time where that is more apparent than in our Scripture today.
 
In our Scripture today, we encounter Peter walking on the water and a few minutes later, he sinks.  Before I share with you this morning a couple observations, it might be helpful for us to explore the setting of the story in Matthew chapter 14:22-32.
 
The Setting
In the gospel lesson, the disciples had just witnessed the feeding of the multitude, where they saw that their limited resources could be sufficient when used in faith.  After the feeding, Jesus told them to get in their boat to go to the other side of the lake while Jesus remained there alone, to pray.  So there were the disciples, out in the water, being “beaten by the waves.”  They were terrified.  
 
We pick up Matthew’s story in Matthew 14:25-27 as he says, “And early in the morning Jesus came walking toward them on the sea.  But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
 
We can understand their fear, can’t we?  They’ve been rowing and rowing and rowing and getting nowhere.  And they can’t seem to make it to shore.  It’s 4 or 4:30 in the morning.  They are dead tired.  Every muscle aches. The wind howls around them.  Rain pelts them from every angle.  They are cold and tired and waterlogged.  Plus they are grumpy and hungry and frustrated.  Suddenly someone sees a figure walking across the water.  I think in that situation I would say exactly what they said, “It’s a ghost.” My first thought would not be, “Here comes Jesus. He’s decided to walk on the water in the middle of this storm.”
 
At all rates, Peter needed proof that it was Jesus.  Matthew 14:28-29 states, “Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.”  I want you to notice that the fact that Peter stepped out shows that he had more faith than the other disciples on the boat!  Two observations for us this morning:
 
First: Faith is a Risky Adventure
American author and lecturer, Helen Keller (1880-1968), once said, “Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing at all.”  Born blind, deaf, and unable to speak, she somehow found a way out of the darkness and into the world around her.  Her story is one of the great miracles of the twentieth century.  Millions of people have drawn inspiration from her example.  
 
“Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing at all.”  The life of faith is a risky adventure.  Go back to the Bible and take a look at the men and women who did great things for God.  Almost without exception, they were risk-takers who weren’t afraid to lay it all on the line for God.  Consider these examples: Noah built an ark on a dry land.  Abraham left his hometown, Ur of the Chaldees, to go to the Promised Land.  Moses led the people of God out of Egypt.  The Exodus was a risky invitation.  Joshua marched around the walls of Jericho and it fell.  David fought and defeated giant Goliath.  Elijah faced down the prophets of Baal.  Esther risked everything to save her people.  Daniel refused to defile himself with the king’s food.  Nehemiah led the Jews to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
 
Like Peter, all those people throughout the centuries, stepped forward.  The life of faith is inherently a life of risk.  If you are unwilling to take a chance, you can never discover what living by faith is all about.  If you have to have all the answers before you make a decision, if you’re afraid to take a step unless you know things will work out to your advantage, faith will always be a mystery to you.  
 
Second: Faith is Simply Concentration on Jesus
Faith can be simply defined as “concentration on Jesus.”  Matthew 14:30 tells us that everything goes fine until Peter notices the storm all around him.  At this point, he became frightened and began to sink.  Everything goes well until Peter takes his eyes off Jesus and concentrates on the storm.  Remember, the storm has never stopped.  During all this commotion, the rain has been coming down in sheets.  The wind was there all along.  The storm has been raging for hours.  What really makes the difference whether our eyes are fixed on Jesus or not.
 
Let me say it again. The wind always blows around us. The mighty storm comes sooner or later.  We have no choice or control over when the storm comes. Today the sun may be shining; tomorrow we may find ourselves toiling against the wind and rain, tossed about by adversity.  Life can turn on a dime.  We all know that.  What happened to Peter can happen to any of us. For a brief moment, he forgets about Jesus and remembers who he is and where he is.  He is Peter, a Galilean fisherman who belongs back in the boat.  In that instant he looks down at his feet and sees nothing but water underneath.  His mind comes to a quick conclusion: “I’m not supposed to be walking on water.  This is impossible.”  When Peter lost his concentration on Jesus, he began to sink.
 
But this story doesn’t end with Peter sinking.  When Peter began to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me” and Jesus does.  Jesus comes through where Peter could not.  Peter couldn’t stay focused.  He couldn’t complete his own hopes and dreams to be with Jesus without Jesus helping him. 
 
Friends, yes, faith is a risky adventure.  If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.  Faith is a concentration on Jesus.  If we’re not going to focus, to concentrate, on Jesus, we’re going to keep sinking.  And as we focus on Jesus, we follow His footsteps.  In other words, we step forward.   Jesus invited Peter to “step forward.”  In Exodus 14:15, the Lord did the same thing with the Israelites.  “Tell the people of Israel to go forward,” God said.  God is calling us today to move on; to take the risk; and to never loose sight of Jesus, and when we do, He will reach out His hand and get us as He did with Peter.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.  Amen!

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sunday Sermon Notes (January 26, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor  

​The New Testament writers love to use a race, or a marathon, as a picture of the Christian life.  The image of a long-distance race was as popular in the first century Roman Empire as it is today.  If you know anything about long distance running, you will know runners talk about reaching “the wall”  or the “finish line”; it is that point in the race when every cell in your body is telling you to give up; the point at which “youths grow tired and weary, and young people stumble and fall” as the Prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 40:30.
 
