F4F | Awful Christmas Sermon "Fear Not"

Opening Critique of Megachurch Christmas Sermons

Welcome to another installment of Fighting for the Faith. My name is Chris Roseborough. I am your servant in Jesus Christ. This is the channel that compares what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God.

All right, so have you been to a big-box evangelical megachurch during Christmastime and ever thought to yourself, you know, that was like having a soup without salt, you know, when you listen to the Christmas message that they preach?

It almost seemed like they were missing the point. If you've ever had that experience, that nagging thought that maybe something wasn't quite right, well, go ahead and hit the subscribe button down below.

Don't forget to like the video and ring the bell so you can be notified when we update the channel. I've noted for a long time that when you attend a big-box evangelical megachurch, there are two times of the year, two times a year, when you are able to really, really, really see something ain't right, because there are two times a year where you expect at least to hear the gospel or hear a sermon that really centers on Jesus, and those two times a year are Christmas and Easter.

And so during the Easter season, for a long time now, we've been doing what we call the Worst Easter Sermon of the Year contest. We don't do that for Christmas because it would cause me to go into deep depression, and I may not ever do the program ever again.

I can only handle it once a year. But as I've been working my way through some Christmas sermons from big-box churches, I am just profoundly blown away by how much effort they go through to not preach Jesus, to not mention sin, what it means to have a Savior, not mention repentance, not mention the reason why Jesus came, you know, go to the cross, bleed and die for our sins so that we can be forgiven.

It's like, it's kind of like, you remember the movie The Matrix? You know, Neo, he had this ability to like bend backwards and stuff, and like people were shooting bullets at him, and so he couldn't be hit by bullets.

It's like, that's what these people go through. They contort themselves, we're not gonna preach the gospel! No, we're not gonna mention Jesus! We're gonna totally miss the whole point! That's what they do.

It's crazy! It's nuts! Anyway, so I just kind of picked the one of the worst ones and thought, let's just gut it out together, shall we? This isn't a full sermon review, so don't worry, we're only... Oh no, we can't do that!

No, it's not a whole sermon review, but I think we'll get like into the first ten-ish minutes, and you'll get the point what I'm saying. So what we're gonna do, we're gonna head over to the Champions Center.

This is where the cheap Joel Osteen knockoff... By the way, if you don't know what I mean, so cheap Joel Osteen knockoff is a reference to the fact that in the world of retail products, there are things called Rolexes, and they are, you know, it's a bazillion dollars to buy a watch, which makes no sense to me, but if you travel to Thailand, you can buy a Rolex for like 50 bucks, maybe a hundred, you know, and the thing is that it's not really a Rolex, it's a faux-lex.

Is that a word? Anyway, so Kevin Gerald is the cheap knockoff of Joel Osteen. He's the faux Rolex, and so we're not gonna hear from him today, though. We're gonna hear from one of the campus pastors, a lady by the name of Jodi Cameron, and we'll just say it up front, Scripture's very clear.

See 1st Timothy 2, 1st Corinthians 14, she shouldn't be doing what she's doing, alright? Scripture forbids her to do what she's doing, so clearly there at the Champions Center, they don't really pay close attention to the fine details of what God has revealed and commanded and forbidden, and what he does allow and doesn't allow in his own church.

So, and then I will say this, I'll just say it up front because I know some of you in the comments are gonna mention it. What she's wearing is distracting, and the leggings, I'm not sure what she's wearing.

They look like they're made out of spandex. I'm not making that up. So that's all I'm gonna say about it. It's distracting. I'm not gonna mention it again, and I'm not gonna mention again 1st Corinthians 14 or, you know, 1st Timothy 2.

We've already done that. Let's kind of focus in on the content, shall we, of what it is that she's doing, and this is just gonna be a supreme example of an adventure of missing the point, or what I like to refer to as putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable.

You know, it's like, if you're gonna preach a Christmas text, actually give us the real message here and what's really going on. Why do we need a Savior? You know, that might be something worth preaching about, you know, these texts.

And so we'll also spend a lot of time actually looking at the text that she's preaching on, because it's a great text, and look at some of the cross-references in the prophecies regarding the birth of Christ from 2nd Samuel chapter 7.

We'll throw in Gospel of John chapter 1 for good measure, and maybe a little bit of Hebrews, and maybe some Genesis 6. Yeah, so I promise, we're gonna put a lot of Bible into this episode, so go ahead and make yourself comfortable.

