Search for resources

Use the filters below to view specific sermons and resources

25 December 2022

6:30pm

Christmas: Our Mission Rescue

Christmas for me it’s a time of fun, family and friends coming together to celebrate. Today in our house we have four families together. We are not really bothered by number, that’s Africa for you. We had good time, we ate, drank, danced and chatted with one another. For many as well it’s a time of exchanging gifts, visiting and catching up with one another. I love Christmas. Everything I have mentioned about Christmas is good but is it what Christmas is all about? For us as Christians it was a mission rescue for mankind.

I remember my first job after my graduation. It was in an IT company. It started well, but then just a few months into my job, I had a big argument with my manager. I said something I should not have said and I was sacked on the spot! When I went home that night, it was as if my whole world had been shattered, my dreams were in ruins! The following morning I wrote an email to the directors of the company. My letter was titled COME TO MY RESCUE! Come to my rescue! That same day I was reinstated. I was rescued. I had made a very big mistake, but I was rescued by the directors. That’s what we’re talking about this evening – celebration of our rescue. My first point is that:

1. We need to be rescued

But you may think ‘Why? What have I done wrong? I haven’t argued with my supervisor like Victor, I am not a trouble maker, I respect people and give to the poor. I worship God though I am not a Christian. I do pray to God. I am not in any distress'. 1 Timothy 1.15:

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

Jesus came into the world to save sinners which means the reason he was born is to save sinners, mankind, all humanity. The word sinner does not just mean a really bad person, or even a criminal. The word sinner means people who think 'I want to live my life my way, not God’s way, I am self-sufficient, and I have everything I need to be happy. I don’t want anybody in heaven telling what to do. And if he is there, why doesn’t he sort out all the mess?' Do you think like that? If we’re honest, we all do. All of us are sinners from the beginning of the human race (Genesis 3), we are naturally people who don’t want to live under God’s authority – and so we all naturally live our way, not God’s way.

I am originally from Nigeria and in Nigeria there is no Government loan to go University. It all come from bank of families. So, take for example that you came to the UK to study with your parents financial support, and when you arrive in the UK you ignored and refuse to communicate with your parents, stop taking their calls and replying to their emails but you continue to live off their money, and may be when you run short of cash you send them an email or call them to request for more money, and when the money is sent you withdraw again and stop communicating with them. In your mind you are saying “Go away. I have my own life now. And you’re not part of it!” That’s what we are doing when we say I don’t need God.

You may say “I feel very happy living without God. My life is good. Why do I need God?” The answer is that God made us, God loves us, God provides everything (your house, your money, your opportunities, the NHS, Friends and Families); he deserves even greater honour than your parents, and so to dishonour him is a serious issue. And if we don’t honour him, it’s a big problem, because if we turn our backs to him (and refuse to turn back to him) he will judge us. The sin of disobeying God is so serious that it warrants death (which doesn’t just mean physical death, but separation from God which will ultimately be eternal if nothing is done about it. So all of us are sinners) we are all in danger of hell, yes Hell and we need to be rescued.

Now you may be thinking that I’ve only been speaking to people who are not yet trusting in Jesus, but Christians still sin as well. Even though we’re now trying to please Jesus, we fail him every day. So, we need rescuing from our sin as much today as we ever did. Isn’t that why, in 1 Timothy 1.15, Paul says not, ‘I was the foremost of sinners', but I am the foremost of sinners? So, we need to be rescued. But, next:

2. How can we be rescued?

The first step to the way of being rescued is to accept that we are sinners. It’s like going to a doctor due to the symptoms that you have. Say you suspected that you have cancer and went to a doctor, it’s not a pleasant thing but the first step to the road of recovery is accepting that you need a doctor. It’s the same spiritually. Sin is like a cancer that needs immediate attention and if nothing is done in treating it, it eats so deep that any day lost is a big loss. Will you accept that you need to be rescued just like me in my first job? With the mistakes I made I realised that I need someone superior than me to rescue me – I cried out to my director. Paul said (1 Timothy 1.15):

The saying is trustworthy [which means it’s sure and true] and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

Will you accept that you have a spiritual problem? That you need to be rescued? Or have you accepted that already? The Message of the Bible is good news about Jesus Christ; Old Testament promises, his coming to earth as a man (you will give him the name ‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins), his death on the Cross, his resurrection and his return to heaven. Why did Jesus come down to earth from heaven? Many of us will remember the Thai football team that missed their way and found themselves in the cave and needed to be rescued, they couldn’t help themselves anymore and the divers came and rescued them. The whole country, not to say the least, the Thai government deployed almost everything they had to make sure those boys and their coach were rescued. That is the same thing God did by sending Jesus. God deployed everything he has and that is Jesus and Jesus is God’s own Son. So you could say that in sending Jesus, indirectly God sent himself.