The writer to the Hebrews chapter 12 compares the Christian life to a race, and in Hebrews 12:12-13, the author acknowledges the tensity of this race as he says, “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.”
 
At that point in a race, when you feel that your arms have become feeble and your knees have gotten weak, the runner must resolve to keep going.  He or she must fix their eyes on the finishing line and persevere.  The message to the Hebrew Christians was the message of the Prophet Isaiah too for those running a spiritual race.  When you feel faint and weary, then you must resolve to keep on going, to fix your eyes on the finishing line. “Fix your eyes on Jesus” says the author to Hebrews 12:2. “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens,” Isaiah says in chapter 40:26.
 
Since the beginning of January 2020, we have been talking about running our own spiritual race, the race that is set before us, and together, we are trying to analyze some key factors for running a good Christian race; some channels of strength that cause us to run and not grow tired and weary.  Last week we talked about the importance of running with a team.
 
First: We Run with a Team
One of the great motivations of running the Christian race is we run with a team.  God didn’t intend that we run the race on our own.  We must always remember that we are part of a family that cheers us on.  There is so great a cloud of witnesses that encourages us to keep running.  The opening phrase of Hebrews 12:1 refers back to Hebrews chapter 11.  All of the Old Testament saints, who endured all sorts of trials by faith, should encourage us to keep running when we feel like quitting. 
 
One great channel of God’s strength and grace is this family, your church family, those who have gone to be with the Lord and those who are present.  On one hand, the saints who have gone before us are calling out to us by their examples of faith, “Keep going, I made it and you can, too!  I know it’s hard, but the reward is worth it!  Don’t quit!  The finish line is not too far ahead!”  We look out into the so great a cloud of witnesses and realize that every one of them finished the race, and we are reminded, “It can be done. It can be done.” 
 
On the other hand, we can lean on those who are still around.  The first group of saints are the Church Triumphant; the second group is the Church Militant or the Church Suffering.  As we run the race with the Church Suffering, we can lean on their wisdom, their love, their support, and their encouragement.  In His good please, our Lord pleased to have us run with a team.  The Church Suffering inspires us to keep going.
 
Second: We are Called to Renew our Strength
One of the ingredients of running well is to renew your strength.  The Prophet Isaiah calls us to renew our strength, to soar on wings like eagles.  He says in Isaiah 40:31, “But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
 
Isaiah tells us that our strength is renewed when we wait, when we hope for the Lord.  But what does it mean to wait?  In Hebrew, the word “qavah” means “to bind together like a cord.”  It doesn’t mean to tie a cord around a bundle of sticks to keep them together.  Instead, it’s the process of making a rope by twisting or weaving small strings together to form the rope.  The more strands that are twisted or woven together in a rope, the greater its strength would be.  The more we are woven to God, the stronger we get.
 
In order to understand how to wait upon the Lord accurately, Isaiah uses the image of an eagle renewing their strength.  It’s a fascinating story.  Legend says that an Eagle at the age of 40-50, flies to a high place and there it endures a harsh trial of endurance and change. It can’t fly because its feathers are overgrown.  Therefore, it plucks all the feathers from its body.  It plucks its talons from its feet because the talons have grown curled and useless.  Its beak has grown too long and curled.  It breaks its beak against a rock.  Defenseless, it cries out and waits for the time of renewal.  Other eagles hear its cry and come to aid.  They fly overhead, scaring off predators, and they bring food to their incapacitated friend.
 
Like it happens to eagles, God makes us to go through harsh trials of endurance and change.  This is necessary to shape our Christian character and faith.  In such time we need to unite with the Lord like strands of a rope by waiting upon Him.  This unity renews our strength.  
 
In 2 Chronicles 20:12, Jehoshaphat prayed “Our eyes are set upon you, O God.”  God is our only hope.  In Psalm 25:15, King David prayed, “My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.”
 
Friends, God is calling us today to renew our strength; to rise on wings like eagles.  The good news is: God is able to make it happen.  Our part is to wait for the Lord, to hope and trust in Him.  This may be a painful process.  As you pluck those overgrown feathers, pluck those curly talons and beak, God will enable you to endure this change.  He will comfort you through His presence and through His Body here on earth, the Church.  “The Lord gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.  Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” Isaiah 40:29-31.  Amen.

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sunday Sermon Notes (January 19th, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor  

​Many years ago, the Lord sent my way a young man whose life was a mess, to say the least; literally, this young man’s life was falling apart.  We met regularly and he called me frequently.  I felt so bad for the young man and wanted to help him.  Though he professed to believe in Christ, and said that he wanted to follow Jesus, he had no idea of what that meant.  On one occasion, I described in detail what a daily walk with Christ looks like.  I explained what a daily time in God’s Word and prayer was like, what obedience to the Bible means, and how to think and live like a Christian.
 
When I was done, I asked him, “Have you ever done anything close to what I’ve just described?”  He said, “Yeah, I did that once for two weeks, but, Pastor, it didn’t work.”  He thought that he had given it a fair try in two weeks!  I explained to him that the Christian faith isn’t a two-week sprint; rather, it’s a lifelong marathon.  The Christian life is a lifelong, exhausting race that entails some long hills to climb and some swampy marshes to plod through.  To make it to the end, we need to consider some very important factors.
 