If you have fuzzy bunny slippers, oh man, they just really enhance the experience, I'm just saying. Anyway, so let's let's head over to the Champion Center, shall we? And oh yeah, my desktop. So here's my desktop.

By the way, I took that photograph. That's the that's Kongs of Inger Lutheran Church right there in Oslo, Minnesota, don't you know? That's with the congregation that I serve, that's where they meet, and I shot this over the summer when the comet was coming through.

Anyway, that's a whole other story, but anyway, wrong button. Hang on a second here. There we go. Let's whirl up the web browser here. Let me stretch. I don't want to throw anything out.

Okay, here we go. Here's Jodi Cameron. Well hey, we're diving into a new series this weekend, and it's to kick us off into the Christmas season, and it's called Fear Not, God's Invitation to His Best for Our Lives.

What is the cash.

Value of that statement? Fear not, God's invitation to his best for our lives. Now, I've listened to the sermon, I've watched it, and the text she's gonna go to is Luke chapter 1, and the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary, the virgin, and the first words out of his mouth are, fear not.

Fear not was not the message he was sent to deliver. Fear not is like the standard greeting that happens when a sinner like Mary, yes Mary was a sinner just like all of us, that whole immaculate conception stuff, bogus, it's just made up.

Anyway, she was a sinner like the rest of us, and generally you'll note that when sinful human beings are in the presence of holy angels, there's a tendency to be quite fearful, all right? That being the case, standard greeting is do not fear, I'm not here to harm you.

That's kind of the point. That's the gist of why Gabriel said that. The message he needed to deliver was not that. So if you attend a church and they're doing an entire sermon on, oh the angel said to the shepherds, or the angel said to Mary, fear not, and so you need to do these three steps to get rid of fear in your life.

Yeah, they're not preaching the text. They don't know how to exegete, and they're doing the Neo thing. We're gonna go through every contortion we could do to not preach Jesus. No, we can't preach about him.

All right, let's continue on with this travesty. And in this series.

We're gonna look at three different times where angels, or an angel, appeared to people on that first Christmas. And they said these words, they said fear not, or do not be afraid. And we're gonna look at that, and I pray that as we go through this message today, and even in the coming weeks, if you've been feeling fear in your heart, I pray that you will hear fear not.

That wasn't Gabriel's message. I pray that you will hear these words and that let them resonate with your spirit, fear not, and know that it is God's invitation to his.

Best. Really, really, the words fear not are God's invitation to his best. Again, what does that mean? What is the cash value of that statement? For your life.

Would you pray with me this morning? God, thank you so much for being with us. You can be with us right here in this room where I'm at, and you can be with us wherever the room is that the person is watching today.

You are everywhere all at once. And God, we thank you for that. We thank you for your omnipresence. Okay. Pray that. Not thank you for a Savior. Got it. Have ears to hear, and our hearts will be open, and our minds will be receptive for the word that you've put.

On my heart, and I pray... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. If you hear a pastor say, I'm gonna preach to you a message that God put on my heart, you That's a red flag. Okay? Christ makes it clear.

It's out of the heart comes all kinds of sin and evil and stuff like that. It's out of the heart. The Scripture describes the heart as deceitfully wicked and things like this, so I'm not a fan of listening to messages that have been placed on people's hearts, because that's where they get really messed up.

Those hearts.

Are a bad place. Bad place. It will get out in a way that you want it to get out, and get me out of the way in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're gonna start with Luke chapter 1, and it's kind of a lengthy passage, so stick with me in it.

What? But.

It's when Gabriel appeared... Okay, 11 verses. Kind of a lengthy passage. I'm really sorry that it's...11 verses. 11 verses, and this is a lengthy passage, and she has to apologize. What does that tell you?

All right, standard fare in Seeker-Driven megachurches, you don't even get whole verses anymore. You get like half a sentence ripped out of context from like two or three places in Scripture, and that's enough Bible there.

They've just barely dabbed their message with just a little bit of Bible, and now they're in a time of year where people expect to hear, you know, the Christmas story, or parts of it, or things leading up to it, and that's gonna require them to read things in context, and the Seeker-Driven guys are all, oh, 11 verses.

Oh, I don't know if we're gonna make it. Did you bring your camel back to make sure we can hydrate along the way? Oh man, 11 whole verses. I hope we keep people's attention. What on earth? Anyway, to Mary.

So in the sixth.

Month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed or engaged to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name was? Mary. I'm just making sure you guys are paying.