So how did Jesus rescue us? God sent his only son who was without sin, to face the death and judgement we deserve, so we could be forgiven. Because it needed someone without any sin of his own to pay for our sin. And it needed a human being to take our place as human beings. And Jesus was the only qualified person to do that. The Bible says he died in our place so that if anyone believes in what he has done he will have eternal life. The punishment that is meant for us was upon him on the cross. The Bible says he died and remained in the grave for three days without decaying and was raised on the third day. And through his death and resurrection he has stretched out his hands of salvation to us and through his death he has extended his grace to us. Paul said in 1 Timothy 1.14:

and the grace [His amazing, unmerited favour and blessing] of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Which means with that grace, came the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. We are filled with faith to continue to trust that he will take us through life and bring us to his kingdom to spend eternity with him there.

3. How should we respond?

Look at 1 Timothy 1.17:

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen.

I remember in 2015 when I had accident and broke the bone between my wrist and my elbow and dislocated my elbow. The pain was horrible and when I was taken to the hospital and the doctor put back my elbow to its rightful place and the pains died immediately. The next thing that came out of my mouth is 'Thank you'. That was exactly what Paul did in 1 Timothy 1.17. He was amazed from where God rescued him from blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent and he saw the wonders of the gospel, the mercy of God. And he responded by giving God glory, honour. His conversion showed him who God really is and he could not but only give him praises. And if we’ve been rescued, like Jesus rescued Paul, we should continue to give him glory, using our lives to please him. Knowing that we have been rescued will help us get our priority right. God is the only one we should serve and please. He is the highest authority; we should live to obey. If we’re Christians our greatest need has been met. We were in dire need of forgiveness and he has forgiven us. Praise God for that. For that reason nothing else is so important that it should take priority over serving Jesus in our lives. We should see our family, friends, work and all the good things around us as gifts from him and we should glorify him using those things.

But others of us haven’t yet been rescued, like Jesus rescued Paul. And the question for us is: will we look to Jesus for rescue? Jesus said come to him as you are, come and trust in his finished work of rescue on the cross. Everything has been done for you to be forgiven and rescued – you only need to trust Jesus for it. This is unlike other religion that say you need to Do It Yourself to reach to God, but Christianity is I have done it for you. Christianity is God seeking man, while other religion is Man seeking God. Would you rather continue to try to do enough for God to accept you, or just trust what has been done for you? Take for instance the Thai footballers refused to be rescued, saying they have it all together, that they can do it by themselves. Some people say ‘Yes, I’m a sinner, but I can get myself out of my own trouble’. No, it’s like the young Thai football team in the cave – there’s no way you can get yourself out. You need outside help and only Jesus can save you. Some people think “I’m too bad to be rescued!” No! No-one is too bad – the apostle Paul who wrote this did awful things, he was a murderer and was persecuting other Christians but Jesus rescued him –and Paul is an example of just how far Jesus goes to rescue people.

Maybe you’re at the stage where this is very new for you – you’re not sure whether or not Jesus is worth trusting in, because you just don’t know enough. We have Explore courses running in the New Year. Please ask one of the church staff or send an email through our website and we can get the details to you. We do it either online or in person so it does not matter whether you are from here or just visiting. Also we have a Why Jesus booklet at the back. Please pick a copy and read it. But maybe you have heard enough – maybe it’s time to respond. Why not it do now? Now is the best time.

In the story I told earlier about myself, I cried out to the directors: ‘Come to my rescue!’ And they did. Will you cry out to Jesus for rescue? Like a sailor in a boat in a stormy sea stretching out for a rope from a helicopter, the rescuer is willing, will we reach out and stretch out our hand and hold on to Jesus. The arm stretching is a picture of us putting our trust in what Jesus has done for us. Though the act that brings our salvation is not simple, what we need to do is simple – Trust in Jesus and his death. We are all sinners and have done wrong things just like me in my first job, I did what I was not meant to do but I was rescued. The same way all you need is just call on him Jesus and he will save you. And:

4. What happens if we are not rescued?

The Bible said Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. He is our saviour, our mediator, our advocate. But one day, that same Jesus will be our judge. He came as a baby that first Christmas and died on Good Friday for our sake, was raised on Easter Morning. He will come again but not as a baby but as a King and a judge.

There was a story of a lady that committed a crime and was meant to be thrown into the prison, but on the court day a man appeared and defended her, and her case was quashed, and the man that defended her told her "make sure you do not do that again". But, she went on and continue to live like before and was brought to court again, and to her surprise, she saw the same man that defended her but now as a judge, but she smiled and said "say to him you remember me when you defended me and my case was quashed" and the judge looked at her and said "I was an advocate then but today I am a judge. You are going to face the full consequence of your actions". That’s what may happen to us if we fail to put our trust in Jesus. Don’t allow that to happen to you because God does not want to judge anyone that is why he gave us Jesus and that is why we celebrate Christmas. He wants us to come back to him and put our trust in him.