No one gets to win a marathon by chance.  There must be self-discipline, commitment, and dedication behind finishing well in any race, including our spiritual race.  We have been talking about those ingredients, those motivations, of running the Christian race.
 
Focusing on the Wrong Object
Last Sunday we talked about the danger of focusing on the wrong object; the danger of looking at the wrong direction.  Our attention can be so focused on the challenges surrounding us that we fail to see the available resources that are so vital to our spiritual well-being.  Last week we looked at the story of the Prophet Elisha and Ben-hadad, the King of Syria, from 2 Kings chapter 6.
 
Ben-hadad wanted to get ride of Elisha because Elisha spoiled all Ben-hadad plans against Israel.  The Syrian King wanted to capture the Prophet Elisha, so he sent a detachment of soldiers by night to take the man of God captive.  One morning, the servant of Elisha got up and went out early and he saw an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city.  The town was completely surrounded by the enemy.  To Elisha’s helper, the situation seemed hopeless.  He cried out, “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” 
 
Elisha answered, “Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  In 2 Kings 6:17, we read that Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.”  Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”  “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world,” 1 John 4:4.
 
Two short observations this morning as we revisit Hebrews chapter 12.  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.”
First: God Sets the Course of our Race
If you’re running a marathon, you can’t make up your own course.  If you stray from the course, you’ll be disqualified.  I like the words of Hebrews 12:1, “let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.”  “The race that is set before us” ~ God is the Sovereign One who sets the course for each of us, just as He set the course of the cross for Jesus.
 
To finish the Christian marathon, it’s important to keep in mind at all times that the Sovereign God sets the course.  Nothing can happen without God’s permission.  Nothing happens out of God’s good will toward His children.  You may not like parts of the course. You may be prone to grumble, “Why did the course have to go over this hill, or through this swamp?”  The answer is, “Because the Sovereign God planned it this way.”  You won’t be able to run by faith unless you submit your will to God’s will.
 
Second: We Run with a Team
One of the great motivations of running the Christian race is we run with a team.  We must always remember that we are part of a family that cheers for us.  There is so great a cloud of witnesses encourages us to keep running.  The opening phrase of Hebrews 12:1 refers back to Hebrews chapter 11.  All of the Old Testament saints, who endured all sorts of trials by faith, should encourage us to keep running when we feel like quitting.  The word cloud was a classical Greek metaphor for a large multitude. 
 
What the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews is simply saying here is that the saints who have gone before us are calling out to us by their examples of faith, “Keep going, I made it and you can, too!  I know it’s hard, but the reward is worth it!  Don’t quit!  The finish line is not too far ahead!”
 
We look out into the so great a cloud of witnesses and realize that every one of them finished the race, and we are reminded, “It can be done. It can be done.”  Those saints are witnesses to God’s deeds, witnesses of Jesus’ power, and witnesses of the faith which only the Holy Spirit can inspire and sustain.
 
We can look at them and see examples of faith and perseverance under every imaginable circumstance: there's David who committed adultery and murder, and he finished; there's John Mark the quitter, who ran when Jesus was arrested, and he finished; there’s Mary the prostitute, and she finished; there’s Job who suffered so much, and he finished; there’s Stephen who was hated and stoned, and he finished.
 
Perhaps you could name some other witnesses that have inspired you.  Maybe you can picture them now.  You witnessed how they ran.  You saw how they finished.  You know that they have received their reward.  And so we can look at them and say “Well, by the power, faith, and grace that got them through, I’m going to finish too!” 
 
Friends, Hebrews 12:1 is a wake-up call to see our life as a race and to run it with passion and zeal, with energy and discipline.  The author of Hebrews wants us to get serious about the race again, to test ourselves to see if we are running or lounging on the couch. I am not saying that running is an easy work.  The race can be long.  The journey can be difficult.  The road can be treacherous.  So how can we finish successfully?  Here is the secret: Look back to the witnesses; Look forward to the joy; and Look up to Jesus.  Amen.

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sunday Sermon Notes (January 12th, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor  

​2 Kings 6:8-23; Hebrews 12:1-3
 
“Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,” says the author of the Letter to the Hebrews 12:1.  In Hebrews 12, the Christian life is compared to a race.  It’s a marathon.  That name, marathon, comes from the decisive 490 BC Battle of Marathon, where the Greeks fought the Persians.  If the Persians had conquered, the glory that was Greece never would have been known.  Against fearful odds, the Greeks won the battle.  A Greek soldier ran all the way, day and night, to Athens with the good news. He ran straight to the magistrates and gasped, “Rejoice, we have conquered!” Then he dropped dead.  He had completed his mission and done his work.[1]
 
It is significant that when Paul wrote his final letter to Timothy, he did not report on how many he had won to Christ, how many churches he had planted, or how many evangelistic campaigns he had conducted. He said simply in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.”  He fought and he finished—he endured!  If you want to join his ranks, take time often to consider Jesus.
 