Attention. Yeah, because I mean, 11 whole verses. You probably won't be able to keep their attention longer than that. I mean, they're already scrolling.

Instagram. He came to her and said, greetings, oh favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what.

Sort of greeting this might be. All right, now notice the text itself. Fear not, and now greetings, oh favored one, the Lord is with you. All right, this is, and she's wondering what this greeting could possibly be, but here, the content of.

Gabriel's message is still not been delivered. Hello. An angel appeared in.

Front of her. I think I would be freaking out too. Exactly. That's the reason why I.

Said fear not. So the angel said to her, do not be afraid, or in the King James Version, it said fear not. There's just a lot of these and nows in there that I didn't want to get confused with, so do not be afraid.

It's the same as fear not. Fear not, Mary, for you have found favor with God, and behold. All right, you have found favor with God. That's a big statement. You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

That's the, that's right there,.

That's the core of the message of the angel Gabriel. You're gonna conceive, bear a son, you're gonna call his name, and Gabriel would have used Hebrew, because Mary would have been speaking Hebrew, and he would have said his name would be Yeshua, the Lord Yahweh saves, right?

He will be great. He will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him, listen to this, the throne.

Of his father David. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.

And he will reign forever. Yeah,.

Does Handel's Messiah start to kind of sound like it should go, and he shall reign forever and ever, and you know, all these amazing things you could preach on, even though you're not supposed to be doing that, but you could preach on, you know, he's the son of David, his name is Yeshua, I mean all of these things, a central message of the angel Gabriel, which is nine months before Christmas.

Morning, by the way. And his what? His? We've been learning about kingdom this fall, and his kingdom, there will be no end. Right on. And Mary said to the angel, how will this be since I'm a virgin? And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

Great stuff there in that.

Message of Gabriel. Why'd you pick the phrase fear not? It's like the least.

Important bit out of all of it. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. I mean, she couldn't get pregnant, and now she's with child.

Yeah, I just, I wonder, you know, why Gabriel, the angel, why he felt like he needed to.

Tell Mary, do not be afraid. You just said you would be terrified in the presence of an angel. Okay, all right, yeah, so at least they heard 11 verses of the Bible. I mean, they don't normally hear that, but she had to apologize for that ahead of.

Time. Fear not. I mean, I'm pretty sure I would be freaked out, like I said, if an angel just, like, appeared in front of me. You just answered your question. Gabriel, because in my imagination, he's like this huge warrior angel with, like,.

These... He did appear to Daniel. That's where Gabriel made his first appearance in Scripture that we know of. Yeah, he, you know, he was, he sent a message to.

Daniel. ...wings and, like, all the battle gear, you know, so, like, if he showed up in front of me, like, I would be freaking out. So, fear not makes a lot of sense to.

Me, but I... Right, you understand the concept. You get it. Why are you going to drill into this any farther? Because that's the obvious answer as to why he.

Said fear not. ...to think that he was maybe going ahead in the conversation, like, he was, he was anticipating what she thought or what she was, what she was expecting this conversation, like, why are you here, and what are you gonna tell me, and what do I need to say yes to, you know?

Fear not. It's our title. You can write this down. Fear not is God's invitation to his best for your life. Okay, how many times.

Has she said that now? Four times already? All right, so let's do a little biblical work here, all right? But in order to do the biblical work, we got to go back in time, because remember that the reference there regarding Christ that the angel Gabriel said to Mary was that he would be, he would sit on the throne of his father David and reign over the house of Jacob forever.

There is an, there is a referent in the Old Testament where those words are spoken by God to the prophet Nathan and then delivered to David that we would do wise to pay attention to, because Scripture interprets Scripture, and, and I hate to say this, but a lot of people who are Christians today, they have very little understanding of the Bible, period, but the part of the Bible they understand the least is the Old Testament, and a good, well-grounded understanding of the Old Testament, and I'm not talking like the wingnuts in the Hebrew roots movement, all right?

A good foundation in the Old Testament is going to give you the keys to unlocking portions of the new, but understand this, all of the Bible is about Christ. It's not about you, it's not about me, it's about him and what God is doing for us.

So all of that being said, let's head on over. By the way, here's, so here's the Luke text, and, and let's see here. These are the words I'm going to zoom in on. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.

Because when you look at the cross-references here, this is going to take you into a very deep and meaningful understanding of how there was a prophecy given to David that is being fulfilled in this text, all right?

