Snapshots of the Savior Wonderful, Counselor Welcome to The Bridge today on this Sunday, December 14, 2014. It may be hard to believe but we are a little over two weeks removed from Thanksgiving and a little under two weeks away from Christmas. And you may be thinking where has this year gone? Or you may be thinking here it comes; Thanksgiving has flown by. Christmas and New Year's are around the corner; Gifts to buy, a bunch of special meals to prepare, putting up the lights, decorating the tree, house guests, parties to attend, church activities, neighborhood events, school productions and a partridge in a pear tree. How many of you put up your lights and decorations the weekend following Thanksgiving Day? How many still haven t finished putting up your Christmas decorations yet? We often hear that the Christmas season is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year don t we? Here s what I sense and see from a lot of people and I know to be all to true sometimes in my own life and that is that the Christmas season can be one of the most stressful, anxious and overwhelming seasons of our lives. Well if that s where you re at today, take a deep breath, relax and get ready because I think God has some great things to speak through His Word today. We are our series Snapshots of the Savior and last week we turned the corner in our series from looking at the humanity of Jesus to focusing on the divinity of Jesus. And to be more specific we began to dive in and look at the names of Jesus and what those names mean for us specifically today in our lives. Because in our culture, in our world a name is important to us and it can have special meaning. Anita and I have been through this name process three times with our three children. The whole naming process What you name your baby when your baby's born can be very difficult. There are all these unwritten rules no one ever tells you about naming a child. For example, if you or your spouse ever dated anyone with a certain name, that name is off limits, period. If your parents or your spouse s parents ever knew anybody that had this name that they didn't like, thought was slightly odd, weird or different, that name is off limits as well. A name is off-limits if the main character that played a bad person in a movie had
the same name. If you ever had a pet that name is off limits. The whole naming thing can take a lot of effort and is rather important, especially when you realize that names have specific meanings. You have to think through first names and last names carefully. Examples: Anita Mann. Eileen Wright. Lois Price. Peter Abbott. Names are important and names have specific meaning which is why I love that an Old Testament Prophet named Isaiah gave us the names of Jesus, some 700 years before his birth. And these names still have meaning and relevance for us, in our lives today. Isaiah chapter 9:6 is going to be the chapter and the verse that drives us through this series. Isaiah wrote this in a season, in a time when there was a lot of turmoil, a lot of fear, the prophet Isaiah said this and it s a verse that is often used in the Christmas season. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 (NLT) These two English words come from two Hebrew words, pele and ya 'ats (yawats). Pele, it means a great soccer player. pele' (peh'-leh); beyond understanding, too wonderful for words. This word Wonderful, is not an adjective, but a noun. It is not describing the next noun, which is Counselor, but should stand alone as one of Messiah s names. It is another way of saying, incomprehensible. In other words, you cannot come up with an adequate name to describe Jesus Christ. He is simply, wonderful. Isaiah is not telling us what Jesus will do, even though He will do wonderful things. No, Isaiah is telling us who Jesus is. The One who is altogether, consistent, unchanging, incomprehensible, wonderful! And, the more you get to know Him; the more you live with Him, the more wonderful He becomes. I am so glad that we have a Savior who is wonderful! But I am also so glad that we have a Savior who Isaiah called Counselor. ya`ats (yaw-ats'); to advise; to consult, to guide.
One day a son will be born, a child will be given to us and his name will be Counselor. He will be God in the flesh and He will be your Counselor. Everyday people go to a counselor because they have a need, an issue or a struggle that they want help with. The role of the counselor is to discover what the need really is and then work with them on a solution, on a plan to overcome the issue, struggle or need. And what Isaiah is foreshadowing to the people in his day and what many of us desperately need to hear today is that Jesus is our Counselor. That Jesus knows you and cares for you and understands exactly what you and I are going through. And when we have a need we can take that need to our Counselor, Jesus Christ. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4:15 (NLT) Empathize to understand, to enter in to another s situation; to identify with the experience, feelings or thoughts of another. Our high priest; Our Savior; Our Counselor, Jesus, he's been through what we are going through. He's been tempted in every way that we're tempted yet he was without sin. He understands our pain. He understands your hurt. He has experienced life just as you and I have. Wrapped up in this name, Counselor, wrapped up this verse is the truth that all mankind has a BIG need, an issue, a real struggle and it s called sin. And when Jesus saw our need, that sin separated us from the Father; our Counselor came to earth as a baby, born to a virgin named Mary, to pay the penalty, to pay the cost for our sin. That s why we celebrate Christmas because Jesus saw our need and came to meet our need. Main Point: Jesus still draws near to needy people. Jesus came 2000 years ago to needy people and He still draws near to needy people today. Why? Because He knows we need a Counselor. He realizes that you and I are still needy people. And this may be surprising for some of you but if there s ever a time we need the Counselor it s during this time of year. You know, the holidays they kind of have a way of magnifying things. They make the good things look better and they make
the bad things look worse. The holidays often magnify our hurts, pain and our needs. Jesus is the Counselor who came for those in need and who still draws near to needy people. So the real question for us today is where do you have a need? Where do you hurt? Cause truthfully we're all needy at one point or another. We live in a fallen, imperfect world, we all battle with weaknesses and vulnerabilities and strongholds and dysfunctions. Where are you in need? Where do you need the Counselor to show up in your life? You know if we sat down face to face and we just had a conversation maybe I could see a need or an area of struggle and I might press you on it and ask you about it. Some of you you'd resist and say hey don't go there. Leave me alone. I don't have a problem with this. Just, you know, I'm fine, I'm fine, really, I am. Others of you your need would be so obvious that you couldn t even hide it if you tried. Still others may attempt to mask it and pretend like it s not there. Where are you in need? It could be like so many people today you're just depressed. You wake up every day wondering how you are going to get through the day and you have no hope that tomorrow is going to be any better. You're just simply depressed, heaviness, this weight, this sense of hopelessness. Maybe you live in fear. You're always worrying, always wondering what's going to happen, nothing's good enough and things could get worse and you just live with this anxiety. Some of you you're stressed. You're looking at your to do list and thinking how can I ever get it done. How can I shop for everybody, I've got family coming over, the house has to be perfect and the meals need to be just so and you just stress full of anxiety. That s your need. Some of you it's more of a financial stress. It's like oh my gosh, we're just hurting already and we've got to pay for all these bills and we've got Christmas coming up and how are we ever going to do it. Where are you in need? Some are just lonely. You see happy family and you look on and you go why can't I have that? Why do I go to bed alone? Why do I eat alone? I hate it. I hate it. Some of you it's more of a family sickness. You've got some problems in your family and you just don't want to address them. Instead of being excited about being with family during the holidays, you dread it. You don't want to be there. Maybe someone's hurt you and you're angry about it and you re just, you're just furious. What s your need?