Fixing our Eyes on Jesus
Every year I try to set a theme, a broader topic, for my teaching and preaching delivered from this pulpit every Sunday.  The theme I chose for 2020 is “Fixing our Eyes on Jesus.”  This is a theme that runs through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and it is so central to Biblical Christianity.  This year, we will be exploring some key Scripture passages that address this topic, then drawing some important implications for our life, our ministry, and our spiritual journey.  Last Sunday, we just scratched the surface of this topic as I shared with you some introductory observations.
 
Last week we asked the question: Why fixing our eyes and thoughts on Jesus is an important topic?  Because we live in a very distracted culture.  We are so distracted.  There’s so much going on in our lives.  We get pulled or pushed in a hundred directions, therefore, fixing our eyes and thoughts on Jesus is crucial.
 
But there is another reason for focusing on this topic this year.  It’s our all-time temptation.  We are tempted to rely on other things than Jesus; to fix our eyes and thoughts, to build our lives on the shifting sands of this world.  In the case of the Hebrew Christians, they relied on their religious heritage.  Yes, they converted to Christianity, but they also carried with them too much Judaism, too much rituals.  In other words, they focused on the wrong object.
 
Focusing on the Wrong Object
Do you ever have trouble locating something that is right in front of you?  Sometimes I have that problem when I am searching for a particular item in the pantry at our house.  My wife, Margaret, will assure me that the can of soup I am looking for is there.  I scan the shelves, move things around, and check the shelves again and again.  Finally, I call to Margaret, “I don’t think it is here . . .”  Typically, she will walk to the shelf and put her hand right on that can of soup!  My response is usually something along the lines of, “Oh, there it is!”  I simply had not focused on the right object, even though it was plainly visible.
 
The same problem can occur when it comes to our spiritual lives.  Our attention can be so focused on the challenges surrounding us that we fail to see the available resources that are so vital to our spiritual well-being. 
 
We find an example of that in an account found in 2 Kings 6.  The country of Syria was at war with Israel.  However, each time Ben-hadad, the King of Syria, planned a raid or an ambush, God revealed the king’s plans to Elisha the prophet.  And then Elisha gave that military information to the King of Israel.  This thwarted the King of Syria’s plans—not once or twice, but multiple times.  Eventually, Ben-hadad figured there must be a spy in his midst who was relaying information from his war council straight to the enemy, and he demanded to know who the guilty party was.  One of his servants responded that none of them were betraying his trust, but that the prophet Elisha was telling Israel’s King of Ben-hadad’s plans, even those that were discussed secretly.
 
In 2 Kings 6:13, Ben-hadad commanded, “Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him.”  He was told that Elisha was in Dothan, so he sent a band of soldiers there with horses and chariots to capture the prophet.  Since God was revealing military information to Elisha, wouldn’t Elisha be aware of Ben-hadad’s intention to capture him, just as he was aware of the king’s military moves?  But that did not seem to occur to Ben-hadad, so he sent a detachment of soldiers by night to take the man of God captive.
 
2 Kings 6:15 states, “When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city.”  The town was completely surrounded by the enemy.  To this young man, the situation seemed hopeless.  He cried out, “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?”  While the prophet understood his servant’s concern, he answered, “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  What a classic response of trust and confidence in God!  Then in 2 Kings 6:17, we read that Elisha prayed, and said, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.”  Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
 
Has the Lord ever helped you get your focus directed to the right place?  Perhaps you faced a time when you were surrounded by “enemy soldiers”—problems and trials that seemed threatening in the extreme.  Then, just when it seemed there was no hope, the Lord came down and opened your spiritual understanding.  In a moment you no longer focused on the problems. Instead, you saw the “horses and chariots of fire” that were surrounding you, and you realized that God was in control!
 
This morning, we also ordained, installed, and commissioned our Church Officers, the Elders, Deacons, and Trustees who will be carrying out the mission and vision of this congregation.  As your Pastor, I am praying for you today Elisha’s prayer, “Open their eyes, Lord, so that they may see.”  May God open your eyes to see not the challenges, by the opportunities, not the power of our enemies, but the strength and might of our Lord.  Amen.
 


[1] William Barclay, The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon (Louisville: Westminster Knox Press, 1957), 210-211.

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood                          
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sunday Sermon Notes (January 5th, 2020)
Rev. Dr. Mouris A. Yousef, Pastor  

​Focus has become more and more an important to me this year.  There are somethings that need to be just the right distance for my eyes to read.  You see – demonstration holding the bulletin.  Some of you who may be older than me know what I am talking about; some of you who are younger than me may say, “What do you mean?”  I thought if your eyes work, they always work.  Right?  No.  Focus is not always easy.  Just imagine you’re at a concert or attending a worship service at a church and you’ve got one program or bulletin that you’re sharing with the person next to you whom you love very much.  What happens is that person needs the program a certain distance to be able to read it, but you need the program a certain other distance to be able to read it.  I feel we need the help of a team from the Hubble Telescope to run the calculations and find where these things can intersect.  Focus can be a great challenge.
 
Every year I try to set a theme, a broader topic, for my teaching and preaching delivered from this pulpit every Sunday.  “Going Deep” and making roots was the theme for 2019.  It was a need that I felt not only for those of us who are new to the Christian faith, but also for those who have been Christians for a long time.  Whether you belong to this group or that group, God is calling us to go deep and experience the Lord in fresh and new ways.
 