So we're going back in time to 2 Samuel chapter 7, King David is still alive. This is before the whole thing with Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite. So, and David has been established, he's the king of a united kingdom of Israel, Saul is long dead, and here's what the text says.

Now when the king lived in his house and Yahweh had given him rest from all of his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, see now I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.

And Nathan said to the king, go do all that's in your heart, for Yahweh is with you. So you'll note that David wants to do something for God, and he's kind of embarrassed, if you would, for God, that the presence of God is traveling around Israel in the tabernacle.

And it's a few hundred years old by now, a little long in the tooth, probably looking pretty shabby and tattered and not bright and shiny and sparkly like when it was first made, even when it was first made it wasn't all that impressive on the outside, and so David, you know, is thinking, you know, we could do a little better for you than this, God.

I mean, you're wandering around Israel in this humble, kind of gross, ugly-looking thing, right? But here's the thing. The tabernacle of the Old Testament, where the presence of God was in this humble tabernacle, that's a foreshadow, a type and shadow of Christ.

Let me show you the reference to kind of bear that out. In the Gospel of John, in the Gospel of John chapter 1, we have these words, In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.

Good Christmas text, by the way. So, ah, the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. Now, let's fast forward just a little bit here, and we'll pay attention to the words. And the Word, and the Word became flesh, and dwelt, and here's where, this is an interesting word, eskenosin.

You can translate that tabernacled. And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. You see, they go, oh, wow. Okay, so let's kind of go back and set this up properly then. So here's the thing. David wants to do something for God, but when you consider all the religions of the world, I have been required to take classes, you know, in world religions as well as Islam, and so I've studied Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, if you don't know what that is, it's one of the world religions, Taoism, I've also studied Islam, animism, and in different, you know, forms of, like, witchcraft and things like this, as part of my world religions courses.

And the one thing I can say in having studied world religions is that every single one of them all have something very much in common, although they're very different in so many ways. There is a common denominator between them all, and the common denominator between all of them is that whatever their concept of the deity is, it is up to you and your obedience to earn the favor of that deity.

Salvation is by your works, your sacrifice, your obedience, your fortitude, your faithfulness, you, you, you, do, do, do. Every religion. Christianity is different. From beginning to end, from the beginning of the first words of Scripture, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, to the final refrains of the amens of the book of Revelation, from beginning to end, the entire Bible teaches us that it is God who saves us.

He demands the sacrifice, he provides it himself. He demands obedience, he puts forward his son, his obedient in our place. He requires that sin be punished. God the Son is punished in our place, and God laid on him the iniquity of us all.

So what God demands, God provides all of it. And so it would be out of place for David to do something for God. Instead, God is going to do this ultimate gospel jujitsu move. You want to do something for me?

You want to build me a house? Is that what you want to do, David? God says, tell you what, I'm gonna build you a house. It's awesome when you think about it. And so, and yes, this has everything to do with this text from Luke.

Alright, so, alright, so, reviewing here, kind of getting our place and carrying on. Now, when the king lived in his house, Yahweh had given rest from all of his surrounding enemies. Who gave him rest?

The Lord did. The Lord gave him rest. Yahweh did. King said to Nathan, see, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. Nathan said to the king, go do all that's in your heart. Yahweh is with you.

But that same night, the word of Yahweh came to Nathan. Oh, by the way, did you notice that David never hears the voice of God directly? He always hears it through his prophets. Anyway, that same night, the word of Yahweh came to Nathan.

You go and tell my servant David, thus says Yahweh, would you build me a house to dwell in? And when you kind of ask the question that way, you sit there and go, it doesn't sound that smart, does it? Would you build me a house to dwell in?

I've not lived in a house since the day I brought the people of Israel from Egypt. Notice, God brought the people up from the people from the front of Israel from Egypt. I've, you know, I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I've been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.

The word became flesh and tabernacled among us. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, why have you not built me a house of cedar?

No, God never complained about living in the tabernacle. He commanded that it be made, and never griped about it to any of the judges, right? So now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, thus says Yahweh, Sabaoth, the God of armies, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.

God did that. And I have been with you wherever you went. God has done everything. And I have cut off all your enemies from before you, and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.

And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly. And from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel, and I will give you rest from all of your enemies.".

Now, this is an important little theme here. Now, a little bit of a note. You have to understand that all Christians are grafted into Israel. This is clearly taught in the section of the book of Romans, Romans chapter 9 through 11.

If you're not familiar with it, I'm not going to read it now, but I would reference that. So you need to understand that the Church never replaces Israel. The Church can't replace Israel. That's silly, all right?

