envelop spinner search close plus arrow-right arrow-left facebook twitter

Woburn

Address

35 Olympia Avenue
Woburn, MA 01801

Service Times

Sunday 8:30 AM

Sunday 10:00 AM

Sunday 11:30 AM

Contact

More Info

Set Congregation

North Shore

Address

North Beverly Elementary School | 48 Putnam St.
Beverly, MA 01915

Service Times

Sunday 10:00 AM

Contact

More Info

Set Congregation

Unimaginable

by on December 21, 2018

Unimaginable

We live far too predictably. We wake up, shower, go to work, come home, see the people most important to us, go to bed, and repeat. Whether that goes on for days or decades, it leaves many of us no longer imagining the unimaginable. It leaves us no longer looking for God to break into our space because everything around us feels so predictable.

That is where the nativity story redefines what we think is normal! 

In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.” Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earthto people he favors! When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had been told. - Luke 2:8-20

What I love about Luke 2 is that God does the unimaginable in 3 surprising ways.

1. God brings unimaginable people into His unimaginable story!

 

No one expected God would show up and tell world-changing news of salvation to a teenage virgin, an elderly couple, widows, orphans and shepherds. That kind of news would don the halls of palaces and ring the ears of kings, not explode across the night sky to lowly shepherds.

But that is just the way God works. He does unimaginable things to bring people into His unimaginable story! He shows that we cannot be too low, too weak or too far gone for Him to come and find us!

If you are a Christian, God has done the unimaginable in you!

2. God does unimaginable things to showcase His glory!

 

God didn't just send the angels to share the message, He sent His glory to light up the sky that night in the fields outside of Bethlehem. The shepherds were afraid when this happened because they’d never experienced anything like it. To call it unimaginable would be an understatement.

In the Bible, the glory of God is a scary thing. People consistently feel terror whenever they experience it. Have you ever wondered why?

I think it is because God is so unimaginably good; His presence stretches past the limits of our humanity. But in this passage, the angel tells the shepherds not to fear because the savior of the world has come!

This means that God had a plan to bring sinful humans back into right relationship with Him where His presence is no longer dangerous to us. He did this by sending Christ to us. His nativity was day one of an unimaginable plan that culminates at the cross. He gave us His victory, by taking our defeat.

If you are a Christian, God has done the unimaginable in you!

3. God does the unimaginable in you to showcase the unimaginable through you!

 

The thing I love most about this passage is how it ends. Once these men see who Jesus truly is, they cannot help but tell everyone they know about Him. They joyfully and naturally praise Him. They are so compelling that everyone who interacts with them is amazed by them!

So in sum, I do not want to live predictably; I want to live out the unimaginable. I want to be so impacted by what God has done for me in Christ that it is compelling to everyone I meet. And I want that for you as well!


I hope you get to see Christ in thrilling and exhilarating ways this season!

 Love you all and Merry Christmas!!

-KL