The theme I chose for 2020 is “Fixing our Eyes on Jesus.”  This is a theme that runs through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and it is so central to Biblical Christianity.  This year, we will be exploring some key Scripture passages that address this topic, then drawing some important implications for our life, our ministry, and our spiritual journey.  Today I want to just scratch the surface of this topic as I share with you some introductory observations.
 
First: Why Fixing our Eyes on Jesus?
Why fixing our eyes and thoughts on Jesus is an important topic?  Because we live in a very distracted culture.  Let me ask you a simple question?  What is on your mind today as you sit here in church?  As much as I’d like to think that your mind is totally focused on hearing God’s Word and singing God’s praises, I know better, because I know my mind isn’t always totally focused on these things when I sit in church. Distractions around that seem to abound.  
 
There’s so much going on in our lives.  Busy days.  Crazy schedules.  Everything going on in the lives of our children.  Bills that need to get paid.  Health issues.  Things we need to do around the house.  Deadlines we face at work or the frustration of being without work.  What are we going to do this afternoon or evening?  What are we going to have for lunch or dinner?  We are so distracted, and we are torn apart by many things.  We get pulled or pushed in a hundred directions, therefore, fixing our eyes and thoughts on Jesus is crucial.
 
Second: The Temptation to Rely on other Things than Jesus
I believe humanity’s all-time temptation is to rely on other things than Jesus; to fix our eyes and thoughts, to build our lives on the shifting sands of this world.  Twice in the Letter to the Hebrews, the writer exhorts Christians from a Jewish background to fix their eyes on Jesus.  In Hebrews 3:1 we read, “Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.”  Also, in Hebrews 12:1-2 we read, “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
 
This exhortation carried a special significance to the Hebrew Christians back then.  Yes, they converted to Christianity, but they also carried with them too much Judaism.  Yes, they accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, but they had a hard time trying to get rid of the rituals and the shadows of the Old Covenant.  
 
This year, we are challenged to fix our eyes and thoughts on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.  The word “fix” comes from a Greek word “katanoeô” that has the idea of concentrating your gaze.  It means to look away from other things so that you can focus all your attention on one object.  It is the picture of a lost child walking alone down a carnival midway, enthralled by the lights and sounds and smells.  The child’s eyes flit this way and that.  The child doesn’t even realize that he or she is in danger.  Suddenly through the din, the child hears his or her mother’s voice.  Looking up, the child sees the mother calling for him or her to come.  With the child’s eyes now fixed on the mother, he or she walks straight ahead, ignoring everything else.  Soon the child is safe by the mom’s side. 
 
In the same way a coach will tell the runners, “When the gun sounds, start running as hard as you can. Don’t look back.  Don’t look around.  Keep your eyes on the finish line and keep on running.”  What fills your gaze? Is it Jesus or something else?
 
As you think about your life at the beginning of a year, that’s a good way to begin fixing your eyes and thoughts on Jesus.  This would be a time for you to begin to pull in the loose ends. 
The twentieth-century British Pastor D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) said, “If we only spent more of our time in looking at Christ, we should soon forget ourselves.” Fixing our eyes on Christ is the first step and the entire path of the Christian life. We don’t look to Christ in faith to be saved and then look to ourselves to persevere. We trust Christ alone as our Savior and look to Christ alone and follow Him as our Lord.
 
Friends, we’re called neither to fix our eyes on ourselves nor to fix our eyes on our own sins that entangle themselves around our ankles.  We’re called to run with endurance by looking to Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith.  We are united to Christ and are made able and willing to turn our eyes upon Jesus — away from ourselves — so that by looking to Him, we are motivated to joyful, cross-bearing obedience as we “walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him.
When we take our eyes off our Lord and set our eyes on ourselves, the Christian life becomes not only miserable but impossible.  Our greatest need before conversion is Jesus, and our greatest need after conversion is the same Jesus.  The secret for a God-honoring Christian life is a heart that is centered on Christ.  Amen.

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood        
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                               
Sermon Notes December 29, 2019
Russell Long, Elder

​3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
5 Therefore put to death
your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
 
Well 2 days from today is the last day of 2019.
 
One of the nagging things about facing a new year is this business of New Year Resolutions. I heard on the news recently that 45% of those polled made them and of that group a whopping 7% were successful in their endeavor. We all make them or at least feel that we should make them and like the Christmas toys, they are soon broken. An examination of the lists of resolutions made by members of this congregation would no doubt see goals ranging from losing weight to staying with an exercise program to developing more spiritual discipline to being more kind to being a better husband or wife or parent or child.
Have you ever stopped to wonder what is really behind our New Year resolutions? When we clean out the underbrush of this resolution thing, we find our best New Year resolutions are based on spiritual realizations.
 
The Desire To Be A Better Person
 
First, resolutions say that deep down we want to be a better person than we are. We want to be more decent, more generous, more spiritual, more fulfilled than we are.
 