Instead, the idea is that every individual Christian who has faith in Jesus Christ is grafted into Israel. So only Israel is saved. That's just straight out the fact. And being genetically a descendant of Abraham does not make you a child of Abraham.

Having the same faith as Abraham makes you a child of Abraham. Again, read Romans 9 to 11, and you'll see what I'm saying. All of that being said, you'll note that here is a promise that God is going to deliver Israel from violent men, and violent men will afflict them no more as formerly.

This is a promise that will find its full fulfillment in what? In the end, when Christ returns in glory to judge the living and the dead, when he establishes his kingdom here on earth. That being the case, this is a great promise, because have you ever noticed that we human beings are just terrible, and we just are kind of dumb when it comes to putting rulers over us who are complete murderous tyrants?

It just keeps happening over and over and over again. And you'll notice the tyrants of earth are nothing like Jesus. The tyrants of the earth are murderous. They are absolutely malice-filled. They demand complete allegiance, almost religiously like worship, and if you don't obey them, you get one little toe out of line, and then it's off with your head.

But Jesus isn't like that. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and he brings kindness, mercy, gentleness, and love. In fact, the whole point of the Christmas story is that God so loved the world that he gave, he gave his only begotten Son that whoever, including you or me, whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

And so you'll note that Christ, the Prince of Peace, here, he's going to ultimately deliver his believers, those who are grafted into Israel, he's going to deliver them from a world of violence, a world of hatred, discord, and malice, when he returns new heavens, new earth, no pain, no suffering, no tyrants, only the Prince of Peace ruling over us in his kingdom forever.

Sign me up. These are good promises, by the way. It's like, you just kind of tease this stuff out and say, this is rich. Exactly. Anyway, moreover, Yahweh declares to you that Yahweh will make you a house.

All right, when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body and I will establish his kingdom, and he shall build a house for my name.

Now, it's really easy when you read this portion here to think that this is referring to Solomon, because Solomon ended up building the temple. It's not. It's referring to Jesus, and I'll show you how you can tell this from the text, all right?

So, I will raise up for your offspring after you who shall come from your own body, I will establish his kingdom, he shall build a house for my name, I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

Now, Solomon, he did build a temple. He did. Has his throne been established forever? No. The line of Solomon, they haven't reigned since Zedekiah, not since Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem, and Zedekiah tried to escape, by the way.

When you read the prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah had an interesting encounter with Zedekiah. Zedekiah basically asked, what do I need to do in order to live? And Jeremiah said to him, Yahweh says surrender.

You go out there and you march yourself out to King Nebuchadnezzar, and you surrender to him right now, and you will live, and you'll be all right. And did he do that? Nope. He tried to escape by night, you know, he found a way out while King Nebuchadnezzar was coming in, but Nebuchadnezzar's men caught him near Jericho, and Zedekiah was deposed as the king of Israel, but worse than that, Zedekiah had his sons slaughtered in front of him, and then after he watched his sons be slaughtered by the Babylonians, he had his eyes gouged out to ensure that the last thing he saw in this life was that.

It came to a terrible end, and there hasn't been a king from Solomon's line reigning in Israel since then. So his reign has not been established forever. But remember what the angel Gabriel said, okay?

So you can see, now you can connect this text with Luke 1, and when you do that, it's like, whoa. Okay, this is amazing stuff. So, he shall build a house for my name. Oh, by the way, what is that house that this son of David is building?

Well, let's take a look, let's see here. I think I can do this from memories. All right, so it's 1 Peter chapter 2. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious.

You yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So 1 Peter chapter 2 makes it clear, the house that this son of David is building is a living temple.

And each individual Christian is a stone, is a living stone in the house that Jesus is building. So yeah, when you look at how this is all fulfilled, it's just absolutely amazing. So, coming back then.

All right, so when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name.

I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father. He shall be to me a son. And now here comes the most complicated bit. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him as I took it from Saul whom I put away from before you.

Now, Scripture is very clear that Christ has been tempted in every way that you and I have been tempted, and yet is without sin. So how can this be a prophecy about Christ saying that when he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men?

The answer is found in the prophet Isaiah, chapter 53. In fact, let me pull this up, Isaiah 53, and listen to this prophecy, and you'll see how it works. Who has believed what he has heard from us, and to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, no beauty that we should desire him. Word may flesh and tabernacle among us.

Humbly, right? He was despised, rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hid their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs, and he has carried our sorrows.