Here s the deal: We're all needy at different points in our lives. The question is what do we do about it? Do we just try to push through another holiday season and hope it gets better or goes away all together? Do we stick our head in the sand and pretend like it s not there? Do we try to drink it away or pop pills to try and numb it away? Or is there another solution? Is there a way we can get the help that we need? Is there a possibility that we can truly be healed of the need that we are dealing with, the need that we are carrying? For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15 16 (NIV) We have a Counselor who knows us and cares for us and understands exactly what you and I are going through. We have a Counselor in Jesus who still draws near to needy people. And that is so reassuring but there s another step that we have to take if our need is going to be met: With confidence, carry your need to the Counselor. One thing that we all have in common is that we are in need of good advice about something and the Counselor, Jesus, says approach me with confidence. Not confidence in yourself but confidence in who I am as your Counselor. Often when we have a need we want to go anywhere but to Jesus, even though He has never given bad advice; even though He is never wrong. He has never had to say to someone, Sorry about that, I gave you the wrong advice. I didn t know the other side of the story... I should have thought a little longer before I gave you My counsel. No, this Counselor never has to say that. So with confidence in who HE is, carry your need to the Counselor. With the Counselor: Be honest. He already knows all the details; He knows all the extenuating circumstances and conditions. He knows your need, your heart, your desires, your sin, your difficulty and your own contribution to the problem, and everything else about your situation. And if you want Jesus, the Counselor to reveal Himself in your need, to help you in your struggle it starts by being honest with Him.
Some of you right now, you may be honest for the first time in a long time. There may be some that you're honest with Jesus today in almost a scary sort of way where you might say Jesus, I'm not even sure you're good. I've prayed and prayed and prayed about something that was so important to me and you haven't done what I thought you should do. Where are you? My faith is rattled. You might be just that honest. Some of you might need to be very honest about your marriage. Some of you might say, you know what, I've got to come clean and be open about this, I'm hooked on something and it's got me and it's bigger than I am and I have not been able to overcome it. Here's the truth, I'm addicted to this. Some of you, you may be honest to say you know what, relationally I'm just all messed up. Listen to Him. Mark chapter 9, you can read this whole story sometime. Jesus took three of his disciples up to the top of a mountain and God did this incredible miracle and God transfigured Jesus into this like glow in the dark shiny beautiful creature and then Moses and Elijah appeared on this mountain and you can image the three disciples were like dude, I've never seen anything like this in my life. Wooo, let's build a shelter, what do we need to do and then as fast as the two additional people appeared they vanished and God spoke. What do you think God said when he had these three disciples attention like never ever before. Here's what God said, Mark 9:7. Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him! God said, listen to him. If there are any three words that God might say to you today, it's listen to Jesus. Listen to him. Listen to what he wants to say to you. Now, you may say but how does he speak? How does Jesus speak? Well, he speaks all sorts of different ways. He is the wonderful counselor who speaks. I promise you, he will speak to you through his word if you will seek him. He may speak to you today through my words and he may say something very specific just for you. He may speak to you through someone sitting next to you at church today. He may speak to you through someone that you work with. He may speak to you on the way home as you're listening to a song. He may speak to you through a daily devotion. He may speak to you through circumstances. If
you listen, you can train yourself to hear his voice. If we have all of our friends over with all of their kids and one of my kids says dad, I recognize their voices. I've trained myself to recognize my children's voices. You can recognize the voice of the wonderful counselor as you learn to listen to him. Follow His instructions. Not only does Jesus give perfect counsel, but He empowers you and me to be able to follow His instructions, to be able to obey what He shares with us. Often Jesus, our Counselor will tell us things that we don t necessarily want to hear. He shares those things with us because He loves us. Examples: Dating, Financial, Second Life/secrets, messed up family. You may be struggling right now b/c you re not follow His instructions; you re not doing what He has clearly told you to do. I may be able to help a little, counselor, a good friend but ultimately only the Counselor, Jesus, can meet your need. Jesus still draws near to needy people. With confidence, carry your need to the Counselor.