 
The Realization That We Fall Short
 
And since we want to be a better person, that means we realize that we fall short of being the kind of person we ought to be and should be and want to be. Even though all of us have private areas of our life known only to us and God, we know we fall short even if others don't know. As I get older, I find the time races by at an alarming speed. At the end of the year I look back and say, “what have I accomplished for the kingdom of God, who have I helped into the kingdom.” And when I see what little I have accomplished; it hurts me to know I have failed to live up to God’s standard for my life. I say with Peter in Luke 5 "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" That sense of unworthiness, of falling short, of being a sinner, welled up in Peter's heart. I believe the Bible teaches that feeling to be universal.
 
We Don’t Have The Power To Change
 
Next to these truths that we want to be better than we are, and that we know we fall short of what we ought to be is a third truth: Experience teaches us that we Don’t have the power to change ourselves. After countless resolutions there stands the bitter truth that in ourselves there is not the power to become the person we ought to be and want to be. We need only to read Paul's struggle with himself in Romans 7 to realize this is a universal human situation.
 
7:15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
7:16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good.
7:17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.
7:19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.
7:20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
7:21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand.
7:22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self,
7:23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
7:25a Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
 
Becoming Better People
 
How can you and I become better people in 2020. What can we do to become the fulfilled, moral, spiritual people we desire to be? Are there some plain steps to take that bring more power to the struggle than mere resolutions? I am certainly for resolutions, written or unwritten, but can we find more strength than that?
A study of people in the New Testament reveal some steps to our becoming the person we ought to be.
 
 
A Better Person Through A Vision of Christ
 
The first step: To make lasting changes in our lifestyle, there must be a guiding vision. In Paul's own life, there was the vision of Christ on the Damascus Road. As Paul traveled the known world preaching Jesus and standing before kings, he said, "I was not disobedient to that heavenly vision ..." In Colossians 3:1 we are told, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth".
In Luke 9:62 we read “no man, having put his had to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” When I was young I worked on a farm and in the spring when we plowed, we would pick an object in the distance to focus on and by doing so would plow straight. If we looked back to see how we were doing, we would wander off line. Jesus was saying in Luke that a person who was worthy to be His disciple had to place that same priority on the mission that Jesus was calling him to and to keep focused on Christ so not to wander off course. We’re not to be distracted by thoughts of what we are leaving behind.
Let our resolutions be based upon a vision of Christ on the cross, dying there because of our sin. See Christ on the cross paying the penalty for our sin. If we keep that vision before our eyes, we can find strength.
But let the vision of Christ be not just Christ on the cross, but also of Christ resurrected. Sometimes we put all the emphasis on Jesus' death. But to stop at Jesus' death is to taxi to the end of the runway and stop; it is to mix up the cake and not bake it; it is to cook the meal and not eat it! As Paul says, "If Christ be not risen, then we of all men are most miserable!" But with the resurrection, there is unleashed in this world a mighty spiritual power in the hearts of those who believe that Jesus is the Savior. "To as many as believed gave He the power to become the sons and daughters of God!" The death on the cross takes away the punishment for sin; the resurrection brings into our lives a new power for daily living.
 
But how can we who believe keep this power giving vision of Christ crucified and risen before our eyes, in our hearts and minds and daily lives? We can practice the presence of Christ through daily prayer, through Bible and devotional reading and through gathered worship and fellowship with other Christians. The first two, prayer and devotional reading, are private and essential. Also, essential and public is your relationship to the church, the fellowship of believers. And sometimes we take the church for granted. Take this church out of your life and imagine what the past year would have been like.
 
A Better Person Through A Vision of Self
 
After we establish a fresh vision of Christ, then we are ready to add to this a vision of our self as God intends us to be. Think with me for a moment: Think of yourself, your habits, your lifestyle, your values and goals, your personality as you are. Now vision yourself as having the goals, values, personality that God wants you to have. That's the fulfilled, loving person God wants you to be. That's the person who can make a difference in this world for Christ. Now go further with that vision of you as you ought to be, should be, could be if you kept the vision of Christ before you. Think about the difference it would make at work, in your home, in this church. It is amazing what God is doing with us as we are, broken and rebellious; image what this church would be like and what we would be doing if each of us became the person God wants us to be!
 
A Better Person Through A Network
 
There is one other aspect of this new year resolution business I want to touch on. We can become the person we want to be if (1) we keep a vision of Christ before us to motivate us; if (2) we keep a vision of the person we want to be before us; and (3) if we build a network of support to encourage us and help us be accountable to the vision. Now the church family helps us do this in many ways. But we need more.
In the past Our session had a vision of small groups developing within our church body to accomplish this need for spiritual growth support. That is a great idea. We seek out three or four other people, or couples, and begin to meet with them on a regular basis to pray together and discuss spiritual things and how it is going with you spiritually.
It is time to get to the successful carrying out of our resolutions. And it all begins with the vision of Christ in our hearts, in our minds, before our eyes. A vision that leads to confession and faith, to repentance and spiritual growth, to becoming who God wants us to be and who we want to be.
 
The 1st verse of our 2nd song read:
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art:
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
 
Are we looking to Christ for our vision of who we want to become? Is he calling you today into a more intimate relationship with Him. Heed His call.
 
Let’s pray

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (11:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Service ~ December 24, 2019)
Rev. Dr. Mouris Yousef, Pastor

​For my Meditation on our Christmas Eve Services this year, I chose to focus on Jesus being “a light for revelation.”  This is a profound statement that was made by Simeon the Elder.  When Simeon, the righteous and devout Elder, saw Jesus for the first time at the temple in Jerusalem, he was moved by the Spirit and said these words in Luke 2:29-32, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.  For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
 
Jesus is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles.”  But the question I am asking tonight is: What did Jesus reveal?  What was needed to be revealed?  What does the light of Jesus reveal to us?
 
Have you heard the expression “familiarity breeds contempt”?  The saying means that we no longer value what we think we know very well.  I believe that the Christmas story is an example of that familiarity that breeds contempt.  Yet, the more we look at this old story, the more God reveals to us amazing things.  No wonder that Simeon declared that, Christ is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles.”
 
In the earlier service, I pointed out that in the birth of Jesus, God revealed humanity’s greatest need.  Our greatest need is not for a bigger house; it is not for a better income; it’s not for a newer car; it’s not for more education and knowledge.  But our greatest need is for a Savior.  When the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream in Matthew 1:21, the angel told Joseph that Mary “will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name (Yeshua) Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
 
In our earlier service, I also pointed out that the birth of Jesus revealed that in our dark places, God’s light breaks through.  In our sin and sinfulness, Christ’s righteousness covers us.  In our spiritual poverty, God’s generosity overwhelms us.  Luke expresses this in the image of the good news of Christ’s birth being announced to the shepherds, non-religious, impure, and the likely least recipients of Christ’s birth.  Luke 2:9 states “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.” 
 
John 1:9 says that Jesus Christ is the “true light that gives light to everyone.”  I know that some of us are in a dark place right now, let Christ’s light breakthrough.  When Christ was born, it was such a dark time for the nation of Israel.  Their land was occupied by the Romans; the Romans imposed heavy taxes; the religious atmosphere was so corrupt; and on the top of this, God was silent for over 400 years.  400 years passed between the last prophet in the Old Testament, Malachi, and John the Baptist.  Remember that when it gets too dark, dawn is near.  When you feel the thickness of darkness, God will show up.  He will be there with you.  Let me add to that a couple more thoughts as we think about Christ being “a light of revelation.”  What does Christ reveal?
 
Third: God Keeps His promises
But the birth of Christ also reveals to us a faithful God; a trustworthy God; a reliable God; a God who keeps His promises.  Yes, God’s timeline may not be consistent with ours, but He will do what He exactly says.  Hear what the Lord said to the Prophet Habakkuk in Habakkuk 2:2-3 “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.  For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false.  Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”
 
God keeps His promises.  Once upon a time, there lived a man and a woman in the Paradise, in the Garden of Eden, where they were terrifically happy.  Their names were Adam and Eve, and God made them.  He made them in His image—like little mirrors to reflect His glory.  And like everything else God made, He made them good.
 
But things didn’t stay happy and wonderful for long.  One terrible day, Adam and Eve sinned.  They ate from the only tree in the garden that God had declared off-limits.  Adam and Eve had disobeyed God’s word; they believed the lie of the devilish Snake instead of the truth.  Sin became human beings’ default.  After sin entered the world, everything fell apart. Nothing was the way it should be.  God made Adam and Eve go away from the Garden of Eden. It wasn’t possible for people so bad to live in the presence of a God who is so good. But the story is not over yet.
 
God made a promise.  He promised Adam and Eve that one of their children would someday crush the head of that nasty Snake. The Snake Crusher would put things right.  In Genesis 3:15, the Lord said to the serpent these words, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”  This is the first promise of a Savior and the first great act of God’s grace towards humanity after our tragic act of rebellion.  Through the ages, prophet after prophet, confirmed that promise.  Yes, it took a few thousand years to see the fulfilment of the promise, but at the end, Christ was born and won the battle against Satan.
 
And so we come to a manger in the little town of Bethlehem. This is where we meet the Snake Crusher—born as a baby, with animals and stinky shepherds and singing angels all around.  No one understood it completely at that time, but when Mary gave birth to baby Jesus, God was giving His people a new beginning, just as He promised. 
 
Friends, when God says in Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  When we read this, we should take God at His word.  When God says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  Often times, our minds may not comprehend how in all things God works for the good of His children, but He said so.  In Numbers 23:19 we read these words, “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.  Does he speak and then not act?  Does he promise and not fulfill?”
 
Fourth: God’s Ways Are Higher than Our Ways
Christ revealed that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are our ways His ways.  Isaiah 55:9 says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
 
Who could’ve imagined that a helpless child would be the Savior of the World?  Who could’ve imaged that this baby is God in a human form?  Who could’ve imagined that the Savior of the world will be born in Bethlehem not Rome?  Who could’ve imagined that the Savior will be born in a stable not in a palace?  Who could’ve imagined that water will be gushing out of a rock in the wilderness quenching the thirst of God’s people?  Friends, what is impossible for people is possible with God.  Friends, often times, God’s help comes to us in unexpected ways and at unexpected places.  As we celebrate Christmas tonight, let’s remember that Christ is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles.”  He revealed that our greatest need is for a Savior.  He revealed that in our dark places, His light breaks through.  Darkness doesn’t have the final word.  Sin doesn’t have the final word.  He reveals to us that God keeps His promises.  He reveals to us that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are our ways His ways.  Merry Christmas, friends. 

First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood
21 E. Church Street
Blackwood, NJ 08012                                                                              
Sermon Notes (7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Service ~ December 24, 2019)
Rev. Dr. Mouris Yousef, Pastor

​A Pastor was preaching on Christmas Eve, and his sermon went quite long.  His thoughts were scattered, he rambled on, it was difficult to follow.  When he was greeting his congregation after the service, one parishioner surprised him when she commented, “Pastor, your sermon tonight reminded me of God’s peace and love.” 
 
The pastor was flattered.  “Really? How so?” he asked.  “Well, it reminded me of God’s peace in the way it surpassed all understanding!  And it reminded me of God’s love because it seemed to endure forever!” 
 
I’d like to assure you tonight that my meditation won’t be long, and I do hope I might avoid both of these pitfalls!
 
Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.  It is supposed to be a time when Christians take a moment to reflect on the birth of Jesus Christ; God’s most gracious gift ever given to humanity.  There are songs to be sung, presents to be exchanged and lights to be seen.  But the birth of Jesus is so much more than an annual celebration.  It’s a revelation from God.  And it reveals, particularly, four things; four amazing things you and I need to reflect on this Christmas.  I’d like to focus on the first two in this service and I will cover the other two in the 11:00 o’clock service, Lord willing.
 
The Birth of Jesus: a Revelation from God
When Simeon, a righteous and devout Elder who had been waiting the birth of the Messiah, when he saw Jesus for the first time at the temple in Jerusalem, he was moved by the Spirit and said these great words in Luke 2:29-32, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.  For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
 
Jesus was “a light for revelation to the Gentiles.”  But the question I am asking tonight is: What did Jesus reveal?  What was needed to be revealed?  What does the light of Jesus reveal to us today?  A couple quick thoughts to reflect on tonight:
 
First: Our Greatest Need
The birth of Christ reveals something about us and our greatest need.  The birth of Christ reveals our sin.  A Savior is our greatest need.  Behind all of the celebration is the crucial fact that the eternal Son of God came from heaven to earth to save us.  Jesus left the glory and the joy that He knew in the presence of His Father and the Holy Spirit and took on human form.  The Apostle Paul puts it this way in Philippians 2:7: “He made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
 
Why?  Why would the infinite, eternal and unchangeable Son of God become man?  Why would the one who was perfect in being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth come down and put Himself under the law (Galatians 4:4)?  What was so wrong with humankind that Jesus came from heaven to earth?
 
The answer, in a word, is sin.  The Bible describes sin in two ways.  First, sin is that which breaks God’s law in thought, word or deed.  But second, we also sin when we fail to act justly, to love mercy, and to do what is right.  Theologians call these two categories sins of commission (sin we actively commit) and sins of omission (sin by failure to act).  When we begin to look at God’s law, and realize these two categories, we will certainly start to realize just how bad our situation really is.  We will certainly go down on our knees crying to God “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
 
In the birth of Jesus, God revealed humanity’s greatest need.  Our greatest need is not for a smart politician; it is not for more money; it’s not for more education and knowledge.  But our greatest need is for a Savior.  When the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream in Matthew 1:21, the angel told Joseph that Mary “will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name (Yeshua) Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
 
Second: A Revelation of God’s Light and Presence
But the birth of Jesus reveals another profound truth.  It reveals that in our dark places, God’s light breaks through.  In our sin and sinfulness, Christ’s righteousness covers us.  In our spiritual poverty, God’s generosity overwhelms us.  Luke expresses this in the image of the good news of Christ’s birth being announced first to the shepherds, the non-religious, impure, and the least likely recipients of Christ’s birth.  Luke 2:9 states “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.” 
 
John 1:9 says that Jesus Christ is the “true light that gives light to everyone.”  I know that some of us are in a dark place right now, let Christ’s light breakthrough.  When Christ was born, it was such a dark time for the nation of Israel.  Their land was occupied by the Romans; the Romans imposed heavy taxes; the Israelites were treated badly by their oppressor; the religious atmosphere was so corrupt; and on the top of this, God was silent for over 400 years.  400 years passed between the last prophet in the Old Testament, Malachi, and John the Baptist.  One important thing to remember here: the darker it gets, the closer we get to the dawn.  Yes, it was in the darkness of that holy and silent night that Christ was born to us.  God shows up when it gets too dark.  He will be there for us. 
 
Therefore, my friends, I say to you tonight what Isaiah said to the nation of Israel in chapter 60:1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.”  Do not stay in your darkness. 
 
In a few minutes we will be lighting our candles and singing together “Silent Night.”  That candle is a reminder of the light of Christ that breaks through our darkness.  So as you get together with family and friends this Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day, take some time to reflect on Christ being “a light of revelation.”  He reveals to us that our greatest need is for a savior.  He also reveals to us that in our dark places, Christ’s light breaks through.  Allow the Christmas story to speak anew to you.  Read it and listen to it as you have never heard it before and as you do so, may the hope, the peace, the joy, the love, and the wonder of it transform your life.  Merry Christmas everyone!